Dancing With Devils

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Summary: James A. and Margaret B. Bailey
Review: Dancing With Devils by Robert D. Emerson This book is a semi-autobiographical portrayal of Bob Emerson's life experiences and the influence his father, a former Chatham County, North Carolina sheriff, had on his career in law enforcement. The story echoes his exposure to austere conditions and conservative life styles during a period of temperance in a rural Southern community during the early and mid 20th century. Emerson was involved in the pursuit of criminals with his father at an early age, and in his book he reflects on how these experiences influenced his decision to pursue law enforcement as a profession. Also, Emerson provides exceptional and sometimes humorous accounts of crimes he investigated while a special agent with the Office of Naval Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The reader will gain an understanding of these agencies and their investigative roles through Emerson's detailed accounts of some fascinating cases he investigated. Anyone who is interested in law enforcement in rural America and especially in North Carolina in the 1950s and 60s would greatly enjoy reading this book.

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Summary: Interesting, first person perspective of a TRUE lawman
Review: Emerson's series of law enforcement "tales" presents an interesting weave of the inner thoughts of man who was "born" into law enforcement and made law enforcement his vocation and his passion. I was reared in Chatham County, North Carolina and grew up under the jurisdiction of the author's father, the long term Sheriff of Chatham County, John Emerson. Many stories still circulate of the integrity and ability of Sheriff Emerson. The author obviously carried the integrity and "savvy" of his father into his interesting career. The book is well written and fun to read for any person that is interested in law enforcement and stories of personal integrity. A great sequel to this book would be a similarly written biography of the author's father.

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Summary: great insights into law enforcement in another age
Review: This book gives a credible view of life in rural North Carolina in the 1940s and 1950s that influenced a young man to pursue a life of law enforcement. This autobiographical work graphically depicts young Emerson's development from a teenager following in the footsteps of his sheriff father to one of Hoover's FBI agents in the early 60s. The story is told realistically and fluidly with the author's integrity palpable on every page. I highly recommend this work to anyone interested in criminal history. It is nearly reminicent of the bildungsroman genre, as a rural teenage boy develops into a Special Agent Man. Well done.