Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team by Special Agent Christopher Whitcomb

Agent Christopher Whitcomb tells of how he came to work for the FBI, and how he eventually joined the FBI Hostage Rescue Team as a sniper, and some of his missions with the team.

Originally a speechwriter for a Congressman, Christopher Whitcomb tells pretty much his life story, with an emphasis on his work in the FBI, and how the FBI and the HRT changed after the fiascos at Ruby Ridge and Waco, which led to a massive change in the way the agency is run and the kinds of confrontations the team has. From a mindset where violence is planned for and used, to one where the emphasis is more on negotiation and conflict resolution, he talks about the changes in the FBI, and the changes in his own life that arose from the stressful time at the FBI.

However, many in HRT are not demonstrative or whiners, so when the situation headed south after Waco, psychologists who were more white tower collegiate types were brought in to get the men talking- a situation which failed, because the HRT men were dealing with the sorts of things and situations which the white-towers psychiatrists never had to deal with and couldn't understand- and which shook them so badly that they never came back after the first session.

This is a fascinating book that gives you the feeling of being there, of being behind the scope of the sniper rifle with the shooters of the HRT, feeling what they felt, and seeing the way they saw while they were on the job, and after they left to go home after a mission.

Most of the missions seem exciting, and Whitcomb's enthusiasm for the job he was doing, along with the professionalism he and the others on his team displayed, is easily communicated in the words you read, and it becomes more that just the mental exercise of reading, and becomes more like a movie in your mind, and an exciting one at that.

While this book is as much Biography as Non-Fiction book about the Hostage Rescue Team, it's a fascinating mix as you read what led the author to the job, and the hurdles he had to cross and the training he underwent to get to his position. The final product is sure to entrance and make for long hours of good reading. Recommended.