With Honor and Purpose: A Scorching First-Hand Account from the Front Lines of Crime

by Phil Kerby

Book Overview

The most grueling missions. The most dangerous criminals. The ultimate insider. Bank robbers. Pimps. Wise guys. Murderers...Today's FBI street agents face a never-ending parade of violence and chaos... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312972806
• ISBN13: 9780312972806
• Release Date: December 1999
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Interesting inside info

Mr. Kerby tells of many incidents during some of his active years with the FBI. He includes (true)happenings that really make it interesting. I attended the premiere of the movie Street Boss which recreates the 'capture' of Tony Jack (Giacolone), a Detroit mafia boss. Good movie, good book.

humor and honor

Written insightfully. You will find both humor and seriousness. He addresses social problems, bureau red-tape, the mob, specific investigations and more.

Interesting look at the FBI

The book is a recounting of the author's career in the FBI, from his start in the Hoover-era to the drug and gang investigations of the early 90's. I found it an interesting read. The author exposes some of the weaknesses of the FBI, particularly the bureaucratic idiosyncracies that plague the agency; at the same time, I came away with a sense of an organization that can get the job done in the field and put the 'bad guys' away despite the red tape. The book does not follow the typical autobiography format that most ex-cops use, and I for one was grateful of that. The author breaks down his career by crime types and major cases, and it maks for an easy, informative book.

The Real Thing

This is a solid account of FBI work as it really is, showing that agents are neither flawless supermen nor incompetent idiots--that they're human, in other words. Very readable, too.

Exciting! Suspensful! Real-life stories of a retired FBI

I read this book in one night; I couldn't put it down. Kerby vividly decribes the cases he personally worked on in the FBI. You wouldn't believe some of the stories!