Reviews for Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team

The average rating for Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-05-09 00:00:00 James Stewart Christopher Whitcomb, who is also a fiction writer, originally went to Washington DC to be congressional speechwriter. He decided to join the FBI and eventually found his footing in the Bureau after being exiled to a satellite office in Missouri during his first year. He decided that he needed a new challenge and passed the demanding selection process for the Hostage Rescue Team. Whitcomb’s prose is direct, sharp, and explicit regarding what he sees as well as his own impressions of the people he deals with. Whitcomb deployed with the HRT to the standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco (among others) and he struggles with searing memories from both incidents. While Whitcomb generally sticks to his subject matter, he inserts stories from his childhood into the middle of his chapters which, though relevant to the author, can be a distraction for the reader. Still, it’s a good read for those who are interested in how these types units are used.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-05-07 00:00:00 Kay Roberts The book that I will be reviewing is the popular New York Times bestseller is cold zero. This was written by an author that I had never heard of his name is Christopher Whitcomb but this was his first book and was a great success. I’ll start by writing a little about the author Chris Whitcomb is a 15 year veteran of the F.B.I, serves in the critical incident response group’s tactical intelligence unit. In this role he oversees FBI intelligence gathering and information management operations during weapons-of-mass-destruction attacks, terrorist threats, and excotic cirminal cases, thats what Chris Whitcomb is about. Then many years later he was to write a book called Cold Zero. This book explains his journey from being a speechwriter for government officials. Then he was noticed by a FBI agent which was friends with the officials Chris was writing for then with Chris having so many connections with the government he was noticed by an FBI agent and was asked if he would consider trying to join the bureau, so he was very surprised because he wanted to be an agent for as long as he could remember. So he acquired a application and sent it in, then weeks later he received a letter saying that he needed to go to the FBI’s new applicant building in D.C, so he went and there he took a test that would determine if he was to move on to the interview process. Well he to the test and passed with flying colors. A few weeks later he received another letter saying that he had a interview scheduled the next week, so he went to the new applicant building again and had his interview with two special agents which he said that “you could cut the tension with a knife”. The interview went good. So once again he receives a letter saying that he will sent to Quantico, Virginia. So he went then he was there for his basic training for four weeks he returned to D.C for his job as a special agent, for many years he worked as an agent then he was offered a position on the very elite hostage rescue team he accepted almost instantly, so he went to training for that and how he described as, “the most physically demanding thing he ever did”. after that he spent the rest of his early years at the FBI scaling the higher position ladder and how he got to the place where he is at now.