J. Richmond

right doesn't seem to matter any more

Revisado: 10-22-23

I've read a number of books covering this same time period, and this one is hands down one of the best, if not the best. I had tremendous respect for Mr. Schiff even before reading it, and now more than ever I admire his courage in standing up for truth and decency. Both are in short order these days. I appreciate that the book is almost as much about him as it is an education about the numerous events during his tenure as a congressman. Facts are facts, and he delivers them in a methodical, prosecutor-like fashion without making the writing sound like a thesis - it felt more like a novel and held my interest from beginning to end. He gives me hope that there are still at least some people in the legislative branch of government who care about making democracy work for the betterment of our society. You should read or listen to this book.

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Behind all the talking

Revisado: 08-21-23

I was a pre-teen and teenager during the Reagan presidency, and because of my young age I wasn't processing or evening thinking about politics all that much. I listened to this book in hopes of filling in knowledge gaps - it did far more than that. The story reads like fiction, to the point where you have to remind yourself, "No, that really happened," and "Yes, that person honestly thought they were doing the right thing, and that they could get away with it." It's truly mind-blowing. Even writing this review, I'm at a loss for words to describe how dumbfounded I was by so much of the behavior, and so much of the thought process that went into justifying many of the actions described in this book.

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history repeating itself

Revisado: 08-20-23

An excellent and thorough review of the Oklahoma City terrorist attack. I read this hoping to understand more about the ties between guns and religion in the US, and how Tim McVeigh, as a human being, could have developed the mindset to take the lives of so many innocent people. Jeff does a great job of taking the reader on that sad, horrific journey.

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I'm just not feeling this one....

Revisado: 08-04-23

I’m clearly in the minority here, but I could not get into this book. It’s a seemingly random assemblage of anecdotes about delusional people, written in a stream of consciousness-style of writing that didn’t appeal to me at all. What on earth is going on with that chapter about Harry Belafonte in the beginning? Normally I’d attempt to decipher why the author would include something like this, which seems very out of place, but this book did nothing to inspire me to dig deeper. I was also expecting a more in depth exploration as to how Ashli Babbitt came to be such an angry, aggressive, and misguided person that seemingly lost all sense of reality. Before I bought the book, most of the summaries and reviews I read made it seem like the storyline was mainly about her, but in truth very little of it is about her. One of the biggest disappointments is that I failed to find any new ground - I already know more than I want to know about mega-churches with armed guards, the paranoia surrounding guns and the second amendment, the worship of Donald Trump, the crazy Charles Manson-like interpretations of Trump’s syntax in his tweets and speeches, the satanic cabal of baby eating pedophiles, etc. It’s a beatdown, at least for me. Last, I found the audio performance to be incredibly annoying - that low-volume, sinister tone that makes it seem like the narrator (who might be Jeff Sharlet himself, and if so apologies) is leading some sort of seance in a room full of cobras was way too hokey for me over long stretches of the book.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

Written like a prosecutor

Revisado: 04-06-23

I loved Hatchet Man and Untouchable was right up there with it. His experience as a prosecutor speaks volumes in his writing. There's so much strategy and critical thinking involved with building the types of cases he talks about in this book, and I really appreciate the way that Eli steps the listener/reader through the entire process. The rule of law is simply not equal among all of us, and he does an amazing job of explaining why.

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This really happened

Revisado: 04-06-23

An absolutely incredible account of this man's tenure with the SDNY. It's beyond enlightening. I couldn't stop listening to it.

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A fascinating yet brutal piece of history

Revisado: 04-06-23

Two of my uncles were in the Korean War, but I grew up knowing next-to-nothing about the conflict or the history of the 'two Koreas.' This was my intro piece, and I'm glad that this is where I started. Hampton Sides has never disappointed me with anything he has ever written, and this was no exception.

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An amazing insider's perspective of the facts

Revisado: 09-27-22

You cannot read this book, understand the facts and how they led to certain key decisions since 2016, and not be appaled by the corrosion of behavioral norms in the highest branches of our federal government. Andrew does an amazing job of explaining why we need an independent, apolitical FBI to investigate and prosecute criminals - a president who constantly meddles in and obstructs that process is a danger to us all for countless numbers of reasons. He lays this all out in plain language, and in true prosecutorial form. I highly encourage people to read this book and approach it with an open mind to better understand how the FBI conducts its work, and the painstaking lengths that these fine women and men go through to keep us all safe.

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facts laid out in plain daylight

Revisado: 08-28-22

Truly eye-opening and thought provoking on so many levels. This is your book if you're interested in facts laid out by an experienced prosecutor from inside the investigation. It's riveting. This was an excellent follow up to Eli Honig's book about Bill Barr.

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Written like a prosecutor

Revisado: 08-28-22

This was a fascinating and compelling read. Eli really brings his experience to the table here and helped me to understand key details of Barr's tenure that I wasn't able to pick up in the popular media. I highly recommend this book.

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