Blog Archives
Fifty Shades of True Crime
Fifty Shades of True Crime is a wild ride through the strangest and darkest corners of human behavior. Author Douglas Fifer, a former Alaskan cop, strings together story after story of crimes soaked in sex, kink, and shocking perversity. From bestiality cases in small towns to necrophilia, from bizarre arrests involving vegetables to chilling encounters with killers, the book leans on real-life cases to show just how messy and twisted desire can be. It’s told with a mix of dark humor and blunt honesty, which makes it both grotesque and oddly entertaining.
At times, I laughed, mostly at Fifer’s cop-gallows humor and his no-nonsense storytelling. Then a few pages later, I felt queasy. The stories don’t hold back, and the details are unflinching. His style is raw, sometimes crude, yet always conversational. It felt less like I was reading a book and more like I was being told insane stories by a cop who had seen too much but knew how to keep you hooked. I appreciated how he threaded in questions about morality and kink, forcing me to reflect on where the line between fantasy and crime really lies.
I also found myself admiring his honesty. He doesn’t try to sanitize the brutality of human desire or the failures of the legal system. Instead, he puts it all out there, and whether you’re disgusted, amused, or both, you can’t look away. One story that stuck with me was the “Cool as a Cucumber” case. A drunk driver in Anchorage not only crashed his minivan but was also discovered with a massive cucumber, wrapped in plastic, stuck inside him. The image is outrageous and grotesque, yet Fifer tells it with such dark humor that I couldn’t help but laugh and cringe at the same time.
I’d recommend Fifty Shades of True Crime to readers who like their true crime with a heavy dose of shock and unfiltered storytelling. If you want a book that dares to blend the outrageous with the horrifying, and if you can handle humor in the middle of horror, this book will grip you from start to finish.
Pages: 229 | ASIN : B0D7X1SDFC
Become Advocates
Tucson 9-1-1: Do The Right Thing! is a deeply personal, sometimes fiery, and always passionate insider account of the rise and fall of Tucson’s emergency communications center. Why was this an important book for you to write?
9-1-1 service is so critical to emergency services, but it suffers everywhere from neglect for political reasons. A little advocacy could easily turn this around, but there are no advocates. I want people to know how they can save lives simply by letting government officials know that we are watching. I want people to become advocates. After 14 years, the 9-1-1 service of Tucson has only degraded even more. Why is this tolerated?
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
Anyone would imagine that doing great service for people who call 9-1-1 is automatic, a no-brainer. However, the reality is far different. I had this personal experience, but this same kind of truth is paralleled everywhere. I felt it was important to report the facts and quote the actual communications because readers could accurately judge the behavior of myself and all involved. Some might see me as a troublemaker, but then they will have to wonder that no one else was speaking for the victims calling 9-1-1 and dying quietly. Someone should speak for them.
How did you balance the need to be honest and authentic with the need to protect your privacy and that of others in your memoir?
I am not sure that I protected anyone. I deliberately avoided naming some people in some situations to prevent unfairness and harm to them. Maybe, I was too protective, but I don’t think anyone would say so. It’s a memoir, so I could not be honest and still protect myself.
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?
Demand what you value from your elected officials because politics governs what happens. Advocacy is necessary. Nothing is easy.
Author Links: GoodReads | Linkedin | Amazon
Tucson 9-1-1: Do the Right Thing!
Tucson 9-1-1: Do The Right Thing! is a deeply personal, sometimes fiery, and always passionate insider account of the rise and fall of Tucson’s emergency communications center. Michael LaFond, a former 9-1-1 operator, brings readers behind the curtain of public safety communications to reveal the unsung heroes, complex personalities, bureaucratic missteps, and systemic flaws that shape how emergency calls are handled. The book recounts both the triumph—like the heroic response during the 2011 Tucson shooting—and the unraveling of a once-proud institution due to budget cuts, managerial changes, and disregard for public safety culture.
What struck me most about LaFond’s writing is the raw, unfiltered honesty. He writes like a man who has nothing left to lose, and that lends a gravity to every page. His admiration for figures like Louie Gonzales is touching—almost reverent. But when he turns his pen against those he sees as betraying the mission of public safety, it’s blistering. His style swings wildly from reflective to sarcastic to downright angry. That makes it a bit uneven, sure—but it also makes it real. This isn’t corporate PR. It’s a whistleblower’s war story written with both heart and bite.
At times, the story slows down to dive deep into the minutiae—office politics, scheduling policies, bureaucratic turf wars. There are long tangents that might lose readers unfamiliar with the workings of a 9-1-1 center. But maybe the tedium is part of the tragedy. Because LaFond’s central message is clear: it’s not flashy heroics but small, smart decisions made by dedicated people that save lives. When leadership forgets that, things fall apart fast.
Tucson 9-1-1: Do The Right Thing! is a stirring read. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in public service, emergency response, or organizational leadership. It’s not a thriller, but it sure feels like one when you realize what’s at stake in every call. If you want a book that will challenge your assumptions and make you care about the people behind the phones, give this a read.
Pages: 542 | ASIN : B0F2M3PG1L
American Diplomat
American Diplomat by Alex Reinshagen offers a captivating journey through the author’s experiences across various countries, serving the U.S. in top-secret missions. Reinshagen’s narrative vividly captures the highs and lows of his 26-year career in firefighting, law enforcement, and the U.S. Foreign Service. Readers are taken on a thrilling ride, from protecting U.S. Ambassador Nancy Powell in Pakistan to transporting Palestinian prisoners to an Israeli jail in a remote desert town.
The book is enlightening, offering insights into the terminologies and missions of those in the U.S. Foreign Service and law enforcement. For instance, the term “slow roll” is explained as an agent signal indicating it’s safe for the lead vehicle to slowly depart from where the motorcade is parked. Such details enhance the reader’s understanding of the field’s intricacies. Reinshagen’s missions are suspenseful and rich in detail, making readers feel as if they are part of the action. Whether he is undercover to catch illegal passport dealers or operating in a war zone, his stories are captivating from beginning to end. The author’s mastery of English, with vivid similes like, “The stench in the room burned my lungs like a cigarette on my chest,” adds to the book’s appeal. The narrative also delves into Reinshagen’s personal life, from his childhood dream of becoming a police officer to his post-retirement life and his family’s struggles with COVID-19. His personal accounts are heartfelt, allowing his voice and personality to shine through and draw readers closer to his core essence. Themes of marriage, law enforcement, culture, politics, and passport fraud are interwoven throughout the book, adding depth and complexity.
Alex Reinshagen has crafted a compelling and educational story in his memoir American Diplomat. It is a must-read for fans of law enforcement and travel narratives. The book’s nuanced storytelling ensures that readers will discover something new with each read, making it a tale worth revisiting.
Pages: 245 | ASIN : B0CZBSRV87
Postscript of My Professional Career
Busting Drug Dealers: Diaries of a DEA Special Agent shares your stories and experiences from working out in the field for the DEA and how this impacted your life and the lives of the people you encountered. Why was this an important book for you to write?
As I wrote briefly in the book’s Introduction, for decades, I toyed with the idea of writing a novel. The protagonist was to be an intrepid DEA agent. His story would be based upon my personal experiences and those of my fellow special agents. Over time, however, following the loss of my parents, I developed an interest in genealogy and my ancestry. When I learned that I had multiple ancestors who had been American police officers in the 1600s, I began thinking about writing a collection of law enforcement stories relating fictional or imagined experiences of my ancestors, combined with my own true personal experiences, and those of my father and brother (also former law enforcement officers).
In recent years, however, I decided that a memoir would be the appropriate medium for my story. My true-life experiences equaled or surpassed those I might imagine in a fictional novel. More than that, however, I felt a memoir would provide me with the opportunity to explain to my daughters and son, aspects of my life that we have never discussed in depth. By writing my story rather than verbalizing it, I have attempted to provide some level of explanation for my absences, my inattention, and my early prioritization of career over family. In some ways, the book has been a way to bridge a previous lack of communication with my children.
This memoir is a postscript of my professional career. Other than myself and my family, the people impacted by my work are, for the most part, dead and gone. Whether due to their lifestyle(s) or other reasons, I seem to have outlived the individuals I previously investigated and sent to prison. My career was an evolving and ongoing education for me, as well as often being an adrenaline rush. Regardless of all the highs and lows over the years, I loved my job as a DEA Special Agent. I’ve reached a stage in my life where I want to share my adventures.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
When I was a young man, I had a feeling of certainty; feelings of indestructibility and omnipotence. I was one of the “good guys.” Nothing bad could happen to me. The good guys always won. Over the years, however, and especially when facing the facts while writing my book, it was embarrassing to realize how wrong I sometimes was. My prioritization of the job conflicted dramatically with family life. It was difficult to come to terms with my misplaced “machismo,” and the fact that although it provided me with personal goals and self-satisfaction, it negatively affected my family. The murder of my second wife, and the loss of friends (both DEA agents and foreign national police officers) along the way, were also especially difficult.
What were some goals you set for yourself as a writer in this book?
My primary goal was to share stories of my career with family and close friends. Once I decided to write the book, I committed myself to learn about self-publishing, and to make my book as professional a product as I could, fully knowing that I may never recoup that expense through book sales. For me, the goal is to tell the story in a way to make it interesting; not to worry about the commercialization of the book.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be published?
I end Busting Drug Dealers: Diaries of a DEA Special Agent as I leave Lahore, Pakistan, and am promoted into a supervisory field position in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This first book is written from the perspective of a “street agent” in domestic and overseas assignments. I have the material and have begun work on a second book that will begin with my supervisory assignment in San Juan, and follow the remainder of my DEA career through that 3-year assignment, over six additional years assigned as head of DEA foreign operations for five countries in South Asia, two years at DEA headquarters in Washington, DC (with another promotion to oversee all DEA domestic and international chemical investigations), and finally, three post-retirement years working on contract to DEA international operations, identifying, vetting, equipping, and training foreign national police officers for special counternarcotics units to support DEA operations in US Embassies overseas. I do not yet have an anticipated publication date.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | BookBub | Amazon
While the rest of us were safe in our homes, DEA Special Agent Mike Fredericks was busting dopers around the world and preventing illicit drugs from hitting the streets in the US.
Written from his extensive diaries and court documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, the real-life adventures of Mike Fredericks read like fiction—and will either scare the pants off you or assure you that daring agents like Fredericks are on the job.
From Portland to Pakistan, Colombia to the Caribbean, Fredericks was working hard and playing harder, ripping and running, buying drugs undercover, driving fast cars, arresting felons and fugitives, busting redneck meth labs in remote Oregon sites, raiding clandestine cocaine labs in dense Colombian jungles, training with US Army special forces, investigating heroin traffickers in Pakistan, and working internationally to dismantle worldwide drug distribution organizations.
This memoir is the inside story of decorated Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, Mike Fredericks.
Warning: This book contains scenes of terrorism and weapons use, drugs and drug trafficking, and torture. It also contains profanity. For adult readers only.
Black, White, and Gray All Over
Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement by Frederick Reynolds is a fantastic memoir surrounding his tumultuous life as a black cop in Compton, California. The book deals with sensitive topics such as racism, police brutality, poverty, and crime. As a cop, Reynolds encounters horrific situations that allow him to showcase in his book the many difficulties and traumatic events that cops in America have to deal with daily. Through his unforgettable story, he invites the reader to take a look from the inside at what it’s like to work in law enforcement in one of the most crime-ridden cities of America. This well-crafted book is highly informative and brings a critical perspective on life: it’s not all black and white; there are also gray areas that are constantly being navigated and make things more complicated to understand.
This revealing memoir tells the emotional story of the author’s road to personal improvement. Reynolds describes perfectly what it was like growing up in a dysfunctional family and how he almost kept going down the wrong path as a young person. We get to see the dangerous lifestyles that many people are introduced to from an early age and how hard it is to get out of them without the appropriate support system. His job as a cop helps him build a life for himself and his family. However, this didn’t come right away. Many obstacles had to be overcome, getting to witness in the process one of the most heartbreaking and cruelest realities of the worst areas in Los Angeles County.
Reynolds tells his personal story with great detail. His descriptive writing is carried out through every chapter. From his life as a child to his eventual retirement, he gives as much context as possible to the reader, creating a complete and holistic perspective of his life. He makes sure to display the real problems and corruption that he saw while working as a cop. He also shows the reader how challenging and thankless the job of being a cop in America is. This allows him to exhibit the complex and traumatic lives people who work in law enforcement have to deal with. His detailed accounts of murders, shootings, drug deals, and gang violence were very tough to read, and it’s hard to imagine what it would be like to lead a life where such events are part of your daily routine.
Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement is a relevant book that will help readers understand the history of racism and discrimination that this country has had. Police work is probably one of the most demanding jobs out there, and through this book, you’ll get a better understanding of all the sacrifice it takes to carry out this necessary profession. Bad people come in all genders, races, shapes, and sizes; some even wear badges, so it’s important to remain human and avoid judging too harshly those that happen to look different than us or have had the misfortune to grow in disadvantageous circumstances.
Pages: 477 | ASIN : B09JF9VB4Z
LITERARY TITAN 