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Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down
The Jack Nicholson film The Departed didn’t tell half of their story. A poor kid from the slums, Robert Fitzpatrick grew up to become a stellar FBI agent and challenge the country’s deadliest gangsters. Relentless in his desire to catch, prosecute, and convict Whitey Bulger, Fitzpatrick fought the nation’s most determined cop-gangster battle since Melvin Purvis hunted, con...more
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
January 3rd 2012
by Forge Books
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BETRAYAL: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent who Faught to Bring Him Down
Reviewed by Russ Ilg
Jon Land and Robert Fitzpatrick have combined to bring to paper the greatest “nonfiction novel” I have had the honor to read. The story of how the FBI protected and sheltered one of the most vicious and deranged killers in history is beyond what any fiction writer could scarcely imagine as a storyline and what Truman Capote had in mind when he coined the phrase in the wake of In Cold Blood. The story begins...more
Reviewed by Russ Ilg
Jon Land and Robert Fitzpatrick have combined to bring to paper the greatest “nonfiction novel” I have had the honor to read. The story of how the FBI protected and sheltered one of the most vicious and deranged killers in history is beyond what any fiction writer could scarcely imagine as a storyline and what Truman Capote had in mind when he coined the phrase in the wake of In Cold Blood. The story begins...more
As a journalist born and bred just south of Boston, I followed the Whitey Bulger saga closely and even had a hand in breaking a big story or two about the mobster and his corrupt allies in the Boston Bureau of the FBI.
But Betrayal by Robert Fitzpatrick and Jon Land spills details about the decades-long case that even I had never heard.
Fitzpatrick, a poor kid who grew up to be a tenacious FBI agent, was the man top bureau officials handpicked to get to the bottom of accusations that FBI agents ha...more
But Betrayal by Robert Fitzpatrick and Jon Land spills details about the decades-long case that even I had never heard.
Fitzpatrick, a poor kid who grew up to be a tenacious FBI agent, was the man top bureau officials handpicked to get to the bottom of accusations that FBI agents ha...more
Dec 31, 2011
Suzie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
contest-wins,
2011,
action,
america,
crime-true-crime,
modern,
nonfiction,
paper-back-book,
political
This book was a Good Reads First Read contest win.
Wow I read this hole book several weeks ago and I realized at the end that this was a true crime novel. I guess that shows how much I pay attention to the outside of the cover and what the media says about a book. I honestly thought this was going to be about someone's (the authors) opinion about Whitey Bulger.
This book goes in to some detail about how Agent Fitzpatrick tried to capture Bulger. How Fitzpatrick had to deal with learning about his...more
Wow I read this hole book several weeks ago and I realized at the end that this was a true crime novel. I guess that shows how much I pay attention to the outside of the cover and what the media says about a book. I honestly thought this was going to be about someone's (the authors) opinion about Whitey Bulger.
This book goes in to some detail about how Agent Fitzpatrick tried to capture Bulger. How Fitzpatrick had to deal with learning about his...more
Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down by Robert Fitzpatrick (Forge Books 2011)(363.2509) was a serious disappointment. I was actually looking forward to this; I've followed the Whitey Bulger case for years and was excited to hear that this book was coming out. Unfortunately, I found it unreadable. There was no continuity to the story whatsoever. This is what was, I suppose, referred to as "yellow journalism" in the early twentieth century. Hopefully someone else...more
Whitey Bulger's exploits first hit my radar in one of my college classes "Urban Crime and Politics" and Bulger was only a minor player in a book we were reading about South Boston "Southie". However, the professor had taken a special interest in the exploits of Whitey Bulger and he became a main topic of debate during the course. At the end of that course, I was given "Black Mass" by my professor, which led me to read "Street Soldier" and most recently, "Hitman". When I saw "Betrayl" in the book...more
“Betrayal” is a nonfictional account of the ultimate apprehension of one of the most controlling gangsters in Boston, Massachusetts’ history. Fitzpatrick and Land relate true details of what is referred to as, “…one of the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement.”
According to evidence and testimony, the Boston division of the FBI was home to continual corruption, including leaks by federal agents. Typically, when we think of the FBI, we think of those sworn to uphold the law...more
According to evidence and testimony, the Boston division of the FBI was home to continual corruption, including leaks by federal agents. Typically, when we think of the FBI, we think of those sworn to uphold the law...more
Corrupt federal law officers and politicians? Say it isn't so, Toto! A former agent gives a brief summary of his life leading into his role in the Whitey Bulger investigation. I was hoping Mr. Fitzpatrick would delve into who protected a fugitive Mr. Bulger for thirteen years until his arrest in 2008. That question remains unanswered. I also recommend Howie Carr's "Hitman" for additional reading on this subject. - Michael O.
I enjoyed this read. I had heard of Whitey Bulger and his capture, but never really understood the story. This book reviews his life; but more than that it describes the corruption of FBI agents and politicians on the east coast of the USA who enabled his criminal career. Fascinating.
The story of Whitey Bulger and the Boston FBI is interesting, but even that couldn't make up for the awful writing. Subject-verb disagreement? Check. Homophone mix-ups? Yep. Weird sentence fragments? Oh, yes. It's obvious a copy editor was never even in the same room as the manuscript.
Author Robert Fitzpatrick sheds light on the FBI's use of informants in the 1980s to combat organized crime. With a history of successful outcomes in Miami and Memphis, Fitzpatrick is called to Boston to deal with the case of one informant whom he believes should be "closed down". He does not accomplish this task until long after his retirement as an expert witness--and by writing this book.
The injustices perpetrated by the informants highlighted in this narrative (under the FBI's watchful eye)...more
The injustices perpetrated by the informants highlighted in this narrative (under the FBI's watchful eye)...more
Shocking and educational read! My heart goes out to Fitzpatrick... who was sent into the lion's den and clawed at everytime! As he states if only HQ would have listened.... lives would have been saved!
Sounds like he fought the good fight, but too pedantic for me...
The integrity of FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick, ultimately is brought to light despite corruption in the FBI, and the gangsters who subverted it. We can only see Mr. Fitzpatrick as an example of what was right about the FBI, and wish that more people such as he prevailed more often against the corrupt among us. Good job Mr. Fitzpatrick. The book was a great read.
May 31, 2013
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Oct 18, 2012 05:21am