Armed and Dangerous: The Hunt for One of America's Most Wanted Criminals (Hardcover)

by William Queen (Author), Douglas Century (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
After his bestselling debut, Under and Alone (also coauthored by Century), Queen, a retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent, returns with a less successful effort. Here Queen goes back to his early days with ATF, describing his obsessive 1985 quest to take down Mark Stephens, equal parts gunman, mountain man, drug trafficker, and out-and-out thug. As laudatory as the effort to apprehend Stephens was, the story is too slight to sustain even a brief book, which might explain why Queen fills it out with discussions of unrelated investigations he pursued while waiting for approval to go up into the mountains after his quarry. He also seems to devote as much time to his arguments with his superiors as to the effort to ascend the rugged terrain in the mountains of Southern California where Stephens was hiding out, and the anticlimactic conclusion of their encounter is disappointing. Queen relies on an uncorroborated account from an ex-con and associate of Stephens's for a section that makes Stephens seem truly psychotic. The passing references to the toll the agent's hard-charging style took on his marriage could have been better developed. (July 3)
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From Booklist
ATF agent Queen seemed the only one likely to apprehend pot-grower and accomplished survivalist Mark Stephens in 1986. As polished by Century, Queen's rat-a-tat prose suggests the automatic weapons' fire Stephens had employed in "terrorizing the towns of California's Inland Empire" before relocating permanently to the wilderness. Besides his adeptness at living in the wild, Stephens made his own machine guns ("a hobby, an interesting pastime") and grew pot plants 10 to 12 feet tall. Queen matched Stephens in survival and tracking skills, and the two men's similarities greatly enliven the story of their conflict. In fact, the standoff after which Stephens was taken into custody might have ended more quickly had Stephens not thought that Queen, "with his long, curly hair looked more like a drug-crazed hippie bent on stealing his dope" than like a lawman. A ripping good manhunt saga, detailed and suspenseful, not at all dimished by the deflationary fact that Stephens plea-bargained down to "a single possession of illegal weapons count" and got only five years in federal prison. Tribby, Mike

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Random House (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400065771
• ISBN-13: 978-1400065776
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #496,364 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good book, August 5, 2007

By	M. White "MV" (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a good book. It has an interesting insight into how government agencies really work. Having worked for a government agency in the past, I understand how paperwork and supervisory influence slow investigations and hinder law enforcement in many ways.

I would have given this a five star rating, but Mr Queen's book Under and Alone is clearly a five star book and this one is not quite as good. Still a great read...

M

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Best Seller, July 7, 2007

By	C. Carter "A real book fan" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was blown away by Queen's first book "Under and Alone" and this ATF Agent kept me awake once again with "Armed and Dangerous". You get a real life look at what real law-enforcement types have to go through to do their jobs. You learn that they not only have to fight the bad guys but their bosses so they can go after the bad guys. In this book Queen actually has to get to the 'top of the mountain' to catch a crazy drug dealer that has kept all other law enforcement agencies at bay. A great read.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Armed and Dangerous, July 7, 2007

By	V. Kennedy "book crazed" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a true story about an ATF agent's efforts to bring a drug dealer to justice. It might not sound that hard, but the fact is that the perp lives in an inaccessible hideout in the mountains outside LA. No one can flush him out long enough to capture him. The guy's going to kill someone with one of his submachine guns if he's not stopped. It's like reading a thriller instead of a true to life drama that really took place. It gives some interesting insight into the way ATF and the police handle matters like this. It's a good read.