Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but an FBI rah-rah
Review: Engrossing, especially if you like "tactical" literature and detail from behind the scenes. Surprisingly literate writing for a black-helicopter kind of guy. Caveat: Whitcomb is an unabashed cheerleader for the FBI, so some of his opinions should be taken with a small grain of salt.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating
Review: I read this book in 2 days and found it well written and captivating. I don't normally read non-fiction but glad I made an exception. Chris W. does an excellant job of describing the world of an FBI agent from his perspective. It reminded me that real people work in those jobs. I will have a different and more positive outlook when I see the FBI on TV.
Rating:
Summary: cold zero
Review: i could not put the book down i even read it twice, and i can wait for the next book. mr. whitcomb wrote in a way,that made you feel that you was with him looking into the scope. super job.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible
Review: In many ways, gentle reader, this is a very compelling story. I admire the authors transformation from dull speech writer to sniper. His early days at the FBI, from first arrests to the Waco disaster are enjoyable, interesting and occassionally amusing. Much of the book is devoted to his before and after HRT experinces, so don't be disappointed if you expect it all to be counter sniper action. The insight into training, his early days with the FBI, and sudden return to a desk make for a compelling personal story.However, when one reads his accounts of Ruby Ridge and Waco anyone who thinks about what he says cannot help but be appalled by his mindset and attitude. For example, at one part he sees David Koresh through his sights, and his expressed desire is to shoot him and "end the siege". Great. Suddenly he is judge, jury and executioner. Its nice to know the FBI think that they can totally ignore due process and decide who lives and dies. He is critises the negiotators who were trying to end the siege and clearly favored an all out assault- and he did not even consider the possibilty of a peaceful resolution. The book gets worse after that. He seems upset that journalists and the public DARE to quaery the way the operation was carried out and that one of the team may face charges as a result of Ruby Ridge. So , in other words, the HRT cannot have their actions checked and scrutinised by the public and the Courts as dies and should every Law Enforcement Organisation. Given that the enormous disasters at Ruby Ridge and Waco one should not be surprised, but much of the tone of the text is petulent. I would have thought that as a professional in every respect he would have had the courage to accept that his actions could and should be critised. Instead, he describes the anger the team felt when they were put under the spotlight. Another example- he was not surprised or appalled by the Rule of Engagment at Ruby Ridge that allowed "any male carrying a firearm " to be shot, whether they were a threat or not. I would have thought that he would have been aware that the FBI, like every other Law Enforcement Agency in the civilised world just cant shoot people when they feel like it- it has to be self defence. In the finish, this petulant arrogance ruined what could have been a great amd interesting story. Not recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A compelling and erudite autobiography
Review: This is a rousing good tale of a private school teacher of Elizabethan literature who, improbably, sets out to become a front line sniper for the Hostage Rescue Team of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In this autobiography, Chris Whitcomb looms large in crime literature because of his evolved writing ability, but truly this book exceeds its intended story, it is a journey of a man to patriotism, and then cynicism, and then back again, a trip many of us are presently making. Our journey with this author begins at the Quantico Virginia FBI Academy where every step of a candidate's behavior and past is analyzed and quantified, any deviations from an exacting norm and one is shown the road, and many are. We experience the regimen, the abuse, the worries, the tests, the guns, as well as the pranks and the anxiety of the candidates as they seek to fit in. Our guy makes the cut and is sent out to his first assignment in Missouri where some good ole country agents have a sour take on this stiff New England schoolteacher. A reader chuckles knowingly as Whitcomb weathers the ritual abuse dished out to new guys: in a first day armed stand-off his supervisor orders him to 'reholster that weapon and go sit behind that tire.' They send the earnest learner off to build a case against some hillbilly bank robbers that have repeatedly evaded the slammer, so well written are these vignettes that the scenes, characters and accents pop off the page as we become emotionally involved in all the players. Having proved himself in the field he is assigned to the Marine Sniper School where again he shows himself worthy at an extreme level of mental and physical fitness, able to weather no sleep, no food, and no movement for days and days, lying still and waiting for that perfect shot, the Cold Zero. Other candidates drop like dead leaves but Whitcomb rises to the task, makes the grade and joins the elite anti-terrorist Hostage Rescue Team. From there the story darkens as we move to the early morning mist in the sylvan outback of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, where his team corners a family involved in the murder of a Federal Marshal. They are ordered to 'shoot anyone holding a weapon,' and then abandoned by the Washington bureaucracy when they do precisely that, and then dished up as villains to the national press. Whitcomb's patriotism flickers at this point but is nearly extinguished in the flames of David Koresh's Mt. Carmel, an escalating confrontation that he describes like a slow moving train wreck, ending with the death of fifty children. Our protagonist sat in a garage for endless weeks with Koresh in his sights, he could have split him in a Remington nanosecond had he been given the order, instructions which never came from a confused and disorderly justice department. Whitcomb's guilt ridden behavior after this is so self destructive and painful to read that one wonders how he was able to finish the book since he was about to kill himself on every page. The gloom lifts when he is sent on foreign assignments first taking us to the loony world of Arafat's Palestine and then to the erie killing fields of Milosevic's Albanian massacre. It is while exhuming the bodies of this late 20th Century genocide in order to gather evidence that he rediscovers the goodness of America and has his patriotism restored. A great read, highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great look at the power & responsiblity of HRT
Review: This book contains alot of information. It contains first hand accounts of events at Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Peurto Rico in the 90s. It does not sugar coat anything, nor does Whitcomb try to present anything other than exactly what he saw when he was there. You also get a feel for how mistakes can happen, how the HRT and men putting their lives on the line were out of touch with the negotiators, and how that lack of communication between teams in the FBI was part of the problem that caused the deadly escalation at Ruby Ridge and Waco, rather than any conspiracy. He also goes into detail on his application and training at Quantico, which is good for anyone interested in the FBI. This book was published a little over a year ago, so you see the changes that were taking place (and other books by FBI agents I've read contain the same information on Louis Freeh and the positive changes in the latter 90s). This book is what finally made up my mind and motivated me to apply to the FBI as well.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: Very well written book. I just couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Action, Training, Teamwork...Results! It's All Here.
Review: This book was simply great. Special Agent Whitcomb did a superb job. The action kept me on the edge of my seat. The humor was perfect and kept the story moving as well as rounding out some of the people that Mr. Whitcomb worked with (or had to put up with). The descriptions of HRT's duties overseas (especially Kosovo) were particularly disturbing. If you have a chance to read this book-DO IT! It is a classic along with other titles such as ROGUE WARRIOR, THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE, GOOD TO GO and ZEN IN THE MARTIAL ARTS.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed!
Review: I enjoyed the storyline completely except I felt like the author jumped around a little too much (should stick with the subject in each chapter!). But overall I couldn't put the book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Clueless
Review: Mr. Whitcomb doesn't have a clue--poor situation for a "feebie." I'm a deputy sheriff, so his subject is familiar. His writing style doesn't matter near as much as his attitude, which is so typical of the FBI (street cops say the B stands for Bumbling.) Ruby Ridge, Waco, Atlanta, the lab screwups, "filegate," the spy scandals, etc. It goes on and on.
It's interesting that Mr. Whitcomb always calls the low-end Ruger Mini-14 an "assault weapon" while his own fully automatic M-16 is just a "rifle." It's even more interesting that after the fiasco at Ruby Ridge, he says he didn't ever discuss the shooting with "Hooch", Agent Horiuchi, who killed Mrs. Weaver with her baby in her arms. If that's true, it must be because Whitcom didn't want to know the facts. Beyond that, he expressed hardly any concern about the new rules of engagement in Idaho, which were unknown in law enforcement operations: basically kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out. That's for the ARMY, not the cops! Nobody on my department could get away with that. Nobody.
You readers who still think that HRT is there to protect you need to look at the facts. One of the facts that Whitcomb left out is that the US government paid the surviving Weavers over $3 million. Wonder why?
What makes street cops so angry is typical FBI arrogance. It has caused serious trouble with the public that we're trying to work for, who doubt all policemens ability and judgment because of the feds and their unending series of screwups and headline grabbing. Our job is hard enough as it is.
Think about it.
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