Hot Shots and Heavy Hits

May 1, 2004
In this memoir on life as an agent in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Doyle has written a riveting account of the day-to-day activities of an undercover drug agent. Doyle recounts his work in the 1970s on the streets of Boston. After serving in the military in Korea, he heard that the U.S. Department of Justice was seeking experienced soldiers with top-secret clearance to apply for the job. He was chosen, and then, after completing the BNDD agent academy, spent his first three days on the job helping a secretary purge old files. At this point, he considered resigning, but soon after he started work on the street, where he found his niche. What follows in this account is a gritty, action-packed glimpse into the criminal drug world and especially the golden age of Boston's "combat zone," told through a series of dicey anecdotes. Recommended for true-crime collections in large public libraries. Sarah Jent, Univ. of Louisville Lib., KY

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2004
The author's memoir of his years as an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency functions to some degree as a history of the DEA. Doyle joined the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) in 1971 and one year later was transferred to the newly formed DEA. He spent his professional life on the streets of Boston, infiltrating the narcotics underworld, cultivating informants, and going up against some of the country's most dangerous drug dealers. It might not have been the most pleasant lifestyle, but it sure does make for exciting reading. Doyle tells his story as though he were writing a novel, packing it with dialogue, action scenes, and suspense. But this stuff actually happened. Many people write about the "war on drugs," but Doyle shows it to us in all its graphic detail. Students of American politics will also be fascinated by the author's chronicle of an agency in the making, as the DEA shifts from idealistic new enterprise to full-fledged bureaucracy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)