Comey is an excellent writer, I sincerely hope he continues writing books. ( )

The life begins with a lie. In 1992, I was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York City, and those were the words I heard from a senior member of one of the most notorious crime families in the United States. Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano was the highest ranking American mobster ever to become a federal witness. He'd flipped to avoid a life sentence in jail, and also because he had heard government tapes in which his boss, John Gotti, said bad things about him behind his back. Now in our custody, Gravano introduced me to the rules of Mafia life.

Like many people, I only got into American politics after Donald Trump was elected president. I'm lucky enough not to live in the USA, so I can watch the horror show unfold from a safe distance. Still, I try to keep up to date with what's happening over there, because I believe that Trump's unethical decisions and leadership style may one day come back to bite us all in the butt.

I picked up Comey's book because it was a Goodreads 2018 nominee, and because it sounded like a fascinating account of an intriguing life. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Comey's writing has depth and nuance. I loved his descriptions of leading the FBI. His zealous conviction in the FBI's ability to do good made me wish I'd been an agent in another life. I was equally horrified by his descriptions of his meetings with Trump. I already thought the man was a narcissistic lunatic, and Comey confirmed all my worst suspicions--and then some!

Ultimately, I was captivated by Comey's ability to lead, and his incredible morals and ethics. He's probably one of the most ethical people to have ever worked in Washington, and the country suffered a great loss when he was unapologetically let go from a position he deserved to keep. There are wonderful lessons on leadership, ethics, and humanity in this book, which makes this one political memoir worthy of reading. ( )

This wasn't the book I expected. It's more of a memoir than an exposé. Not bad, nonetheless. ( )

I think writing a memoir has to be one of the more difficult writing projects to do well. A person first would want to come across as candid and truthful. They would also want to get it "right", meaning overcoming the inclination to diminish those areas that might be personally embarrassing, and not overemphasizing areas where they might have been particularly successful. They might also want to be cautious about letting animus or friendliness to someone color their representation of that person in their story. There are probably many more reasons why memoir is difficult.

Comey does his job well. Much of what he relates played itself out on the world stage and recently, so it's easy to match up his tale to the times and events that he writes about. While it's possible to imagine some of his story is cleaning up the narrative to fit his own view of things as he wishes they were, it doesn't seem like what he relates takes many great liberties with the truth.

Comey tells his story in a homespun, casual, self-deprecating manner that makes for easy listening (Comey does his own narration).

There are a couple people who don't fare too well in his tale: Vice President Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani are two villains, and a couple he seems to treat with kid gloves in spite of some obvious disagreements with the way they behaved: AG Loretta Lynch and President Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card.

His explanation of the Hillary Clinton email case is problematic, but it is understandable considering how he viewed the AG's office at the time and potential conflicts with the Clinton campaign. Still, I would have loved being a fly on the wall as the FBI team discussed how to publish their findings.

This certainly isn't a definitive work on understanding the period covered, but it should stand as a key building block in understanding the full story in years to come. ( )