Customer Reviews

Murder for Hire: My Life As the Country's Most Successful Undercover Agent

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

During Jack Ballentine's prime as an undercover operative for the Phoenix Police Department he stood six-foot-five inches tall... weighed two-hundred-eighty-five pounds... had hair down to his butt... and could bench press four-hundred-five pounds. His specialty was posing as a professional hit man. Jack had to take on many different persona's during his over fifteen-year "hit man" career... and they ranged from biker-gang warlord... to Mafia hit man.... to soldier of fortune... to disgruntled Vietnam vet... to Aryan Brotherhood prison convict... to dying restaurant owner... to transient... and even a construction worker just out of prison. The author shares his entire career with you as it becomes overly apparent what the two biggest problems he faced daily were. The first problem is the most obvious... the fear of being "outed" as a cop while in the midst of a life and death situation with an individual who has decided that their life has spiraled into such a no-win situation... that they're willing to pay an almost unknown individual to kill another human being. The second problem was purely personal. Personal for Jack and the family that he eventually became a part of... and that was that Jack would have gotten so deep into whatever lowlife character he was becoming... for such long periods of time... he found it harder and harder... to not only shed the "skin" of his current hit man guise... but at times he couldn't differentiate which character he really was supposed to be.

Jack would hang out at dingy strip bars... hang out at crack houses... associate with child molesters... drug dealers... bikers... and even a "man" who "WANTED TO TORTURE AND KILL BOYS AND MEN FOR HIS SADISTIC PLEASURE AND TASTE THEIR BODY PARTS." There were many lines that Jack wasn't allowed to cross... even when he'd feel sorry for abused women and children. He would always have to make an effort to give each one of these criminals an opportunity to back out of the paid murder... so if the case went to court they couldn't say they were intimidated by Jack... so they were afraid to back out of the contract "hit". There were certain instances... that if the overall objective by these people that hired Jack... wasn't so serious... after all... they're paying him to murder someone... would be almost funny. One such case was the woman who was a Sunday School teacher who paid Jack to murder her husband. When Jack gave her an opportunity to rescind the "hit" by suggesting she simply get a divorce... she said the Church wouldn't approve of a divorce.

As Jack would prepare himself for each of his undercover hit man characters... he would normally pattern himself after a character he saw in the movies or on TV because he believed that... "PEOPLE WATCH TELEVISION AND BELIEVE EVERY THING THEY SEE ON TV. THEY GO TO THE MOVIES AND ALSO BELIEVE THOSE TO BE TRUE. HOW THE DIRECTORS DEVELOP A CHARACTER IS HOW THE PUBLIC BELIEVES THAT PERSON SHOULD ACT IN REAL LIFE. THAT'S WHY I ALWAYS WATCH TELEVISION AND DEVELOP MY CHARACTER FROM THE EYE OF THE DIRECTOR."

This is an interesting story and even though there are a number of typo's and the author repeats himself once in awhile... it will keep your interest all the way through.

Incredible book, incredible man. Well written and takes you into the life Jack lived, as if you were a part of his undercover team. The principles Jack lived by should be everyone's goal in life. Well done Jack!

I have been looking forward to the release of this book for 7 months. I had a hard time putting it down. Because life is so busy and this book is so good, I actually took a vacation day to finish it! My daughter was able to swim while I lay by the pool reading about the grungy undercover work of a hitman.

I loved the balance of grittiness with the underlying love story. Something for everyone.

This is a well written book. You feel like youre in the passenger seat the shole time. I couldn't stop reading until I finished the last sentence.

I purchased this book out of pure curiosity and the fact that as a life-long Phoenix resident, I thought it would be fun to read about local cases that probably didn't make the news. While it was nice to read about his experiences at some of the old establishments that are no longer in business, I found this book very disappointing on many levels; This book desperately needed a ghost writer. Mr. Ballentine often repeats himself, chapter after chapter, and the editing is less than stellar. The reader is sometimes left confused as to what exactly transpired and what the outcome was. Also, I found his insistence that he never crossed the line very hard to believe, especially with regards to some of the females he developed close relationships with, who worked in the strip clubs. One has to take into account at the height of his undercover career, he was still a young man, in top physical condition, with raging hormones like most guys his age. Cop or not, there are some things even Mr. Ballentine would not have said no to, most especially free sex with a beautiful girl. He also comes across as someone who seems to have done all the things that he did, not for the safety of the good folks of Phoenix, but to inflate his own ego and to bask in the accolades given to him by the Phoenix Police Department. One gets the feeling that Mr. Ballentine's ego most certainly enters a room, long before he does. The book is a tad self-serving in many areas, and quite frankly, his credibility with regards to certain situations, is very questionable. I would have preferred to have read more details about each crime, more details about how things were planned out and executed, and less about him personally.

What a book! Stop reading this review and go purchase a copy. One of the most compelling -- can't put down book that I've ever read. Ballentine makes you feel like you are sitting with him as he recounts his experiences as an under-cover police officer. Some books tend to drag out to long, not so with Murder for Hire. This is a real page turner, absolutely perfect for the beach or airplane. Easy to read and some very gripping stories. Jack -- best wishes to you and your lovely family (with whom I feel as I if I already know). Make it 10 Stars for Murder for Hire.

Ok, I am biased on this review as I know the author, have worked with him and my husband graduated from the same police academy class.
That said, I still liked this book very much. I knew many of the simple details of his life undercover, but I found that I didn't know the half of it. Sure, seeing him the few times I did made me wonder WHAT he's been into, but it took reading the book to get the details. I never knew some of the sad details of the officer deaths he went through and that broke my heart. I also never knew how he met his wonderful wife and that story made me so happy for the great family he now has.
I loved it when the department showed one of the undercover videos of the suspect being arrested on the nightly news. Still, reading about what had been said by the suspect was so interesting. As said in the book, Jack never carried a gun during the 15 years of his undercover life and I can still hear my husband yelling out "what the heck was he thinking." The funniest thing is Jack is such a softie that I really could never figure out how anyone could believe he was a killer. He should give acting lessons.
I've heard that a movie is being bid out and I can't wait to see it. Jack deserves the best. Since all his profits are being donated to the 100 Club for support of the families of deceased officers, I hope everyone will get this book and enjoy the ride.

I first heard Jack Ballentine's story on a radio program,before the show ended I had already ordered..Murder for Hire..from Amazon....This book gives tremendous insight into the secret and dangerous lives of the Undercover Law Enforcers..The book also weaves Ballentine's homelife along with his job as a hired Hitman ..saving countless lives...His courage and compassion come thru this book as if in front of me..along with the characters that are described so well...

This is a must read.....I could not recommend this book highly enough...You wiil not be disappointed..Thank you Jack Ballentine for your courage and devotion in protecting the innocent.....while awakening each morning with anxiety of what the day would bring and trying to be the family man that you appear to have succeeded...
Kudos to You... Your family and those on the Force that worked with you...
LRM

The price was very low and it is a good read, especially since I live in the Phoenix suburbs where there
is a lot of crime and a crooked sheriff.

I have had the pleasure of working with Jack at the Phoenix Fire Department and he is one of the nicest guys. His story came as a complete shock to me even though I had know he had worked undercover for Phoenix Police. It was so hard to imagine that the guy I was reading about in the book was the same sweet guy I knew. I usually don't read these types of books, but since Jack wrote it I had to and I am so glad that I did. His story is absolutely amazing. I couldn't put it down!