A kind of sensationalistic kind of interesting novel of Brazilian street kid who goes on to become a drug lord of his favela before losing it all to betrayal, hubris and paranoia. Not a particularly new take on the story of the drug dealer (i.e. basically Scarface in Sao Paolo) but interesting none the less for the local detail on live in the poorest neighborhoods of Brazil.

Melo appears to know the world she describes, and the style of book (it devoid of standard reference points for changes in narrator, dialogue, etc) is interesting, just not interesting enough to overcome what for me felt like a clichéd plot.

Not recommended.