
Life Sentence
The Brief and Tragic Career of Baltimore’s Deadliest Gang Leader
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Narrated by:
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L.J. Ganser
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By:
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Mark Bowden
About this listen
In this unprecedented deep dive into inner-city gang life, Mark Bowden takes listeners inside a Baltimore gang, offers an in-depth portrait of its notorious leader, and chronicles the 2016 FBI investigation that landed eight gang members in prison
Sandtown is one of the deadliest neighborhoods in the world; it earned Baltimore its nickname Bodymore, Murderland, and was made notorious by David Simon’s classic HBO series “The Wire.” Drug deals dominate street corners, and ruthless, casual violence abounds.
Montana Barronette grew up in the center of it all. He was the leader of the gang “Trained to Go,” or TTG, and when he was finally arrested and sentenced to life in prison, he had been nicknamed “Baltimore’s Number One Trigger Puller.” Under Tana’s reign, TTG dominated Sandtown. After a string of murders are linked to TTG, each with dozens of witnesses too intimidated to testify, three detectives set out to put Tana in prison for life. For them, this was never about drugs: It was about serial murder.
Now an acclaimed journalist who spent his youth in the white suburbs of Baltimore, Mark Bowden returns to the city with exclusive access to the FBI files and unprecedented insight into one of the city’s deadliest gangs and its notorious leader. As he traces the rise and fall of TTG, Bowden uses wiretapped drug buys, police interviews, undercover videos, text messages, social media posts, trial transcripts, and his own ongoing conversations with Tana’s family and community to create the most in-depth account of an inner-city gang ever written.
With his signature precision and propulsive narrative, Mark Bowden positions Tana–as a boy, a gang leader, a killer, and now a prisoner–in the context of Baltimore and America, illuminating his path for what it really was: a life sentence.
©2023 Mark Bowden (P)2023 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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- Unabridged
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Author Ron Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem.
African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In the late 1800s, Harlem became a highly fashionable neighborhood.
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weak --reader is terrible!
- By Meyer Rosenbloom on 10-18-13
By: Ron Chepesiuk
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Doctor Dealer
- The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Doctor Dealer is the story of Larry Lavin, a bright, charismatic young man who rose from his working-class upbringing to win a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, earn Ivy League college and dental degrees, and buy his family a house in one of Philadelphia's most exclusive suburbs. But behind the facade of his success was a dark secret - at every step of the way he was building the foundation for a cocaine empire that would grow to generate over $60 million in annual sales.
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Awesome writing - horrible narrating
- By farmhouselady on 08-11-15
By: Mark Bowden
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Once Upon a Time in Compton
- By: Tim Brennan, Robert Ladd, Lolita Files
- Narrated by: Lolita Files
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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For 20 years, gang unit detectives Tim Brennan and Robert Ladd patrolled the streets of Compton. They witnessed the birth and rise of gangsta rap with acts they knew personally, such as N.W.A and D.J. Quik; dealt firsthand with the chaos of the L.A. riots, its aftermath, and the gang truce that followed; were involved in the investigations of the murders of hip-hop stars Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., and were major players in an all-out tug-of-war with City Hall that ultimately resulted in the permanent shut-down of the Compton Police Department.
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Horrendous narration
- By Mike C on 08-09-19
By: Tim Brennan, and others
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The Crack Era
- The Rise, Fall and Redemption of Kevin Chiles
- By: Kevin Chiles, Richard Ray Esq.
- Narrated by: Richard Ray Esq.
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The Crack Era: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of Kevin Chiles chronicles one of the most treacherous periods in New York City’s history. As told by a man The New York Times once described as, “the biggest drug lord in Harlem since Nicky Barnes”, the book lays bare the harrowing exploits of the narcotics trade Uptown during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s - a world where the lust for freebase cocaine set off a veritable gold rush that turned ghetto boys into young millionaires almost overnight.
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CUT...REDO
- By Boo Roq Nodrama on 10-26-20
By: Kevin Chiles, and others
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Rikers
- An Oral History
- By: Graham Rayman, Reuven Blau
- Narrated by: Nathan Agin, Jonathan Beville, Nancy Bober, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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What happens when you pack almost a dozen jails, bulging at the seams with society’s cast-offs, onto a spit of landfill purposefully hidden from public view? Prize-winning journalists Graham Rayman and Reuven Blau have spent two years interviewing more than 130 people comprising a broad cross section of lives touched by New York City's Rikers Island prison complex—from incarcerated people and their relatives, to officers, lawyers, and commissioners, with stories spanning the 1970s to the present day. The portrait that emerges calls into question the very nature of justice in America.
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Great book!
- By FriscoBX153 on 01-28-23
By: Graham Rayman, and others
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Sex Money Murder
- A Story of Crack, Blood, and Betrayal
- By: Jonathan Green
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on years of research and extraordinary access to former gang members, reporter Jonthan Green creates an epic character-driven narrative, drawing on first-person interviews, police reports, and court transcripts to offer a unique and engrossing work of gritty urban reportage. Magisterial in its scope, Sex Money Murder offers an extraordinary perspective on modern-day America.
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Narrator using the N word was cringe worthy
- By Bmac on 09-07-18
By: Jonathan Green
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Killing Pablo
- The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Mark Bowden
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
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Killing Pablo is the inside story of the brutal rise and violent fall of Colombian cocaine cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar. Also from Bowden: the best selling Black Hawk Down.
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Relevant Accessible History
- By Bob on 03-25-03
By: Mark Bowden
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We Own This City
- A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption
- By: Justin Fenton
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Baltimore, 2015. Riots are erupting across the city as citizens demand justice for Freddie Gray, a twenty-five-year-old Black man who has died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody. In this urgent book, award-winning investigative journalist Justin Fenton distills hundreds of interviews, thousands of court documents, and countless hours of video footage to present the definitive account of the entire scandal.
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Hard to Follow
- By Dmez on 05-17-21
By: Justin Fenton
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The Three Battles of Wanat and Other True Stories
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Including pieces from The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, this collection is Bowden at his best. The titular article, "The Three Battles of Wanat", tells the story of one of the bloodiest days in the war in Afghanistan and the extraordinary years-long fallout it generated within the United States military. In "The Killing Machines", Bowden examines the strategic, legal, and moral issues surrounding armed drones.
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War story gets bogged down in the swamp
- By Pablo Deskobar on 11-04-18
By: Mark Bowden
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The Life We Chose
- William “Big Billy” D’Elia and the Last Secrets of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Family
- By: Matt Birkbeck
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The “adopted” son of legendary organized crime boss Russell Bufalino, for decades D’Elia had unequaled access to the man the FBI and US Justice Department considered one of the leading organized crime figures in the United States. But the government had no real idea as to the breadth of Bufalino’s power and influence—or that it was Bufalino, from his bucolic home base in Pittston, Pennsylvania, who reigned over the five families in New York and other organized crime families throughout the country.
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Interesting read about mafia
- By J. Frantz on 03-12-24
By: Matt Birkbeck
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BMF
- The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family
- By: Mara Shalhoup
- Narrated by: L. Steven Taylor
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early 1990s, Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory and his brother, Terry "Southwest T", rose up from the slums of Detroit to build one of the largest cocaine empires in American history: the Black Mafia Family. They socialized with music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, did business with New York's king of bling Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo, and built allegiances with rap superstars Young Jeezy and Fabolous. Yet even as BMF was attracting celebrity attention, its crew members struck fear in a city.
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Good listen
- By Lamont on 04-20-20
By: Mara Shalhoup
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Armed with Good Intentions
- By: Wallo267, Iyanla Vanzant
- Narrated by: Wallo267
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Named after his well-respected father who disappeared when he was two, Wallo grew up in North Philadelphia with his mom, brothers, and grandmother, feeling pressure to achieve the success and reputation his father had on the streets. Wallace “Wallo267” Peeples spent twenty years in and out of the prison system before restarting his life and catapulting himself to unforeseen levels of social impact, cultural influence, and success. Now he shares his story with the trademark honesty that’s made him an inspiration to those who need it most.
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Never quit
- By Amazon Customer on 09-21-24
By: Wallo267, and others
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Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man
- By: Martin Corona, Tony Rafael
- Narrated by: Jacob Vargas
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Martin Corona, a US citizen, fell into the outlaw life at 12 and worked for a crew run by the Arellano brothers, founders of the Tijuana drug cartel that dominated the Southern California drug trade and much bloody gang warfare for decades. Corona's crew would cross into the United States from their luxurious hideout in Mexico, kill whomever needed to be killed north of the border, and return home in the afternoon. Martin Corona played a key role in the downfall of the cartel when he turned state's evidence.
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Rather Disappointing
- By Betty Von Schnuuglestein on 08-03-17
By: Martin Corona, and others
What listeners say about Life Sentence
Highly rated for:
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- Adam Striebel
- 11-10-23
Losing me
I just read Doctor Dealer from the same author. I really enjoyed it. It was long which was great too.
This book spends a tremendous time on the history of Baltimore and how blacks were treated in the past when America was founded. It’s really boring. I want to hear the story - not a history lesson.
When it does get back to the story, the narrator does a horrible job of conveying the drug slang. It’s extremely awkward, and I almost feel awkward for him.
I do like the brief mentions of my favorite show, The Wire, which also takes place in “Ballmore”.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lauren
- 01-29-24
Incredible story that desperately needs to be recast with a black voice actor!
The story is fascinating, but I can't get into it. Why use a white voice actor? I understand the author is white, so the backstory and narrative would be fine as-is, but urban dialogue and use of the "N" word read by an obviously white man is... icky and a little embarrassing at worst, distracting at best.
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- Ronnie B
- 02-07-24
The story
Liked the entire book, the narrator keep me interested. Much detailed, I would suggest reading the book
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- Jorge Padron
- 09-29-23
Loved it.
I only bought this book because I’m a huge fan of The Wire. Did not disappoint.
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- Gigi
- 07-27-24
powerful story with good detail; did not like the reader's voice
I would have preferred a black narrator; not a white man
as a narrator. it is a black story
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- Anthony
- 12-15-23
The sad life of impoverished Baltimore
The tedium of drugs and crime
was a bit much after a time. This was the reality of that existence.
However, in the explanation of this life only minimal verbiage was the terrible reality of absent fathers mentioned. No mention was made of successful people from South Baltimore calling out bad behavior and pointing to a better way.
All fault was placed on historical racism. Certainly , this is an issue but not everything.
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- Pete L
- 12-12-23
Another gem is
Amazing storytelling with explicit detail and top-notch investigative reporting. The narrator did an excellent job, keeping one’s attention. 
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- Michael George
- 09-09-24
Landsman was a crooked cop
Work with Joseph Landsman for a bit, crooked cop!!! Should have went down with the GTTF.
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- Carey Chiaia
- 06-08-23
Good book, but needs to be re-cast.
The book is good. A really nuanced and well researched story. They should re-cast the reader though. He’s not a bad reader, but given the subject matter the choice is kind of odd. There’s a lot of dialogue between young black men and an older white guy delivering it sounds really strange. Not a deal breaker but it’s a little distracting.
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4 people found this helpful
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- B. Hines
- 12-20-23
Well researched
Interesting story, having worked at shock trauma ER in Baltimore over 20 years ago, not much has changed. Maybe a tactic from Bowden book “Hunting Pablo” is the way to help curb this problem. “Los Pepe’s” in conjunction with other measures may have some kind of desired outcome. But accepting poverty and violence as being symbiotic may just be the wisest overview.
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