Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: This was a great read, cover to cover. Bernard Kerik really shows all that he has gone through in his personal as well as his professional life to make it to the top of the NYPD. Just seeing the number of constant uphill battles that he went through was amazing. No doubt about it, just one great read....
Rating:
Summary: My review of The Lost Son
Review: I enjoyed reading about Bernard Kerik's life and accomplishments. He had a rough start being abandoned by his alcoholic prostitute mother at age 4. It was really touching to read about how Bernard Kerik learned about his mother who died at age 34. Bernard Kerik dropped out of high school at 16 when it was predicted by his principal that he would be nothing but a vegetable. Kerik began his law enforcement career as a military policeman in Korea in the Army. He studied and excelled in the martial art of Tai Kwon Do. His martial arts traning paid off as he later trained a Delta Force fighting group of soldiers. Kerik later became a New York City police officer where he seized tons of cocaine off the streets in the late 80s. Overall crime in New York reduced by 63 percent in 10 years There were 2,245 cases of murder in 1990 and 671 cases in 2000 mostly under the leadership of Mayor Giuliani and the efforts of cops like Bernard Kerik. He later became head of corrections of notorious Rikers jail where he reduced the number of assaults by inmates from 1,200 to 12 in just 1 year. The events of September 11th are talked about in this book. Kerik talks the courage, compassion, and dedication of the people who risked and lost their lives that day. These are qualities that Bernard Kerik has shown all his life. This is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: A True Warrior
Review: Bernie Kerik has many lessons to teach us in this revealing autobiography, but what impresses me most is his fundamental honesty and integrity. He is a true warrior who has my respect for what he has had to overcome in order to achieve the highest position in the NYPD.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating and inspiring story !
Review: I bought the book right after it came out and started reading it immediately. I hardly was able to stop reading it until I was finished one night at 4 a.m.
It is an incredibly gripping and inspiring story of a good man who has overcome many obstacles to reach his goals and be able dedicate himself to what he believes in. He is open and honest about the negative things in his life and that makes this book so interesting. This book inspires it's readers to follow your dreams and do the right thing even if at times it looks impossible to reach your goals. Bernard Kerik is wonderful living proof that academics are not important if you use common sense and are not afraid to do things that may even seem unpopular at the time, because you believe in them and ultimately they lead to success. He is also not afraid to admit that he had to learn his trade, I really enjoyed the part in the book where he describes the first time he had to make a drug deal as an undercover cop, but wasn't familiar with the lingo in the scene.
The book also shows a side of Bernard Kerik that is normally not visible to the public: that of an emotional, caring man who has found the right balance between professional amibition and the needs and feelings of the people around him. He has not forgotten where he came from and that he had to work his way up, and he shows it by constantly recognizing other people's accomplishments and praising them for that. If there were more men like Bernard Kerik in this world we would not be at the point we are now. New York has been blessed to have him be there for us when we most needed it and he will be greatly missed.
I would really like to encourage everyone to read this book, not only if you are interested in biographies, but also if you are in search for inspiration and motivation. The way he writes this book makes it all very human and you can relate to the feelings he describes. It is the best book of this kind I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Very fast-reading and informative. Tells the story beautifully. Never knew what this man has gone through in his incredible life. A must-read!!
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read!
Review: Being a third year university student, I've had to read a lot of books in my time let me tell ya, but this is, by far, the best story I've ever set my eyes upon in my entire life. I ordered it just prior to Christmas and had plans of finishing it sometime in the New Year. In my dreams...when it was first placed in my hands I read the forward and a bit more, then a bit more and a little more and the day after I got it, I'd finished it from cover to cover. I simply could not put it down. If I wasn't eating, sleeping or in the shower, I was reading Bernard Kerik's book. My curiosity about him and his life came as a result of my long-term interest in American law enforcement...long before September 11, 2001. Nevertheless, the immensely tragic and devastating events of that day and the subsequent resolve, courage and steadfastness with which he conducted himself only perpetuated and enhanced that interest. This story is written in the most straight-forward and honest way possible almost as though Mr. Kerik is standing right in front of you talking to you. What an unbelievable story written by a truly remarkable human being. The world is a better place because of people like this man and those who worked, and continue to work, with him. On behalf of your many, many Australians fans Mr. Kerik, congratulations on everything you've achieved in your distinguished career and I wish you and your family all the very best in the coming years!!
Rating: 
Summary: Location, Location, Location
Review: Mr. Kerick writes of the trouble waiting at the doorstep for both Bernard and his younger half-brother Donald. Why didn't his parents see the light, and move out of that area? With a bit of effort on the parent's part, they could have re-located to some form of low-income housing in a suitable suburb/town. Kids are influenced by their peers. It was the parent's fault for not getting the "hell" out of that area. Just another case of under-educated, ill-informed parents.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty Portrait of an Outstanding, No-Nonsense Leader!
Review: Caution: This book contains a lot of coarse and vulgar language and subjects. The purpose seems to be to provide honest texture about Mr. Kerik's life, rather than to provide shock value. Unless such things are very offensive to you, you will probably be able to look past them to the underlying story. I delayed reading this book because the publicity about it was somewhat misleading to me. I thought that the book would simply capture the story of another outstanding police leader. Fine, but I don't normally think of police leaders as ranking among the great leaders. Was I ever wrong! I wish I had read this book when it first came out. I intend to read it again . . . and again! I found this book to be one of the most inspiring and moving autobiographies that I have ever read. Mr. Kerik is the real life version of the sort of dedicated crime fighter that the movies love to create out of their imaginations. His story makes even The French Connection pale for me.
"You will read about true everyday heroes." That statement is profoundly true about this book. First, Mr. Kerik is clearly such a hero. Second, he has also worked with a lot of heroes and describes a lot of them. Third, as a leader, Mr. Kerik also takes great pleasure in finding and honoring heroes. Those three perspectives permeate every page. The book has three primary story lines. The main one is how a tough kid who dropped out of high school found his way to become the 40th Police Commissioner of New York City. A secondary one is his search for his roots, which reveal some pretty daunting facts that he handles very well. The third one is added at the end, which is to describe the events of September 11th from the perspective of trying to direct the police response from the scene near the World Trade Center. Any one of these story lines would have made this an outstanding book. Mr. Kerik's character has many unusual qualities. Although he is a person with little formal education, he is very interested in learning and applying new and better ways of doing things. With his talent, he could have made a lot of money doing things other than being a New York City police officer. But he wanted the challenge the job brings. Some of the roles he has taken on (such as running Rikers Island) would have been too much for almost anyone else. Yet he could look past the problems to focus on the important values of treating those who work and are imprisoned there with dignity, safety, humanity and fairness. In addition, he has lots of courage. He played undercover roles in the drug trade that could have cost him his life on almost any day. Perhaps the most appealing of his qualities is that he doesn't see any of this as being very special, and goes out of his way to point out others who did more. Although it would be a joy to share with you all of the things I found remarkable about Mr. Kerik in this book, you'll enjoy discovering them for yourself by reading his words more than if I interpret them for you. Where do you have a passion to do the right thing? Are you pursuing that passion? If not, how could you? Turn loose all of your creativity and energy to accomplish something important . . . for all of us . . . and for yourself!
Rating:
Summary: The best book I have read in years...
Review: I loved this book-a story that demonstrates that it's not where you come from but how you use your unique talents. Mr. Kerik proves that you have to love what you do to achieve extraordinary things. He didn't care about the money, only that he loved his work. He also demanded excellence of himself and those around him and accomplished more in a few years than others do in a lifetime. There are so many great lessons in this book. I will look forward to seeing what Mr. Kerik does next. Something tells me that his best is yet to come. If your career is just kind of dragging along, awash in mediocrity, you better buy this book. If Kerik's intensity doesn't fire you up-you better check your pulse!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute page turner...
Review: Everytime I saw Bernard Kerik on the news after the 9/11 attacks, I often wondered about this man who stood next to Mayor Guliani. He seemed to be a man of great reserve and of so few words, but what few he did speak, WOW! Commissioner Kerik is definitely not a man to stand in the shadows, when something needs to be said, it is.
There are so many things about him that I've learned and I hold him in great respect. Here is a man who had the odds of succeeding tipped against him, yet he overcame many obstacles to become one of the best Commissioners in history. His life started with a very sad and lonely childhood, being "saved" by his father, to being rebellious and dropping out of High School. Not one person in his life at the time ever thought that he would make something of himself and it was a long and hard road he travelled to prove himself otherwise. He is a highly intelligent man with a facinating thought process. Not only does his book go from describing what he could piece together about his childhood, it also goes on to telling us about certain high and low points in his life. Each chapter is a profound experience and he starts by telling us about the present and then works his way back to how that particular event started. In all this is a wonderful read and you'll learn a lot about a man who on television seems "mysterious", yet one who has a sensitive side to him, and yes he does cry. Read this, you will not be able to put this one down!
| 
