Hell's Angels: Into the Abyss – The True Story of the Only FBI Informant to Infiltrate a Deadly Organized Crime Syndicate

by Yves Lavigne

This is the explosive true story of the only man ever to infiltrate the Hells Angels organization as an FBI informant, uncovering the truth about the notorious biker gang's netherworld of evil, lust, and violence.

Genres: True Crime, Crime, Nonfiction, Motorcycle

339 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story. Poorly written. Redundant. Too much detail in irreverent places. Too little in important places.

[Jason Hayward · Rating 2 out of 5]

Damn, this is dark. In fact, Lavigne opens with an apt statement: "The darkness of crime lies not in its villainy or horror but in the souls of those who choose to live their lives in the abyss." (Ok, tell that to the victims). Whatever way you look at crime, reading such a vivid account is a ride through hell. And it's not because the writing is bad or boring, although I did find it to be dry quite often: facts upon facts; transcriptions of recorded dialog, etc. In short, it was most often like reading a newspaper article - for over 3o0 pages. In his sparse commentary, however, you catch glimpses that Lavigne is indeed a crafty writer (the opening sentence I mentioned is indicative). He takes a highly critical tone of the HA and rightly so, calling them, for example, cowards and "middle-aged snivelers." I've been curious about biker gangs and particularly, the HA, since I was a teenager. I even remember a group coming to a small town near mine and being excited to possibly catch a glimpse. But there's nothing romantic about HA. In fact, I didn't realize they were so openly misogynist and racist - essentially, a group of a Neo-Nazi, rapist, drug-mongering, child-killing thugs. Lavigne's book might be exciting if you're into undercover investigations and relish knowing the HA get taken down (somewhat) by the FBI infiltrating with high-ranking informant Anthony Tait. But this ain't like it is in the movies. Be prepared for a slog through the mud of human depravity and true wickedness, in addition to the long, albeit realistic, accounts of surveillance. I was not prepared, and, frankly, had to force myself to get through it.

[MerryMeerkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Star Rating Art: 4.5 Stars
Star Rating Story:: 5 Stars

Self purchase, Kindle edition.

First Impression: Starts with a bang. And boy, those Owls sure are creepy.

Plot/Storyline: Have I mentioned how much I���m loving the Batman Court of Owls series????

Art/Colors: The court of Owls with the blank masks as faces are creepy as hell.

Not liking Alfred in the City of Owls for some reason. He seems annoying and not particularly helpful. I enjoyed Mr. Freeze. Still having issues with the way Bruce Wayne���s face is drawn, it looks weird. One of the chapters, has a segment on Alfred���s father Jarvis. I also enjoyed this part. I found that the the end of volume 2 ended a bit confusingly and I wasn���t quite sure what had happened.

One thing that���s really annoying to me, I can���t tell which volumes belong to which series. Why do the comic books creators have to get so annoying with the numbering and naming and throw everyone off? I believe the next one is one coming out later this year, but I got a copy from netgalley so will review it soon.

Anxiety Rating: Issue 3 (I think it���s called First Snow) was a bit higher than the others because a young boy loses his mother. Since I���ve become a mother of a boy, things like this really bother me.

Recommended for anyone who likes Batman or has an Owl fetish.

Quotes: ��� You claim to act out of love. But I don���t think you even understand the meaning of the emotion! Love requires Empathy, Sympathy, Compassion. There���s Nothing inside of you but Ice and Hate.���- Batman

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very graphic descriptions of crimes commented. Follows Anthony Tait's life with the Hell's Angels and as an informant for the FBI.

[Michelle Bearss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hell's Angels: Into the Abyss documents the years in the life of Hell's Angel motorcycle club member Anthony Tait when he went from being a member of the club to being an FBI informant. He joined the club as a prospect in 1982 and over the next few years worked his way up the ranks to be one of the top 4 members on the west coast of the USA. For years he worked within the club and as an FBI informant, the only informant to ever penetrate the club fully. With his help in 1987 the FBI did simultaneous raids through the west coast and made over 40 arrests for charges ranging from drug trafficking to conspiracy to commit murder. Through this raid they were able to remove hundred of weapons, millions of dollars of drugs and cash and many criminals off the streets.

While I didn't find Tait to be a very trustworthy character the FBI obviously saw something in him that made him their perfect informant. It's not often that you can find an informant in a motorcycle club that doesn't already have a criminal records or a history of drug use.

Although this book was a little difficult to get in to at first, the beginning was slow while explaining police procedures, it ended up being a very interesting topic. It's amazing to realize the amount of drugs and weapons available to criminals and how hard it is for police to actually get them off the streets. The violence in this book amazed me, the way the HA could take someone's life without a thought just because they needed to pay-back a rival club for a murder they committed. Even worse is the knowledge that the crimes they committed in the 80's are still being committed today, and they have become even more sophisticated in hiding them. Rivalries have become worse and the war between clubs has strengthened until things like the Bandido Massacre happen. Worth a read if you have any interested in true crime.
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[David Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I applaud the author's bravery in writing this book, and putting his personal safety in jeopardy by maligning the Hell's Angels. I also appreciate that he really wants to show them for what they really are. But this book is just so horribly written. There are endless details and conversations that are simply not relevant to the story, and therefore quite boring. It also continually jumps around in the story line, making it very hard to follow from a chronological point of view. This book would have been much better if it was about half (or less) the length. The story would have been much more compelling.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was page turner, and I didn't want to put it down. It was similar to another book I read about the hells angels . This was a really good book, and I highly recommend it if you like reading this genre.

[Jeff R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read about Tony Taits infiltration of the Angels but like the others, Lavigne sensationalizes Tait, his role in the Hells Angels, and fails to mention any of Tait's misconduct.

[sallie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly written and too hard to follow.

[Paul Mastrodonato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew these guys were bad, but holy shit, the things they got into. The book had it's moments where it wasn't written well, but the info is insane.

[Iain Parke · Rating 2 out of 5]

A typical example of the informer genre, this is the story of Anthony Tait, Alaskan HAMC member who turned informer resulting in charges against Sonny Barger and other Angels.

For more biker book reviews visit http://bad-press.co.uk/the-brethren-t...

[Recynd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bad, but in a great way.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting what makes a man what to become an informant? I liked this book.

[Vickie Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very inspirational memoir. I would not trade places with Shoshana for anything.

[Rene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't think much of this book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about some of my neighbors in this book. Not sure how factual a lot of the story is, but it did hold my interest until then end.

[Ko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting topic, really not great writing...

[Richard Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story about an F.B.I informant that made it into the higher echelons of this motorcycle club.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll let you know in a few weeks when I'm done.

[Robyn]

Never read. Added by mistake.