What do you think?
Rate this book
Ranger Games: A Story of Soldiers, Family and an Inexplicable Crime
"A gloriously good writer...Ranger Games is both surprising and moving...A memorable, novelistic account."—Jennifer Senior, New York Times Intricate, heartrending, and morally urgent, Ranger Games is a crime story like no other Alex Blum was a good kid, a popular high school hockey star from a tight-knit Colorado family. He had one goal in endure a brutally difficult selection program, become a U.S. Army Ranger, and fight terrorists for his country. He poured everything into achieving his dream. In the first hours of his final leave before deployment to Iraq, Alex was supposed to fly home to see his family and beloved girlfriend. Instead, he got into his car with two fellow soldiers and two strangers, drove to a local bank in Tacoma, and committed armed robbery... The question that haunted the entire Blum family Why? Why would he ruin his life in such a spectacularly foolish way? At first, Alex insisted he thought the robbery was just another exercise in the famously daunting Ranger program. His attorney presented a case based on the theory that the Ranger indoctrination mirrored that of a cult. In the midst of his own personal crisis, and in the hopes of helping both Alex and his splintering family cope, Ben Blum, Alex’s first cousin, delved into these mysteries, growing closer to Alex in the process. As he probed further, Ben began to question not only Alex, but the influence of his superior, Luke Elliot Sommer, the man who planned the robbery. A charismatic combat veteran, Sommer’s manipulative tendencies combined with a magnetic personality pulled Ben into a relationship that put his loyalties to the test.
406 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2017
154 people are currently reading
2366 people want to read
About the author
Ben Blum
3 books25 followersBEN BLUM was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He holds a PhD in computer science from the University of California Berkeley, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, and an MFA in fiction from New York University, where he was awarded the New York Times Foundation Fellowship. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and stepdaughter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews
September 18, 2017
This is everything season two of SERIAL should have been.
The closest thing I can think of to compare this to is actually another podcast, S-TOWN. If you loved the way that podcast broadened and deepened as it went along, starting with the promise of a true crime story that morphed into a bizarre and absorbing character study, you will be fascinated by Ben Blum's exploration of his cousin and his compatriots, who all robbed a bank in 2006 on the brink of their deployment to Iraq. Why did they do it? How did it change them? And, not to go all Jack Nicholson in A FEW GOOD MEN here, but what does it say about that increasingly thin line we draw between law and order and freedom, and the ones we choose to protect us from this kind of criminality?
I had a lot of Very Important work reading to do over the past week or so, but I found myself coming back to this again and again, and ... actually, I don't want to say anything else. The product of years of writing, this is a twist-filled, addictive, totally immersive read. Be prepared to challenge everything you think you know about these men while you read this book. Blum has crafted something truly special here.
The closest thing I can think of to compare this to is actually another podcast, S-TOWN. If you loved the way that podcast broadened and deepened as it went along, starting with the promise of a true crime story that morphed into a bizarre and absorbing character study, you will be fascinated by Ben Blum's exploration of his cousin and his compatriots, who all robbed a bank in 2006 on the brink of their deployment to Iraq. Why did they do it? How did it change them? And, not to go all Jack Nicholson in A FEW GOOD MEN here, but what does it say about that increasingly thin line we draw between law and order and freedom, and the ones we choose to protect us from this kind of criminality?
I had a lot of Very Important work reading to do over the past week or so, but I found myself coming back to this again and again, and ... actually, I don't want to say anything else. The product of years of writing, this is a twist-filled, addictive, totally immersive read. Be prepared to challenge everything you think you know about these men while you read this book. Blum has crafted something truly special here.
December 16, 2017
Who would have thought that a newly minted Army Ranger would drive the get away car in a bank robbery. Why would a newly minted Army Ranger do such a stupid thing? Ben Blum, cousin to the newly minted Army Ranger spends a goodly amount of time trying to answer that question.
To be an Army Ranger was all Alex ever wanted. Two weeks before his scheduled leave for Iraq, and days after he finishes the grueling Ranger training he climbs into his car and drives three other people to a Bank of America in Seattle. They rob the bank of about fifty-two thousand dollars. Why would Alex have done this having just achieved everything he wanted in life.
That is the question Ben Blum tries to answer. In a rather long convoluted story Ben recounts his search to understand why his cousin would have done this. What makes this book interesting is Ben a mathematician by training, is also having a crisis of his own. Knowing that mathematics alone will not answer his own questions, he delves into his cousins misfortune to find out what made him do something so totally out of character, hoping to better understand himself.
It is an inmate study how a person ends up doing a totally crazy thing. I think each reader will need to decide for themselves why this happened.
This review was originally posted on The Pfaeffle Journal
To be an Army Ranger was all Alex ever wanted. Two weeks before his scheduled leave for Iraq, and days after he finishes the grueling Ranger training he climbs into his car and drives three other people to a Bank of America in Seattle. They rob the bank of about fifty-two thousand dollars. Why would Alex have done this having just achieved everything he wanted in life.
That is the question Ben Blum tries to answer. In a rather long convoluted story Ben recounts his search to understand why his cousin would have done this. What makes this book interesting is Ben a mathematician by training, is also having a crisis of his own. Knowing that mathematics alone will not answer his own questions, he delves into his cousins misfortune to find out what made him do something so totally out of character, hoping to better understand himself.
It is an inmate study how a person ends up doing a totally crazy thing. I think each reader will need to decide for themselves why this happened.
This review was originally posted on The Pfaeffle Journal
April 6, 2018
3.5 stars Thanks to the Goodreads group Keep Turning Pages and Doubleday for giving me this book.
Why would an Army Ranger rob a bank in Tacoma Washington just days before deploying to Iraq? Alex Blum had just finished and graduated Ranger training and had gotten his orders to report to Iraq. He had finally made it. Alex had wanted to be a Army Ranger since he was a very young boy. His dream had come true. Whatever possessed him to rob a bank?
That is the premise of this book. However to get to that story took an awfully long, boring, tedious journey. The book is written by Alex's cousin Ben. Ben and Alex were not close growing up. They were very different boys. Alex, a hockey player, was outgoing, the life of the party, but directly headed for his life's goal - to be an Army Ranger. Ben on the other hand was studious, more of a loner, a math and science whiz, nothing like Alex. So how did it come about that Ben was chosen to write the story of Alex's life? It was a bad choice!
As I stated, to get to the story took an awfully long, boring, tedious journey. To start with, a math major, in my opinion, is a poor choice to write a book. Some of the words and wording Ben used in this story was nonsensical, possibly even made up, words and phrases that just does not belong in a story about an Army Range, poetry maybe, but not this book. Ben also went into boring detail about himself and the Blum family. Now, a bit of background is always good, but this books went into it ad naseum. I got the feeling that the author may have been jealous of Alex and therefore wanted the reader to know and understand him at least as well as they did Alex, the subject of the book. In my opinion this book could have been at least 150 pages shorter, more to the point, more on track and detail about Alex and the robbery, and much less about all the added family and information about the author himself. For me the author got in the way of the story.
Once you finally get to the story, there is the question of whether the Ranger training itself was the actual demon. There is a lot to think about as Alex's Ranger training unfolds. Did the Army do such a good job of tearing down and rebuilding Alex to follow command that he no longer questioned right and wrong?
The story of Alex is a good story, it is too bad that you must piece it together, bit by bit, throughout 400 pages of inconsequential gibberish.
Why would an Army Ranger rob a bank in Tacoma Washington just days before deploying to Iraq? Alex Blum had just finished and graduated Ranger training and had gotten his orders to report to Iraq. He had finally made it. Alex had wanted to be a Army Ranger since he was a very young boy. His dream had come true. Whatever possessed him to rob a bank?
That is the premise of this book. However to get to that story took an awfully long, boring, tedious journey. The book is written by Alex's cousin Ben. Ben and Alex were not close growing up. They were very different boys. Alex, a hockey player, was outgoing, the life of the party, but directly headed for his life's goal - to be an Army Ranger. Ben on the other hand was studious, more of a loner, a math and science whiz, nothing like Alex. So how did it come about that Ben was chosen to write the story of Alex's life? It was a bad choice!
As I stated, to get to the story took an awfully long, boring, tedious journey. To start with, a math major, in my opinion, is a poor choice to write a book. Some of the words and wording Ben used in this story was nonsensical, possibly even made up, words and phrases that just does not belong in a story about an Army Range, poetry maybe, but not this book. Ben also went into boring detail about himself and the Blum family. Now, a bit of background is always good, but this books went into it ad naseum. I got the feeling that the author may have been jealous of Alex and therefore wanted the reader to know and understand him at least as well as they did Alex, the subject of the book. In my opinion this book could have been at least 150 pages shorter, more to the point, more on track and detail about Alex and the robbery, and much less about all the added family and information about the author himself. For me the author got in the way of the story.
Once you finally get to the story, there is the question of whether the Ranger training itself was the actual demon. There is a lot to think about as Alex's Ranger training unfolds. Did the Army do such a good job of tearing down and rebuilding Alex to follow command that he no longer questioned right and wrong?
The story of Alex is a good story, it is too bad that you must piece it together, bit by bit, throughout 400 pages of inconsequential gibberish.
February 10, 2019
An absorbing, well-told true story - once I started it, I did not want to put down this
fascinating examination of Alex Blum and Luke Elliott Sommer. Both were young, talented Army Rangers who inexplicably made the decision to rob a bank.
Shame and secrets create confusion and obstacles as the author’s quest is to find answers to the question WHY they would sacrifice their hard earned achievements to commit such an unspeakable crime.
Alex Blum had just achieved his lifelong dream of becoming an elite Army Ranger.
Luke Elliott Sommer, Alex’s brilliant commanding officer, had served combat time and earned the Ranger School Tag.
Two additional Rangers participated in the robbery.
The search for answers carries over into social and criminal psychology, manipulative personalities, family myths and more.
fascinating examination of Alex Blum and Luke Elliott Sommer. Both were young, talented Army Rangers who inexplicably made the decision to rob a bank.
Shame and secrets create confusion and obstacles as the author’s quest is to find answers to the question WHY they would sacrifice their hard earned achievements to commit such an unspeakable crime.
Alex Blum had just achieved his lifelong dream of becoming an elite Army Ranger.
Luke Elliott Sommer, Alex’s brilliant commanding officer, had served combat time and earned the Ranger School Tag.
Two additional Rangers participated in the robbery.
The search for answers carries over into social and criminal psychology, manipulative personalities, family myths and more.
March 6, 2018
*Doubleday's Keep Turning Pages group read for March, 2018. I was fortunate enough to win a hardcover copy of this book in their giveaway. Many thanks to Doubleday!
Alex Blum had been in the US Army for four months, had gone through the exhaustive training to become an Army Ranger, and was just a couple of weeks away from deployment to Iraq, when he and two fellow soldiers plus two civilians committed a bank robbery in Tacoma, Washington. Alex drove the getaway car.
As a mother, I'd have to ask him: What the hell were you THINKING??
Did anyone ever ask Alex Blum that question point blank? I don't think so. But his cousin Ben Blum has spent the better part of ten years trying to understand what happened. What led Alex to destroy his life's plans in one fell swoop?
Many possibilities are examined: intensive army conditioning akin to brainwashing, belief that it was all just a training exercise, hero worship on the part of Alex for a superior, etc, etc.
Ben describes the Blum family and their history, Alex's upbringing and his army obsession. He has interviewed many of the characters involved in this crime, talked to his family, discussed the case with Alex's legal team, questioned psychologists, and finally mapped out all the statements he'd taken from those directly involved to create what he calls 'a matrix of lies.' Who and what will you believe? And in the end, will Alex find that the truth will set him free?
I found this to be a well-written and very fair-handed account but the crime still remains inexplicable to me. I'm still wondering: What the hell were you THINKING, Alex Blum??
Alex Blum had been in the US Army for four months, had gone through the exhaustive training to become an Army Ranger, and was just a couple of weeks away from deployment to Iraq, when he and two fellow soldiers plus two civilians committed a bank robbery in Tacoma, Washington. Alex drove the getaway car.
As a mother, I'd have to ask him: What the hell were you THINKING??
Did anyone ever ask Alex Blum that question point blank? I don't think so. But his cousin Ben Blum has spent the better part of ten years trying to understand what happened. What led Alex to destroy his life's plans in one fell swoop?
Many possibilities are examined: intensive army conditioning akin to brainwashing, belief that it was all just a training exercise, hero worship on the part of Alex for a superior, etc, etc.
Ben describes the Blum family and their history, Alex's upbringing and his army obsession. He has interviewed many of the characters involved in this crime, talked to his family, discussed the case with Alex's legal team, questioned psychologists, and finally mapped out all the statements he'd taken from those directly involved to create what he calls 'a matrix of lies.' Who and what will you believe? And in the end, will Alex find that the truth will set him free?
I found this to be a well-written and very fair-handed account but the crime still remains inexplicable to me. I'm still wondering: What the hell were you THINKING, Alex Blum??
August 17, 2019
I received Ranger Games: A Story of Soldiers, Family and an Inexplicable Crime as a Goodreads giveaway. Oddly enough, I first saw the book cover when it was advertised at my local indie book store, and I told a friend then that I would probably never read that book because the cover didn't appeal to me at all. Later, after having actually read the cover, I decided it sounded interesting after all, and I was excited when I won a copy from Goodreads and Doubleday.
I was immediately fascinated by the promise of the true story of a young man, Alex Blum, who had dreamed his entire life of becoming an elite Army Ranger. He fulfilled his goal and successfully went through the rigorous training required. Inexplicably, immediately after completing training and right before he went on leave prior to deployment to Iraq, he, along with two fellow Rangers and two others, robbed a bank in Tacoma, WA, effectively ending the career he had dreamed of and worked so hard to reach.
The book was written by Alex's cousin, Ben Blum. I was initially intrigued by this fact, yet I also assumed the author would soften the realities of the situation and his cousin's behavior based on their relationship. Indeed, Ben Blum's own feelings about his cousin and his actions were a huge part of the direction of the story, but not exactly in the way I expected. Not particularly close as children, the cousins had little in common growing up. Ben was a mathematical genius, a "geek" by his own description, and Alex was the beloved, almost perfect son, a handsome, popular hockey star who was genuinely kind and loving to his friends, family and everyone, and who above all else, dreamed of and spent his life training for service to his country as a Ranger. When the unimaginable happened and Alex was convicted of his part in an armed bank robbery, Ben set out to find out what had gone so terribly wrong with this golden boy and his dream.
In the course of the book, Ben discusses their family dynamics and through years of research and interviews with Alex and friends, family, and another Ranger whose influence and direction would change that person's and Alex's lives forever, Ben uncovers a myriad of stories, about both the tight military code and training regimen of the Army Rangers and the minds of two very young members of that elite military group. Throughout the story, Ben lets us know how much he wants his cousin to be the good guy that he had always been up to that fateful day, but he is also focused on getting to the truth of a very complex set of circumstances which involve detailed theories of brainwashing. I felt for Ben throughout; at times he seemed extremely sympathetic to Alex's plight and at times he was immensely confused, frustrated and angry, even as he tried to be cold and clinical during his research for the book. These feelings were so honest; he pulled no punches to keep from softening the reader toward his cousin, but he was fair to Alex, as well.
I began the book with much enthusiasm. I must admit that at Chapter 6, I became increasingly annoyed with pages of detailed discussion of math vs. the humanities and their relationship to war. I freely admit I finally skipped the remainder of that chapter. I may go back and read it now that I've finished the book, to see if possibly it would have added something to my reading. By the time I was halfway through the book, my enthusiasm again blossomed and I was fascinated by the rest of the details and Ben Blum's writing.
Ben delves deeply into the human mind as it relates to Alex and one of his fellow Rangers, and as the final half of the book progressed, I began forming my own ideas and theories as to how and why things unfolded as they did, and at last many of the questions posed throughout are answered, at least to a great extent. I give huge credit to the author for sticking with the enormous and perplexing task of writing this very personal story. It was fascinating and insightful, on many levels.
Thanks so much to Goodreads and Doubleday for the giveaway! Even with the tediousness of Chapter 6, I easily give this book 5 stars.
I was immediately fascinated by the promise of the true story of a young man, Alex Blum, who had dreamed his entire life of becoming an elite Army Ranger. He fulfilled his goal and successfully went through the rigorous training required. Inexplicably, immediately after completing training and right before he went on leave prior to deployment to Iraq, he, along with two fellow Rangers and two others, robbed a bank in Tacoma, WA, effectively ending the career he had dreamed of and worked so hard to reach.
The book was written by Alex's cousin, Ben Blum. I was initially intrigued by this fact, yet I also assumed the author would soften the realities of the situation and his cousin's behavior based on their relationship. Indeed, Ben Blum's own feelings about his cousin and his actions were a huge part of the direction of the story, but not exactly in the way I expected. Not particularly close as children, the cousins had little in common growing up. Ben was a mathematical genius, a "geek" by his own description, and Alex was the beloved, almost perfect son, a handsome, popular hockey star who was genuinely kind and loving to his friends, family and everyone, and who above all else, dreamed of and spent his life training for service to his country as a Ranger. When the unimaginable happened and Alex was convicted of his part in an armed bank robbery, Ben set out to find out what had gone so terribly wrong with this golden boy and his dream.
In the course of the book, Ben discusses their family dynamics and through years of research and interviews with Alex and friends, family, and another Ranger whose influence and direction would change that person's and Alex's lives forever, Ben uncovers a myriad of stories, about both the tight military code and training regimen of the Army Rangers and the minds of two very young members of that elite military group. Throughout the story, Ben lets us know how much he wants his cousin to be the good guy that he had always been up to that fateful day, but he is also focused on getting to the truth of a very complex set of circumstances which involve detailed theories of brainwashing. I felt for Ben throughout; at times he seemed extremely sympathetic to Alex's plight and at times he was immensely confused, frustrated and angry, even as he tried to be cold and clinical during his research for the book. These feelings were so honest; he pulled no punches to keep from softening the reader toward his cousin, but he was fair to Alex, as well.
I began the book with much enthusiasm. I must admit that at Chapter 6, I became increasingly annoyed with pages of detailed discussion of math vs. the humanities and their relationship to war. I freely admit I finally skipped the remainder of that chapter. I may go back and read it now that I've finished the book, to see if possibly it would have added something to my reading. By the time I was halfway through the book, my enthusiasm again blossomed and I was fascinated by the rest of the details and Ben Blum's writing.
Ben delves deeply into the human mind as it relates to Alex and one of his fellow Rangers, and as the final half of the book progressed, I began forming my own ideas and theories as to how and why things unfolded as they did, and at last many of the questions posed throughout are answered, at least to a great extent. I give huge credit to the author for sticking with the enormous and perplexing task of writing this very personal story. It was fascinating and insightful, on many levels.
Thanks so much to Goodreads and Doubleday for the giveaway! Even with the tediousness of Chapter 6, I easily give this book 5 stars.
October 4, 2017
Ranger Games is worth reading, though I never felt as interested in Blum's family as he naturally is, and, in my mind, this is the trick that makes a memoir great. I also struggled with his prose style, which is clearly the product of a mathematician's mind. Some might appreciate this, as it gives him a unique voice. He writes in syntactical formulas—finely-wrought, symmetrical sentences that are elegant, and even arresting at times, but somehow lacking in that mysterious and atmospheric force that effortlessly draws in the unsuspecting reader. It's all a bit belabored, more algebra than art.
.
.
August 31, 2017
A very immersive, in depth look at a young Army Ranger's participation in a bank robbery, written by a cousin of the perpetrator. What starts off as something like a Manchurian Candidate for millennials broadens into a deeper look at family, identity, manipulation and the lies that exist in all of our lives.
October 17, 2017
Alex Blum had dreams of becoming a Army Ranger, since he was five years old. Growing up in a close-knit family, in Colorado, he was a popular, good-looking kid, who became a hockey star in high school. He joined the Army, immediately after finishing school and was accepted into the elite Ranger program, achieving his lifetime goal.
Just before his deployment to Iraq, he entered a personal vehicle, along with two other Rangers, drove into downtown Tacoma, Washington and robbed a bank.
Why would Alex participate in this unimaginable crime, just before fulfilling his dream? This question haunted the entire Blum family, for years to come.
The author, a first cousin of Alex's, attempts to answer this baffling question, in this excellent exploration of a federal crime and it's crushing aftermath. Was Alex brainwashed? Was he completely swayed by his team leader, Corporal Luke Elliot Sommer and manipulated into joining this crime, under the guise of a “training exercise”? Or was Alex simply lying, covering up the fact that he made a terrible decision?
It took Ben Blum many years to write this book and he ended up having a very close friendship with Alex, while Alex was in prison. Ben also had conflicting feelings about Alex and his honesty, making for a very compelling read.
Just before his deployment to Iraq, he entered a personal vehicle, along with two other Rangers, drove into downtown Tacoma, Washington and robbed a bank.
Why would Alex participate in this unimaginable crime, just before fulfilling his dream? This question haunted the entire Blum family, for years to come.
The author, a first cousin of Alex's, attempts to answer this baffling question, in this excellent exploration of a federal crime and it's crushing aftermath. Was Alex brainwashed? Was he completely swayed by his team leader, Corporal Luke Elliot Sommer and manipulated into joining this crime, under the guise of a “training exercise”? Or was Alex simply lying, covering up the fact that he made a terrible decision?
It took Ben Blum many years to write this book and he ended up having a very close friendship with Alex, while Alex was in prison. Ben also had conflicting feelings about Alex and his honesty, making for a very compelling read.
September 17, 2017
I took a long road trip and took the audio book of "Ranger Games" with me. What a fantastic companion the book proved to be! Ben Blum had me going in one direction only to be turned into a contradictory one in the next moment. He is a gifted storyteller as he takes apart an amazing story of triumph and loss. What I appreciated about the story is the way in which he walks the reader through the aftermath of the robbery for everyone in the family.
To reveal the skilled craftsmanship of this book would be to reveal the end.
To reveal the skilled craftsmanship of this book would be to reveal the end.
July 1, 2023
A straight arrow, who joined the army and was about to become a ranger robs a bank. How this came to be, and the aftermath on the young man's life are the real focusses of the book.
I'm not sure it comes to any real conclusions. Robbing banks is tougher than it seems in the movies, I guess.
I'm not sure it comes to any real conclusions. Robbing banks is tougher than it seems in the movies, I guess.
September 9, 2017
Incredibly analytical and family-oriented, this 400-page account of a 90 second crime reads as a detailed account of military training combined with a psychology textbook and memoir.
Thank you to Doubleday Books for providing me with an advance copy of this title for review purposes.
RANGER GAMES did the impossible - it held me in suspense about a crime I absolutely already knew the outcome of, and kept me invested in the intricate account of a family I have never met and will never meet. Due to a personal/family experience, I have an incredibly strong interest in accounts of military training and experiences, and this story of a teen boy 100% dedicated to joining the Army Rangers from a young age really hit home for me.
Ben Blum wrote this book in such a way that readers will learn a great deal about psychology and the military, but in a narrative format that adds heart and purpose. While Alex Blum is the focus of this book, he is really the backdrop for a look into the Army Rangers that we don't often read about, but without judgement or condemnation - a look that will definitely lead me to reading more on this topic, as well as the topic of brainwashing and personality-altering trainings and organizations. Ultimately, though, this is a story of redemption and the power of family in a time of moral breakdown.
RANGER GAMES is lengthy and so very detailed (at times repetitive), but I very highly recommend it for nonfiction readers who are interested in military and psychology. I won't stop thinking about it for a long time (especially the way the story ended up), and my husband was trying to steal it from me the entire time I was reading! I can't wait to hear what he thinks of it.
Thank you to Doubleday Books for providing me with an advance copy of this title for review purposes.
RANGER GAMES did the impossible - it held me in suspense about a crime I absolutely already knew the outcome of, and kept me invested in the intricate account of a family I have never met and will never meet. Due to a personal/family experience, I have an incredibly strong interest in accounts of military training and experiences, and this story of a teen boy 100% dedicated to joining the Army Rangers from a young age really hit home for me.
Ben Blum wrote this book in such a way that readers will learn a great deal about psychology and the military, but in a narrative format that adds heart and purpose. While Alex Blum is the focus of this book, he is really the backdrop for a look into the Army Rangers that we don't often read about, but without judgement or condemnation - a look that will definitely lead me to reading more on this topic, as well as the topic of brainwashing and personality-altering trainings and organizations. Ultimately, though, this is a story of redemption and the power of family in a time of moral breakdown.
RANGER GAMES is lengthy and so very detailed (at times repetitive), but I very highly recommend it for nonfiction readers who are interested in military and psychology. I won't stop thinking about it for a long time (especially the way the story ended up), and my husband was trying to steal it from me the entire time I was reading! I can't wait to hear what he thinks of it.
May 2, 2017
Thank you Edelweiss for my review copy of this book. Fascinating story with themes of brainwashing combined with admiration of and blind devotion to the Ranger Creed which leads to a bank robbery that costs what seems to be a dedicated young man his lifelong dream and almost brings an entire family to ruins. Captivating, frustrating and at times terrifying that some parts of this story happened.
September 6, 2017
What a unique book! I fell head-over-heels for it, because it was so absorbing, and interesting. It's a true-crime type of book, but delves into the fascinating territory of character and what makes people tick. It's the story of Alex, who always wanted to be an elite Army Ranger....then, seemingly out of nowhere, he robs a bank. I don't want to say more, because it's hard to say more without ruining the plot, but it is a great read - many fascinating elements to it (true crime, psychology, etc.) that all come together to not only entertain you, but really get you thinking. Read it!
July 30, 2017
I won a copy of this book on goodreads in exchange for an honest review. This is a very well researched and written. At the core of it there was a fact, a bank robbery, but how and why it happened, was the puzzle. Fans of true crime would enjoy this book, and peope are interested in stories how good people can be talked into doing bad things. Yes I would recommend it.
October 3, 2017
Great, self-reflective contextualizing of a true crime situation in terms of the many familial and socio-cultural contexts. And, a well-written, good read.
This is not the book to read if you aren't willing to question military indoctrination techniques.
I really enjoyed my time reading this book.
This is not the book to read if you aren't willing to question military indoctrination techniques.
I really enjoyed my time reading this book.
January 3, 2019
Edited January 2019: want to read about an actual soldier who comes back from Iraq with PTSD and robs a bank? Read Cherry by Nico Walker. It’s a novel, but came from Walker’s actual experiences. Where Alex never really owned up to his crimes and culpability, and swore he had no idea Rangers were made into killing machines, Walker completely owns up to his crimes and culpability, he didn’t make excuses, or hide behind his family, he didn’t blame the Army or anyone else. After reading Cherry, I dropped this review another star for the sheer audacity of Blum writing his book and wanting people to understand how misguided Alex was. No, Alex is just another privileged boy who has never been held accountable and is still getting a pass from his family.
An inexplicable crime? Uh, no. It’s simple to understand: a bunch of alpha males arrogant enough to believe they can rob a bank, do so. The premise that Alex Blum, a white man who came from a good family, and a well-off lifestyle, couldn’t possibly participate in a bank robbery, because he’s such a “good kid” got tiresome. Good kids/men don’t rob banks. They don’t participate in creating a horror story for countless people who happened to work in and do business with the bank. They don’t blame everyone else for their crimes.
Another thing that bothered me the entire time I spent reading this, is that Alex Blum was obsessed with becoming an Army Ranger, but never, not once contemplated what Ranger training was meant to accomplish? That killing human beings up close and personal might be hard to deal with? What going to war would actually entail?
None of the adults trying dissuade him from joining brought that up? It was never addressed and drove me crazy. As a Navy veteran, it seems absolutely implausible. Given that the author goes to great lengths to show how smart Alex is and how dedicated he was to reading everything he could about war, it made me instantly suspicious of Alex’s character. Which made it difficult for me to find any empathy for anything he did. Not one ounce.
The story is a great one to tell, certainly the leader, Elliot Sommer was an interesting character study, but what grated is that this entire family pins everything on Sommer. Yeah, we get a bit of the “Alex made his own choice”, but not enough. That Ben was tenacious enough to extract the truth from Alex after so many years ultimately brings the story some closure, but not enough. Sommer is no aberration in the military, which I am glad Ben explored, I just wish he took that thread a bit further. Ben did shine a much needed light on the way in which killers are made, and how that mindset spills over into civilian life.
What Ben failed to accomplish is holding his family up to the same scrutiny he put Sommer through (which he certainly deserved) . Alex the bank robber wasn’t just made by the Army. That toxic male machismo his family was so proud of molded Alex into the kind of man he would become. Sommer may have made the plan, but every single participant gladly played along and then tried to, like children, place the blame on everyone else.
Ultimately, the book left me with way more questions than answers. I mean, who didn’t want to know the backstory on Alex’s mother? What would her version of the story be? Why’d she split, why did her parents write Alex off so quickly? So many more questions!
An inexplicable crime? Uh, no. It’s simple to understand: a bunch of alpha males arrogant enough to believe they can rob a bank, do so. The premise that Alex Blum, a white man who came from a good family, and a well-off lifestyle, couldn’t possibly participate in a bank robbery, because he’s such a “good kid” got tiresome. Good kids/men don’t rob banks. They don’t participate in creating a horror story for countless people who happened to work in and do business with the bank. They don’t blame everyone else for their crimes.
Another thing that bothered me the entire time I spent reading this, is that Alex Blum was obsessed with becoming an Army Ranger, but never, not once contemplated what Ranger training was meant to accomplish? That killing human beings up close and personal might be hard to deal with? What going to war would actually entail?
None of the adults trying dissuade him from joining brought that up? It was never addressed and drove me crazy. As a Navy veteran, it seems absolutely implausible. Given that the author goes to great lengths to show how smart Alex is and how dedicated he was to reading everything he could about war, it made me instantly suspicious of Alex’s character. Which made it difficult for me to find any empathy for anything he did. Not one ounce.
The story is a great one to tell, certainly the leader, Elliot Sommer was an interesting character study, but what grated is that this entire family pins everything on Sommer. Yeah, we get a bit of the “Alex made his own choice”, but not enough. That Ben was tenacious enough to extract the truth from Alex after so many years ultimately brings the story some closure, but not enough. Sommer is no aberration in the military, which I am glad Ben explored, I just wish he took that thread a bit further. Ben did shine a much needed light on the way in which killers are made, and how that mindset spills over into civilian life.
What Ben failed to accomplish is holding his family up to the same scrutiny he put Sommer through (which he certainly deserved) . Alex the bank robber wasn’t just made by the Army. That toxic male machismo his family was so proud of molded Alex into the kind of man he would become. Sommer may have made the plan, but every single participant gladly played along and then tried to, like children, place the blame on everyone else.
Ultimately, the book left me with way more questions than answers. I mean, who didn’t want to know the backstory on Alex’s mother? What would her version of the story be? Why’d she split, why did her parents write Alex off so quickly? So many more questions!
September 10, 2017
Thanks to Goodreads and Penguin Random House Canada for a free copy of this book.
Ranger Games is the story of Alex Blum, a young man who, on his way to fulfilling his dream of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger, becomes involved in an armed robbery, with catastrophic consequences. This true crime book is written by Alex's cousin Ben Blum. It is very well researched with lots of interesting information about the Ranger training program, psychopath characteristics, and the psychological experiments of Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo. Ben Blum personalizes the information by focusing on his relationship with his cousin. He also discusses the devastating impact of this crime on all the people involved, perpetrators and victims. I found the chapters on Sommer and the Dr. Phil episode particularly fascinating, but
some of the background information chapters less interesting. Overall, though, this was one of the best true crime books that I have read and would highly recommend it to fans of the genre.
Ranger Games is the story of Alex Blum, a young man who, on his way to fulfilling his dream of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger, becomes involved in an armed robbery, with catastrophic consequences. This true crime book is written by Alex's cousin Ben Blum. It is very well researched with lots of interesting information about the Ranger training program, psychopath characteristics, and the psychological experiments of Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo. Ben Blum personalizes the information by focusing on his relationship with his cousin. He also discusses the devastating impact of this crime on all the people involved, perpetrators and victims. I found the chapters on Sommer and the Dr. Phil episode particularly fascinating, but
some of the background information chapters less interesting. Overall, though, this was one of the best true crime books that I have read and would highly recommend it to fans of the genre.
September 12, 2020
First, this book was way too long, probably double the length it actually needed to be to tell the story. Half the book seems to serve the dueling purposes of stroking the author’s ego but also serving as a pity party for him.
Secondly, Ben, the author, seems to harbor some resentment towards his cousin and uses the book to tear him down. Does Ben not have a life? How could he devote so much time to poking so many holes in his cousin’s story running around North America trying to paint him as a liar. Halfway through the book I almost expected Ben to petition the government to rescind Alex’s sentence and give him a longer one. He also seemed to want to really be Luke Elliot Sommer’s cousin instead.
He claims to have some issue with Alex because he’s a “liar” but he spends about 1/3 of the book going on with this apparent mancrush on Sommer, who it should be noted is a massive liar and a psychopath.
I normally don’t write reviews, certainly not this long of one but Ben is so insufferable I had to write one. Don’t be misled into thinking this is a book about Rangers robbing a bank, it’s actually mostly about Ben smugly pontificating about math and his superior detached rationalist worldview. 2.9 stars.
Secondly, Ben, the author, seems to harbor some resentment towards his cousin and uses the book to tear him down. Does Ben not have a life? How could he devote so much time to poking so many holes in his cousin’s story running around North America trying to paint him as a liar. Halfway through the book I almost expected Ben to petition the government to rescind Alex’s sentence and give him a longer one. He also seemed to want to really be Luke Elliot Sommer’s cousin instead.
He claims to have some issue with Alex because he’s a “liar” but he spends about 1/3 of the book going on with this apparent mancrush on Sommer, who it should be noted is a massive liar and a psychopath.
I normally don’t write reviews, certainly not this long of one but Ben is so insufferable I had to write one. Don’t be misled into thinking this is a book about Rangers robbing a bank, it’s actually mostly about Ben smugly pontificating about math and his superior detached rationalist worldview. 2.9 stars.
September 13, 2017
Really looking forward to reading this book. Will update when I am finished.
September 8, 2017
Received this copy as a giveaway win. Not a "who done it", but a "why done it". Great psychological analysis of armed forces training and how it effected one young man, and how his family reacted to a totally out of character action of his.
October 7, 2018
This was a long and arduous journey for the writer, but not the reader. Ben's cousin Alex Blum shocked his family by participating in a bank robbery shortly after becoming an Army Ranger. Along with Ben Blum, we try to get to the heart of the why Alex did it, if he knew in advance, if he was brainwashed or masterfully manipulated, etc. As a reader/listener, this was fascinating, showing how difficult truth is to find, especially when looking from different perspectives. The road to the truth is not direct, so be prepared to occasionally wander around in the search. Family, psychology, and big personalities play large parts in this book of personal exploration.
April 21, 2024
Aberration in the Heartland of the Real for unserious people. Ideal reading experience. Super interesting how the concept and value of truth varies so much between people- for instance, I would consider it incredibly cruel to put anyone through what he subjects his broken down cousin to in pursuit of precise factual accuracy about a crime that is over and will not recur. When the real truth (the story the author believes) comes out, the differences change nothing- Alex "did something he would never do" because he found himself in a situation he couldn't figure out how to escape from, like everyone already knew. The humiliating details the entire book describes gutting Alex to extricate add very little.
In my world, you could ethically do this to a murderer or a rapist (or others with similarly outsized harm impacts) in order to gain information victims or the public could possibly benefit from. The documentary The Act of Killing is a great example- the crew earns the trust of one group of genocide perpetrators in order to document their incredibly disturbing recollections and attitudes towards these atrocities, ultimately betraying the interests of their subjects in order to uncover crucial truths that survivors and members of the targeted demographic could use in their personal lives and organizing. The killing squad members' right to privacy and emotional self-determination is obviously not more important than their victims' needs, so this is a substantial public good with functionally no downsides.
On the other hand, it's pretty weird to lowkey Act of Killing your cousin for very reluctantly driving the car at one bank robbery under what no one disputes was extreme and bizarre pressure. The only reason this is sort of a free space is that Alex was in war criminal training academy and spent years continuing to pine after the opportunity to murder people long after having well enough information to be thoroughly disillusioned.
I totally buy that the author and many others value the precise facts this highly. Honestly, you pretty much have to assume Alex (as presented here) does not, since he chose the stories he chose about his life until his loved ones cornered him and made him find some new ones. He seems extremely eager to please and quick to agree, which everyone notes except when he's agreeing with them. The author considering himself so scrupulously self-critical but not touching at all whether this is an acceptable way to treat someone you consider a beloved family member in the interest of the truth is a little bit interesting.
As much as he interrogates Sommer's wielding of unrecognized reign over Alex, you would expect to see some lip service to the concept that a lonely disgraced felon isn't on equal footing with his highly educated genius cousin who wants to write the perfect book about him. Both the immediate need to be listened to with care and the dream of the story being told properly so everyone can finally understand are incredibly powerful incentives. Ben expresses no awareness of a power differential between him and Alex in a book that is significantly focused on their relationship and on Alex's biddability.
Somehow, Ben's skepticism in Sommer's noisy proclamations of turning over a new leaf in the exact way Sommer's family most hoped to see doesn't seem to extend to Alex's family-wide announcement that Ben was right about what he needed and how he should understand and talk about his traumatic screw-up that destroyed everything he had ever wanted. Hope that worked out for everyone!!!!
In my world, you could ethically do this to a murderer or a rapist (or others with similarly outsized harm impacts) in order to gain information victims or the public could possibly benefit from. The documentary The Act of Killing is a great example- the crew earns the trust of one group of genocide perpetrators in order to document their incredibly disturbing recollections and attitudes towards these atrocities, ultimately betraying the interests of their subjects in order to uncover crucial truths that survivors and members of the targeted demographic could use in their personal lives and organizing. The killing squad members' right to privacy and emotional self-determination is obviously not more important than their victims' needs, so this is a substantial public good with functionally no downsides.
On the other hand, it's pretty weird to lowkey Act of Killing your cousin for very reluctantly driving the car at one bank robbery under what no one disputes was extreme and bizarre pressure. The only reason this is sort of a free space is that Alex was in war criminal training academy and spent years continuing to pine after the opportunity to murder people long after having well enough information to be thoroughly disillusioned.
I totally buy that the author and many others value the precise facts this highly. Honestly, you pretty much have to assume Alex (as presented here) does not, since he chose the stories he chose about his life until his loved ones cornered him and made him find some new ones. He seems extremely eager to please and quick to agree, which everyone notes except when he's agreeing with them. The author considering himself so scrupulously self-critical but not touching at all whether this is an acceptable way to treat someone you consider a beloved family member in the interest of the truth is a little bit interesting.
As much as he interrogates Sommer's wielding of unrecognized reign over Alex, you would expect to see some lip service to the concept that a lonely disgraced felon isn't on equal footing with his highly educated genius cousin who wants to write the perfect book about him. Both the immediate need to be listened to with care and the dream of the story being told properly so everyone can finally understand are incredibly powerful incentives. Ben expresses no awareness of a power differential between him and Alex in a book that is significantly focused on their relationship and on Alex's biddability.
Somehow, Ben's skepticism in Sommer's noisy proclamations of turning over a new leaf in the exact way Sommer's family most hoped to see doesn't seem to extend to Alex's family-wide announcement that Ben was right about what he needed and how he should understand and talk about his traumatic screw-up that destroyed everything he had ever wanted. Hope that worked out for everyone!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2017
As others have suggested, this is a very Serial-esque humanized postmortem of a seemingly inexplicable crime...I'm not sure it's quite as fascinating and inexplicable as the author finds it, but since one of the perpetrators is his first cousin, this is also an exploration of family history in part. I like that there are so many nested eggs to open here: the robbery itself, Ranger training and military culture, the possibly psychopathic man who engineered the whole event, the psychology of brainwashing...it goes on and on, for just over 400 pages, which is really a bit much, especially since there's no whodunnit here--the crime itself is a known fact, with its perpetrators all confessed and duly prosecuted. But the biggest egg here is the book itself: the fact that the author was driven to pursue this much obsessive research so doggedly and for so long. He doesn't pause for much self-examination on this point (probably a blessing, or it might be twice as long) but it's something I began to wonder about more and more as the book wore on. I'm curious now about what the effect of its publication will be on the Blum family and all the other players here. Anyway, kudos to him for actually following through and getting it out there, after putting years of his life into it--it's well-written and interesting, and I tore through it very quickly.
April 18, 2025
This was an interesting book. I was a little bummed about that it is really two books in one, a true crime nonfiction story, and a memoir of the author’s life as he examined the case and tried to come to grips with what his cousin did.
I picked the book up to find out more about the case, but most of the book reads more like a memoir than anything else. Instead of focusing on the details of the case, the author spends a lot of time going over how this affected him, his family, etc.
This is unfortunate, because it makes the book meandering and unfocused, which is a disservice to both storylines. We get little glimpses of what seems like a really intriguing life story of a STEM prodigy who decided to pivot away and refocus his life on creative writing, and that sounds awesome, but I feel deserves its own book. This split in focus makes the book feel disjointed and a bit messy.
The writing is really good and the author is extremely honest and genuine, which I really liked. He goes through painstaking detail of the case and its aftermath from several angles, and the story itself is pretty bonkers.
I like that it explored some of the psychological aspects, especially about psychopathy, which I wasn’t anticipating and really appreciated.
I picked the book up to find out more about the case, but most of the book reads more like a memoir than anything else. Instead of focusing on the details of the case, the author spends a lot of time going over how this affected him, his family, etc.
This is unfortunate, because it makes the book meandering and unfocused, which is a disservice to both storylines. We get little glimpses of what seems like a really intriguing life story of a STEM prodigy who decided to pivot away and refocus his life on creative writing, and that sounds awesome, but I feel deserves its own book. This split in focus makes the book feel disjointed and a bit messy.
The writing is really good and the author is extremely honest and genuine, which I really liked. He goes through painstaking detail of the case and its aftermath from several angles, and the story itself is pretty bonkers.
I like that it explored some of the psychological aspects, especially about psychopathy, which I wasn’t anticipating and really appreciated.
February 11, 2018
A thoughtful memoir that explores a puzzling event that struck the author's family like a lightning bolt: his 19 year old cousin, having achieved his life's ambition of making it into the elite US Army Rangers, on the verge of heading to Iraq, is instead arrested for acting as the getaway driver in a Tacoma bank robbery. The author looks at the Rangers' training and ethos, and his own family history, and asks interesting, important questions about culpability and self-knowledge. It was a little long and the story kept circling back in on itself, but I really liked it.
Bonus points for unexpected Canadian content, as a number of other robbery participants, including the ringleader, were from British Columbia. The several references to Canadian accents were funny, at least to those of us who consider ourselves unaccented ;-).
Bonus points for unexpected Canadian content, as a number of other robbery participants, including the ringleader, were from British Columbia. The several references to Canadian accents were funny, at least to those of us who consider ourselves unaccented ;-).
May 17, 2022
Hmmmm…close but have to go w a “no”. Such a promising story if he’d kept it to the story (and 200 pages instead of 400). Instead of the actual story (which reflects the title), at least half the book is a wandering, nomadic string of inner thoughts about the author’s dysfunctional extended family. Additionally, some facts are loose (tangible ones like it’s 250 miles from a prison to an airport, when both Knoxville, TN and Lexington, KY are within 120m) to intangible (his depiction of the Army is cartoonish compared to my experiences as a combat leader)….the basic premise is right there in the first and last chapters; he strays in between for a long, slow read.
November 6, 2017
Thorough, detailed exploration of the thinking & motivation that led to trained U.S. Army Rangers committing a violent crime. Author Ben Blum, cousin of main character Alex Blum, does a fantastic job of telling the stories of all the key players as well as his own. He credits Janet Malcolm, whom he lists as a personal hero, and her The Journalist and the Murderer as the inspiration for his own book, and I've added it to my "To Read" list.
December 10, 2024
Fascinating read about how some of America’s most elite troops went rogue and turned into criminals. Kind of a deep dive with the psychology of the main protagonist. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Dr. Phil for what he really is.
May 22, 2018
This just wasnt my type of book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews