Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio

Nemesis: One Man and the Battle for Rio

<b>The astonishing story of an ordinary man forced to make a decision that would turn his world upside down</b><br />  <br /> How did Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, a hardworking young father, become the king of Rocinha, the largest slum in Rio; the head of a drug cartel; and perhaps Brazil’s most wanted criminal, known to all as “Nem”? <i>Nemesis</i> is the riveting account of his ruthless ascent in Rio’s terrifying underworld, his sway over its anarchic outlaw culture, and his accidental fall. Nem tried to bring welfare and justice to a playground of gang culture and destitution, but he quickly found himself embroiled in a world of gold hunters and evangelical pastors, bent police officers and rich-kid addicts, quixotic politicians and drug lords with math degrees.<br /><br /> Spanning rainforests and high-security prisons, filthy slums and glittering shopping malls, <i>Nemesis</i> chronicles Brazil’s journey into the global spotlight—and the battle for the beautiful but damned city of Rio as it struggles to break free from a tangled web of corruption, violence, drugs and poverty. Nem is held at the center of it all, locked in a fight for his country’s future.