Brett Forrest

Lost Son comes close to being the good book that Billy Reilly and his family deserve, but darn it, it appears the author has bought the FBI koolaid, or rather the Muslim Brotherhood koolaid (slim diff). Seriously, I had to stop reading the book for a while after hitting the part about Russell Dennison being a radicalized jihadist rather than "doing the Bureau's bidding" -- come on, Forrest, check your sources (and their backgrounds). No wonder a promising contact "fizzled!" The author is way, way too easy on Andy Arena, Tim Reintjes, and the FBI in general, and the CIA goes almost unmentioned except for what's implied in his occasional interjections of "or another agency," plus, to be fair he gives brief acknowledgement of target killings of American citizens and a bit of explanation of post 9/11 CIA-FBI interaction. All in all this is a frustrating book for me, but for those unfamiliar with use of Confidential Human Sources, here's the book for you -- just remember it's tainted by the sources the author used and did not use. Also unfortunate is the author's personal philosophy on the meaning in life, with the book's conclusion claiming "we have no great destiny, only lives." Wrong. For those who know Jesus, there is destiny (in the future and in the flesh), even meaning in everything big and small. This book is great at conveying the anguish of devoted parents, just not altogether right in its conclusions, much less its life philosophy. But it is well-written and a book I'd recommend with the warning not to believe all the terrorism/counterterrorism parts.… (mehr)