Cocky: The Rise & Fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's Biggest Drug Baron

by Tony Barnes, Peter Walsh, Richard Elias

Curtis Warren is an underworld legend, the Liverpool scally who took the methods of the street-corner drug pusher and elevated them to an art form. He forged direct links with the cocaine cartels of Colombia, the heroin godfathers of Turkey, the cannabis growers of Morocco and the ecstasy labs of Holland and Eastern Europe. His drugs went around the world, from the clubs of Manchester and Glasgow to the beaches of Sydney, Australia.
His underlings called him the "Cocky Watchman". His pursuers called him "Target One".
This best-selling autobiography uncovers his meteroric rise to become "the richest and most successful British criminal who has ever been caught".
COCKY is a shocking insight into modern organised crime and a vivid account of the workings of the international drugs trade.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction, Biography

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2000

Reviews

[James Hartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent read.
Not really a biography of Warren, more a story of his criminal career. It's mostly a rehash of what's known in public and the closest you get to a picture or feeling for the guy are the tapescripts of his conversations.
That said, entertaining enough and a decent overview.

[The Scouse Druid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being from Liverpool I was particularly interested to read this book. As far as the reliability of the information contained in the book is concerned, it cannot be faulted. In fact, it sort of read like an official report in places and lacked the writing skills to make it ‘gripping’. I must admit that I struggled to finish it. As an historical background to the issues and reasons behind the troubles in Toxteth it is much more interesting, but that is just a small part of the book.

As far as the Cocky Watchman himself goes, I found him to be an interesting figure who is clearly very clever and charismatic. It is clear that as a youth he had a strong desire to become successful and rise above the poverty and desperation that surrounded him in Toxteth, it just a shame that he did not use his ability and brains for something more productive. Towards the end of the book we start to see how the pressure of being one of the world’s biggest drug dealers makes him paranoid resulting in him living in a safety ‘bubble’ that eventually leads to his downfall. It is such as shame that he refuses to write his own story, hearing it from his own mouth would be interesting.

I must admit, even though I do not want to, that I did feel sorry for Curtis towards the end of the book. His treatment at the hands of the Dutch judicial system has been disgusting. There seems to have been underhanded dealings between the international police squads that resulted from the desperate need to capture him that has cast a shadow over the whole case.

At the end of the day, the book is written in a journalistic style that can be boring at times and does not really provide anything more then what could be found in reading 90’s newspapers and Wikipedia.

I give it 3 stars out of 5.

[Rich Q · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written and researched but this book did not tell me anything about Curtis Warren that I couldn't find on Wikipedia. I wanted to read about the man, his motives and his desires. Despite his criminality, Warren remains an enigmatic figure who's life story and career would make a fascinating read.

[Daria Ageeva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biographies are not my usual read, however after watching a podcast that featured Peter Walsh and the stories he shared in relation to Warren, I was hooked!

This book does not disappoint and dives straight into painting a picture of Liverpool and the influence Warren has had on the drug scene! The authors have found a good balance between providing brilliantly researched information and story telling, keeping the reader in suspense, making it some what of a page turner!

The book breaks down individuals, their importance and links them with the main man himself, Curtis Warren someone who’s never truly given their version of events or has had any interviews is definitely a man to be feared yet oddly respected despite his criminal background! It’s a shame that Curtis couldn’t put his street smarts and intelligence into more favourable legal activities!

The photos added were a bonus but wish they where more in line with as the different players are introduced would allow the reader to get a sense of their character better as you read about their stories!

[A. Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF it just drags on and on, and isn't at all "gripping" as I expected. It focusses a lot on the history of Liverpool's crime and how it became such a hub for drugs, but the way this was written... it was dull, at best.

There is a good story in here somewhere, I just can't be bothered sticking around for it.

[Alistair Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an in depth and engaging read about the notorious British gangster Curtis Warren. There is loads of detailed information about his exploits but it never gets dull. You get to understand how extensive his operations were and his intelligence in running the whole operation. If you like books about criminals then I would definitely recommend this one.

[Allen Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, voice narration was good, only criticism is it is easy to get a bit lot along the way. It's interesting to learn about how many people both in law or not can be associated with Cartels. It's interesting to learn about how Liverpool came to be along with it's demographic history and how crime came into fruition in the city.

[Dave Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

All very matter of fact, with no real effort made to put much meat on the bones of the stories that are already pretty well-known, but it was something that was local to me growing up and so the nostalgia factor was there. Decent way to pass a few hours of driving.

Also shout out to the audiobook narrator who came up with some of the worst Dutch/Colombian accents ever recorded.

[JOHN A MCCARTHY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating in its detail. A gripping account of the Merseyside Drugs Trade in the 80s and 90S

I could not out this book down until I had finished it. This book is extremely well written and is obviously based on extensive and detailed research.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of this book is based on hearsay with very few referenced quotes from listed sources. For example 'one detective has said...' or 'some customs officials felt that...' There's very little insight concerning Warren himself with more emphasis put on the background and methods of the law.

[Richard Brundrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad by pool read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

I actually really enjoyed reading this book although it was an anti climax at the end. Would read again though.

[Shahrun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not believe what I was reading. What an incredable, and scary story. I would be very interested to read his story in his own words (Curtis' that is), should he ever write it. I did almost feel sorry for him by the end of the book, because of his treatment in the Dutch prison system (which did surprise me, as I always strongly feel criminals get what they desereve!)

[Lee Garner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scary book at times, right the way through it looking in to the dark world of drugs to the money made by the top of the chain.

Frightening to read what goes on in this world sometimes. Would be kind of interesting to read this in the word of him, but then again....

If you like this sort of book (true crime, gangster, drug lord) then it's a must read.

[Warwick Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting factual account, but as mentioned by other readers only the viewpoint of the authorities with the expected degree of bias and myopic narrative.
3 stars which is better than 2 and less than 4

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite an interesting one.

The story of Curtis "The Cocky Watchman" Warren, the biggest drug baron in Britain.

He's certainly a well known individual, this story details his deals and what happened to him and and his associates.

Worth a read if you're into drugs / gangs true crime.

[Johnny Bolton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put this down

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating reading from start to finish.

[Natalie Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting!!!