|
No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels |  | Authors: Jay Dobyns, Nils Johnson-Shelton
Publisher: Crown
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $17.13
as of 11/21/2009 09:33 EST details
You Save: $8.82 (34%)
New (41) Used (21) Collectible (4) from $11.99
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 9315
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 21.6
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0307405850
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.106609791
EAN: 9780307405852
ASIN: 0307405850
Publication Date: February 10, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Features:
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Here, from Jay Dobyns, the first federal agent to infiltrate the inner circle of the outlaw Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, is the inside story of the twenty-one-month operation that almost cost him his family, his sanity, and his life.
Getting shot in the chest as a rookie agent, bartering for machine guns, throttling down the highway at 100 mph, and responding to a full-scale, bloody riot between the Hells Angels and their rivals, the Mongols–these are just a few of the high-adrenaline experiences Dobyns recounts in this action-packed, hard-to-imagine-but-true story.
Dobyns leaves no stone of his harrowing journey unturned. At runs and clubhouses, between rides and riots, Dobyns befriends bad-ass bikers, meth-fueled “old ladies,” gun fetishists, psycho-killer ex-cons, and even some of the “Filthy Few”–the elite of the Hells Angels who’ve committed extreme violence on behalf of their club. Eventually, at parties staged behind heavily armed security, he meets legendary club members such as Chuck Zito, Johnny Angel, and the godfather of all bikers, Ralph “Sonny” Barger. To blend in with them, he gets full-arm ink; to win their respect, he vows to prove himself a stone-cold killer.
Hardest of all is leading a double life, which has him torn between his devotion to his wife and children, and his pledge to become the first federal agent ever to be “fully patched” into the Angels’ near-impregnable ranks. His act is so convincing that he comes within a hairsbreadth of losing himself. Eventually, he realizes that just as he’s been infiltrating the Hells Angels, they’ve been infiltrating him. And just as they’re not all bad, he’s not all good.
Reminiscent of Donnie Brasco’s uncovering of the true Mafia, this is an eye-opening portrait of the world of bikers–the most in-depth since Hunter Thompson’s seminal work–one that fully describes the seductive lure criminal camaraderie has for men who would otherwise be powerless outsiders. Here is all the nihilism, hate, and intimidation, but also the freedom–and, yes, brotherhood–of the only truly American form of organized crime.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 50
 hard to put down! November 5, 2009
Tyler G. Wilson (Seattle, WA)
The book was great and hard to put down. The only difficult part was keeping track of all of the people in the story, but the guide in front of the book helped out with that.
NO ANGEL September 12, 2009
Ronald Devlin (Hilton Head Island, SC USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
BOOK HAS NOT BEEN READ YET BUT PURCHASE WAS CONCLUDED AS REPRESENTED, NEW CONDITION
AND TIMELY RECEIPT. THX R DEVLIN
get educated people August 30, 2009
Eva M. Fowler (hemet, ca.)
a compelling story of what one man was willing to go through to help educate the public about what is "out there" in every town, U.S.A. a must read !
 NO HONOR August 27, 2009
Tyr Shadowblade (TM) (Denver, CO)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This "expose" of the "inner workings of the HAMC" reads more like an apologia for Agent Dobyns' bad behavior during his undercover role as an outlaw biker. "That drunk girl who I carried into my motel room and spent the night with? I was only PROTECTING her from the evil Hells Angels!" "I didn't cheat on my wife with those two teenagers either." "And I certainly never used illegal substances while I was working OC -- I only PRETENDED to inhale all that weed, and those tapes you have of me tweaked out of my gourd? Well, I attribute that to Hydroxycut and Starbucks pumpkin lattes!" Pathetic.
A lot of the crimes he discusses were not committed by Hells Angels -- many were not even bikers. Do not see how that is relevant. And let us examine some of the horrible crimes he protected the public from. Well, it seems he initiated his very own "buyback" program -- bring in a junk gun worth twenty bucks, and he'll take it off the streets (he stated they were being shipped out of the country) and give you ten times what it's worth in cash. Heck, lotsa folks took him up on it. He was throwing around handfuls of taxpayer dollars not only on buying junk guns but by presenting himself as a "high roller." Then, he claims to have murdered a rival MC member in hopes of being allowed to prospect for HA. He shows them photos of a body in a ditch and hands over a bloody vest with that MC's patch on it. When everyone goes, "Damn, ain't that sumpthin, y'know we never told you to go and do this" he uses that to charge them with "conspiracy to commit homicide" -- which the jury threw out when they heard the facts.
Throughout the book he crows about what a "hero" he is, and repeatedly insults the bikers and their culture. He even goes on to say he doesn't even like motorcycles. But then he goes off on some schizophrenic tangent where he starts talking about how much he respects certain members and how he wishes he could also earn a patch.
I agree with the other reviewer that Jay Dobyns is no Billy Queen -- an ATF UC in a similar situation who actually went deep cover and joined the Mongols rather than wearing fake colors and going home on the weekends. Queen was a lot more honest about his feelings and his experiences as well. Dobyns? I don't think anyone trusts him anymore. But it seems that MANY Federal UC operations are like this . . . which is why UC work is prohibited in most civilized countries. Our tax dollars at work.
MUST READ! August 12, 2009
A. HARMS (KUNA IDAHO)
THIS BOOK IS A NO HOLDS BARRED LOOK AT LIFE UNDERCOVER. I COULD NOT BELIEVE SOME OF THE STUFF JAY GOT INTO. I KNOW I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO PULL THAT OFF. JAY REALLY SHOWS THAT HE IS THAT 1 WARRIOR OUT OF A HUNDRED SOLDIERS. NICE WORK JAY. KEEP IT UP
Showing reviews 1-5 of 50
|
|
|
-----------
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. | |
