A review by nealalex
Nemesis: One Man and the Battle For Rio by Misha Glenny

4.0

Biography of a drug trafficker and de facto mayor, bank manager, police chief and head of social services for a town of 100,000, namely the favela of Rocinha in Rio. Despite the title, the Nem nickname means ‘baby’ (neném): he started off in the criminal organization so he could pay his daughter’s medical bills. His rise and fall is followed through the context of Brazilian politics and overlapping police forces. I remember Misha Glenny on the radio as a war correspondent in the 1990s, and this book has the same intelligent unflinching yet human voice.