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No Heroes: Inside the FBI's Secret Counter-Terror Force
The doors are thrown wide open on the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, an elite team of commandos who figure into a series of high-profile cases, from the Atlanta prison riots to the controversial Waco siege and investigations into the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings . Reprint.
640 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 10, 2012
The author worked for the FBI for almost 30 years. Early in that time he became a member of the newly formed Hostage Release Team which ended up at places heard in every day news reports such as Ruby Ridge, Branch Davidian in Waco, TX and Oklahoma City. This is a well-written book, mostly about the play by play of his work life, but sparingly reveals the toll the job had on his personal and family life.
November 21, 2019
Danny Coulson has seen more adventure and had more interesting experiences in his 31 years in the Federal Bureau of Investigation than most people experience in double that time, and his book NO HEROES covers that time period in a hands-down page turner.
A native son of Texas, Coulson originally set out to become a lawyer, but decided he wanted to change the world by joining Hoover's Bureau. He cut his teeth as an investigator and SWAT officer in the mean streets of New York, where his biggest case was hunting black nationalist insurgents engaged in ambushes against law enforcement. After a stint in FBI Headquarters as a lawyer, he was tapped to form and lead the Bureau's answer to the military's Delta Force and SEAL Team Six: the vaunted Hostage Rescue Team.
However, in contrast to the latter two organizations, Coulson made it his personal mission to ensure his organization did not become a "commando" unit. Despite their Tier One budget and skillset, they were to remember that they were still law enforcement agents at the end of the day. We see that approach avert catastrophe during a standoff with a white nationalist group known as the Covenant of the Sword and Arm of the Lord, where those involved were apprehended without an HRT operator firing a single shot.
In Coulson's later years, he becomes a scapegoat for mismanagement of the HRT, and while then-FBI Director Louis Freeh did make a major step in the right direction with the formation of the Critical Incident Response Group, he also bowed to political pressure and sought to make an example of Freeh over trivial matters. In this fashion, Coulson's memoir reminds me a lot of Richard Marcinko's ROGUE WARRIOR, especially the closing chapters.
The major difference between Marcinko and Coulson, however, is that while Coulson is outspoken and a colorful character, he is hardly braggadocious. He is a humble, down-to-earth man who admits when he makes mistakes and knows he is not perfect, and it comes through loud and clear in the prose.
I blazed through NO HEROES in a little under 24 hours. It was that hard to put down. An informative, entertaining read about a modern-day American hero and trailblazer in the law enforcement field. Highly recommended reading for those seeking to learn about law enforcement, special operations, and modern history.
A native son of Texas, Coulson originally set out to become a lawyer, but decided he wanted to change the world by joining Hoover's Bureau. He cut his teeth as an investigator and SWAT officer in the mean streets of New York, where his biggest case was hunting black nationalist insurgents engaged in ambushes against law enforcement. After a stint in FBI Headquarters as a lawyer, he was tapped to form and lead the Bureau's answer to the military's Delta Force and SEAL Team Six: the vaunted Hostage Rescue Team.
However, in contrast to the latter two organizations, Coulson made it his personal mission to ensure his organization did not become a "commando" unit. Despite their Tier One budget and skillset, they were to remember that they were still law enforcement agents at the end of the day. We see that approach avert catastrophe during a standoff with a white nationalist group known as the Covenant of the Sword and Arm of the Lord, where those involved were apprehended without an HRT operator firing a single shot.
In Coulson's later years, he becomes a scapegoat for mismanagement of the HRT, and while then-FBI Director Louis Freeh did make a major step in the right direction with the formation of the Critical Incident Response Group, he also bowed to political pressure and sought to make an example of Freeh over trivial matters. In this fashion, Coulson's memoir reminds me a lot of Richard Marcinko's ROGUE WARRIOR, especially the closing chapters.
The major difference between Marcinko and Coulson, however, is that while Coulson is outspoken and a colorful character, he is hardly braggadocious. He is a humble, down-to-earth man who admits when he makes mistakes and knows he is not perfect, and it comes through loud and clear in the prose.
I blazed through NO HEROES in a little under 24 hours. It was that hard to put down. An informative, entertaining read about a modern-day American hero and trailblazer in the law enforcement field. Highly recommended reading for those seeking to learn about law enforcement, special operations, and modern history.
June 2, 2026
I don't remember where i got this book from, but I've had it for many years. I finally decided to give it a chance, but it was going to have a pretty short leash.
Coulson was a beat cop in NYC a long time ago- many decades. He then joined the FBI and started their elite Hostage Rescue Team.
In this book he details many cases that were national, front page news. From the Atlanta prison riots to the OKC bombing, Ruby Ridge to Waco.
It really is a fascinating behind the scenes viewpoint of so many famous cases. I'm glad i picked it up and finally gave it a chance.
Funny footnote- after I finished the book, I liked at the title page and it was released in 1999! So it's old, but good.
4 🌟 and I can recommend it to everyone.
Coulson was a beat cop in NYC a long time ago- many decades. He then joined the FBI and started their elite Hostage Rescue Team.
In this book he details many cases that were national, front page news. From the Atlanta prison riots to the OKC bombing, Ruby Ridge to Waco.
It really is a fascinating behind the scenes viewpoint of so many famous cases. I'm glad i picked it up and finally gave it a chance.
Funny footnote- after I finished the book, I liked at the title page and it was released in 1999! So it's old, but good.
4 🌟 and I can recommend it to everyone.
November 25, 2020
Excellent. Well written, easy to read and pretty much an autobiography but boy was he at the coal face so many times. And I much respect that his success was not based on shoot-em-outs.
September 11, 2019
This is an exciting story written in a
low-key style.
Coulson knows, like every good cop, that
confrontations are risky. Nobody can tell
what will happen.
As the FBI's expert on
defusing deadly situations, he constantly
out-wits his criminals and avoids unnecessary
gunfights. He avoids the frontal assault on
dangerous domestic terrorists and instead
infiltrates from the side. He believes in
negotiation over ultimatums.
In the start of the book, he notes that
accurate shooting was something that he
had mastered early on. After accomplishing
that, he realized that winning meant that
nobody need shoot. So he planned. And
it worked.
He approached all criminals as human
beings who might respond to his approach.
The book shows his success. I recommend
it.
+++Frank Hickey,
Crime novelist, Los Angeles
Police Department, retired.
June 26, 2010
Simply fascinating! I really had a hard time putting this book down! A combination biography of Special Agent Danny O. Coulson's life & career and an accurate & balanced account of the FBI's incredible achievements, deadly mistakes, and growth and change over the years (from 1960's to today). Also tells of the development and successes of the world-reknown FBI Hostage Rescue Team(HRT). Highlights include: Black Panthers, NY's big bank robberies, cop-killers and gangs, Ruby Ridge, atrocious & frightening evil plans & criminal work of white supremest(such as the CSA)and other hate groups, World Trade Center, Olympics hostage/murders situation, Waco, Oklahoma federal building bombing (Tim McVeigh & co-conspirators), Iran-Contra affair, Cuban prisoner riots in the Alabama federal penitentiary, and much, much more. Eye-opening, an easy-read & engrossing. 573 pages
April 12, 2013
Great pacing and excellent voice, particularly for a non-fiction. Coulson comes across as realistic and likeable - a stand-up guy you'd be glad to have in charge of national security. Enough details on his personal life and interactions with other key players to bring a truly human element to the HRT. Also amazing how positive he comes across throughout the book - to have dealt with such a long list of society's worst elements over a span of decades, he doesn't seem bitter or jaded at all. In fact, that was another part of what made this book so good - I never got the feeling he had marginalized the people he risked his life to put away.
My favorite part? When he's choosing members for the first HRT, one of the things he's looking for are cops with a sense of humor.
My favorite part? When he's choosing members for the first HRT, one of the things he's looking for are cops with a sense of humor.
September 10, 2011
I have to admit, I really liked this book. I really wasn't sure what to expect after reading the description but once I picked it up I just couldn't put it down. The author did a wonderful job throwing in but things from his personal and professional life. I found some of those stories to be quite entertaining. It was also nice to read about his opinions about quite a lot of others things. You come to realize that what these people do isn't quite like what you'd expect in a movie.(Not that I think anyone still believes that what's in the movies is true.) A def must read.
May 25, 2010
This is one of those books you know is real, because no fiction writer could make this stuff up. This book shows some of the real people, life, and motives behind and FBI badge. The stories behind the major events are as fascinating as the events themselves.
After I read the last chapter, I understood why the author has written the book, but it does not show in the rest of the book, this is one of the best "behind the scenes" books I've read.
After I read the last chapter, I understood why the author has written the book, but it does not show in the rest of the book, this is one of the best "behind the scenes" books I've read.
October 21, 2009
Fascinating stories, but could have used a lot of editing! Still loved it though.
January 4, 2010
This is a really great book. It is written by a FBI man who started in the 60s and stopped some really serious crimes. It was a fascinating story and true.
April 8, 2011
Outstanding look into the world of the special agent who started the Hostage Rescue Team at the FBI.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews