Customer Reviews

Under and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang

5 star:		(187)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As the ex-wife of one of the main characters in the book, I can tell the readers that William Queen told the whole truth and nothing but the truth...it was 100% accurate and in no way exaggerated. Only on a few minor occasions did his recollection of events differ slightly from mine, but only the smallest and most unimportant of details. This book was amazing and well written - good job Billy! I cannot describe the feelings that ran through me as I read this book, as I read page after page of events that I remember like yesterday. I was also taken back to the phone call I got from Billy on May 19th, 2000, telling me who he was and what was happening. How I didn't belong with those people. Even though I had to re-live all the feelings of hurt and betrayal I felt the day my life changed forever, I am thankful now to be out of that life and where I am today. Not only was this man a hero in the eyes of many, but he changed my life. Billy, in the event you ever read this review, I just wanted you to know that.

A "great" book written by a true American hero. Queen exposes these bikers for what they are, criminals, family men, brothers, motorcycle enthusiasts and, most of all, too human. While some are absolutely evil, most seem to be guys who have been lured by the outlaw lifestyle and all its rewards without willing to accept its punishments as well. Remember, the motorcycle gang came into being primarily with true American heroes of WWII, looking for adventure after losing the pumped up lifestyle of war. William Queen goes under cover and remarkably infiltrates the Mongrol MC. Ultimately he becomes "patched in", a full fledged member of this criminal enterprise. The stories he tells are heartbreaking at times, brutal at others, but all the while Queen never lost sight of his goal of exposing them for what they do. He experiences what has become the all to often dilemma for these type of law enforcement agents. These are indeed his brothers and he is knowingly working to put them in prison for the rest of thier lives. Queen taps into his own sense of betrayal, outrage, sadness, and fear, as the investigation continues. Quite a remarkable investigation and a remarkable book.

Motorcycle clubs have been romanticized in this country for over fifty years and while 99% of them (and my brother-in-law is a member of a club) are decent, hard-working everyday guys and girls, it's that 1% that has always piqued the interest of the general public and the reason there were so many movies dealing with gangs like the Hell's Angels in the 1960's and 1970's. The public has an infatuation with them much like with the Mafia.

Bill Queen is nuts...has to be to do what he did and live amongst these people for over two years, doing drugs and commiting crimes just to prove his worth to the gang. And he didn't just risk his life then, but even now he is a target for those he helped bring to justice. It is most interesting how Queen notes that these men are so much like the Mafia in that there is true love and friendship among the members, and yet they wouldn't hesitate to kill their own if they stepped out of line. It's a kind of almost hive relationship that most people just cannot fathom.

Wow, what an incredibly riveting tale. Bill Queen certainly gives new meaning to the word guts.

Bill Queen, whom I knew personally, has captured the essence of working undercover against outlaw biker groups. I also did numerous criminal cases against them, albiet much less deep undercover, long before Bill's brilliant effort. ATF management was even harder to work with back then. Many managers came from the old 'still bustin'" days of Eliott Ness with that same mentality. Bill's successful prosecutions are a tribute to the tenacity of he and the case agent, John Ciccone, who both overcame not only the obstacles of the criminal case, but overcame the obstructive "numbers" driven management.

This book is a "must read" for law enforcement, their families, and anyone interested in going into the field. It's insight, honesty, and accuracy make it unique in a field often cluttered with "wannabes". Great job, Bill.

Erik R.

If there's a lesson that can be drawn from Queen's lengthy travels through the rough part of town, it's that life as a Federal Agent isn't what it's cracked up to be. As a people, we're bred on a steady diet of flashy police dramas (CSI, NYPD Blue, Law and Order, etc.). They do little to prepare the average cadet for what they're going to confront in the criminal tar pit that Billy Queen wades into.

Undercover work, in general, is a fine way to ruin your marriage, wreck your nerves, and lose your sense of identity. Be prepared to sacrifice the life that you once had, and sadly witness the fallout that results. It's almost as if Queen suffers more than the people that he help put away. This is the fine print that the recruiters don't want you to read.

Speaking from direct experience, undercover work is essentially an act of betrayal. You live with these people, eat with them, party with them, and then testify against them in court. An agent might take years to be accepted into the fold, and then have to dump it all over the side of the ship in the blink of an eye. It's bad enough that you lose contact with your old friends, now you've got to give up all of your new ones. Guess what? Now you don't have any friends.

As Queen observes, it wasn't easy. There were actually times when he considered giving up his role as an ATF agent and crossing the line to the other side. I can't say that I blame him. His Mongol brethen often treated him with more respect, and genuine love, than his ATF handlers (who, more likely than not, saw Billy as an expendable "resource").

You're on your own, surrounded by a group of individuals who, by the standards of modern society, aren't much more than animals. It takes a very strong individual to survive the rigors of this sort of undercover work.

Billy, man, I don't know where you are, but I have a feeling that you might read this review some day. Many thanks for pouring out your memories, and heart, onto the printed page. People like me will try very hard to pass on your words to the younger folks, so that they might understand, and appreciate, the plight of the under-paid government employee known as the ATF agent.

Thank God for William Queen!!! I just finished his book -Under and Alone - and am amazed at what this man went through to get the bad guys. What a great human being! I loved that part at the end of the book where he writes about knowing that these were serious bad guys that needed to be put away - but there was another factor - after living with them for 2 1/2 years he had witnessed it, lived it, felt it, and understood the love that these guys felt for their brothers, him included. That gave me goosebumps. There was a thin line there for him. Not everything is black or white. Sometimes there is that gray area. I hope that he remains safe and can have happiness in his life. He certainly deserves it!!!

This book is easily a 5 star review save for a few minor things. It is a shame Amazon does not have 1/2 stars you can add. This is a really interesting book above an undercover agent that infiltrates and actually gets patched into the Mongols(an outlaw motorcycle gang). What makes this unique is how far into the gang he actually got, and that it involves a gang other than the Hell's Angels who have had more than there share of books written about them. This is a quick and easy read, which is good in one way, but it left me wanting for more. I think this could have been fleshed out a little more. I would have liked to hear more about how his deep undercover mission affected his kids and family. Aside from a few paragraphs, the author breezes over the subject. It is a minor quibble, but the story was so interesting, I would have loved to have more.

The author, a retired ATF agent, goes undercover with a southern California chapter of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang that comes off as even more violent and dangerous than the better-known Hells Angels. Queen draws compelling portraits of the psychopaths who populate this world, men who would have supposedly killed him in an instant if they ever discovered his true identity. Still, these guys couldn't have been all that treacherous because Queen managed to maintain his double-life for more than two years, living nearby and always trailed by his boss lurking somewhere in a shadowy unmarked car. How hard would it have been for a Mongol to follow him to his real home some night? Where this tale really fails is after Queen decides to end his charade and start making busts. We never get the perspective of any of the Mongols whose criminal portraits come to life before their arrests. What did they think after they learned they were riding with a cop all that time? This most dramatic aspect of the story is given short shrift in the final few pages, and we never really learn too much, either, about how his undercover act destroyed Queen's marriage and hurt his relationship with his young kids. Readers will be left with questions, but this is still an entertaining book.

I couldn't put the book down. I can only imagine what kind of situations Mr. Queen went through that were not in the book. Both touching and sad, these guys really cared for their brothers and I can see where Mr. Queen had a difficult time with the operation. It is too bad everyday people can't create bonds like these guys had. I ended up wishing they didn't go down the way they did. I would highly recommend.

William Queen, ATF agent goes deep undercover into the Mongols motorcycle gang as Billy St John. Queen recounts his time as a prospect, getting full-patch in into the Mongols, holding Mongol officer status as secretary-treasurer and even vice-president of the San Fernando Valley Chapter. He does his best to steer away from committing crimes and has to come up with excuses on the fly as to why we can't participate so as not to jeopardize his standing as a federal agent. All the while putting up with early abuse and secretly recording conversations and gathering intel into the crimes committed by such clubs.

Queen becomes so entwined into the gang, that he begins having a hard time personally telling which life he wants, Billy St John or William Queen. After two and a half years, Queen finally has to drop the hammer to save his own descent. He's deeply touched by the events following his aunt's death in which the Mongols show more concern, condolensces, and care about Billy than any faction of his fellow ATF agents, even his partner Ciccone.

Unfortunately, while the book is very good, there is organization and topic coverage that is just too messy to warrant a higher rating. Do we really need to be inform that he "back his straight pipes up to the curb" every time he went somewhere? The first few chapters are just terribly disorganized and all over the place rather than using a better thought out background into the operation. You get tired of hearing him debate internally about throwing out the assignment when certain situations arise because it's a conflict of his law enforcement training (and rightly so).

Overall, this is a great story and should be read. However, the format of the book is low and needed better organization. I'd like to have learned more about certain gang friends of his and possibly more on the aftermath of the court cases on individuals like Red Dog and Evel. Great story, bad formatting. Good selection of photos included in the middle of the book too. Former Mongol member Ruben Cavazos' book Honor Few, Fear None: The Life and Times of a Mongol is easily counteracted by this telling of life as a Mongol.