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jlmb 's review for:
Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator
by Gary Noesner
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.