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Overview
IN AMERICAN GANGSTER, THE FEDS TOOK DOWN INFAMOUS HEROIN DEALER FRANK LUCAS. BUT THE KINGPIN BEHIND LUCAS’S CRIMINAL REIGN, LEROY “NICKY” BARNES, REMAINED “MR. UNTOUCHABLE.” UNTIL ONE UNDERCOVER AGENT PROVED TOUGH ENOUGH—OR CRAZY ENOUGH—TO INFILTRATE HIS DOMAIN AND NAIL THE MOST DANGEROUS DRUG CZAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
Growing up in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where physical violence was a daily reality at home, at school, and on the streets, Louis Diaz had what it took to survive—and to one day become what he vowed to be: a man of uncompromising principles who is “compassionate on the inside, fierce on the outside.” These were the qualities, along with his street fighter’s steely nerves and hair-trigger temper, that drove Diaz from his savage beginnings and early forays in organized crime to become one of the DEA’s bravest undercover agents—the man who was instrumental in taking down some of the nation’s and the world’s most notorious crime rings.
In an unforgettable and utterly engaging first-person narrative, Diaz tells his gritty, colorful, painful, and even humorous life story—a story with all the raw emotional power and bare-knuckle action of Wiseguy or Serpico. From his headline-making cases of Nicky Barnes and the Medellín cartel . . . to his account of outwitting a key villain linked to the record-breaking heist known as The Great English Train Robbery . . . to his all-out confrontations with murderous gunrunners and drug dealers on the mean streets of New York . . . to leading commando raids on clan-destine cocaine labs inside the Bolivian jungles, Dancing with the Devil is an explosive memoir that stands as a classic of true-crime literature.
Synopsis
IN AMERICAN GANGSTER, THE FEDS TOOK DOWN INFAMOUS HEROIN DEALER FRANK LUCAS. BUT THE KINGPIN BEHIND LUCAS’S CRIMINAL REIGN, LEROY “NICKY” BARNES, REMAINED “MR. UNTOUCHABLE.” UNTIL ONE UNDERCOVER AGENT PROVED TOUGH ENOUGH—OR CRAZY ENOUGH—TO INFILTRATE HIS DOMAIN AND NAIL THE MOST DANGEROUS DRUG CZAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY.Growing up in Red Hook, Brooklyn, where physical violence was a daily reality at home, at school, and on the streets, Louis Diaz had what it took to survive—and to one day become what he vowed to be: a man of uncompromising principles who is “compassionate on the inside, fierce on the outside.” These were the qualities, along with his street fighter’s steely nerves and hair-trigger temper, that drove Diaz from his savage beginnings and early forays in organized crime to become one of the DEA’s bravest undercover agents—the man who was instrumental in taking down some of the nation’s and the world’s most notorious crime rings.
In an unforgettable and utterly engaging first-person narrative, Diaz tells his gritty, colorful, painful, and even humorous life story—a story with all the raw emotional power and bare-knuckle action of Wiseguy or Serpico. From his headline-making cases of Nicky Barnes and the Medellín cartel . . . to his account of outwitting a key villain linked to the record-breaking heist known as The Great English Train Robbery . . . to his all-out confrontations with murderous gunrunners and drug dealers on the mean streets of New York . . . to leading commando raids on clan-destine cocaine labs inside the Bolivian jungles, Dancing with the Devil is an explosive memoir that stands as a classic of true-crime literature.
Editorials
Library Journal
Retired DEA agent Diaz, writing with Hirschfeld (coauthor, Detective: The Inspirational Story of the Trailblazing Woman Cop Who Wouldn't Quit), tells his life story with brutal honesty. Overcoming an abusive yet loving (and beloved) father, his own volatile temper, and the demons of depression, he was a very successful DEA agent who did best when working undercover to take down some of the most notorious drug dealers of our time, including New York heroin kingpin Nicky Barnes and José "el Tío" Lopez of the Medellín cartel. He worked assignments in the jungles of Bolivia and in London, New York, and Los Angeles, where he transferred midcareer. Hot-headed Diaz used the adrenalin rush of deep undercover work and his success as a boxer to channel his energy. He pulls no punches about his personal life, poignantly sharing his bouts with depression and grief. Best of all, when Hollywood films his life story, Diaz will be able to play himself—his most recent chapter has been as adviser and actor (stage name Lou Casal) for film and television.Verdict The gripping story of one man's flaws, loves, and achievements, this should be a popular selection for true crime fans. Highly recommended.—Karen Sandlin Silverman, Ctr. for Applied Research, PhiladelphiaLibrary Journal
Retired DEA agent Diaz, writing with Hirschfeld (coauthor, Detective: The Inspirational Story of the Trailblazing Woman Cop Who Wouldn't Quit), tells his life story with brutal honesty. Overcoming an abusive yet loving (and beloved) father, his own volatile temper, and the demons of depression, he was a very successful DEA agent who did best when working undercover to take down some of the most notorious drug dealers of our time, including New York heroin kingpin Nicky Barnes and José "el Tío" Lopez of the Medellín cartel. He worked assignments in the jungles of Bolivia and in London, New York, and Los Angeles, where he transferred midcareer. Hot-headed Diaz used the adrenalin rush of deep undercover work and his success as a boxer to channel his energy. He pulls no punches about his personal life, poignantly sharing his bouts with depression and grief. Best of all, when Hollywood films his life story, Diaz will be able to play himself—his most recent chapter has been as adviser and actor (stage name Lou Casal) for film and television.Verdict The gripping story of one man's flaws, loves, and achievements, this should be a popular selection for true crime fans. Highly recommended.—Karen Sandlin Silverman, Ctr. for Applied Research, PhiladelphiaKirkus Reviews
A retired undercover agent's story.
Born into an immigrant family in New York and inspired by the well-publicized drug bust celebrated in The French Connection, Diaz assembled just the right background for police work in New York, including the ability to speak a couple of languages, a streetwise air and military service—though he made the error of admitting to an examiner with a bone to pick that he'd smoked pot once or twice. Still, he got in through the back door, joining the ATF and later working with the DEA. He entered service just in time to take down a once-renowned bad guy named Nicky Barnes. "With his broad shoulders, his handsome, sharply chiseled features, and his trademark tinted-gogglelike Gucci eyeglasses, he could have passed for a Hollywood actor or a fashion model," write Diaz and co-writer Hirschfeld in this by-the-numbers moment. In memoirs of this sort, all bad guys are godlike, but their innate evil proves their undoing; Barnes is no exception, for he "was pure, unadulterated evil." Working streets and informants, Diaz brought Barnes down, but not without having to deal with slimy lawyers and the inconveniences of trial by jury: "It was one thing to be out on the street, doing my dance with the devil. It was a whole other to be held accountable in court for what I had done." Barnes disappears with a few dozen pages to go, whereupon Diaz ventures into less fraught territory, battling evil on a Hollywood soundstage and protecting the likes of Steven Seagal from the Ruby Ridge crowd.
Merely serviceable, offering few surprises—much less vigorously written than Michael Codella and Bruce Bennett'sAlphaville(2010), which covers some of the same ground.