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 th...
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Mar 23, 2009
Petra X
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The infiltration of the Hells Angels by undercover cop and author Jay Dobyns is as interesting from the point of view of the very real deterioration of the character Jay and metamorphosis into his alterego 'Bird' as it is from the hows and wheres of how law enforcement can run such an operation.
The book's writing is unusual in that where Jay is an involved family man and serious cop, the writing reads as measured and logical. But as his real life crumbles and he feels most alive as More...
The book's writing is unusual in that where Jay is an involved family man and serious cop, the writing reads as measured and logical. But as his real life crumbles and he feels most alive as More...
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Feb 22, 2009
Michele
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A Raw, Real and Riveting Memoir
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 More...
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 More...
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Mar 16, 2009
Tom
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I love his honesty. I have to wonder if he was a catylyst in events that may not have happened without his influence. Somtimes I think that LEO are as Bad as the OMG they chase. I have known and associated with bikers both Outlaw and Weekend riders for the better part of my Adult life and I must say that the 1% moniker is overused and in my opinion a bit high. It seems more like one percent of that one percent actually are criminals. And, in every ride and rally I have ever gone on the most Arro
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Feb 16, 2011
Alex
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I started reading this book because I have recently become obsessed with Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs after a friend recommended I watch the brilliant show on FX 'Sons of Anarchy'. I knew the show was based on the Hells Angels and wanted a glimpse at the reality of this infamous bikie gang.
And what better way to gain insight than through a first-hand account written by someone who infiltrated the gang. A classic ethnographic study of a marginalised sub-culture. Enter Jay Dobyns and his b More...
And what better way to gain insight than through a first-hand account written by someone who infiltrated the gang. A classic ethnographic study of a marginalised sub-culture. Enter Jay Dobyns and his b More...
Feb 06, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
You won't be able to put this book down once you've started. If you're like me, you'll read it with a mixture of admiration and disgust. Admiration for the ATF agents' guts, working undercover amidst the very enemy they're trying to snare; disgust over the depths to which American law enforcement has sunk, running entrapment operations and engaging in criminality themselves in order to catch a few lowlifes, then coming up short because the evidence they manage to gather is so contaminated by t
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Jan 24, 2011
Mike
rated it: 
Jay Dobyns is an undercover ATF agent in Arizona. This is the story of his work to infiltrate the infamous motorcycle gang, the so called "HA, the One Percenter's, the Filthy Few, the 81's, the AFFA's, the MC's, the OMG's, yadda, yadda. Ton of acronyms throughout here but you get a glossary if needed. Book was written along with a first time author, Nils Shelton. I mention this because it shows in the so-so writing and narration.
The Angels as described here are actually just a washed More...
The Angels as described here are actually just a washed More...
Jun 24, 2010
Richard
rated it:
This book proves a point I've long held true that there is is a fine line between cops and their adversaries including the Hell's Angels in this case. Dobyn's is an ATF agent who essentiall fell in love with being a patching wearing member of the Angels much the way that Donnie Brasco did with the mafiosos he ran with in the 70's & 80's. The cops get to play being bad guys with the understanding that they're seerving the greater good but it's all just about having fun of a sort. That the Angels
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Apr 16, 2010
Brett
rated it:
Operation Black Biscuit....
Author Jay Dobyns became Jay "Bird" Davis and went undercover for the ATF into America's most dangerous, law breaking motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels!
Operation BLACK-BISCUIT was an ATF sting, that placed Jay Dobyns and several other agents and informants into the world of Hells Angels. Dobyns a.k.a. "Bird" admits in the book, he was in so deep, he eventually realized that the Hells Angels weren't all bad and that he wasn't More...
Author Jay Dobyns became Jay "Bird" Davis and went undercover for the ATF into America's most dangerous, law breaking motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels!
Operation BLACK-BISCUIT was an ATF sting, that placed Jay Dobyns and several other agents and informants into the world of Hells Angels. Dobyns a.k.a. "Bird" admits in the book, he was in so deep, he eventually realized that the Hells Angels weren't all bad and that he wasn't More...
Mar 30, 2010
Christopher
rated it:
I had no idea what to expect when I opened the cover of “No Angel”. Not my typical book but I like branching out now and then, reading something different and the topic of undercover work sounded intriguing. Jay Dobyns is an undercover ATF Special Agent and he transitions from an all American College Football player to a tattooed Harley riding Hells Angel as he attempts to infiltrate the notorious gang turned crime syndicate. You have to wonder it Byrd (Jay’s nickname) didn’t have the luck of
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Nov 15, 2009
Bob
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This book was really an interesting look into the outlaw biker culture. As a "biker" I think we tend to romanticize that world sometimes, but it's clearly no place for normal people to live. I don't understand why people would want to spend their lives in a sleazy environment of drugs, violence, and uncertainty about who your real friends are.
A couple of things I found interesting.
One was the humanity often found in men who are not wired to function in normal More...
A couple of things I found interesting.
One was the humanity often found in men who are not wired to function in normal More...
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Feb 25, 2011
Dan
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This book is terrible. Usually, if I don't like a book I will give it about 100 pages, grab another, and not bother writing a review for goodreads. I gave this book close to 200 pages, have found another, but will pause briefly to offer some constructive criticisms. It provides almost no social commentary on the causes of outlaw motorcycle gangs in addition to no overarching conclusions about human nature. Not that you would give any value to any conclusions this author (an undercover cop) drew
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Mar 21, 2009
Lori
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Dobyns' tale of transformation transfixed me for a while. As an ATF agent, he went deep, deep undercover with the Hells Angels to build a RICO case (and more). He put his life, his family and his job on the line.
The inside glimpse of one of the world's most famous outlaw gangs was enlightening. (Combine this with a season of Sons of Anarchy and you'll have a whole new respect -- or fear -- of the world of MCs.) The ease with which "Bird," Jay's alter ego, slid right inside More...
The inside glimpse of one of the world's most famous outlaw gangs was enlightening. (Combine this with a season of Sons of Anarchy and you'll have a whole new respect -- or fear -- of the world of MCs.) The ease with which "Bird," Jay's alter ego, slid right inside More...
Jul 10, 2009
Betsy
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This was definitely an interesting look into a culture that is completely foreign to me and, having started the narrative with a corpse in a ditch, I wanted to know how Bird/Jay had gotten to that place. Having said all of that, I must say that there is nothing glamorous about the people he comes into contact with and yet, the fact that he gets so sucked into his alter ego and the violent Hells Angels subculture makes for fascinating, if not tightly edited prose. His devolvement into the culture
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Nov 22, 2010
John
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Aug 16, 2009
Juanitomandujano
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He was crazy enough to take on the craziest of crazy assignments: infiltrate the Hells Angels, and take them down. As an officer in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau, Special Agent Jay “Bird” Dobyns’s main objective was to somehow gain acceptance into the world’s most notorious outlaw biker gang.
This book is the true story, as told by Jay himself, of how he began his career as an ATF agent, how he got assigned to the biker gang unit, and ultimately, how he got assigned to the opera More...
This book is the true story, as told by Jay himself, of how he began his career as an ATF agent, how he got assigned to the biker gang unit, and ultimately, how he got assigned to the opera More...
Sep 25, 2011
This book is very interesting. It is interesting because I learned a lot about what police undercover work. I have always been interested in what police do when they are undercover and this book helped me to better understand this. I think in this book the main problem that the main character faces is self identity. He faces this problem because while he is undercover he starts to slowly become the person he is pretending to be. He find himself becoming a outlaw biker. This is a problem because
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Apr 10, 2009
Brett
rated it:
I was so into this story that I finished the book in 2 days. For some reason I have always been facsinated by the Hells Angels and other motorcycle gangs. I can't get enough.
What I found interesting about this story was how different real life is from the movies. I always pictured deep undercover feds as going 100% native with zero contact with the outside for the duration of the investigation. Maybe that happens in other cases, but what intrigued me about this story was that Dob More...
What I found interesting about this story was how different real life is from the movies. I always pictured deep undercover feds as going 100% native with zero contact with the outside for the duration of the investigation. Maybe that happens in other cases, but what intrigued me about this story was that Dob More...
Nov 15, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
I've no big love towards cops, especially undercover cops that befriend their suspects and then use that friendship to nail them. I think it a sleazy way to arrest someone. I find it just another abuse the current criminal justice system employs because they suck at their jobs and have to pretty much entrap whomever it is they consider dangerous. However, on the other hand I am in no way advocating that criminal enterprises proliferate and the police should do shit all to stop them. I just think
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Jun 01, 2010
Joe
rated it:
Maybe my expectations were too high, but this book seemed like it could have achieved much more than it actually did. What Dobyns accomplished was ballsy, and it is impossible to argue that he sacrificed close to everything to fulfill his mission. Nonetheless, I got the sense that there's a bit of an ego trip running throughout the book, and there were junctures where I would have appreciated more candor and insight than what was ultimately presented.
By the time I got through the hal More...
By the time I got through the hal More...
Jan 24, 2010
Weylin
rated it:
If it wasn’t for responsibilities like taking care of a baby, chores, eating, etc., I would have read this book straight though without stopping. As a disclaimer, I share a very similar background with the author and I am sure that created a bias. But, I mostly think it is because this book conveyed a great true story and did it with great narrative story telling.
That being said, the author does come across as being pretty self centered, there are a few editing errors that even my l More...
That being said, the author does come across as being pretty self centered, there are a few editing errors that even my l More...
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Mar 30, 2011
Susie
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Aug 11, 2011
Bookhuw
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Dobyns is something of a method actor, and as a result this book lacked a lot of what I'd been hoping for. The focus was very limited to Dobyns' thoughts and feelings. The wider investigation, the evidential trail, the larger structure of the group he was investigating; all are barely touched upon. Furthermore, Dobyns never really seemed to witness much criminality of note and seems to spend most of the time with bikers who are in awe of him rather than vice versa, making it all rather humdrum.
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Dec 18, 2011
Deadlift
rated it:
No Angel was mostly a burden to read. I am proud I did not give Dobyns any money for this publication (rented it from the local library). No Angel brings you into a bizarre world of self-delusion, self-aggrandizing Federal Agents who take a bizarre pleasure in deceiving others in the name of convoluted moral Crusading which of course if done entirely on your dime. This book takes you on a journey as a man who honors the butcherers at Waco as he fear mongers the general public to what amounts to
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Nov 20, 2010
Kevin
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Engrossing. It will take up your whole week. His journey as an undercover is remarkable, brave, and daring. It's chock-full of dangerous stories of living on the edge, comical situations, and it's short 8 page chapters will have you turning pages as fast as you're reading them. His skills as a writer are adequate, it's written like a cop trying to turn a police report into a novel, which hinders it at times, his attempts to be descriptive about his emotions and psyche is limited, however, he doe
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Feb 17, 2011
Scoozer
rated it:
This was a gritty, fascinating look at undercover work. This ATF agent infiltrated the Hells Angels in Arizona over the course of a couple of years. I listened to this book and loved the reader. He made it sound so real. There is cursing, violence and tension. The author also had a high incidence of calling other people, "Dude." Amazingly, in the epilogue, he said that he had edited many of them from the book. The toll of undercover work on the author and his family was astounding. It
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Jan 25, 2011
Jim
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This book was okay. If you are interested in learning about the inner workings of the Hells Angels it is eye opening. But I got a little tired of the writter and how he was presenting himself. He was the actual undercover police officer who infultrated the Hells Angels. Do you ever get the impression in some stories that the teller is pumping themselves up a little too much? Thats the way I felt about him. The story is facinating but by the end of the book I felt like "was it all worth it?"
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Aug 11, 2009
Tanner
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This book had me diving head over heels into the little known world of OMC (Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs). I not only enjoyed reading this book but also learned a lot about the hells Angels and OMCs in general that I did not know. It is remarkable that a federal agent was able to survive, walking on thin ice during the investigation and walk out with no divorce or participating in criminal activity. It truly portrays those heroes that work hard in the background and under cover to keep us safe from t
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Apr 27, 2009
Sue
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 10, 2011
As the novel begins, the reader is led to believe that Jay Dobyns is an undercover ATF agent attempting to bust the Arizona area's Hell's Angels. The more and more the author reveals about undercover agent Jay Dobyns, the more the audience is able to see how attached he begins to grow to this criminal lifestyle. The author sets plots of suspense which seem much more realistic because this novel is truly about Dobyns's lifestyle as an undercover agent. The ATF agent begins to work his way deep in
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Oct 28, 2011
Jerry
rated it:
A detailed (too detailed maybe?) telling of an undercover operation to penetrate the Hells Angels in Arizona and bring them to book.
No doubt Dobyns is a dedicated and effective undercover cop (or was) and there is much to admire about his honest telling of this particular operation. He is brutally honest about how he found himself becoming what he wanted to stop and how he grudgingly admired some of the biker culture in which he became increasingly immersed. He pulls no punches about More...
No doubt Dobyns is a dedicated and effective undercover cop (or was) and there is much to admire about his honest telling of this particular operation. He is brutally honest about how he found himself becoming what he wanted to stop and how he grudgingly admired some of the biker culture in which he became increasingly immersed. He pulls no punches about More...
