Cheap Piercing the Shields of Justice: Inside the Atf (Book) (William J. Burgess) Price

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Customer Reviews of Piercing the Shields of Justice: Inside the Atf

One of the most poorly written books I have ever read.
This might actually have been a very good book if the author had teamed up with a professional writer. Burgess gestures throughout his book at stories, issues, and viewpoints that would be interesting if clearly articulated, but the writing was so terrible and the narrative so unclear and disjointed that I found the book painful to read. It is regrettable that this is the only book available by a former ATF agent providing an inside view (such as it is) of the bureau. I must also add that the book is no longer current, and hence cannot address major changes in the ATF. This is not at all the author's fault, but it is something that should be taken into consideration for potential readers who are interested in the modern bureau.

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Rotten
Obviously the poorly-written attempt by the author to smear the agency that didn't appreciate him while trying to convince the reader he was worth appreciating. Anyone who enjoys the labourious task of slogging through dreck will have fun wiuth this one

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An poorly written account of a agent's fight against crime
In short, this book was terrible. The author wrote too much about things he should have left out and not enough about the reason why people buy this book-fighting crime as an ATF special agent. We learn about every minute conversation with every person he comes in contact with. And it is amazing how everyone speaks as if they are in a courtroom while chatting in a bar. We learn about his aching knees and buying groceries on the way home from work. Every minute detail is there, unfortunately, it does nothing for the story line. And by using a combination of the author's own words and "reading between the lines", a reader can easily see the hidden racist and misogynistic undertones in the book. The title of the book is very misleading. I thought this would be a history of the ATF, IMHO an excellent LE agency, as written by an insider. Instead, I was rewarded with a hamfisted autobiography that left much to be desired. Instead, I highly recommend "Very Special Agents" by James Moore (ISBN 0-671-57035-8) for those interested in a detailed and informative ATF history. To the author's credit, I will never deny the fact that this man dedicated his life to putting away some very dangerous people. I'm sure that he has a plethora of stories that need to be told. I just suggest that he get some help with writing his book the next time.