Why a Booktrail?
1960s: The children raised by 1990s Colombia’s most dangerous drug cartels and the consequences that shape their adulthood.
Shooting Down Heaven
What you need to know before your trail
After twelve years away, Larry comes home to his native country of Colombia after his father, an old associate of Pablo Escobar, is murdered. Larry returns to collect his remains from a mass grave and give him a proper burial…but not before a reunion with his childhood friend, Pedro. Pedro picks him up at the airport to take him directly to the Alborada celebration—a popular festival where fireworks explode over Medellín, and the entire city loses its inhibitions. This is where Larry’s story really begins.
His long-awaited homecoming quickly becomes a rude awakening. The years of luxury living in bodyguard-surrounded mansions are now firmly in the past, as Larry watches his family—including his ex-beauty queen mother and troubled brother—fall deeper into depression, drug addiction, and the traps of the family business.
Faced by an uncertain reality, Larry is forced to confront his family’s turbulent history and reclaim himself from the dark remnants of a city still trying to rediscover itself. Unflinching and remarkably controlled, Jorge Franco creates a stunning portrait of a generation wounded by their parents’ mistakes
Locations
Reset- Colombia - Medellín
- A: North Station
- B: San Cristóbal
- C: Teleantioquia
- D: La Alborada
Travel Guide
Discover the dangerous legacy of Medellin’s drug lords
Larry is “the son of Libardo,” and this is one of the gangsters who works with/hangs out with to the infamous Pablo Escobar. When the man dies, Larry returns to the city where drugs and violence are rife to put things to bed. However, this is not a city which forgets or forgives.
We all think we can imagine what might happen in a city where loyalty is paid with your life, but the violence and everyday fear is something you have to read about to believe. The city is one of violence, a great sense of foreboding and the omnipresent fear that today could be your last. If you know Pablo and the drug barons and have worked with them in some way, there is no guarantee that you are safe.
The reality and fear of living in such a world is evoked with raw and visceral reality here.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Shooting Down Heaven
Destination/location: Colombia, Medellin Author/Guide: Jorge Franco Departure Time: 1960s
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