Turning the Tide: One Man Against the Medellin Cartel

Man, I couldn't put it down, what a good read! Plus truly a fascinating story, and what makes it even better, is that it's a true story. I've become a big fan of this writer. I've read his other books The Revenge of Thomas Eakins, Lord of Sipan and Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet and I can't decide which is my favorite. But this once is certainly riveting.

Reading this book, I was absolutely captivated and riveted at the exploits of one Carlos Lehder-Rivas and a certain Professor Novack. Lehder was a young, fanatically ambitious Columbian national with a German surname who took the four mile island of Norman's Cay in the Bahamas by storm, using it as his base of operations for his once thriving cocaine business. Novack was equally captivated by the island, but for different reasons. Novack was a professor of marine biology in New York and was taken with island's great potential for studying and researching marine biology, most notably the study of the rare and deadly hammerhead sharks. Norman's was a fertile ground for establishing a research center and place to share ideas about the mysteries of marine biology, or so Novack envisioned. However, his dreams were not to come true, as Lehder assumed a Dr. No like figure, as in the 1962 James Bond film of the same name. Lehder ran the island like an armed camp with his German bodyguards and guerilla warfare type justice; thereby opposing and ousting anyone who tried to intervene or who merely came to visit the island. Even homeowners with a perfect right to be there were kicked out of this draconian microcosmic world of corruption, with the brief exception of Novack. Novack came to the island with his dream in mind and instead, found himself in the middle of what was once, in the late 1970's a huge and lucrative cocaine dealing operation headed by Lehder and Ed Ward, another American resident and business partner of Lehder. Novack is the focus of the story and we see how his concern for what was happening overtook him and he became an informant for the DEA. I really have to admire this man's bravery, though some may see it as obstinance to get at the bottom of what was going on on Norman's Cay. Novack's fierce and undying determination to boot Lehder and his cronies off the island led eventually to Lehder being sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for his cocaine endeavors. This is the most fascinating and riveting book I have read in recent memory, and Novack's amazing courage is truly inspiring.

Great book - an easy read - fast moving - You cannot put it down. If you like politics, romance , water, and airplanes, this is the book for you. The ending is a little weak on what happened to Ledher-Rivas. He was convicted and sent to jail, but apparently he is free now after cutting a deal with the Justice Dept in 1996. This after a conviction to 155 year in prison.

This is an astounding story of Mr. Richard Novak and his involvement in bringing down the cocaine empire of Carlos Ledher. Reading about what he (Novak) went through and overcame is an inspiring story for anyone to read. Unfortuneately, Mr. Novak passed away in January 1997, I was deeply saddened by the loss, mostly because I never got to ask him to tell me the complete story (In this book some details are left out and some are exaggerated). This book is well written and easy to understand, even though it sometimes portrays Novak as an unlikeable character (which was completely the opposite in real life).

I grew up cruising on a sailboat in the Bahamas with my dad and remember Norman's key before and after Carlos. I find that it is a real shame that the island is in ruins now when it was once so prosperous. It's too bad that after Carlos was brought down, they couldn't have saved the island's beautiful houses. It's quite a mess now, everything has been picked over and trashed. I find that this book really makes the island come alive. You can walk on the island today after reading the book and picture what it was like back then. It's fascinating and a shame that there were ever drugs involved with such a beautiful island.