Book Review: A Good Walk Spoiled

By John Feinstein

I’ve read a number of John Feinstein’s books and have loved them all. I love playing golf and had heard about this book from other friends. Knowing that Feinstein wrote it I immediately added it to my list of must reads.

This book took me a while to read as I was starting a new job my kids started school. I found myself reading 10-15 pages at a time and missing several days here and there between readings. However, when I did read it, I loved it.

The book follows a handful of professional golfers and their journey between tournaments and in some cases as they try to qualify for the PGA Tour during the early 1990’s. The book was long enough and detailed enough that Feinstein was able to provide insights into the players’ gold games as well as their private lives, including family issues and the challenges they faced trying to stay at the top of their games.

I watch golf and am familiar with many of the golfers chronicled. I think what we see on TV is the guys playing and competing and it’s easy to forget that they are more than just professional golfers. I work part time for the Utah Jazz and have access to players that most don’t and athletes in any sport are more than what we see from them as they compete.

In golf, players aren’t on teams and it’s entirely up to them on how they perform and how they earn a living. There are no guaranteed salaries in golf and the mental strain of competing and remaining consistent is one of the most challenging in all of sports.

The players feel it every tournament, every week and in many cases, every day. What stood out to me is that the pressures they face to earn a living doing what they love is invigorating while maddening all at the same time.

These players work tirelessly to improve their game and be prepared for each tournament. In any profession I feel people do that and face frustrations and questions about their ability and desire to continue working in their chosen profession. It was comforting in some aspects to read about the challenges these guys face. It humanized them in a way I hadn’t considered before.

What was equally fascinating to me was how they attacked and approached these challenges. Yes, there were frustrated. But in the majority of the cases, they did what I do, buckle down and work harder to improve and get their confidence back.

Many of these golfers are wealthy, and in many cases millionaires. Their wealth didn’t present them form working their tails off to remain at the top of their games or to be immune from losing their confidence.

In addition to reading about the way they handled adversity, I enjoyed getting to know more about their individual personalities and their personal interests. Stories about interactions between the golfers at tournaments and between tournaments was especially interesting.

These professional golfers are no different than any other person. They love what they do. They want to be the best and have challenges in their personal lives. I enjoyed the book enough that I’d like to turn around and start it all over again. This was a fantastic read and one that I highly recommend.

Book Review: Split Second

Book Review: A Split Second

By David Baldacci

I listened to this book on CD in my car on the way to and from work. My mom lent it to me and recommended it.

The book is a crime fiction novel about an ex-Secret Service agent named Sean King. King was let go from the Secret Service after a presidential candidate he was protecting was murdered.  Eight years later, after starting his life over again, the incident comes back into his life and he’s forced to relive and investigate it all over again.

I enjoyed the book. It was intriguing and at times predictable but it kept my interested and made my drive home seem to go by quicker and be a little more enjoyable. One of the things I like about audio books is the people that read them and the different ways they voice the characters. This was read by Ron McLarty and he did an excellent job.

After having read it, I found myself hoping that it would be made into a movie. I could easily see it making its way to the big screen. I’d pay to go see this in movie form.

Overall, excellent book. I enjoyed it and recommend it.

Book Review: A March To Madness

Book Title: A March to Madness

Author: John Feinstein

Pages: 456

I’ve read a number of John Feinstein books in the past and loved them. The way he tells the story and paints the picture is incredible. He writes a lot of books about sports topics, but I think he could take any subject and make in interesting.

I actually came across this book at a used book sale at the city library about five or six years ago. I had never heard of it, but since it was John Feinstein, I bought it knowing that it would be good. When I purchased it, I had every intention of reading it immediately but had other books that, for various reasons I read first. My delay was not an indication of my interest level at all.

Some of it was the fact that the book was “old.” The book provides a behind the scenes look at the 1996-1997 college basketball season, specifically the fiercely competitive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The ACC is home to one of my favorite college basketball teams, Duke as well as North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, Wake Forest, Virginia, Florida State, Georgia Tech and NC State. It’s the conference that has produced spectacular players such as Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, Christian Laettner, Kenny Anderson and in this particular season, Tim Duncan.

For this book, Feinstein has rare access to ACC coaches, players, practices and games. He begins the book as the NCAA tournament ins ending in the 1995-1996 season and chronicles the ins and outs of the 1996-1997 season, including the challenges individual coaches and players deal with as well as their fears and insecurities.

He begins the book with an introduction to each team, specifically through the coaches. He includes a recap of the previous season and the coaches’ history and how they got to where they are. Some of the coaches are household names such as North Carolina head coach Dean Smith and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. By the end of the 1996-1997 season, Smith wins his 875^th game to become the winningest coach in college basketball history.

Tim Duncan is in his senior season at Wake Forest and on his way to being named the college basketball player of the year.

What really stood out to me is how, even with all their accomplishments and success coaches and players can still doubt themselves and obsess over the what-ifs. I think sometimes there is a perception that once you hit a certain level of success that the fear and doubts go away. That’s not he case at all with these coaches and plyers. I don’t think that’s the case in any business or professional environment.

To me, the competitiveness, the will to be better and maintain continued success breeds some of this doubt and insecurity. The difference in a successful person is their ability to navigate and create strategies that enable themselves and the people they work with and lead to rise above the challenges and overcome difficulties and be successful.

I said earlier that I like Duke. It’s not so much because of the players that they have or that they consistently rank in the top teams in college basketball. It’s because of its head coach, Mike Krzyzewski. Feinstein describes him as self-confident. Not cocky or arrogant, but incredibly self-confident. He’s also very honest and direct. If you ask a question, he’ll answer it honestly and directly. It doesn’t matter if it’s the media asking or another person. He’ll always been honest and wont skirt a question.

He wants to be successful and works very hard to be successful. Since this book was published, he’s passed Dean Smith as the winningest basketball coach in college basketball history. However, during the 1996-1997 season he had a number of challenges that he had to overcome. No doubt he’s had other challenges since that season, but I found it fascinating to read the details about those challenges and how he developed the strategies to overcome them and achieve the success he wanted.

It wasn’t always easy and required a lot of hard work, but he was willing to put in the work. The 1996-1997 season didn’t start off the way he had hoped but by the end he had led his team to the best record on the ACC and the number one seeding in the ACC tournament. He had a highly successful year and by the end of the season admitted that he wasn’t sure he still loved coaching, but that the challenges and the way his team handled them invigorated him and showed him how much he loved coaching.

One of my favorite quotes from the book came from Krzyzewski when he was talking about the challenges of the season. He said: “You see, sometimes in life, you have to embrace adversity. You just don’t want to become too intimate with the sonofabitch.”

While not every team and every coach achieved what they wanted during the 1996-1997 season, I appreciated their openness to sharing their struggles, successes and the hard work and dedication to their crafts. This was a wonderful read that I felt taught a number of lessons about the ups and downs we all face as we strive for greatness. I highly recommend this book and plan on passing it on to my son so he can read it.

Book Review: The Power of Negative Thinking

Book Title: The Power of Negative Thinking

Author: Bob Knight with Bob Hammel

Pages: 223

I’ve had this book for more than three years. I started reading it and stopped several times. I didn’t stop reading it because it wasn’t good. I kept coming back to it because I found it interesting, I just had other books that I found more interesting and wanted to read more than this one.

I’ve always liked to read, but business books like this, while interesting, have always been challenging for me to just read straight through. Again, I want to emphasize that I didn’t dislike this book. If you look through this blog at the books I’ve read and reviewed over the last three years, I just found other books more fun and entertaining.

With that said, I’m glad I finished this book. It had some interesting insights and advice. I can admit that I’ve never been a huge Bob Knight fan. Based on what I know about him and have read about him, I’ve always thought of him as a bully. There is also no doubt that he’s had great experiences and is a talented coach and motivator. His insights and the lessons he’s learned over the course of his career were highly instructional.

A couple things Knight shared in the book really resonated with me, specifically:

Talking about practice, Knight said: “Practice is the best of all instructors, if the person running the practice knows what the hell he or she is doing. Improvement, especially towards perfection, comes only if the practice is demanding, well-thought-out and constructive, by a coach who realizes that absolute perfection is unattainable – but is always the objective.”

On having a plan, Coach Knight wrote: “Every successful endeavor starts with a plan. Know that some things will go wrong. Adjust is one of the great works in the English language. Always, no matter how meticulously something has been thought out and planned, an effective leader has to be ready and willing to adjust.

I learned quickly in my early days as a head coach at Army that the title of basketball coach didn’t carry much clout at West Point. I would call an officer at the academy, and the noncom or corporal taking the call would ask, ‘Who’s calling?’ For a time, I said, ‘This is Bob Knight, the basketball coach,’ and invariably I would get back some version of, ‘He’s unavailable right now. Try again later.’

Then one day I read that there were 450 active generals in the Army at that time, and I figured, ‘Eisenhower and MacArthur couldn’t know all of them.’ I saw an active list, ran down it, and came up with one name that wasn’t present. So I invented No. 451.

From there on, I’d make my calls, and when I got the identification question, I’d snap, ‘General Webster.’ And I’d hear, ‘Yes, sire!’ and get right through.

Adjust is a vitally important word.

Coach Knight talked about leaving one job for another and shared advice about how to do it the right way:

“I was very good about how I handled leaving West Point. I had chances to leave every one of my six years there. A lot of things were involved when I was in that job., including my appreciation for the opportunity I was given there when I had no credentials at all as a head coach. And I loved coaching there – enjoyed the challenged or working with the great kids that an academy gets. I knew that eventually I would have to leave, but I waited until it was just the right set of circumstances, the exact right place to go, and that’s what Indiana was when I went there. There’s no question: It was a great place for me, the absolute right place, for a long, long time.

You can get overwhelmed with sentimental thoughts: Nice people here, they have been awfully good to me. Bet when it comes to life decisions, it’s got to be what’s best for you and your ability to do your job, not getting swayed by the things that have nothing to do with your profession. Comfort enters into decision-making, and that’s always dangerous. You have to decide what is the best thing to do, not what is the ‘right’ thing, in a theoretical sense.”

These three points are things that I’ve thought about over the course of my career. I appreciated the way Coach Knight articulated his thoughts and the way he shared his expertise. It made sense to me and provided some insights into specific topics that I find relevant in issues and things that I’m currently dealing with. These insights came at just the right time for me and helped me navigate and strategize some real life topics in my life.

I recommend this book to others. Whether you sit down and read it in a couple days or over the course of three years, It’s an insightful book well worth the reading.

Book Review: Michael Vey: The Final Spark

Book Title: Michael Vey: The Final Spark

Author: Richard Paul Evans

Pages: 316

The Final Spark is the seventh and final book in the Michael Vey series. As I’ve written reviews of the other books, I’ve mentioned that I got into this series because of my son. He started reading the books and after he had read the third or fourth book he started telling me about it and asked me to start reading it. I did and have loved the series.

This book actually came out last September (2017). My family and I were invited the book release party at Cottonwood High School in Salt Lake City. I had been invited to the book six launch party but couldn’t make it due to other commitments.  The party was great. Richard Paul Evans gave my family VIP access which gave us access to a pre-launch party. At the party, we got a free copy of the book and a photo with Evans. After we took the picture he personalized the book for my kids and autographed it.

As I talked with Evans, I mentioned that I work with a friend of his from high school. I told him her name and he told me that Michael Vey’s friend is based off of my work colleague.  The next day at work I ran into her office and asked her if she knew this? She confessed that she did and it’s been fun to read this book knowing that it’s based off of my colleague. It’s added a new, fun twist to reading it. It’s almost like I have the inside scoop and actually know one of the characters.

Even though the book came out in September, I just got my chance to read it. I always let my son read the books first and this was no different. He started it and I got busy with other projects and didn’t ask about it again until about a week ago.

My son admitted that he hadn’t read the entire book yet didn’t’ know when he would due to some demanding school projects. I told him I couldn’t wait any longer and asked him for the book. I’ve got to be honest, I was so excited to read the book and see how it ended. At the same time, there was a little hesitancy to read it because I didn’t want the series and all the fun to come to an end.

Book 6 ended with a huge cliff hanger. Micheal and his Electroclan were in a battle with hatch and the Elgen to save the world. The battle ends when Michael essentially takes on so much electricity that he explodes and destroys the majority of the Elgen army. After the explosion, the Electroclan is regrouping and discovers that Michael is nowhere to be found. It’s uncertain if he survived or not.

While I won’t tell you what happened and ruin the book, I will say that once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. It didn’t disappoint. It held enough intrigue to keep me on my toes and hoping certain things would happen. At times, I was worried about the characters and their fate and at other times I found myself cheering for them and hoping that they would be successful.

They way Evans tells the story was incredible. I felt like I knew Michael and his friends and that we were actually friends. Several times during the book I caught myself thinking, “No way, this isn’t happening,” or, “This can’t be happening.”

Towards the end of the book, one sentence caught my attention and gave me hope that one day Evans will come back to the series and write more Michael Vey books. I don’t know anything, but the fanboy in me is really hoping that it will happen.

A couple lines from the book stood out to me. In one chapter, Jack and Ostin apologize to each other for things they felt sorry about doing to each other before they got to know one another and become friends. Another character overhears it and Jack and Ostin are embarrassed by it. I loved the response, “No, that was good. People say things too late.”

Later, as the villain in the book is trying to destroy the good guys, he is unable to do so and one of the characters says, “Only a fool thinks he can keep doing the same thing and get different results.”

And, lastly, at the end of the end of the book, one of the characters says, “I once heard it said, there are no great men, just great challenges.”

I don’t want to give attribution to these quotes from the book for fear of giving too much away. I liked these quotes as they were referenced on the book. I also think they’re great as standalones.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about the Michael Vey series is reading it and talking to my son about it. He hasn’t read the book yet and I’m dying for him to read it so we can talk about it. I’m as excited for him to read it as I was to read it myself. With the series coming to an end, I’m hopeful that my son and I can find another series that we can enjoy as much as this one.

I can’t recommend this book and the series enough. I’ve been reading the series to my 12 and ten-year-old daughters and it’s been fun to relive the book with them. I’m having just as much fun reading it to them and discussing it with them as it is with my son. The book is appropriate got kids and adults of all ages. My kids and I have been trying to get my wife to read the series and I’m hoping she’ll give in and join the fun.

Book Review: Potevka’s Gifts

Book Title: Potevka’s Gifts

Author: Mike Ramsdell

In 2005 my wife’s aunt told me about a book she had just read called A Train to Potevka. She told me it was written by a local Utah author and detailed his life as a spy in Russia. As she described the book, I thought it sounded interesting and asked my wife’s aunt if I could borrow her copy. She had it lent out at the time but promised I could borrow it was returned to her.

In the meantime, a few weeks later my wife and I were shopping at Costco and ran into the author, Mike Ramsdell as he was doing a book signing. We stopped, talked to him, bought a book and had him autograph it.

A Train to Potevka is the story about Ramsdell, an American intelligence agent and his tale of failed espionage, escape, and second chances. He started writing the book as a way of sharing his storied with family. As he wrote these stories, his family wanted more and started sharing them with their friends. Soon people were telling him he should write a book.

He self-published A Train to Potevka and it turned into a best seller. After publication, there was talks of turning the book into a full-length feature film. Following its success, in 2011 Ramsdell wrote Potevka’s Gifts. Potevka’s Gfts is a collection of short stories is based primarily upon his experiences as an author and speaker since A Train to Potevka was released.

I loved A Train to Potevka and I had high expectations going into this book.  I was disappointed in the book. Mainly because my expectations were so high. I had a hard time finishing the book. I was hoping for more stories from his days as a spy as opposed to the stories about his life since retiring.

The story I found most interesting was towards the end of the book when Ramsdell discusses the end of his career and how it intertwined with Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years from 1979 to 2001. Hanssen is currently serving 15 consecutive life sentences at a federal supermax prison in Colorado.

For a while, the FBI team investigating this spy operation had narrowed the list of potential suspects don to 3 or 4 potential suspects. Ramsdell was one of those suspects. As the investigation was being conducted, it was discovered that Hanssen had gained access to computer networks through Ramsdell’s login. He logged in as Ramsdell and that set off alarms that he could be the spy.

Ramsdell was cleared but it affected his career and he was basically forced into retirement. I remember when Hanssen was arrested and what a shock it was that a US intelligence officer would sell US secrets to Russia. That tie in to Ramsdell was interesting an something I didn’t know anything about prior to reading the book.

Ramsdell indicated that he is writing a third book related to this situation. If and when that book comes out I will read that.

Book Review: Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior

Book Title: Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior

Author: Rorke Denver with Ellis Henican

Pages: 287

I met Rorke recently at a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a special guest and spoke to the audience about his career as a Navy SEAL and more importantly about leadership. Knowing going in that he was a SEAL, in my mind, he had immediate credibility.

I knew as part of his appearance and participation in the conference that I was going to get an autographed copy of his book. At the time, I didn’t realize that he was one of the stars of the movie Act of Valor. I saw the movie when it came out in 2011 and loved it. I thought it was so cool that actual Navy SEALs were starring in the movie. There are great actors, but none of them could really do what a SEAL has been trained to do and in the action scenes, they were clearly at a different, real level.

I thought Rorke did an amazing job with his presentation. He walked up and immediately had everybody’s attention. He shared stories of experiences in the war against terror, SEAL training and how the training he received helped prepare him to lead warriors into battle. At one point he had the entire audience on their feet jumping and counting at the top of our lungs as if we were participating in physical training (PT) with he and his fellow Navy SEALs. Then, at the end of his presentation the entire audience gave him a “Hoorah!” I’m sure other guests at the hotel where the convention was held were wondering what was going on in our banquet hall.

Needless to say, when his presentation was over and I got my book, I couldn’t open it and start reading fast enough. The book didn’t disappoint either.

I’ve read a number of books written by Navy SEALs and they all write about going through BUDs and Hell Week. Rorke approached it a little differently though. He did talk about both of these experiences, but he approached it from the standpoint of how it prepared him to not only be a fierce warrior but to be a better leader and command the respect of other warriors to the point that they would follow him into battle.

One other difference I noticed in this book was as he ended the book, he wrote about some challenges our nation and military is currently facing. Instead of simply complaining and pointing a finger, he meticulously identified the problems, discussed both sides of the argument and then offered his own solutions. I have to admit, his recommendations resonated with me and I found myself thinking, “Yeah, I could support that idea.”

Throughout the book, Rorke’s natural leadership ability and commitment to his country and family was front and center. He was an effective SEAL in battle, leader and moved on to achieve high levels of success training the next generation of SEALs. His attitude and approach made it easy to see why he was he was so effective in every phase of his military and SEAL career.

There were a number of aspects about the book that stood out to me, but the one that resonated most was the idea of the “Swim Buddy.” When a potential SEAL shows up for BUDs training, they are assigned a swim buddy. This swim buddy is another candidate that you team up with and work together with get through BUDs training. You watch out for each other and help each other when necessary.

If your swim buddy drops out of BUDs you are assigned a new swim buddy. You always have a swim buddy and if you pass BUDs, as a SEAL you’ll always have a swim buddy that you can rely on to help and watch our back. Several times through ought the book Rorke references his swim buddy’s. In fact, at the end of the book in his acknowledgements, he calls a friend out by name and says he can be his swim buddy anytime. This is truly high praise for his friend.

A swim buddy is very important to a SEAL. I think this concept relates to other aspects of life, including personal and professional life. The importance of having a swim buddy or another person that you can count on to have your back and watch out for you can’t be overstated. Everybody should have a swim buddy in their lives. It gives confidence and is a valuable resource.

In my career, I’ve had a number of swim buddy’s. I didn’t call them that at the time, but they performed the same functions a SEAL swim buddy does. I relied on these people and found they added tremendous value to my career.

In addition to having a swim buddy, I’ve performed the same role for others. This role has been almost as valuable to me as having a swim buddy. I learn as much being somebody else’s swim buddy as I do in having one.  I wish there was more focus on this in the business world because I think it would provide unmeasurable benefits to organizations of any size and industry.

On the second to last page Rorke shares the values that SEALs live by, the values that SEALs measure themselves by, and how these values apply far more broadly. Like him, I’ll share these values here:

• Be excellent.
• It pays to be a winner.
• The only easy day was yesterday.
• Don’t ever let your teammates down.
• Carry your full measure of the load.
• Don’t disrespect the game by not preparing fully or playing it as well as you possibly can. Be present always.

I highly recommend this book. This is a book that I am going to share with my 15 –year-old son. I’d like him to read it so he can gain and understanding of the commitment these SEALs have and gain another appreciation of how hard work pays off and can help make you the best at whatever it is you want to be or do with your life.

Book Review: Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

Book Title: Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man

Author: Martin Corona with Tony Rafael

This was another Christmas gift. I know, the look on people’s faces as I opened this book and the other book I got at Christmas was one of disbelief and disgust.  Both books about two stone cold killers and their lives of crime.

This one focused on Martin Corona and his involvement in Mexican gangs in California.  He was exposed to gag life at an early age and found acceptance through is “homies.” The more he broke the law and the deeper he got in the gang life the more acceptance he felt.

From the start of the book he said he decided to write the book as a way of giving answers to his victims and their families and to come clean and repent of his wrong doings. At the time of writing the book a couple years ago he was still in his late 30’s or early 40’s and most of his life has been spent behind bars. He was in and out of prison from an early age.

He started off in juvenile detention and found that he liked it. So much so that he was never afraid of going to prison and found that once he was back he encountered a wealth of friends that helped make serving time enjoyable. Due to his gang connections, he and his “homies” could get just about anything they wanted while in prison.

When he’s get out of prison his reputation was enhanced each time and he was presented with new, more daring and dangerous prospects. He did everything from selling drugs to eventually becoming a hit man for one of the Mexican drug cartels. Planning a murder and carrying out the plan came naturally and easy to him. He admits to a number of murders and shared a number of details about them in the book.

It wasn’t until he got arrested and charged with these murders that he had a realization of just how far he had sunk and what a bad person he had become. In prison, he admitted his crimes and became a witness for the government to help convict others involved in the deadly drug trade.

At the time of writing the book he was a free man. While he said he felt guilty and was trying to make emends by writing the book, it felt to me like he was reliving the glory years of being a gang member. It didn’t feel as remorseful as I expected it to be. It could be the result of his life experiences and he just doesn’t express those feelings like others.

Regardless, I did find the book incredibly interesting and enjoyed it. It’s always amazing to me what people are capable of and the characteristics the people that are the best at what they do have in common. Martin was considered very good at what he did and it’s lucky he was caught and busted when he was. I think it’s valuable to have these types of discussions and to know the effects our actions have on others.

Book Review: Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante

Book Title: Chin: The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante

Author: Larry McShane

I read a lot of books about the Mafia. It’s a topic of intense interest for me. In all the books I’ve read, one name always seems to come up, Vincent Gigante. Or, as he’s known in the mob, “The Chin.” Most references to him consisted of the same common thread, he acts crazy but was really one of the most powerful men in the mafia and one of the most elusive to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies pursing him and organized crime.

The more I came across his name, the more intrigued I became. When I saw this book at my local Barnes & Noble, I made my wife buy it for me instantly as a Christmas gift. This was in late October and I could barely wait for Christmas to come so I could start reading the book.

It didn’t disappoint. I loved the book. Despite his paranoia and extreme measures to evade law enforcement for more than 30 years with his crazy act, by the time the gig was up law enforcement, specifically the FBI knew a lot about his life and crimes.

Gigante earned the nickname from his Italian mother. She used to call him by the Italian pronunciation of his given name, Vincenzo (Vin-CHEN-zo). Neighborhood friends and neighbors took to calling him Chin. He grew up in New York, in Greenwich Village and was exposed to the Mafia life early. He started out as a boxer and was a pretty decent boxer. It didn’t take long though for him to give up boxing and focus his life and energy on La Cosa Nostra.

Chin’s early legal issues inspired his crazy act. He served a prison sentence and hated it. It was well known on the mob world that he never wanted to go back.

From that point in, he became the “Oddfather.” He knew if we could convince authorities and law enforcement that he was crazy he wouldn’t have to stand trial. He began wearing a ratty old bathrobe daily as he wandered through the neighborhood. He would mumble to himself, and act as if he were in a constant stupor. He even began voluntarily checking himself into a mental health facility. Over the next thirty years, he voluntarily checked himself into the same mental health facility more than thirty times, usually right before he knew he was about to be arrested or charged with a crime. He called these check-ins “tune-ups.”

He’d stay for a week or so and then return home. When the FBI and other law enforcement officials showed up to question him, he’d mutter nonsense, stare blankly or blurt out wild and crazy answers to their questions.

While doing this he continued to thrive and climb the ranks of the Genovese crime family.

He was so paranoid about law enforcement and going back to prison that he took extreme measures to avoid surveillance, wire taps and other means of recording and gaining insight into his life. Some of the precautionary measures he took included sleeping all day and only leaving or “working” at night. His theory was that the FBI would be sleeping late at night and wouldn’t have the resources to tail him during the night.

At his social club where he hung out and played cards with friends, he had someone come in and check it for bugs on a weekly basis. Nobody was allowed to say his name. Saying his name out loud was punishable by death. When somebody wanted to reference him, they were told to simply point to their chins.

At home, his windows all had bars across them, were blacked out and had the curtains drawn at all times. He never spoke on phones and if somebody was talking on a phone near him he would get up and walk away or move. He didn’t even want law enforcement to hear his voice.

Over the course of 30 years, FBI wiretaps never picked up his voice and only rarely heard his name mentioned out loud, and never when Chin was present.

Chin never ventured far from his Greenwich Village home. He lived with his mother and would only occasionally stay overnight with his wife and family. The FBI found out that Chin had two families. His wife’s name was Olympia. He had children with her but also had a girlfriend by the same name. He had a second family with her. The FBI called them Olympia 1 and Olympia 2. Olympia 1 and her kids lived in Greenwich Village and Olympia 2 lived with her kids in New Jersey.

Chin would visit them both regularly and spent time with them. For many years, the FBI would be trailing Chin and would lose him. The wondered for years where he was heading before finally being able to track him to Olympia 2’s house. Chin didn’t know they had followed him and for a brief period the FBI successfully surveyed him and observed him with his guard down and crazy act on hold. They watched him walk into the house, take his bathrobe off, hang it on a coat hanger and sit down at the kitchen table talking to his kids about their day.

Once Chin found out the FBI was watching, the windows of this house received the same treatment his Greenwich Village home did and surveillance became impossible.

Chin was a ruthless killer and zealot of the old-world mafia rules. He hated guys like John Gotti that drew a lot of unwanted attention to themselves and their world. While he never traveled or left anywhere beyond Olympia 2’s home in New Jersey, he was making millions and millions a year in ill-gotten gains.

His downfall was a windows scam that made him millions and had mob members all trying to get in on the action. As more and more people wanted a piece of it and greed kicked in, members of Chin’s inner circle began turning state evidence and testifying against Chin and his associates.

Chin was able to throw law enforcement off with his crazy act, but as more and more convictions came and “rats” turned and began testifying against Chin, his crazy act was exposed and he was eventually convicted and sent to prison. While in prison he was indicted on other criminal charges. As he prepared to fight it, authorities began targeting his family, specifically his mother, wife and children.

By this time in his life, Chin was old and suffering from a number of health maladies. His fear of family being persecuted drove him to admit to his crimes and to the fact that he had faked the crazy act to avoid legal persecution.

I thought the book was fascinating. It mentioned some news stories and videos about the Chin and his life. I got online and watched those videos and was mesmerized. I recommend this book. It was insightful and entertaining. As I said earlier, I was surprised at just how much information law enforcement had despite Chin’s efforts to keep his life a secret.

Book Review: American Sniper

Book Title: American Sniper

Author: Chris Kyle

I have to admit, I saw the American Sniper movie prior to reading the book. Normally I prefer to read the book first and then see the movie, but to be honest, I hadn’t heard of the book when I saw the movie.

I generally feel that the books are better than the movies. Movies tend to get a little to Hollywood for my liking and this case was no exception.

For those that don’t know, the book highlights the life and military career of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. From 1999 – 2009 Kyle recorded the most confirmed sniper kills in US Military history. The reported number is around 150. Sometimes it’s listed at 160, but many in the military say it’s probably at least double that number.

The book outlines Kyle’s early life and how he came to be a Navy SEAL. Like other books I’ve read about SEAL’s he goes into great detail about BUD’s training to become a SEAL. I’ve read a number of books from former SEAL’s and appreciate what they go through to qualify and become a SEAL. What was different about Kyle’s version is his honesty about the training, specifically how he wasn’t a huge fan of the water and jumping out of planes. He did it though because he wanted to be a SEAL and that’s what he had to do to qualify.  I respect and appreciate his honesty.

I’m not a huge fan of open water and as Kyle described some of the swimming training and issues with sharks in the ocean I am more convinced that I could never become a SEAL.

Kyle placed his priorities as God, country and family. Early in his SEAL career this was evident. He was committed to being a SEAL and protecting the country. He did it very well. As he described the four tours he served the stories and experiences are amazing. He protected and saved countless American lives with his snipper skills and was a one man wrecking crew that the enemy feared and wanted to eliminate.

He had a bounty on his head and never shirked out of his duty. In fact, as his priorities were changing and family moved up his list and became more important, or more of a focus for him, he felt a great deal of guilt and was torn with leaving the Navy to send more time with his family.

I loved the book and the experiences he shared. As a result of reading this book, I also did some additional reading from articles I found online. Kyle was a true American hero. He died in 2013 when a fellow military veteran killed him. He died way to early leaving a wife and two kids.

The book, much like Kyle’s life is an honest account and is clearly in his own voice. He writes like he talks which added to the entertainment factor. I recommend this book. It was a great read. I was entertained and grateful for Kyle’s service and the countless others like him who have dedicated their lives to defending our country and freedoms.