This book was archived by the time I got to it on the pocket book and I don’t think that I really want to see graphic content on this subject

An adaptation of the book the new Netflix docu-series is based on. It's about the Galicia area of Spain and how it's been a haven for smuggling for decades. First for cigarettes, then for drugs. It's one of the gateways Columbians smuggle cocaine into Europe. The book goes into details about the more famous smugglers and the corruption in the area. It wasn't until a social campaign by area mothers that any traction was gained on stopping the smugglers. There's a lot of interesting history here.

Cocaine Coast is based on an investigation of a reporter Nacho Carretero. It was a very informative read, but not a lightweight one.

This could be a very good nonfiction graphic novel. I’m not sure what I expected, but because of the mentions of the Netflix series, I pictured this completely different. I guess I expected an interesting and gripping story. But the plot is quite disjointed, and it often turns out very dry, just listing the facts with nothing to glue the entire story together. And in the end, as a story, it fell a bit flat for me.

Otherwise, it is very informative in terms of history and how everything worked. I like the style and the illustrations. They are very good. Black and white with red to emphasize the details. It suits the story and theme.

I would recommend it to those who are very interested in drug cartels because here is a lot of info about the traffickers of Galicia.

Thanks to the Diamond Book Distributors for the ARC and the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.

The story takes us to the early days of the tobacco and black market trade to the rise and fall of the illegal cocaine trade. We get to meet the major capos who flourished at the time as well as the community women, mothers who lost families to the drug violence, and national law enforcement opposing them.

The book presents an interesting topic overall, but the text at times can be a slow read. This is not exactly riveting reading. Also the narrative at times can jump back and forth. The art, mainly in grey tones and some red is suitable for the story. It reflects the content well. It can feel gritty and even a little depressing, but that goes with the overall topic. In addition, if you want to learn more, Carreteros' epilogue is worth it as he discusses not only the history of how the book came about but also goes over how the problem still persists.

Overall, I liked the book, but it was not an easy read. As I mentioned, the prose can be slow, and the book's pacing can be slow. For English readers, Galician (Gallego) names and terms that are not always explained can be an issue. Heck, I am a native Spanish speaker, and I had an issue or two along the way.

In the end, I liked it, but I am not enthusiastic about it. Slow pacing, confusing at times, and dry text just kept me from enjoying this more. It was OK for me.

(More detailed review on my blog)

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand the art is great, evocative of danger and corruption and action and the page layouts are creative and surprising. And the plot is fascinating nd depressing and true and tells the tale of how a centuries' old culture of smuggling paved the way first for millions of dollars of illegal cigarette to pour into Europe and then for millions (billions?) of dollars of Cocaine to flood Europe starting in the 1980s. The book covers the impacts of corruption, the cultural and methodological quirks that made the Spanish the most reliable smugglers for the Columbian cartels, the unsuccessful government efforts to stop things, and the more successful citizen movement (led by moms!) to hold the smugglers to account.

On the other hand, so much of the book was a recitation of mini-biographies of famous and infamous smugglers. There were so many that they all bled together in a smear of drugs, money, tacky consumption, violence, and ultimately death or prison. There were so many of these that they took away from the actual historical narrative (and actually served to flatter and glorify the smugglers a bit too).

On the whole though this was a fast paced, gripping, and educational look at drug smuggling.

This was disappointing, mostly because it felt like someone took a short information piece and tried to make it into a graphic novel.
Rather then the art adding to the narrative, I often felt like it was directly impeding my ability to comfortably read and process the information that was trying to be presented.
So much so that come the end of the book, I felt like the information I had gained was minimal.

It’s hard to judge this one as it was formatted so poorly that I couldn’t read beyond a few pages. The format takes up only 1/6 of my screen, and it freezes if I zoom in to the page. Not feasible for something over 150 pages. Honestly, I’m aware it may change for one that you can purchase, but with it being this poor of quality, I’d be hesitant to buy it as an ebook due to fear that it’d still be unreadable. I may request a physical copy to read once it is available at a local library as the story does sound interesting. Also, I like the coloring choice of black/white with red.

I have truly enjoyed going through this work. The story is engaging and interesting. As far as the illustration is concerned it is done with atmost care and precision. The portrayal of the scenes with absolutely brilliant writing style and narration provides an ultimate reading experience. I give this work full 5 stars and highly recommend it to all.

Happy Reading