Obtain Colombiano Formulated By Rusty Young Version

would like to thank Haverlock amp Baker Publishing, and the author Rusty Young, for the opportunity to review this title

I have given the book a rating ofstars.
I was very excited and couldn't wait to start reading, but unfortunately, it's not my style of genre,

I felt the book focused too much on describing character backstories and less time focusing on keeping the story interesting for the reader, "Its strange to think that a quick decision taken in the heat of a single moment could change the course of a boys life",

And that one quote sums uppages of text,

This is the story for Pedro and his friends, all teenagers, all for various reasons are tangled up in war funded by cocaine, criminals and the corrupt.
This is the story of how ruthless human beings can be,

I haven't read much on Colombia and from the first chapter I was pulled in, this book is so readable the words flow as easily as the Colombian rivers mentioned.
As someone who doesn't mind reading a bit of gore I had to put this book down on many occasions due to the graphic content, maybe because it's based on true stories, maybe because its teenagers or maybe because it's so damn real I felt I was there.


This book made me think of all the wars going on today, all the children being trained as fighters, the corruption, the blind eyes.


I felt a lot of things reading this book but not thepages, This book is a journey that deserves every star available, Many thanks to NetGalley and Havelock amp Baker for providing me with this engrossing, intense ARC in return for an honest review, This was a powerful epic which featured violence, family devotion, moral choices, young love, and a country ripped apart,

I found the story informative and was totally absorbed, I had been in Colombia a very short time in a small town on the Amazon, but my knowledge of the country was severely limited, I knew a bit about Pablo Escobar from Netflix, and how the country was the centre of jungle drug labs, cocaine manufacturing and distribution, I was aware of political turmoil, guerrilla insurgents, death squads, kidnapping, which made it a dangerous place, Reading the book gave me a greater understanding of the country, and how its people often had to go against their moral values to survive,

The almostpages was not a deterrent, as I was gripped by the exciting, suspenseful plot from the beginning, Everything was important to understand the extreme dangers, heartbreaking losses, and the mindsets of the characters,

Pedro Gutierrez was a normal fifteenyearold boy who enjoyed helping on the family farm, going fishing with his father, attending church with his mother, and hanging out with his girlfriend, Camila, and with his best friend, Palillo.
One terrible day he witnessed his father brutally murdered by guerrilla soldiers, He and his mother were ordered off their farm and forbidden to give the father a religious burial on consecrated grounds, Pedro vowed revenge on his fathers killers,

This led Pedro with his friend, Palillo, to voluntarily join the Autodefencas, a paramilitary group where they endured brutal training and rose in the ranks.
Pedro witnessed barbaric torture of guerrilla fighters and their deadly retaliation, The training led to a moral descent and hardened him for vengeance for his fathers death, Thoughts of revenge became an obsession,

Paramilitary groups, which included the Autodefencas, were comprised mainly of wealthy land or business owners who formed private armies and

death squads, Both the paramilitaries and the guerrilla fighters trained and utilized child soldiers, Some were tricked or kidnapped into the militia, Others joined willingly, preferring the training camps to abusive situations at home,

The Guerrillas consisted mainly of peasants, They claimed to be fighting against poverty and social inequality with the aim of toppling the government and replacing it with communism,

The author, Rusty Young, interviewed child soldiers in Colombia, This is a brilliant work of fiction and has a definite ring of truth, to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion, Colombiano by Rusty Young is a story you will not soon forget, This is a work of fiction though the horrors of the Colombian civil war and its aftermath are part of history, The author worked in Colombia with the AntiKidnapping Program in a country that averaged eight kidnappings per day, While incountry, he interviewed the child soldiers on both sides of the war and these are the basis of this novel, Pedro, a fifteenyearold boy, witnessed the execution of his father, by guerillas, He was executed for allegedly providing drinking water to their enemies, They then banned Pedro and his mother from their farm, The boy vowed to avenge his fathers death and joined and was trained by the paramilitaries, Brutality became part of his daily existence, This is a story of revenge and a story of children fighting a war, I admit that I skipped some passages due to the graphic violence but this is a book that needed to be written and needs to be read.
Thank you to Havelock amp Baker Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review,
You have to pick a side, Or one will be picked for You, .

Set in Colombia, Colombiano is an epic story of revenge and vengeance, Blending fact and fiction, Colombiano narrates the story of a teenager Pedro Gutiérrez whose life is ripped apart when Guerrilla soldiers callously execute his father in front of his eyes and he and his mother are banished from their farm.
Swearing vengeance against the five men responsible, Pedro, with his best friend Palillo, joins an illegal Paramilitary group, where he is trained to fight the guerrillas.
Soon Pedro finds himself sinking deeper and deeper into Colombias civil war and into a world of unspeakable violence, Pedro must now decide how far he is willing to go for vendetta, Can he stop himself before he becomes exactly what he despises

At the heart of the story, Colombiano is an epic tale of revenge of a boy set against the backdrop of a raging civil war.
While the story explores in great detail, the war between the Colombian Govt, Autodefensas and the Guerrillas, Pedro remains at the center of the story always.
We follow Pedro as he rises through the ranks, and fights in deadly missions, all the while with the turmoil in his personal life and planning to kill those who killed his father.


Rusty Young has worked secretly for the US government in Colombia for four years and that shows in his research which is topnotch as well the characters he has created which all seem so real.
The story has some excellent characters, particularly Pedro and his friends, We feel a part of them as they undergo brutal training, go on missions, we feel their happiness and sorrow as a part of the squad.


At almostpages, the book is long but the pace and the short chapters make it a fast read, There are parts of this book that are quite gruesome and the story does not gloss over the horrors of a fullblown civil war, From the training of child soldiers to torture and body mutilation, the violence in this book is raw and hard to read at times, I felt the book focused too much on the character backstories and Pedros personal revenge, The story could have focused on the bigger story of civil war instead, Having said that, Pedros personal journey from seeking revenge to slowly realizing the futility of it all is an incredible journey and which makes the book immensely readable.



Overall, Colombiano is a wellresearched and chillingly realistic insight into the civil war in Colombia, It is well written, perfectly paced and if you enjoy reading action thrillers, you should absolutely read this,

Many thanks to the publishers Havelock amp Baker Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC,  
Captivating from start to finish!
“The war was like a slow burning campfire onto which both sides occasionally threw wood, And thats probably the way it wouldve continued, if not for the arrival of the
Autodefensas”, United SelfDefenders of Colombia.

The campaign against organize crime in Columbia, has caused a violent response, increasing vulnerability of the civilian population due to the skirmishes between the organizations and the federal forces.


Author Rusty Young, Australian born, was recruited as a Program Director of the U, S. Government antikidnapping program in Columbia,
It was so dangerous, that Rusty Young, had to keep his job completely secret from his family and friends,
Hate, violence, drugs, children soldiers, a divided country, . Columbia had the highest murder rate of journalists in the world, Rusty, himself wasnt a true journalist but he might as well have been, He was working in a country with two terrorist organizations whose members numbered in the tens of thousands,
The first group was the FARC Guerrilla, Farmers aimed to fight poverty and social inequality by toppling the government and installing communist rule, To fund their revolution, they taxed businesses and kidnapped their rich, appropriating their lands for redistribution to the poor,
The second group the Paramilitaries was created in response, Wealthy land business owners, tired of the governments failure to protect them, formed their own private militias and death squads,

Youngs dedication to human rights risking the safety of his own life and the lives of others he interviewed being in the heart of corruption and violent crimes tells me that Rusty Young is one heck of an extraordinary human being.
let alone an exciting storyteller,

This story fact and fiction IS GRIPPING written in storytelling dramatic style, It reads like a thriller, . true crime suspense with frightening complicated revenge, danger, betrayal, power struggles, cocaine, punishment, death, and eventually a form of redemption,

The book begins when Pedro Gutierrez, the teenage adolescent narrator, wasyears of age,
Pedros father was executed in front of him by Guerrilla soldiers, He and his mother were extradited from their farm, Pedro retaliates by joining an illegal paramilitary group with his close friend Palillo,

Its a long book but reads fast: Pedro, Palillo, and the other teens are brave in the face of unimaginable adversity,
Engrossing from the first page, Stunning story of strength and survival, It is sometimes brutal . but always fascinating. It shows terrorism at a shockingly personal level,

“Childsoldiers” . two words that dont belong together, has always been unfathomable to me, But “Colombiano ” is a wrenching, and mesmerizing important story,
Rusty Young describes the unthinkable, and the unforgettable,

Inspiring triumph . this book shines with energy leaving a profound impression on the reader, I never EVER expected THIS BOOK to be SUCH A PAGE TURNER, but anyone who starts it, is bound to have their own unputdownable experience,

“Crouching in a ditch with Palillo, an hour before dawn, I realized my life was now divided in two, The time before Papa. And the time after.
“My dream of running the finca, Farm, with him and taking it over during his old age was shattered, and I replaced it with a far darker ambition: to track down and punish his murderers”.


Powerful as can be!
Many thanks to Lily at Havelock amp Baker Publishing with the advance gift of both the Audiobook and ebook.
Listening to interviews with the author enriched my admiration for Rusty Young,
Thanks again, Lily . . Im genuinely glad I read this, I dont think Ill ever be able to forget,

Kudos to Rusty Young, . mean guy now I must read your first book, Marching Powder”, I loved your interview talking about Bolivia, and your REQUEST to stay in the San Pedro prison, Glad you never smuggled drugs in! Ha!


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