Big Bills Only by Jerry Webb
My rating: 6 of 5 stars
This non-fiction account of a horrendous crime that occurred in Dallas, Texas, by the FBI case agent who led the investigation is an absolute must read. It is neither politically nor stylistically correct, and thank God for that. It is, instead, at times hilarious, gut-wrenchingly shocking, frightening, unbelievable, and at all times both true and thoroughly entertaining. It is written in the inimitable and indescribable voice of one of those guys who for 22 years kept your father from being beaten to death and your daughter from being raped and all the other things street agents do in the FBI. This is no gloss-over love-me from a suit. The author has never wanted more than to throw bad guys in jail and he succeeded admirably. He could also be a stand-up comedian, but thank heavens that he chose to protect us instead.
Fair disclosure: I’m a retired FBI agent, too, so I’m thoroughly biased, but I’m not exaggerating when I say I absolutely loved this book. I literally could not put it down. Okay, that’s a lie. I did put it down when I got to the end of the story and reached the copy of the appellate court opinion appended onto it. Even that is entertaining, but I’m a retired lawyer, too, so take that with a grain of salt. So I ate dinner and cleaned up the dishes in the break and then read the appellate opinion, but considering that the book came in the mail at 4:00 o’clock and I’m writing this at 7:30 PM, you can see that I totally devoured this. If I could give it six stars, I would. It’s not polished. The font is wrong, the page justification is wrong, and the photos are almost useless. It’s raw and disrespectful and did I mention politically incorrect? It is also absolutely, totally, wonderful. Read it. You’re an idiot if you don’t. In fact, you should read it at least twice. The stuff at the beginning is twice as funny after you’ve read what happens at the end.