Customer Reviews

Into the Devil's Den: How an FBI Informant Got Inside the Aryan Nations and a Special Agent Got Him Out Alive

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Co-author Dave Hall provides us with considerable insight into the workings of the Aryan Nations hate organization that he infiltrated with the help of his 6' 4" 350 pound tatooed body, and of co-author Tym Burkey of the F.B.I. To get a more severe drug related sentence of his own reduced Dave Hall agreed to live a two and one-half year double life as a member of the AN. He describes in incredible detail how difficult it was to keep his identities separate. His mother had warned him, "When you dance with the Devil, the Devil doesn't change, the Devil changes you." Having sat through the rantings of "Pastor" Ray Redfeairn of the Ohio AN chapter and others who spewed their venom in "sermons" Dave Hall had to discipline himself not to adopt the beliefs of the AN as his own. Once cut off in traffic by an African-American he found himself shouting out racial slurs at which time he had to remind himself of his mother's warning. Dave Hall found solace in his beloved dog, Gary, which had to be euthanized due to a brain tumor. This proved to be a difficult loss to adjust to, but he had his F.B.I. boss and his mother to whom he could ventilate his frustrations. We may not know the significance of our efforts immediately, but Dave Hall's two and one-half years of involvement of behalf of our country led to the protection of Morris Dees from AN assassination. It was Dees who later sued the AN and put their Idaho compound out of business. This book is a real eye-opener showing the hate and intolerance that still exists in our country. We may have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. This book is highly recommended reading.

I read this book all in one day. I was on the edge of my seat. Dave is a real hero to us all. Incredible journey he was on and for the betterment of our nation. I hope this book makes it to the big screen.

After reading Under & Alone, I was looking for something similar, and this book is probably as close as you can get. Devil's Den is told by two writers so you get two sides to the same true story. I had trouble getting into the book for the first two chapters, but after I got as far as page 40 or so, the book really takes off. The informant, Dave Hall, was a dream come true for the FBI as he risks everything, including his romantic relationship. Dave was also a black belt in karate and had a very memorable bar scene encounter. This book was quite a ride, whether you side with the skin heads or the G-men. Heil Brother!!!

While the cover may garner you some sideways glances, it's eye catching motif does it's jon well....you're curious to see what this book is all about.

From the very first chapter, I was hooked, and I found it very hard to put down afterwards and was disapointed it came to an end just shy of 300 pages. I could have read twice as much as it was so enthralling.

What's very unique about this book is that it is written from the viewpoints of two distinct individuals; FBI agent Tym Burkey and average tatooed biker turned undercover informant, Dave Hall.

This true account takes us through almost a three year journey in Tym inserting a somewhat simple Dave into a small Aryan Nation chapter to help take down a suspected domestitc terrorist and it's inner circle. However, over time they uncover perhaps a more insidious plot about to take place that may rival the Oaklahoma City bombings.

Dave is faced with losing his girlfriend, his family, his friends, and even his beloved dog, Gary as he climbs the ranks and trust of a hate spewing cult. It's interesting to read Dave perspective over time as he tries his hardest to maintain both his cover and sanity as the constant messages of white supremecy begin to slowly shake his core beliefs and even begin to shape his thoughts. Dave is continously surrounded by indoctrination, booze, cocaine, guns, and the ever increasing threats of violence under the guise of brainwashed bretheren who twist and interpret religion to a way that suits the arayan race.

Tym on the hand begins to develop a relationship with Dave....once perceived as just an 'informant', Tym realizes that Dave is slowly loosing his grip on reality and has sacrificed already so much more than he ever planned. Over time, they become more than just allies in a mutual cause, but friends.

I really liked how the book swapped between the viewpoints of each, even describing diffrent takes on the same events...one from an 'informant' on the inside looking out, and the other from the FBI looking in. The characters of the AN are just that, characters in and of themselves, all with major flaws they can't even see in front of themselves in a world of self-delusion. The various events that transpire from 'religious teachings', rally's, wedding ceremonies ripe with burning crosses and swastikas is just the beginning. There's talks of assassination, weapon stockpiling, Y2K conspiracies, and random acts of violence where no one trusts anyone anymore.

It's straight out of all the bad cliche's of 'Deliverence'...but true!

Downright fascinating and perfectly paced.

This is the story of Dave Hall, a rather ordinary guy, except for his size, who got recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Aryan Nations group in Ohio. These white supremacists, fans of Hitler, were not too smart, but they were quite dangerous. Dave "hid in place" for more than two years, drowning in the race hatred rhetoric, taking notes on assassination plots and fantasies of creating an all-white homeland in the Pacific Northwest. He was at the mercy of weapons-lusting phony reverends, meathead mercenaries, and coke-snorting crackpots. His FBI handler writes half the book, and Dave's narrative is the other half. Luckily, Dave got out alive, with enough information to break up what was almost surely a plot to kill the famous Morris Dees of Alabama, the crusading civil rights attorney. If you are attracted to tales about the dangers of being a spy, and you think neo-Nazi types need to be closely watched, this book will certainly hold your interest. As a junior high student, back in New Jersey, I came from a somewhat racist strain of white citizens, and I got interested in what was then "The American Nazi Party" led by George Lincoln Rockwell. I never was a member or even knew a member. I just read their literature and quickly decided they were bonkers. Rockwell, an intelligent, handsome figure, was later killed by one of his fellow believers. That group was based near Washington, D.C. and was a forerunner of the groups profiled in this book. The bad guys Dave Hall helped collar hated Jews, Blacks, brown-skinned folks, liberals, gays, cops, government workers of all sorts, feminists, etc. Some of them justified their evil through the Bible, while others were grinding the axes of politics and social customs. We are better off for their demise, and Mr. Hall played a part in sweeping them off the national stage a decade ago.

Dave Hall, a rather large Ohio native, infiltrates the Aryan Nations and our country is stronger for it. Ultimately, Mr. Hall helps bring about the downfall of the AN and its leaders, whose hate-filled rhetoric creates a mob mentality amongst its members.

The simple fact that Dave walked away from this organization cerebrally intact, for the most part, is testament to his own governing morality.

If you are interested in reading a non-fiction, short book about the evils in our country, this is it. Dave is surrounded with Neo-nazi, mass gun wielding fools (I'm a gun owner and a firm believer in the second amendment) who have simplistic dreams of creating their own white country.

This read should open the eyes of all who would dare to fight those that would do wrong to others.

Excellent book and I highly recommend it!