Customer Reviews

You Can Run But You Can't Hide: The Life and Times of Dog the Bounty Hunter

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You Can Run but You Can't Hide, by Duane "Dog" Chapman, is a tough book to review. This is not fine literature. It is the autobiography of a man who journeyed far afield: petty thief, felon, creep, volunteer, doper, gang banger, boxer, biker, convicted murderer, champion vacuum salesman, evangelist, loving father, loving son, abused kid, prison inmate, bounty hunter, hero, homeless man, A&E star, father, grandfather, husband, cellmate, barber, laundry worker, entrepreneur, counselor, and more.

Chapman burst on the Americana scene with his audacious capture of convicted rapist Andrew Luster in Mexico, which itself caused an international incident. He has been a big hit on A&E ever since.

In You Can Run but You Can't Hide, Chapman is blunt, blunt, blunt about his past, which is not pretty. He lived fast and furious, and one big omission in his summary of his life, and in his philosophy, is how he is making up for these past discretions. Frankly, it is a wonder that he survived to age 18. He was never a model father, and this is reflected in the behaviors of some of his children. With that said, in this book you do sense a "change in the Force" with him. It will be interesting to see whether he stays on a positive track over the next decade.

Some interesting tidbits:

- Chapman is one quarter "Indian" (his phrasing)
- He got the nickname, "Dog", from his gang, in reference to his devotion to God.
- Hawaii was a fluke, as he visited in 1991 and fell in love with the place.

I found myself, for right or for wrong, comparing him to Eddie Aikau of (deserved) "Eddie Would Go" fame. Aikau had a troubled youth, although nothing like Chapman, and his heroics only increased throughout his life until that fatal tragedy. Chapman fell deeper, and must climb higher to get out of the abyss. He has a ways to go, as his life stabilizes, but I suspect those affected by his past continue to suffer.

I find myself intrigued and engaged by the A&E show, "Dog the Bounty Hunter." I look for familiar landmarks. I watch the interactions between Dog and Beth, and Dog's children. I listen to Dog explain to captured bad guys that they can turn their life around, just like he did. "I've been there, brudda."

Chapman dropped out of school in junior high, so this clearly needed some severe editing, and that was accomplished. This book is "reality TV" in book form... now there's a concept!

At the writing of this book, the legal issues with Chapman and his sons in Mexico have not been resolved. Thanks again, Dog, for capturing Andrew Luster (who was raping women in Mexico), and for getting other bad dudes off the street. Keep your life clean, and work to deserve being a role model outside of being in show business. The show business fame is fleeting... just ask Paris Hilton!

I'll admit that the only reason I bought the book was because it gave me a chance to shake hands with the "Dog" at a recent book signing at a Wal-Mart in Santa Clarita, CA. I started reading while waiting in line and right from the intro which recounted the capture of rapist Andrew Luster, I was hooked. It was like jumping in that black suburban with the "Dog" and the rest of the posse and off we went.

The adventure of the bounty hunts was great, but add the deep and moving life story of Duane Chapman and I defy anyone to stop reading until the last page...A brave story told by a very brave man...May God continue to bless Duane "DOG" Chapman
By the way..Beth was also at the book signing and I met her as well... she is GORGEOUS!!

I got hooked on Dog: The Bounty Hunter as I was flipping thru the channels one day looking for something to watch on TV.

I received this book a few days before its release. It's an interesting and colorful look at Dog's life. It is not a book for those who are offended by cursing. The book is brutally honest. It's a book about a man who has turned his life around. Dog talks about his younger days as a bad boy, his time in prison, and as a drug user. He talks a great deal about his passions... His love for the Lord and his love for bounty hunting. The book goes into great detail about his hunt for Andrew Luster. Let's face it... Andrew Luster needed to be off the streets.

Whether you like Dog or not, please read the book. You will get to know Duane "Dog" Chapman thru this book.

Duane "Dog" Chapman is the most famous bounty hunter in the world. His hit reality TV series on the A&E Channel and his notorious capture of a well known serial rapist in Mexico has brought him a lot of money and fame. In this autobiography, Dog Chapman tells his own story, and what a story it is.

Dog grew up in a rather tough home environment and eventually became a petty thief, burglar, dope dealer, and member of a biker gang. Eventually he wound up in jail on a first degree murder conviction (he didn't actually do the deed, he just happened to be there at the time). After spending 18 months in jail he decided to try to turn his life around and eventually found himself in the world of bail bonds and bounty hunting. But it certainly is a topsy-turvy life story with ups, and downs, and further downs, and then up again. Even after getting out of jail he found himself in trouble, either financially or of his own making with drug addiction or falling in with bad women. If anything this story is about perseverance in the face of constantly falling down.

Overall, Dog's story is certainly unique. This book is more about his wild ride in life than it is about bounty hunting or specific cases, so beware if that is what you were expecting. I wouldn't necessarily call Dog's life story inspirational but it certainly shows the power of persistence and constantly striving for better.

Many people who see the show do not realize the background of Duane "Dog" Chapman. Most simply look on his outward appearance and judge him to be of no count. However, after reading this book, you will quickly come to realize that what is within a man means much more than what is on the outside. In this very honest book, Dog lays it all out for the readers to see - his past in vivid, descriptive language - in a way that grips you emotionally and makes you appreciate how he has come to where he is.

My wife and I heard him speak recently where he claimed the title describes not simply his desire to catch fugitives, but God's desire to catch him. Excellent book, but definitely not for children to be reading.

Anyone who has seen Dog's show or read his book and judges him as anything less than a righteous man of God, is short-sighted in their judgment. I would highly encourage you to read Judge Me: The Verdict on Judgement. Then, with a fresh perspective on how to look past his heritage, his skin, his attire, the colorful vocabulary he uses, or anything else that hinders you from seeing his heart, read his book again. Then maybe you will recognize what a true warrior he is for the Kingdom of God. This is truly an inspiring story about adversity - how to face it, stand up to it and overcome it.

With the recent National Inquirer tape releases, it is impossible to review this book and not mention the comments on the tape. I would like to say that I have never been a person who tolerates the "N" word, no matter what race the person is who might be using it. The word is offensive, plain and simple, and using it is dangerous, and a mistake in my opinion. That being said, I also think that it is possible for people to mistakingly use the "N" word and not be a racist. After watching "The Bounty Hunter" shows for some time, after reading this book, and after hearing the unedited version of the National Inquirer recordings, I do NOT feel that Duane Chapman, nor his family are racists. I believe he is a man who was frustrated and troubled by his sons many poor choices. Lets remember that Duane's son, Tucker, has made choices that put him in jail already, so his father has a right to be very skeptical about Tucker's decision making process. From what I understand, this girlfriend had threatened Beth, Duane's wife, and had threatened to secretly record the family. While using the "N" word is something Duane admitted he did, it did not give this girl or Tucker the right to invade his privacy. If they were unhappy a

Duane Chapman aka Dog, the self proclaimed best bounty hunter in the US has led an incredible life of ups and downs. Reading through his childhood experiences, getting charged with murder and finally getting it right with his family and life was downright inspiring. When I see Dog get emotional on TV, I now know why. Thankful for everyone in his life, every opportunity that has come his way, he appears genuinely sorry for his past and is doing everything in his heart and life to make up for it. So, make fun of Dog's hair, Beth's big boobs or Leland's pony tail all you want but if this world could have even half of the heart that the Chapman family has shown, it would be a much brighter place to live.

I teach GED in a county prison facility and hoped to use this book to show how one can go from a drug addict without direction to a successful person. Instead, the book focused too much on drugs, what kind, what happened, etc. It was a disappointment as I really wanted to hear more about who helped "Dog", how he was helped, what his incentive was, etc. After reading this disturbing book, I felt discouraged rather than uplifted. And, if I was a drug addict in prison, I would probably be craving drugs since that is what most of the story was about. Anything I didn't know about drugs before reading this book, I certainly do now.
I respect "Dog" for the work he is doing and for the person he made himself into, but I would say his book is more of a "Guide to Drugs" rather than promoting self-help.
J.V.S.

I like Duane "Dog" Chapman. He's a real life cartoon character: a white version of "Mister T" who fights crime whilst pontificating upon simple moral lessons. Flawed though the man may be, he still provides a positive role model for impressionable youths to emulate, and he has my respect for that.

This book barely discusses his bounty hunting business at all, but instead serves as a quasi-autobiographical apologia written at a 2nd grade reading level to appease his core audience. Unfortunately, he lost a lot of credibility with me when I caught him BSing . . . repeatedly. I can overlook the constant bible-thumping and assertions that he always tries to do the right thing, always obeys the law, and never touches drugs. I cannot, however, overlook blatent lies. Here are a few fairly obvious examples:

1.) More angelic visitations than the average televangelist claims to experience in a lifetime. I can overlook, maybe, a single physical manifestation of an "angel" in this book. But there are several, along with other things like "footsteps in the sand" that keep appearing. I call BS.

2.) Fighting off an entire room full of rival Bail Enforcement Agents who attempted to subdue him, then later being confronted by a pair of heavilly armed BEAs who -- upon realizing who his was -- go, "Oh no, it's the Dog! Run!" Sure it happened just like that. Again, I call BS.

3.) Chapman claims that he was "tricked" into crack addiction. Allegedly, his girlfriend invited "the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen" over to have a threesome -- and the woman pulls out a pipe filled with what she claimed was "an aphrodisiac" (as if such would be needed) -- and THAT is the reason he became a crackhead. Sure. The last reformed crackhead I met claimed that he got addicted because people were sneaking crack into his cigarettes and food. Nobody who participates in such activity wants to claim personal responsibility for it. BS.

The fact that Chapman is BSing is reinforced by his admissions of lying to others throughout the book . . . as well as in his current profession (as a "pretext" when tracking skips). I don't care that Chapman is a BSer -- I like and respect the man regardless -- but he really slathered it on pretty thick in this autobiography. So much so that his credibility is completely shot to the point that it's impossible to know when he's actually telling the truth. This is unfortunate, because he's lived such an interesting life and there is so much that could be learned from such a one . . . but he feels compelled to present himself as a sainted mystic wrongfully persecuted from all sides, and while there's probably a lot of truth in this, the man he claims to be wouldn't try to BS me like he's done.