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No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels |  | Authors: Nils Johnson-Shelton, Jay Dobyns
Publisher: Crown
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 4070
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.106609791
ASIN: B001NLKTII
Publication Date: February 6, 2009
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Product Description
Here, from Jay Dobyns, the first federal agent to infiltrate the inner circle of the outlaw Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, is the inside story of the twenty-one-month operation that almost cost him his family, his sanity, and his life.
Getting shot in the chest as a rookie agent, bartering for machine guns, throttling down the highway at 100 mph, and responding to a full-scale, bloody riot between the Hells Angels and their rivals, the Mongols–these are just a few of the high-adrenaline experiences Dobyns recounts in this action-packed, hard-to-imagine-but-true story.
Dobyns leaves no stone of his harrowing journey unturned. At runs and clubhouses, between rides and riots, Dobyns befriends bad-ass bikers, meth-fueled “old ladies,” gun fetishists, psycho-killer ex-cons, and even some of the “Filthy Few”–the elite of the Hells Angels who’ve committed extreme violence on behalf of their club. Eventually, at parties staged behind heavily armed security, he meets legendary club members such as Chuck Zito, Johnny Angel, and the godfather of all bikers, Ralph “Sonny” Barger. To blend in with them, he gets full-arm ink; to win their respect, he vows to prove himself a stone-cold killer.
Hardest of all is leading a double life, which has him torn between his devotion to his wife and children, and his pledge to become the first federal agent ever to be “fully patched” into the Angels’ near-impregnable ranks. His act is so convincing that he comes within a hairsbreadth of losing himself. Eventually, he realizes that just as he’s been infiltrating the Hells Angels, they’ve been infiltrating him. And just as they’re not all bad, he’s not all good.
Reminiscent of Donnie Brasco’s uncovering of the true Mafia, this is an eye-opening portrait of the world of bikers–the most in-depth since Hunter Thompson’s seminal work–one that fully describes the seductive lure criminal camaraderie has for men who would otherwise be powerless outsiders. Here is all the nihilism, hate, and intimidation, but also the freedom–and, yes, brotherhood–of the only truly American form of organized crime.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 72
 A Raw, Real and Riveting Memoir February 22, 2009
Michele Cozzens (Cloud 8)
33 out of 38 found this review helpful
Captivating from the first page, NO ANGEL thrusts the reader into the inner world of the outlaw motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels. This is the story of an obsessed man, who with the all-or-nothing mentality in his makeup becomes the first undercover law enforcement agent to penetrate this notorious group.
The story is conveyed with brutal honesty. Jay Dobyns, using the alias "Bird" relies not only on his memories of the two year ATF case known as "Black Biscuit," but also on surveillance tapes and transcripts. They help provide detailed dialog between the operatives and their suspects. He puts you in the dark rooms, smoke-filled clubhouses, beer-soaked bars and inky tattoo parlors as you witness his transformation from a sandy-haired football star and all-American dad to a scary looking dude with a braided goatee. He becomes Bird.
He also becomes a patched Hells Angel, sacrificing everything dear to him in the process: his family, his friends, and nearly his soul. In a moment, however, just before the case shuts down, he experiences a revelation. It's not merely about the good and evil among the Hells Angels or in himself, it was the basic understanding this "brotherhood" was "nothing more than a support group for misunderstood loners held together by hate and money." Immersed in this HATE for so long, he ultimately casts it aside for everything he LOVES, and expresses this personal epiphany with tremendous humility. In spite of a disappointing outcome for Black Biscuit and his exposure as an undercover agent, this makes Jay a hero, and makes NO ANGEL a story worth reading.
There are many characters on both sides of the law and a slew of unfamiliar terminology and acronyms, but photos, glossaries maps and lists are provided to guide the reader. Very well done.
Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club.
Not the Definitive Case History, but Still a Darn-Good Tale March 1, 2009
Wayne Beckham (Fontana, CA USA)
24 out of 27 found this review helpful
I remember thinking, years ago, when I first heard about this case, "Man, that'd make a heck of a good book!" And it did.
I'm not going to rehash the plot line, several of the other reviews have covered that nicely. What I will say is that the book holds your attention through every page, only slowing down as you realize that the case is coming to an end. I read the whole thing during one Saturday spent waiting for my daughter to finish her dance lessons - it is that interesting a book.
What always amazes me in these true stories (I'm in the middle of reading William Queen's Under and Alone) is how these hyper-paranoid outlaws are repeatedly infiltrated by guys who, essentially, just show up and hang around. If I were looking to setup an OMC (outlaw motorcycle club) I'd have a hard-rule: you must commit a serious felony in our presence - one arranged by the club. They'd still get infiltrated, it'd just be a little harder.
And another point it's not always clear to me is what exactly the 81's are doing that amounts to serious big time crime. I understand that they're violent, use drugs, work hard at being social outcasts, etc., but in this story, most of the crimes depicted amount to selling one or two guns at a time, some drugs and random acts of violence. After having read of the massive and profitable drug operations mounted by the Hells Angels' Canadian chapters I'd expected some of that here.
This is not the complete story of this interesting case: It's Jay Dobyns' story and the other case agents, his family, and ATF supervisors are less real that Jay Bird and his Red & White targets. There are some serious tales to be told by people in this book who make appearances and fade away, props used as set decoration where Jay is definitely the star.
Jay Dobyns is a fascinating guy. In the media blitz surrounding the release of this book, I've listened to hours of interviews on podcasts and late night talk radio and he's interesting and very articulate. Given that the book is about a third profanity (okay, I'm exaggerating) I hadn't expected that. He's also incredibly patient. I was listening to one pod-cast interview where the interviewer was slow, rambling, interrupted and generally irritated the heck out of me. Dobyns answered with patience and serious consideration to even the weirdest utterances by the host. Personally, I wanted to check the guy's pupils.
In the book, Jay is brutally honest particularly about himself and his failures to his family and friends. As I read it there were parts where I wondered if he understood that his wife might also read this book! He must have at some point, because his interaction with his undercover "girlfriend", Jenna "JJ" Maguire, is glossed over to the point of almost non-existence.
It's in those interviews that you get to hear about the aftermath of Operation Black Biscuit and I urge Dobyns to write the other half of the story: the prosecution that fell apart and, more ominously, the ongoing threats to him and his family. In August 2008 his house burned to the ground and his wife and children barely escaped with their lives.
The story of the ATF infiltration into the most famous of the self-described Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs deserves a wider and more documentary accounting, something along the lines of Lou Cannon's Official Negligence, everything you ever wanted to know about the Rodney King incident and it's aftermath. I'm left wondering what happened to JJ? As a woman agent in the middle of the male-dominated Hells Angels, her side of the story would be something worth reading.
So, this is a great, though incomplete, telling of Operation Black Biscuit. I hope some enterprising journalist find the time and support to put together what the late Paul Harvey called, "the rest of the story."
Accurate portrayal of a colossal waste of tax dollars April 7, 2009
Thomas A. Staudacher (Arizona)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is a good book written from the first person perspective of undercover ATF Agent Jay Dobyns. The operation "Black Biscuit" was a lengthy and vastly expensive attempt to infiltrate the Hells Angels in Arizona. The operation was a success from the operative's perspective, but in reality it was a huge waste of tax dollars, which became evident when the case fell apart during prosecution. The most interesting aspect of the book was the internal struggle within Dobyn's life as he tries to balance his undercover role with that of a career law enforcement officer and family man. Dobyns also struggles with the fact that he identifies with and truly likes many of the Hells Angels he is targeting and deceiving everyday. Dobyns does not try to paint himself as a hero and admits to many mistakes, which gives the book credibility.
Inside Arizona's Hellish Culture of Angels July 17, 2009
Larry Underwood (Scottsdale, AZ)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jay Dobyn's riveting story of undercover work inside the Hell's Angels of Arizona kept me glued to the book in one sitting. The frenetic pace of events that Dobyns describes, with the help of Nils Johnson-Shelton, was as wild as it gets; and at times a bit confusing. It took a while to get acquainted with the diverse cast of characters that were quickly moved into the manic story line; about halfway through the book, I finally felt comfortable with the players and their quirks, including the main character himself---Dobyns, our tough-minded and cleverly deceptive hero.
In the end, the nearly two year oddesey of undercover work had taken its toll on ATF agent, Dobyns, who had psychologically morphed into one of Hell's Angels own. When the action climaxed during Operation Black Biscuit's multi-tiered enforcement, the reader will breath a sigh of relief that the author wasn't caught in the cross-fire, and was able to retreat with his life intact; at least physically.
This is one tough guy; although he downplays his heroism with a matter of fact description of some very scary events; there's no mistakng that his largely thankless work during this undercover assignment required unfathonable perserverence and guts.
His story is fascinating and compelling; a close and very human look inside the hellish culture of Arizona's Hell's Angels.
Hard To Put Down March 13, 2009
Mark H. Braun (Los Angeles)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a great book as a first person inner turmoil and a good dissection of the Hells Angels members and leadership on the West Coast. I would the book to hit more on individual cases instead of a chronological study of the case. I think it could have more depth there. I couldn't put this book down. The authors do a great job in all and it reads very well and is a polished work. I would recommend this book to anyone as I'm sure it with the Hells Angels not be be decimated by the undercover ATF agents again.
I think this would also be a great book for someone in or going into law enforcement.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 72
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