This book details the ATF's extensive attempt to infiltrate the Hells Angels. The operation put the undercover agents through hell and produced nothing. The agents discovered that the Hells Angels displayed far more loyalty and genuine caring for them than their supervisors did. The operation was poorly run and poorly planned. Millions of dollars of taxpayer's money spent with no results. This book does provide a limited "insider's" view of the Hells Angels, but provides a better illustration of federal law enforcement's paranoia and obsession with biker clubs.

This book is absolute GARBAGE. A middle schooler could write a better book. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I want my money back

I thought this book would be much better from the hype I read. No so as it is long and boring. Not much action, constant repeating and not much of a story. Maybe they could not tell much because of secrets not being allowed out. Yeah, that's it!

The job done by the cops - tough and respectable. The job done by the Angels - tough and respectable. The job done by the author - weak. Reads like a fiction novel.

This was absolutely the worst wriiten book I have ever read. The subject matter is great and should be very interesting and informative but the author DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO WRITE. It makes no sense and the characters are unidentifiable. It is very unfortunate the ATF agents risked their lives and allowed the author to butcher their story. Please do not waist your time or money on this book like I did.

Okay, so truth be told, I bought this book thinking I would get some "birdseye view" into the world of the Hells Angels and as I am about 3/4 of the way through it, I am coming up a little dissapointed.
Up until now, it's been an odd account of what seems like more ATF officials than the Hells Angels.
I do have to say, that it seems to be getting better now, but I really don't have much hope!!
And yes, there are several pages of photos in there ... sadly 98% of the faces are blurred, which I understand, but why put them in the book?? It makes no sense!
Anyway, I will update my review once I finish, but I have to say that I don't think that it's worth the money I paid for it, I should have waited until it had been out a while and bought someones used copy for $3.

THE BIO OF THE AUTHOR SAY'S IT ALL. SHE'S AN LAWYER WHO WRITES CRIME FICTION AS A HOBBY.THIS BOOK IS A WASTE OF TIME,PAPER AND MONEY!!!

Up front, this book is written by one of the prosecuting attorneys and is very biased.
It is clear from the tone of this book that the author was completely unable to relate to the subject material. She expresses an utter disdain for the lifestyle and the women in it. I understand that the book was about a criminal investigation but there was no build or depth to the people involved in the stories. Women in biker culture were only depicted as drug addicted slaves. The fact that the best the ATF could do for undercover agents is a bunch of dudes in Arizona no less that couldn't even ride and had to trailer the bikes was ridiculous. I have no idea how they pulled that one off. I'm sure there was a lot more that went into this investigation that would have made the story better, but it probably couldn't be written about for legal reasons. Under and alone was a much better book. Sonny Barger's accounts and writings have a better ring of truth to them than this book.

This is an interseting story but the book lacks many details to keep the readers attention. I feel some more research should of been done to provide a more complete account of what really happened. Many of the details that are missing in the book are public record and were easily found be checking court records.

an easy read front to back, got through it in one day, I had already read much of the same story in other books and magazines

I was pumped up to start reading this book when I got it in the mail this week. Boy was I disappointed.

First of all, the story doesn't really know where to go. The author tries to lay this out like a documentary using dates to frame her chapters. It tries to show on just two or three pages what transpired over the course of a month or so.

Secondly, aside from "Bird", the characters are not developed. You really do not get a feel for anyone else.

Petty drug deals, gun sales and talks of how the Hells Angels normally would do business, really don't carry the story. I came into this book expecting to read about murder, assault and a voyeuristic view into the club. I was instead, left with a huge disappointment.

If you are looking for a brief summarization of a court case that never amounted to anything major, read this book. If you are looking for a book that goes into depth about the inner workings of the Hells Angels and the day to day workings of a motorcycle club, skip this book.

This book gives a good look at the challenges that face the undercover officer and the role he tries to play as he tries to infiltrate the criminal society of the Hells Angels. Well wrote, as it plays out the transitions the agent goes through as he moves deeper into the motorcycle gang. A very interesting read, highly recommended.

This book was good, but took a bit to get interesting. Fantastic ending. Look at the interviews with the main character on cnn.com, before or after.

After reading Under and Alone, this book seemed sedated and often repetitive. I'm not impressed with the author's writing style or the content of the book either. I often found myself mindlessly reading just to get through a lot of it, there's just no adrenalin to it. It's not something I'm going to recommend to my friends, and will probably gather a lot of dust on my book shelves before I decide to just git rid of it.

This book was the largest load of horse puckey I have ever read. It should have listed as fiction.
While the accounts detailing the operational activities of the ATF agents may or may not have been accurate, the depiction of bikers and their lifestyle couldn't be farther from the truth.
It seems that the author did her background investigation of the biker lifestyle by watching bad "B" biker exploitation movies from the 70's
For Example, "When the agents arrived at Too Broke for Sturgis, They found outlaw bikers pounding down beers and parading their women around like prized pigs"
I've been to the rally in question and have found it to be a very mellow gathering of friends and families who happen to ride motorcycles.
It pains me to think of the ill will the author is perpetuating by such false depictions of motorcyclists

After having read "Under and Alone", which was a well written and fascinating read, "Running with the Devil" was an utter disappointment. "RwtD" read more like a script to a B grade movie rather than an account of actual events. Save your money...

This doesn't sound like a "club" to me. Good book. Under and Alone by William Queen is a 5 star book on this subject.
M

Sonny Barger once boasted the Hells Angels would never be infiltrated - but the ATF sting proved him wrong, with undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives penetrating the mystique and clan. The author's access to confidential information allows her to follow ATF special agent Joseph Slatalla as he originates the idea and injects an ATF agent named Bird into the Hells Angels chapter. Bird's work would lead to the arrest of 50 people and seizure of some 650 guns: RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL: THE TRUE STORY OF THE ATF'S INFILTRATION OF THE HELLS ANGELS tells how in a riveting account which reads with the drama of fiction and will mesmerize general-interest readers at the public library level.

I wasn't sure I should order this book after I read the reviews. But, I did and overall it was a good book. Yes, it does have some errors, like calling the Nazi Low Riders a biker gang. (They are a white, prison based street gang) But, those are few and forgivable.

The book does a good job of showing the difficulty in running what by its' nature has to be a mostly, "Seat of the pants," operation with the strings being controlled by a huge Goverment agency. Not a recipe for success, but the agents in Operation Black Biscuit did the best they could with what they had. The book did a good job of showing this to the reader.

I have a unique perspective on the biker subculture, crime, and society in that I was raised around bikers and biker gangs, yet today I am a 20 year Law Enforcement veteran. I have seen those bikers that lived the life, but actually were good people. But, most I met were out to take what they could get, as cheap as they could, even if someone else was victimized. This book showed that, even when the "victim" was another gang/club member. What a way to treat, I mean "honor" a fellow member.

In the end Operation Black Biscuit did not get the type of convictions you would think. And, many in the biker subculture are quick to point this out. I would like to have seen more info in the book on the who, what, when, where and why that happened. The popular answer is because of over zealous, sloppy, power happy Goverment agents and the agencies they represent. But, the answer is not that easy. The answer lies in the fabric of our society itself, in that how do you play by the rules established in the name of fairness in order to take down those who claim to not play by our rules. Just once, we should do it according to their rules.

This, and any other book about the biker subculture that I have read always will raise the question of why do those who claim to be wanting to live life outside of the everyday rules of society, quickly hide behind those same rules when they are applied to them ? Ex- Hells Angel turned informant Anthony Tait posed that question in his book, but nobody has really delved into it. If you think this isn't true, just try to use their copyrighted logo.

So, overall the book was fun andd interesting to read and it is well worth the time and money that I invested. However, it and other books like it leave questions that I think need to be answered. Not just because we need to effectively deal with those in the biker subculture who victimize the innocent (not all do), but because I would find it interesting to read about.

I read this book.. Very poorly written, nothing new. Author, it is my opinion that you failed to do any independent research. I would expect more neutral coverage by an ATF agent. Your offbase allegations about the HA's as violent is just not factual based.

I'm not sure how Ms Droban can take this story and not at least make it interesting but she does it and she really does not know very much about her subject matter she just regurgitates the same old rumors, lies and legend circulated by law enforcement agencies and the media for years. Some of it made me laugh out loud but not in a good way! I have done enough research into the subject to know there are always more than 2 sides to every story and that if you scrape just a little bit under deep shades of black there is nothing but shades of gray and that is real life. It seems she didn't even do the most basic of research, she just tried to cash in on the recent bash the Angel's bandwagon. Poorly done, don't waste your time.

Because she is a lousy writer. This is as poorly written as anything I have read on any topic in a long time. I can't, and few could, speak to the accuracy of her account but I can tell you that there are several errors relative to her description of where things took place. She should check both her geography and her spelling. Makes you question her "factual account". PLEASE don't waste your money.

This book lacked the details i had come to expect after reading "Under and alone", its a good read for sure but didnt grip me. I felt letdown, no doubt like Jay did at the end. Its a sad reflection on the often futile attempts of law enforcement to bring outlaws to justice, the price these agents pay and the danger thet put themselves in makes you wonder if its worth it. Jay dobyns is an interesting character for sure, would like to read his autobiography one day if he writes one.

there are a number of fairly recent books on the topic of outlaw bikers, and in this mix, this book is just so-so. the story itself is pretty fascinating, considering a group of atf agents were able to infiltrate the hells angels mc, but the actual telling of it is pretty lackluster. this reader immediately drew comparisons to billy queen's 'under and alone' which describes his infilitration of another motorcycle club.

queen's telling, however, was a gripping FIRST-PERSON account and the personal experience is noticeably absent from droban's story. and while she makes efforts to paint scenes in an effort to give the reader context, they feel embellished, flowery, and insincere in places. in many ways, it doesn't feel as if the author is well-versed in her subject matter and is just discovering the culture herself. her entire chapter detailing an upcoming confrontation with arguably the largest mc in the world, only to consistently mispell their name, is almost unforgiveable. it certainly lacks an air of credibility on the author's part.

one thing that i thought was interesting though, is that this book was written by a woman, and as such, there are more curiosities in what goes on quietly in the women's world of the 1%er culture. at least more so than i've seen in other books. unfortunately, the same voice seems to fall a bit soft when describing a testosterone-on-overdrive culture. and while this isn't a criticism on point of view, it IS a criticism of tone.

still, this book tells more of the story of operation black biscuit than 'angels of death', so the curious will still get something out of it. if you're just looking for something to read in the category and don't know where to start, i'd probably recommend queen's 'under and alone' first.

What a story and what a great read. The author leads us into a world rarely known to those outside it and then plants us on a teetering tightrope of opposites next to the undercover cops. Fast paced, intense story. Pick this up...you won't be able to put it down.

I found this book to be extremely interesting and well researched. I'm not sure why someone would give it a 1 Star review unless they belonged to the Hell's Angels perhaps? A great summer read. This is a keeper on my book shelf.

The book was surpringly interesting. I personally have already read about Jay Dobyns work in the book Angel of Death that came out over a year ago, and at first, feared that I was going to read information on a story I already knew about. There are details that weren't mentioned in the previous book, and the momentum stays pretty steady throughout. I was a little annoyed of all the nicknames of the agents and that they kept calling Dobins "Bird" throughout the book until the end because just about everyone with interest in outlaw biker clubs knows of Dobyns work, and that his and most of the other agents involved names were made public for a while now. However, if your new to the story, you will find the book interesting with little dry areas. I personally found the book better than some have rated. This story is yet another example of how federal cops that put their life in there work, get put into unessesary danger due to government burocarcy, selfishness, and penny pinching. I have a feeling the story of Dobyns life is far from over.

This book was steeped in redundant views of the events. It gets stuck in a loop and simply repeats the same ideas, known only to the author.

What a piece of junk! In the first chapter, the author cannot even spell the name of one of the "five major 1% clubs" correctly! Given that, one wonders about the authenticity of the rest of the book. Poorly written, bad punctuation/mis-spellings not caught by the Editors, and overall a poor description of what was probably an equally poor operation. A below par effort to cash in on the current "biker craze" occurring in this country. Don't waste your hard earned money.

Ms. Droban's indepth research on the Hell's Angels was informative and articulate. I found the book fasinating and well researched. I actually don't understand why someone would rank it a 1 unless the person is possibly described in the book or is a Hell's Angel. I wouldn't be surprised if either were the case. It would be exactly the type of attack one would expect from this motorcycle gang. A wonderful, fast-paced read. I highly recommend this book.

Utter nonsense from the first page. It appears the auther hasn't had any experience with her subject matter, and relates events that are so obviously discriminatory fabrication, you'd think she was on the ATF payroll. This kind of dated sensational writing belongs in the sixties or a supermarket checkout rack. She doesn't even put her ideas down in a clear manner. It is confusing, jaded, and chock full of BS.

I'm the first to admit that I'm not a fan of true crime but the subject and the setting of Running with the Devil made it a must read for me. From the first page to the last, the fast paced writing kept me reading. The information gleaned from interviews of those actually involved with the operation (unlike so many other books covering the same subject) added depth and tension so often missing in true crime. The actions of the ATF agents gave the plot twists than the most engaging fiction. Highly recommended!

disapointed with it overall. Expected a better story, or for it to be told better. Most of it was the agent whining, The woman (JJ) did not complain at all, but Bird....................

I think the Hells Angels are one of those organizations that you hear a lot about, but no one (except the HA themselves) knows exactly just how vicious they are. They are like the Mafia on wheels, and it's amazing that the author was able to tell the story from an insider's perspective. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in underground biker culture.

Poorly researched, fabricated dialogue and events, invented characters, and factual mistakes on nearly every page captured by sappy writing - all played off as non-fiction? The ATF case was cool and the Angels are a very worthy adversary but neither side can be happy this with book.

This is an outstanding book. Not only is this book extremely well written, but it is well researched and provides an insight into the Hells Angels that has never been seen before. This is a must read for any true-crime lover!
I give this book FIVE STARS!!!

This book reveals nothing new about the ATF's "Operation Black Biscuit". Except perhaps that Droban is the worst writer and researcher that has written on the subject so far. The book reads like cheap pulp fiction. And having been involved in Black Biscuit, I can tell you, this book IS cheap fiction. Droban has even simple details, like the names and descriptions of various Hells Angels members, completely wrong. Of all the books written about the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, this one is the worst. Don't waste your money.

This is a great book about a great sting - I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This book is yet another rehash of the ATF's "infiltration" of the Hell's Angels. The operation resulted in a few arrests and even fewer convictions. Almost all of the charges against the Angels were eventually dropped. Although this book has a better narrative of the "infiltration" than the previously released "Angels of Death", there is little new information here.
If you are looking for the excitement of "Under and Alone", you won't get it with this book. These agents seem like clowns when compared to William Queen and his infiltration of the Mongol Motorcycle Club. The author of "Running with the Devil" seems quite talented, unfortunately she did not have good subject matter with this story.