Doctor Dealer

The Rise and Fall of an All-American Boy and His Multimillion-Dollar Cocaine Empire

By: Mark Bowden

Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak

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. Award-winning journalist Mark Bowden tells the saga of Lavin's rise and fall with the gripping, novelistic narrative style that won him international acclaim as the author of the New York Times best-seller Black Hawk Down.

©1987 Mark Bowden. Afterword copyright 2001 by Mark Bowden. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible Inc.

So intelligent

This was a great book he was so positive I think it would’ve worked out better had he not went on the run.

Where is the editor!

Very redundant with descriptions. Many details unnecessary. Quite a few pages could have been cut without losing the story.

3rd TIME BETTER THAN 1ST

Mark Bowden characterized, and depicted Larry Lavin as one of the many amiable, professional entrepreneurs many of us want to emulate one day; whether ones path be legitimacy or illegitimacy, perhaps both- To read the story of Mr Lavin is true pleasure, while easily relating to not only his character/personality but that of his peers, associates, and fellow drug dealers who all make this entertaining saga of riches living high, inclusive of the ups & downs associated with the aforementioned risk with drugs. A semi Wolf Of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort persona is exuded in lavish things in life, while having an out more than one occasion, Unfortunately greed cannot continue to persevere in the lifestyle chosen by Larry Lavin in this book, and Bowden rocked it out as he did in writing Killing Pablo, only this lesser known story Trumped that in my opinion. Well written, easy to form characters cations based on Bowdens attention to detail & seamless portrayal of the story in addition to the setting, history, and overall tone....Only question: WHERE IS THE SCREENPLAY!

By Far the Worst Dialogue Narration I've Heard

I can't even review the book because the narrator stood out like a painful, weeping wound. He's one of those narrators who changes his voice when reading the dialogue of each character... and he is absolutely abysmal at it. With any bit of dialogue the book itself takes an instant nosedive and becomes intolerable. It's like being trapped at a party or in a bar with someone extremely drunk trying to do cartoon voices . . . for hours on end.

Terrible narration

This story is fantastically interesting and Mark Bowden does a good job of telling it though for a book published in 2020 there are times some of the language and attitudes make you feel like it’s the 1980’s again. The narration is absolutely awful. The voice affectations are just bad. Presumably the narrator is attempting a New England accent for the main character but he fails, miserably, and just sounds… bad. It’s disappointing and distracting from the story.