A Journey to the Center of the Mind Book III: The (First Ten) FBI Years

by James R. Fitzgerald

Upon graduating from the FBI Academy, newly minted Special Agent James “Fitz” Fitzgerald heads to his first office – New York City. Once there, Fitz is immediately assigned to the highly- respected Bank Robbery Squad. The investigations begin. Before long, he’s involved in the arrest of serial killers, murderers, robbers, kidnappers, extortionists, and pedophiles (including a fellow FBI agent), all on his way to a promotion to Quantico to the Profiling Unit. Fitz’s first assignment as a profiler is to the Unabom Task Force in San Francisco. Once there, he helps finally solve the 17-year long investigation…with language, of all things.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Memoir, Crime, Biography

560 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 16, 2017

Reviews

[Jill- Host of the Murder Shelf Book Club podcast · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was swept up in Mr. Fitzgerald's account of his first 10 years in the FBI, inhaling this 531 page book in two day. The "hows" of joining the FBI, the elite training afforded, the actual job of the Special Agent, opposed to what we see on t.v. or film broke many stereotypes as I laugh aloud at some of the passages. The reader feels as if you are part of the team or, a member of the partnership thanks to Mr. Fitzgerald's characterization of his experiences. You're IN it with him.
The insider information you glean in reading about the Unabomber case provides a very sense of the frustrations and successes as they work toward identifying Theodore Kaczynski, and then-- working to prove it, two very different things. It is a satisfying read, one I finished with a smile on my face. I highly recommend this for those who love true crime, a good mystery, biographies or memoirs, history-- because this also covers a period of significant change in the fabric of the FBI itself.

[Emily Gillis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, “A Journey to the Center of the Mind (Book 3)”, was written by James R. Fitzgerald and published in June 2017. The book is broadly Non-Fiction but goes into depth of the story about how himself, James Fitzgerald, and the FBI team found out who the Unabomber was. Many important people are talked about in this book but the most important protagonist would be James Fitzgerald and the most important antagonist would be Ted Kacynski. The plot of the book focuses on James Fitzgerald and his work in the 1990s for the FBI in Seattle, Washington. It was how he was able to take little pieces of a puzzle and put them together to figure out who the Unabomber was. When Fitzgerald gets chosen to become the UTF(Unabomber Task Force) profiler for this case he gets presented with a 3 sentence lead on who the bomber could be. Fitzgerald believes the FBI is wrong and to start over with a new profile. The FBI insists they are right and do not allow Fitzgerlad to go onto different paths. Finally, after months of failure, he is allowed to start all over and one of the biggest turning points in the case was when Fitzgerald had linguistic professors come in to analyze the Unabomber's manifesto. Fitzgerald thought it was over when no professor could recognize the bombers writing style until at the end. Stanford’s linguistic professor, Natalie Rogers hinted to Fitzgerald where he could find out the unique writing style. The biggest way Fitzgerald and Rogers found out and got a profile on the bomber was the phrase written in the manifesto, “ "You can't eat your cake and have it, too,”. Finally, after months and months of finding a lead on who the Unabomber was Ted Kacynski’s own brother, David, recognized his writing style when the manifesto was released to the public. Fitzgerald then worked with David to ultimately track down Ted’s location in Montana. The UTF was then at Kacynski’s cabin within weeks and arrested him inside his cabin. Inside his cabin, there were trap boxes(what he used to store bombs in), chemicals, springs, and many more bomb-making supplies. Kaczynski was ultimately tried with the accounts of murder, destruction, assault, and much more and plead guilty on January 22, 1998.

Personally, I really enjoyed this book. It had always fascinated me on how smart and intelligent Ted Kacnaski was and how someone that smart was able to do something so evil. Learning about how he was tortured as a kid and much abuse he went through really surprised me. I also believe if he has done another approach to how the industrial society was bad more people would listen. In the book, James Fitzgerald says how in the manifesto Kaczynski put out an example of how we are controlled secretly. The thought of how it could be late at night and no one could be on the road and as we see a red light we stop, It makes you wonder, why am I stopped? No one is here, I am all alone but still, you obey the red light. To learn and read about the perspective of someone so intelligent and how the UTF was able to take him down really made me just want to keep reading. One thing I would've liked to know was how Ted Kacynski is now and how James Fitzgerald is now. To interview and see what their perspective is on life and how it could have changed after 20 years.

[Beverly Mozzetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating. Can`t wait for book IV

As I am 74 (the same age as the Unabomber), grew up in Chicago, and now live just 150 miles from Florence, CO, and presently live in a cabin (in contrast, a charming one) in the mountains, I found myself paralleling my story /career (now a retired ballerina) with that of the author. Ted needs to visit with you. I'd love to know more about the painting behind the wall as well as other things. Sad such a brain/talent went so bad.

[Chad Kwiatkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible view into the life of an exceptional FBI agent. Fitz is a wonderful linguist and storyteller, and oh boy does he have some stories. This book is definitely worth reading! As a geologist, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a geologist featured in this book, who helped dig up some dirt in an upstate New York lake. I actually read this (Part 3) first, but am quite excited to dive back in time to Parts 1 and 2, and also look forward to reading Part 4 when it is published.

[Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

very nice book with some inside stories.