Dana Ridenour is a retired FBI agent and the author of three FBI undercover novels: Behind The Mask, Beyond The Cabin, and Below The Radar.At CrimeReads she tagged five of the best books about working undercover, including:
No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns and Nils Johnson-SheltonRead about the other entries on the list.
Jay Dobyns worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for twenty-seven years. He was the first federal agent to infiltrate the inner circle of the outlaw Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. In his memoir,Dobyns discusses the 21-month operation that almost cost him his family, his sanity, and his life. Dobyns doesn’t hold back when he describes the pain and despair of living a double life. His intimate prospective reveals to readers the psychological impact of undercover work. I related to the pain that Dobyns experienced from being separated from his wife and children for such a lengthy and dangerous assignment This is where fiction and nonfiction differs when it comes to books about undercover work. Works of fiction rarely show the true impact that undercover work has on an agent or officer. This is one of the reasons why I chose to write my first novel. I wanted to show the psychological toll that a long-term undercover investigation has on an agent. Dobyns’s harrowing first-person account illustrates the psychological trauma of working dangerous undercover missions and gives readers a fascinating look inside the inner circle of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
--Marshal Zeringue
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