The Last Undercover: The True Story of an FBI Agent's Dangerous Dance with Evil [Hardcover]

Bob Hamer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 2008

Bob Hamer is a 26-year veteran of the FBI. In undercover operations Hamer posed as everything from a drug dealer to an aging pedophile. His last undercover assignment-and his hardest-was infiltrating NAMBLA, the North American Man/Boy Love Association. Now, looking back on a career rich in the kind of action that makes for great cinema, Bob tells us of the challenges he endured and overcame as he stared the dark side of humanity in the face-and never blinked. It is rare for an agent to serve undercover long-term, but he made a career out of a job that can completely consume and destroy a man. Remarkably, through all of this Bob found a way to remain true to his faith, and always put his family before his work. (2008)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There have been many books concerning FBI undercover agents on perilous assignments, but this one by a veteran FBI agent goes most of them one better with his full-tilt voyages into the darkest fringes of society. After his training and recruitment into the criminal netherworld, Hamer assumed several identities—such as drug dealer and contract killer—to penetrate the closed societies of the Chinese, Russian and Iraqi mobs. However, Hamer's controlled theatrics are most compelling as he infiltrates the security-obsessed North American Man/Boy Love Association disguised as an aging pedophile, to crack the group and their extensive international network. The sneak peek into that dank society of chicken hawks is illuminating in its depiction of child sexual abuse. With his practiced lies and disciplined behavior, Hamer is a peerless undercover agent, although his book sometimes breaks its narrative focus and wanders into several cases at once. Still, this book possesses power and conviction without being pretentious or pious. (Sept. 12)
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From Booklist

For a quarter of a century, the author was an undercover operative for the FBI, pretending to be drug dealers, killers, burglars, gamblers, and weapons dealers, among other low-lifes. The culmination of his career was his infiltration of NAMBLA, a secret organization of pedophiles; it was also one of his toughest assignments, due to the potential psychological damage that could be incurred when posing as someone so loathsome. This memoir takes us through Hamer’s professional life, from his first undercover assignment in 1980 to the NAMBLA case, which exposed this hitherto hidden club to public scrutiny and condemnation. As a writer, Hamer could not be called a stylist: his prose is straightforward and unadorned. But the stories he tells are compelling, dramatic, and often surprising. Readers familiar with such undercover-themed books as Donnie Brasco (1987) will want to add this to their reading lists. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Center Street; First Edition edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599951010
• ISBN-13: 978-1599951010
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Up close and personal with pedophilia, September 11, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Undercover: The True Story of an FBI Agent's Dangerous Dance with Evil (Hardcover)

Most FBI agents spend little if any time doing undercover work. Bob Hamer, the author of The Last Undercover, was an exception to the rule. He spent the bulk of his 24 years as an undercover FBI agent, participating in over 20 such operations during his career.

In the course of his work he acted the part of a drug dealer, contract killer, residential burglar, degenerate gambler, international weapons dealer, racehorse fixer, and white-collar criminal. But the vast majority of this book is given over to the telling of his six-year undercover operation as an aging pedophile.

The assignment that he took with great reluctance and personal repugnance was to infiltrate the North American Man/Boy Love Association commonly known as NAMBLA. This hideously distasteful organization purports to fight for the rights of men who believe that the love between a man and a boy is natural and should be legal. They protect themselves by publicly advocating that their members do not and should not participate in any illegal activity.

The FBI was quite certain however that the membership was rife with practicing pedophiles and attempted to lure, yet not entrap, members into participating in "interstate commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct." The specific ploy that was developed by the FBI was to plan and commence a trip to Mexico where sexual activities with young boys was a guaranteed part of the program.

Hamer's focusing on this final and personally most satisfying undercover operation, gives an elaborately detailed history of this multi-year sting. For those who enjoy an immersion in particulars of criminal activities, this story will be quite satisfying. Unfortunately, many of the other undercover assignments are given rather short shrift. This may be due to the fact that the entire book had to be vetted by the FBI before being published.

However, if you are not put off by the topic in general, this book is an interesting and provocative look at a very small but repulsive subculture of our society.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ugly Truth, September 13, 2008

By 

Bryan D. Duchene (Valencia, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Undercover: The True Story of an FBI Agent's Dangerous Dance with Evil (Hardcover)

Bob Hamer takes us on a journey into the places that most of us like to pretend don't exist. With a blend of cynicism, humor and brutal honesty, Mr. Hamer details for the reader dangers that any of our families could experience on any given day. Whereas many would turn away from investigating individuals engaged in such repulsive activites, Mr. Hamer went above and beyond, gaining trust and acceptance, in order to get a tremendous series of Federal convictions. The topic is not pretty, but skillfully detailed. The reality of Mr. Hamer's career in the FBI is the stuff of movies. I highly recommend this book to any fan of true crime, police drama or American history. This work should be required reading for all criminal investigators.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tosho, September 26, 2008

By 

Tosho (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Undercover: The True Story of an FBI Agent's Dangerous Dance with Evil (Hardcover)

Most of our attention regarding national security is focused on foreign wars and protecting our homeland from terrorist attack, as well it should be. The Last Undercover draws our attention back to the ever present threat from within our society.

Criminals of all ilks and perversions stalk our streets seeking victims and sick personal satisfaction. Bob Hamer represents the very best of those who sacrifice easy, self-focused lives to catch these predators and put them where they can no longer visit their destruction on others.

This is the best book I've ever read in this genre. If you are inspired by well written books about good kicking evil's butt, get this book as soon as possible and set aside the time to read it straight through.