Almost anything can be funny, if taken in the right context, the Files (capital there) especially so. While this book doesnt and shouldnt highlight this, one still gets phrases such as "telecommunicating" instead of "phoning", etc. That can become pretty amusing beurocratese to slog through.

On the whole, the author does an excellent job of explaining in simple terms how to wade through, and understand what is being said, giving tid bits such as delete and black-out codes (when the FBI blacks out paragraphs or entire pages in order to protect living relatives, informants, agents, etc. they put a code as to why they blacked it out e.g. b7D, where b7 means "compiled for law enforcement purposes if certain enumerated adverse conditions could be reasonably expected to result from disclosure of the information." and the D is referring to an informant)

Another good book of the genre is "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been in the FBI Files?: How to Secure and Interpret Your FBI Files" by Ann Mari Buitrago, ISBN&ASIN = 0394176472

have fun. good luck.

The plot is original, and littered with attempted plot twists. What I am trying to say is that I enjoyed reading this book, and I am not upset that I spent my time reading this book, but the plot twists and revelations were as easy to anticipate as sunrise and sunset.

I am always a sucker for books dealing with a resergeance of the Nazi idology. I was surpised with how much I enjoyed this book it does a wonderful job of keeping you awake

But so what? This is a fun book. It wasn't meant to be the Bard. The characters in the trenches are likeable and the witticisms are often hilarious (they almost steal the book). The FBI doesn't get a lot of respect these days and no wonder since the general impression is the administrators care more about improving their careers than removing crime and in so doing, all too often forget good case solving technique and procedure. However this book gives hope to those of us who want to have good feelings about the FBI, that there are those agents who believe in what they're doing, not solely about career advancement.

This book stayed with me a little longer than the typical 3 books a week that I normally read. I've read Paul Lindsay's subsequent books and they're an improvement over this book in terms of character and plot development. If you like this book, then you should get the rest of them. I've asked Amazon to notify me when his next book is out.

P.S. I hope the former FBI agnt who reviewed this book (and gave it a positive review and whose reviews of other books I enjoyed), had a spell check feature on his computer when he wrote reports in his capacity as an FBI agent.

He pulls no punches when describing the shortcomings of agents and past fiascos, he names names and assigns blame. The final chapter of the book goes into detail about the previous director, William Sessions, his successes certainly, but also the abuses that he uncovered during the research of his book. His revelations led to Sessions' firing.

He describes with a great deal of detail the workings of the agency on the street level, in the field offices, and at headquarters. One gets a good look at policies, procedures, training, and special ops. But most especially, he talks about real agents, men and women who deserve our respect for the jobs they perform.! The human interest in this book is very good, making it an easy book to read, and leaving one with a sense that the FBI is in fact the greatest law enforcement agency in the world.

He has been working with contacts from this agency for years so there is some interesting inside info that will be new to the reader, but a lot of the really interesting stuff has been spelled out in an number of other books or TV programs. The book is a well written and constructed story with a good road map though the years and departments. The reader does not get lost in a jumble of department abbreviations. A good overview book that is probably what most readers are looking for.

The reason for such a low score is that I had such high hopes for this book.

What I first thought would an in-depth look at "honest agents in a failing agency" turned out to be just an exercise in "finger-pointing" and 20/20 hindsight.

Instead of investigating the deep-rooted causes of some of the ATF's problems along with some possible solutions; he blames such groups as the FBI and the NRA while calling for the abolishment of the ATF itself.

The ATF has a lot of internal as well as external problems. On occasion they have made serious mistakes in judgement that should be corrected. In my opinion, this book does nothing to aid an already embattled agency in a struggle for its very existence.

After I read the book, I donated it to my public library. I couldn't place it next to other books I own such as "Inside the CIA" or "The Puzzle Palace"

Things went downhill from there...

Lira's prose is anything but lyrical. His characters have murky motivation, his plots and subplots and sub-subplots are labyrinthine, and he relies far too much on trying to surprise the reader with a new plot twist in almost every chapter.

Worst of all, though, is his reliance on gratuitous violence as a means of filling the blank page with text. Give me a break, Gonzalo -- if you can't think of anything to write, don't write anything. Don't give me page after page of senseless violence in lieu of a plot! While you're at it, try to build a character as a whole, not as a series of disjoint parts. Your main characters are more assemblages of sterotypes and caricatures than they are descriptive of anybody we'd ever want to meet.

As a reasonably intelligent and fairly well-read consumer, I expect more from an author than Lira gave me. Even as a freshman effort, this one falls short.