Customer Reviews

Instinct: The Man Who Stopped the 20th Hijacker

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If you think you know who the "20th hijacker on Sept. 11th was you are probably wrong. Read this book to find out how a veteran customs agent doggedly did his job and stopped him in the Orlando airport. I read this book from the library and promptly ordered it from Amazon so I could share it. It is insight on how the badest of the bad terrorists get caught. It isn't Washington Beltway political organizations. It is the professional cop or customs agent who takes personal responsibility to thoroughly do their job by the book and fully operating on the "gut instict" of a professional. It is the "look", "vibe" and "just not right explanation" given by the suspect that the professional gets the alarm to follow with stringent questioning. The many examples of American heros in the field are fascinating and helps the reader understand the importance of border security and enforcement. Well written, fast, easy and interesting read.

If you're looking for a play-by-play of the events that precipitated 9/11 and the controversy that ensued at Gitmo, Smerconish spares no quotes or facts. But he does lean on the reader with heavy patriotism and attempts to pull at your heartstrings which left me with a cheapened appreciation for what the book is about.

Having read "Muzzled" and "Flying Blind", I was disappointed with "Instinct" and had greater expectations for Smerconish in the 'calling bulls---' department. Instead, he let other people do the talking and offers very little in the way of discussion as he has in his past books. I expected a more vibrant, persuasive call-to-arms for security reform and common sense than what I got. I almost felt bad for glazing over some of the paragraphs that were simply regurgitations of a life story or news column.

There are, however, fleeting moments of critique, analysis, and recommendation that I've highlighted and underlined for future reference, but it doesn't come up until half-way into the book. Jose Melendez-Perez is in good company with Diana Dean and other 'inherently talented behavioral interrogators' I was unfamiliar with before reading, so I credit Smerconish with broadening my own awareness of the decade of experience our government had with behavioral security techniques but failed to recognize and integrate before 2001.

The last quarter of the book is also all endnotes and references. Ideally 2.5 stars.