Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team - Hardcover

Christopher Whitcomb, a 15 year veteran of the FBI, serves in the Critical Incident Response Group's Strategic Operational Intelligence Unit. In this role, he oversees FBI intelligence gathering and information management operations during weapons-of-mass-destruction attacks, terrorist threats, and exotic criminal cases. He also coordinates media operations and serves as FBI spokesman during high-profile FBI investigations. Whitcomb began his FBI career in 1987, as a Special Agent in the Kansas City Field Office, Springfield, where he distinguished himself as an assaulter and sniper, winning the FBI's Medal of Bravery for exceptional courage in the line of duty. He has participated in nearly every high-profile federal investigation over the past 10 years, including the L.A. riots, shootings at Ruby Ridge, the Branch Davidian standoff, the World Trade Center and Olympic bombings, the Montana Militia standoff, overseas fugitive apprehensions, high-risk dignitary protection details, witness protection assignments, investigation into the war crimes in Kosovo and the Cole bombing in Yemen. In 1997, Whitcomb was promoted to supervisor and became an interview/interrogation instructor at the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia. He created and scripted NACBOMB: Integrated Case Scenario, an elaborate 16-week curriculum that serves as the basis for all FBI new agent training. He has instructed hundreds of different local, state, federal, and foreign law enforcement agents/officers, including UNSCOM weapons inspectors in Iraq. Prior to joining the FBI, Whitcomb worked two years as speechwriter and press secretary to U.S. Representative Silvio O. Conte (R-MA), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. He is a former reporter and feature writer and is currently working on a novel to be published by Little, Brown and Company in the Summer of 2002. Chris is an accomplished musician and can often be found sitting in with local bands and performing at open mics. Chris lives in Virginia with his wife Rose and their four children.

This insider's view of federal law enforcement sounds a bit much like the party line. While providing us with a fascinating view of the FBI and the author's role in the events at Ruby Ridge and Waco, it is very much a look at how the government views itself. Whitcomb writes well, and his reading is fine. He employs the same clear and disciplined voice throughout the production, his inflection keeping the listener's interest. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine