Synopses & Reviews
The page-turning, inside account of how three kids from Florida became big-time weapons tradersand#8212;and how the US government turned on them.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;In January of 2007, three young stoners from Miami Beach won a $300 million Department of Defense contract to supply ammunition to the Afghanistan military. Incredibly, instead of fulfilling the order with high-quality arms, Efraim Diveroli, David Packouz, and Alex Podrizkiand#8212;the dudesand#8212;bought cheap Communist-style surplus ammunition from Balkan gunrunners. The dudes then secretly repackaged millions of rounds of shoddy Chinese ammunition and shipped it to Kabuland#8212;until they were caught by Pentagon investigators and the scandal turned up on the front page of andlt;Iandgt;Theandlt;/Iandgt; andlt;Iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/Iandgt;.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Thatand#8217;s the and#8220;officialand#8221; story. The truth is far more explosive. For the first time, journalist Guy Lawson tells the thrilling true tale. Itand#8217;s a trip that goes from a dive apartment in Miami Beach to mountain caves in Albania, the corridors of power in Washington, and the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Lawsonand#8217;s account includes a shady Swiss gunrunner, Russian arms dealers, corrupt Albanian gangsters, and a Pentagon investigation that impeded Americaand#8217;s war efforts in Afghanistan. Lawson exposes the mysterious and murky world of global arms dealing, showing how the American military came to use private contractors like Diveroli, Packouz, and Podrizki as middlemen to secure weapons from illegal arms dealersand#8212;the same men who sell guns to dictators, warlords, and drug traffickers.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;This is a story you were never meant to read.
Review
and#8220;Like the best stories about rogues, con artists and scammers, the magic is in the details. Guy Lawson's, Arms and Dudes, misses nothing. He gets it all.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;This is one of those books that, God help us, shouldnand#8217;t be trueand#8212;but is. US governmental bungling, war in Afghanistan going awry, foreign hustlers making millions out of bilking heroic soldiers, and in the middle of it all are two barely post-teenager dopers fumbling their way into and out of the highest level of the sleazy arms business. Guy Lawson tells the disturbing story brilliantly. Youand#8217;ll cringe, youand#8217;ll want to look away (a lot), but you wonand#8217;t be able to stop turning the pages."
Review
and#8220;Guy Lawsonand#8217;s Arms and the Dudes is a triumph of investigative reporting and storytelling. This book is a mind-blowing account of how two kids turned themselves into some of the worldand#8217;s biggest weapons dealers in the chaotic years of the Iraq war. I couldnand#8217;t put it down. If it were on the fiction shelf, the rollicking, riveting tale told within these pages would seem wildly implausible. But itand#8217;s not.and#8221;
Review
"This improbable true story tracks three South Florida slackers as they navigate the dangerous world of international arms dealers while ripping off the U.S. Department of Defense for a cool $300 million. It's the perfect beach reading for smart fathers everywhere."
Review
"Lawson's eye for detail and research are commendable...details the backroom machinations, corruption, red tape, and intrigue that go along with high-stakes arms deals."
Review
"[A] rollicking yarn...An eye-opener and an excellent job of reporting and writing."
Review
"Picture three twenty something dudes with little to no experience and a $300M arms contract with the US government. What could possibly go wrong?... Lawson does a great job weaving the stories together with a broader perspective on the war in Afghanistan and a government rife with incompetency...Verdict: Thrilling."
Review
and#8220;A wildly entertaining saga with dual narratives. The first involves blackmail, criminals, hustlers, corrupt government officials, and three kids in way over their heads. The other, and for Lawson more important, side of the story, concerns how the Pentagon came to use private contractors like the dudes as proxiesand#8212;and eventual fall guysand#8212;to secure weapons from gray market arms dealers, the only people who could supply what it needed.and#8221;
Review
"Extraordinary--a hell of a read."
Review
"It's a phenomenal book...I couldn't put it down."
Review
and#8220;Fascinatingand#8230;the reporting is incredible."
Review
"A stunning story."
Review
and#8220;It sounds like a comedy flick: Three stoners with few qualifications set out to become big-time international arms dealers. They start bidding on, and landing, Pentagon contracts. They outfox savvy international conglomerates, scoring a $300 million deal to supply mortar rounds, grenades, rockets, and 100 million rounds of AK-47 ammo to the Afghan military. As if that werenand#8217;t audacious enough, they secretly (illegally) fulfill the order with low-grade, decades- old Chinese ammoand#8212;and then things really get crazy. andlt;i andgt;Arms and the Dudesandlt;/iandgt; includes mafiosi, hustlers, Kyrgyz secret police, blackmail, transnational grudges, and a shocking indictment of how America became the globeand#8217;s leading arms dealer. Journalist Guy Lawsonand#8217;s latest may be nonfiction, but itand#8217;s bloody entertaining.and#8221;
Review
"Itand#8217;s like page-turning fiction, but 100-percent true...More than a few Wall Streeters I know have started to read this one."
Review
and#8220;A thrilling account of the stonersand#8217; quick ascent into the gunrunning world and their eventual fall from the Defense Departmentand#8217;s gracesand#8230;provides valuable insights into the Pentagonand#8217;s failures to keep watch over private contractors engaged in arms transfers to Afghanistan and Iraqand#8230;[Lawson] uses compelling prose to provide a rare window into the gunrunning and arms-procurement world and#8212; and, even better, a gripping read.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Fun, fast-paced, ironic, the reportage seems solid and the facts straightand#8230;. Lawsonand#8217;s book is ridiculously readable, well written, and hard to put down.and#8221;
Review
"andlt;Iandgt;Arms and the Dudesandlt;/Iandgt; tells a great story... Lawson offers readers a fun new take on a moral as old as time: When you fly too close to the sun, you end up on the ground."andlt;BRandgt; andlt;u5:pandgt;andlt;/u5:pandgt;andlt;u5:pandgt;andlt;/u5:pandgt;
Review
and#8220;The book unfolds like a Hollywood movie project that requires no green light, only castingand#8230; The developments are so unbelievable that a writer less skilled than Lawson would have still written a compelling book. Instead, the reporter, whose first version was published in andlt;iandgt;Rolling Stoneandlt;/iandgt; in 2011, fills in context. andlt;iandgt;Arms and the Dudesandlt;/iandgt; is as much about the collapse of American accountability in Iraq during the late and#8217;00s as it is about the dudes.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;u5:pandgt;andlt;/u5:pandgt;andlt;u5:pandgt;andlt;/u5:pandgt;
Review
and#8220;Guy Lawson has done a miraculous joband#8230;a glorious piece of investigative journalismand#8230; No oneand#8217;s clever and#8216;what if,and#8217; this is a well-researched exposand#233; of government and law gone wild. Intricately detailed and expertly paced, Mr. Lawsonand#8217;s cautionary tale should lead to corrective action. Meanwhile, it is delightfully disturbing reading.and#8221;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;u5:pandgt;andlt;/u5:pandgt;andlt;u5:pandgt;andlt;/u5:pandgt;
About the Author
Guy Lawson is a andlt;iandgt;New York Times andlt;/iandgt;bestselling author and award-winning investigative journalist whose articles on war, crime, culture, and law have appeared in andlt;iandgt;Theandlt;/iandgt; andlt;iandgt;New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, GQ, Harperandlt;/iandgt;andlt;iandgt;andrsquo;andlt;/iandgt;andlt;iandgt;sandlt;/iandgt; andlt;iandgt;Magazineandlt;/iandgt;, and many other publications.