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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Listened to this as an audiobook. Very interesting look back at a fascinating career in which Noesner developed the FBI's negotiation program and negotiated with hostage-takers during several high-profile incidents, most notably Waco. He acknowledges the mistakes made with candour (admittedly because it proves his point that negotiators - his own people - should have been and be more involved than the gung-ho tactical response teams that want to storm in and kill all the hostage-takers). Altogether, it was quite interesting, although my interest flagged a bit at some of the lesser-known incidents, especially post-Waco.
I wish there had been more explication of the kinds of negotiation tactics the FBI uses; instead, we have to more or less let the principles osmose from the stories into our brains. (Maybe Chris Voss' book would be more along these lines.) Chief principles I drew from this were: be patient, listen. Oh, and, a lot of a negotiator's career will be spent managing bruised male egos.
I wish there had been more explication of the kinds of negotiation tactics the FBI uses; instead, we have to more or less let the principles osmose from the stories into our brains. (Maybe Chris Voss' book would be more along these lines.) Chief principles I drew from this were: be patient, listen. Oh, and, a lot of a negotiator's career will be spent managing bruised male egos.
Gary Noesner has written a fascinating account of the development of the FBI’s hostage negotiation arm, and (to a lesser extent) of his own development as a negotiator. Most interesting to me was his descriptions of many of the cases he worked as a negotiator. That kind of rich description is relatively unusual, and welcome to someone like me who teaches negotiation skills. My only wish is that he would have been as descriptive about the tools and techniques of negotiation in crisis situations as he was about the chronology of events associated with those hostage situations.
Some other reviewers complained about Noesner’s self-centeredness and his seeming to excuse himself or blaming others for snafus in hostage negotiation. I can see that, and felt the same way from time to time, but I can also see his points. Yes, he sounds a little whiny, but after years of fighting an unsupportive establishment, losing lives through little fault of your own, I think I might feel a little unappreciated and self-justifying also.
All in all, though I wish there were more educational detail, this was a worthwhile read, and one I have recommended to the students in my negotiation classes.
Some other reviewers complained about Noesner’s self-centeredness and his seeming to excuse himself or blaming others for snafus in hostage negotiation. I can see that, and felt the same way from time to time, but I can also see his points. Yes, he sounds a little whiny, but after years of fighting an unsupportive establishment, losing lives through little fault of your own, I think I might feel a little unappreciated and self-justifying also.
All in all, though I wish there were more educational detail, this was a worthwhile read, and one I have recommended to the students in my negotiation classes.
I would say this book is extremely interesting, but only if you find the FBI interesting. Seeing as I do, I didn’t want to put this one down. I thought it was very interesting to hear about the author’s caseload, as he helps to develop the negotiations team in the FBI. He says he believes what he learned at a negotiator will make everyone who reads this book a better spouse, neighbor, or friend. While I don’t necessarily believe I took too many real-life lessons from this book, I was very absorbed in every detail from cover to cover.
I actually put this book on my reading list after watching Waco on Netflix and it delivered!!
I actually put this book on my reading list after watching Waco on Netflix and it delivered!!
I just wanted to read this because I was really interested in the Waco case.
"So technically f*** the feds" - Joshua Dial, Joe Exotic's campaign manager, from Tiger King
"So technically f*** the feds" - Joshua Dial, Joe Exotic's campaign manager, from Tiger King
I originally picked up this book after watching the Waco miniseries on Netflix. Noesner gives a lot of details about his career as a negotiator in various hostage situations which were interesting, but the book started to drag a little towards the end. I understand this was a memoir, but there were times the book seemed to say "look at me! look at me! I'm right, and you're wrong" when Noesner spoke of his tactics or things the organization should've done according to his expertise. All in all, the book was interesting but not in my top 5 of memoirs I've read.
It turns out that being a negotiator is kinda boring. I have enjoyed reading books by FBI profilers so I thought this might be similar. It's similar in the sense that a certain type of person is drawn to working for the FBI but the jobs themselves - negotiating and profiling serial killers - are pretty different.
With the rise of suicide bombers and mass shooters, the taking of hostages has become more rare. Most of the cases he worked on were prison riots, stupid extreme right-wingers holed up protesting the government and foreign kidnappings. That was a surprise to me, that it was the FBI who worked those cases and not the CIA.
There is a lot of tension between the negotiator team and the SWAT team, which doesn't seem surprising. Noesner makes a compelling argument that if the negotiating team had been put in charge instead of tactical, the fiascos of Ruby Ridge and Waco wouldn't have happened.
As someone interested in reading about crime and law enforcement, this book was ok. Definitely a pass if you don't have a lot of interest already in the topic.
With the rise of suicide bombers and mass shooters, the taking of hostages has become more rare. Most of the cases he worked on were prison riots, stupid extreme right-wingers holed up protesting the government and foreign kidnappings. That was a surprise to me, that it was the FBI who worked those cases and not the CIA.
There is a lot of tension between the negotiator team and the SWAT team, which doesn't seem surprising. Noesner makes a compelling argument that if the negotiating team had been put in charge instead of tactical, the fiascos of Ruby Ridge and Waco wouldn't have happened.
As someone interested in reading about crime and law enforcement, this book was ok. Definitely a pass if you don't have a lot of interest already in the topic.
An interesting and informative book written in a very flat, dull way.
I do feel the need to highlight this quote from the book, a fact I learned in graduate school. "The psychological makeup of traditional law enforcement officers tends to include a fair amount of classic controlling behavior, though they may not be self-aware enough to realize it on any conscious level. That typical law enforcement profile can also include a fair amount of arrogance."
I do feel the need to highlight this quote from the book, a fact I learned in graduate school. "The psychological makeup of traditional law enforcement officers tends to include a fair amount of classic controlling behavior, though they may not be self-aware enough to realize it on any conscious level. That typical law enforcement profile can also include a fair amount of arrogance."
Very interesting perspective.
I wanted to read about the “other” side of Waco (and it is an opposite view) but there’s a lot of cases that are really interesting and high profile.
I wanted to read about the “other” side of Waco (and it is an opposite view) but there’s a lot of cases that are really interesting and high profile.