Customer Reviews

Hells Angels at War: Hells Angels and Their Violent Conspiracy to Supply Illegal Drugs to the World

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Here again LaVigne takes on the Hells Angels, and as with his other works the author's bias shines as bright and clear as the sun. In describing the recent war between Scandinavian chapters of Hells Angels and the Bandidos, and other conflicts between the clubs, he portrays the Hells Angels as cunning, calculating and devious adversaries to police, the civilian population at large, and other motorcycle clubs; but he downplays the Bandidos' role in the violence. Not surprising, considering how proud he seems to be to have had his picture taken with national officers, including the national president, of the Bandido Nation at Sturgis. Many times the author's writing style relies heavily on what seems to be quotes from newspaper stories covering various biker conflicts, which, in itself, becomes very tedious. LaVigne's journalistic ego never seems tire in telling the reader how he's traveled to this and that country as an expert in "motorcycle gang" politics and tactics advising various governments and police departments on how to handle this "problem." He also is quite proud of his theory that the Hells Angels all along have planned to and will absorb the Bandidos MC; how the Hells Angels bitter enemies in Canada, the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club will never become Bandidos; predicting this will all come to pass; etc. He continually states this WILL happen. Well, for all of LaVigne's "expertise," he is wrong: The Rock Machine just became a probationary part of the Bandido Nation, and it's now just a matter of time before they are fully accepted into the fold. This, and other misinformation, is indeed is a reflection of the author's inadequacy in the field of journalism. His hatred of the Hells Angels Motorcycle club clouds any sense of objective reporting on the subject.

A very thorough investigation into the bikers, the police, and the public. This book is something of a big deal up here in Canada because the upper rungs of the RCMP were embarassed by it revealing their sometimes reprehensible strategies. The RCMP brass reacted by coming down hard on the officer who leaked the information to LaVigne. Really a sad story because the officer is highly decorated and leaked the information only because he was fed up with being stifled in his pursuit of the bikers. Of course the main focus of the book is the bikers. It certainly shows illegal biker gang members for what they are; career criminals who will do anything for more money and power.

On the down side the book can be tedious. It largly consists of a frank description of events. More of an attempt should have been made to identify the important people and tell their specific stories throught the book. Instead what we tend to get is a constant stream of seemingly unrelated events.

Revealing in many regards, and highly informative and credible as a result.

Lavigne tells us about himself, something which was lacking in his earlier oeuvres. For example, we learn that he has ridden motorcycles for over thiry-one years, and that he owns at least two. Lavigne's brushes with death and serious injury in Chapters 1,2 and 5, as well as his Sturgis photos, definitively and conclusively refute the lackies' hackneyed lament that he never met any real 1%ers and simply compiled his books from police reports.

Chapter one says a lot about Québec and Canada. We learn that affirmative actionism and employment equity forced the Mounties to hire a mole who was working for the Colombian drug cartels. The section on Bill C-68 dispels and destroys the myth that gun control makes for a safer world. Lavigne also notes that Québec's warring 1%ers are dead set against Separation, pointing out that their "NO" signs were the only ones Separatists left unmolested. Lavigne's description of the 1%ers ability to take care of business should tell all semi-intelligent Canadians that no Québec referendum will ever lead to independence.

Lavigne's section on the police brass is profound in many respects. He reveals how police ignore 1%er MC's at their embryonic--and most vulnerable-- stages, after which the only time they do anything about them is when they raise the bogeyman of a biker war in order to secure and perpetuate their massive budgets. The comment of one police official on the possibility of 1%ers moving into his baliwick says it all; "Good, that means more work for us!" This advocacy and promotion of blatant falsehoods in order to sustain one's budget finds a startling parallel in the military, in academia and research, in the pharmaceutical industry, and in nursing.

Lavigne's description of how 1%ers operate in isolated cells, not wanting to know what individual members are doing, also parallels what Naomi Klein writes about Coke and Sprite, who simply license franchises to use their names, averting any direct link to human rights abuses.

Lavigne also shows what a MAN he is, by 'fessing up to his own mistakes in casting aspersions on the Wild Pigs MC. He denounces the prejudices and discriminataory attitudes some police brass have towards this group. You don't see any of Lavigne's critics doing the same.

An excellent read. This is how things work in the real world.

Here again LaVigne takes on the Hells Angels, and as with his other works the author's bias shines as bright and clear as the sun. In describing the recent war between Scandinavian chapters of Hells Angels and the Bandidos, and other conflicts between the clubs, he portrays the Hells Angels as cunning, calculating and devious adversaries to police, the civilian population at large, and other motorcycle clubs; but he downplays the Bandidos' role in the violence. Not surprising, considering how proud he seems to be to have had his picture taken with national officers, including the national president, of the Bandido Nation at Sturgis. Many times the author's writing style relies heavily on what seems to be quotes from newspaper stories covering various biker conflicts, which, in itself, becomes very tedious. LaVigne's journalistic ego never seems tire in telling the reader how he's traveled to this and that country as an expert in "motorcycle gang" politics and tactics advising various governments and police departments on how to handle this "problem." He also is quite proud of his theory that the Hells Angels all along have planned to and will absorb the Bandidos MC; how the Hells Angels bitter enemies in Canada, the Rock Machine Motorcycle Club will never become Bandidos; predicting this will all come to pass; etc. He continually states this WILL happen. Well, for all of LaVigne's "expertise," he is wrong: The Rock Machine just became a probationary part of the Bandido Nation, and it's now just a matter of time before they are fully accepted into the fold. This, and other misinformation, is indeed is a reflection of the author's inadequacy in the field of journalism. His hatred of the Hells Angels Motorcycle club clouds any sense of objective reporting on the subject.

I am at a loss to guess how you can be a professional journalist when I managed to find several hundred spelling errors, not to mention your utterly dreadfull grammar. Not only is your book worse than the homework of my students, but it is the most boring thing since Moby Dick.
P.S. I use your books to show my students how NOT to write.

Fascinating book that deals with the Canadian and Scandinavian expansion/war, and the general wrold-wide expansion of Hells Angels and its proposed main business --selling drugs. This is a must read with much documentation.

This book is another work by a guy whos never even met any true Hells Angels and still writes from what the rats that disgraced the club tell him. The book title itself sounds like a fairy tale. The book proclaims that how the Hells Angels are a real threat to society. I think the police are the ones that need to be watched and not the Hells Angels. Anytime I've had a conversation with one of the Hells Angels members. They are basically the most polite and honorable people you could meet. This book is a total disgrace to Hells Angels and motorcycle club members everywhere.

I am only giving this even 2 stars because some of the stories in it are interesting. Enough so that you keep reading the book. But this book contains some of the worst writing I have ever seen. As other posts have mentioned, there are spelling mistakes everywhere. But what is worse is that the book follows no timeline, or formula so stories involving dozens of names of people become a confusing mess. It's pretty much a complete mess and it's hard to believe it got published in this form. To top that off the author seems to think he's the only person on earth who knows anything about bike gangs. His ego is massive. Since the book was written, half of this theories in this book about the future of the gangs have been wrong.

Unlike the fellow who didn't like the book above because he didn't understand the big words, I found the book well researched and much better written than the author's previous books which had a little too much foul language and not enough facts. This book is the unvarnished truth about yet another organized crime faction that continues to destroy lives. Thankfully someone sees through the whitewash job that the Hell's Angels have tried to put over. I pity anyone who doesn't take Mr. Lavigne's warnings seriously. Anyone questioning his observations would do well to research the murders of the members of the now defunct North chapter of the Hell's Angels in Montreal. The four bodies pulled from the waters of the St. Lawrence River are real proof of the horrors of a gang that turns on its own members. Anyone well versed in the workings of the underground criminal element will want to read this book.

Finally the rumors are put to rest about the Wild Pigs LE MC in chapter 8 (1st edition, Hardbound, page 316-330), and the Blue Knights LE MC are even mentioned in it as well.

I found the book to be a very good read and a must read for all LE MC members.

Riley G
International President
Blood Brothers MC