Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The FBI is one of the world s most famous crime-fighting organizations, investigating crimes ranging from terrorism and organized crime to civil rights violations and fraud. For over a decade, Marc Ruskin was one of the Bureau s best undercover agents. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he worked numerous long- and short-term cases investigating instances of fraud, public corruption, corporate maleficence, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, narcotic trafficking, counterfeiting, and false flag operations.
During a long and dynamic career, Ruskin s undercover work led to successful prosecutions of such varied defendants as international terrorists, members of La Cosa Nostra, and extortionist rabbis. Often working three or four cases at a time, Ruskin was constantly switching identities and always had to be sure that his ID, clothing, and frame of mind matched the role he was about to play.
In clear and concise prose, Ruskin lays out the details of how the right agent is chosen for a UC job, how a bogus identity is carefully manufactured and backstopped to withstand scrutiny, and the means by which cases are painstakingly assembled over many months. The Pretender is poised to become the definitive narrative of undercover ops, outlining the FBI s procedures, successes, failures, and insights into the culture of the new-era FBI.
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Synopsis
Of all the tools available to law enforcement, the living, breathing undercover operative remains the gold standard. This is true in TV shows and in the real world. In the era of electronic surveillance, UC work enforces accountability; it prevents mistakes, and of all the boots on the ground, undercover agents are often the most valuable.
The FBI generally has about 100 UC agents working full-time in the field. In the 1990s and 2000s, Marc Ruskin had the most diverse, and notorious, case list of all, and the broadest experience within the bureaucracy, including overseas. He worked ops targeting public corruption, corporate fraud, Wall Street scams, narcotics trafficking, La Cosa Nostra, counterfeiting and gritty street-level scams and schemes.
Sometimes working three or four cases simultaneously, Ruskin switched identities by the day: Each morning he had to walk out the door with the correct ID, clothes, accessories and frame of mind for that day s mission. Meet Alex Perez, Alejandro Marconi, and Sal Morelli, just a few of Ruskin s undercover personas.
And how is the right UC agent chosen, how is a bogus identity manufactured and backstopped, how is the Bureau's long-term con painstakingly assembled? No one has ever given us the inside story like Ruskin. The Pretender is the definitive narrative of undercover ops the procedures, the successes, the failures--and the changes in the culture of the new-era FBI.
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