#7 No Backup: My Life as a Female FBI Special Agent by Rosemary Dew and Pat Pape
I served for almost thirteen years as a special agent of the FBI, three of then as a headquarters supervisor and three of them as a field 
supervisor, and I know it to be a fear-driven, image-conscious organization.
No Backup is the autobiography of Rosemary Dew, one of the first female FBI special agents. During her thirteen year career, she spent time in counterintelligence and counterterrorism. She spent time undercover, and worked against hate crimes, gangs, and crimes against the environmental. No Backup also builds a compelling case against the FBI, pointing out how it's inability to adapt has resulted in some of it's most highly publicized blunders. During the biography section, she focuses on her personal experiences with the FBI's inability to adjust with the times, mainly through the form of sexism. The book then splits up to a second section where she looks at the FBI's inefficiency at large, and how it has impacted recent history.
I found the biography section absolutely fascinating. I came into the book with little knowledge of the FBI beyond what's presented by Hollywood, so it was a real eye opening experience to me. I was also shocked by the sexism she faced. Although she had colleagues, and instructors that treated her with respect, it seemed like a large amount of her fellow agents and supervisors either treated her inappropriately, or ignored what was going on. Early on in her career she was encouraged to stay away from other female FBI agents for her own protection, isolating her from a possible support group. She was harassed verbally, emotionally, and even sexually. I shared in her frustration as she was pushed down by colleagues and supervisors constantly, many who were not only never reprimanded for their attitudes, but later rewarded with promotions and honors.
The second section gave us a history lesson of the FBI and analyzed well known events such as Waco, 9/11, and the unveiling of FBI agent Robert Hanssen as a spy. Dew argued that if the FBI was run more efficiently, that tragedies could have been prevented, and scandals avoided. She criticizes the FBI for it's poor communication, poor security, inability to change with the time, inability to work well with others, and how the pressure to appear has perfect has resulted in people ignoring blatant mistakes and refusing to learn from them. I found this section to also be very interesting, but I missed the personal touch found in the earlier section of the book. Here we get to hear very little about her personal experiences, and more about her opinions. She does a great job of pointing out the FBIs faults, and ways where they could improve, but I missed the biography aspect found in the first section of the book. I also felt that it took the book away from it's focal point of life as a female FBI agent.
No Backup is a interesting peak into the life or Rosemary Dew, and her thirteen year career as an FBI agent. This was a very different type of book for me, but I'm glad I picked it up, as it gave me a lot to think about.
Rating: four stars
Length: 302 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Challenge: This book is part of the New Genre Challenge
Similar Books: This is a new type of book for me, so I can't think of many similar books that I have read personally.
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
xposted to
bookish and 
temporaryworlds
supervisor, and I know it to be a fear-driven, image-conscious organization. No Backup is the autobiography of Rosemary Dew, one of the first female FBI special agents. During her thirteen year career, she spent time in counterintelligence and counterterrorism. She spent time undercover, and worked against hate crimes, gangs, and crimes against the environmental. No Backup also builds a compelling case against the FBI, pointing out how it's inability to adapt has resulted in some of it's most highly publicized blunders. During the biography section, she focuses on her personal experiences with the FBI's inability to adjust with the times, mainly through the form of sexism. The book then splits up to a second section where she looks at the FBI's inefficiency at large, and how it has impacted recent history.
I found the biography section absolutely fascinating. I came into the book with little knowledge of the FBI beyond what's presented by Hollywood, so it was a real eye opening experience to me. I was also shocked by the sexism she faced. Although she had colleagues, and instructors that treated her with respect, it seemed like a large amount of her fellow agents and supervisors either treated her inappropriately, or ignored what was going on. Early on in her career she was encouraged to stay away from other female FBI agents for her own protection, isolating her from a possible support group. She was harassed verbally, emotionally, and even sexually. I shared in her frustration as she was pushed down by colleagues and supervisors constantly, many who were not only never reprimanded for their attitudes, but later rewarded with promotions and honors.
The second section gave us a history lesson of the FBI and analyzed well known events such as Waco, 9/11, and the unveiling of FBI agent Robert Hanssen as a spy. Dew argued that if the FBI was run more efficiently, that tragedies could have been prevented, and scandals avoided. She criticizes the FBI for it's poor communication, poor security, inability to change with the time, inability to work well with others, and how the pressure to appear has perfect has resulted in people ignoring blatant mistakes and refusing to learn from them. I found this section to also be very interesting, but I missed the personal touch found in the earlier section of the book. Here we get to hear very little about her personal experiences, and more about her opinions. She does a great job of pointing out the FBIs faults, and ways where they could improve, but I missed the biography aspect found in the first section of the book. I also felt that it took the book away from it's focal point of life as a female FBI agent.
No Backup is a interesting peak into the life or Rosemary Dew, and her thirteen year career as an FBI agent. This was a very different type of book for me, but I'm glad I picked it up, as it gave me a lot to think about.
Rating: four stars
Length: 302 pages
Source: paperbackswap
Challenge: This book is part of the New Genre Challenge
Similar Books: This is a new type of book for me, so I can't think of many similar books that I have read personally.
Other books I've read by this author: This is my first
xposted to
bookish and temporaryworlds