SOCIAL SCIENCES

Confidential Source Ninety-Six: The Making of America's Preeminent Confidential Informant

by Roman with Robert Cea Caribe
Hachette. Aug. 2017. 304p. ISBN 9780316315371. $27; ebk. ISBN 9780316315388. CRIME
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This book offers the true story of Caribe (a pseudonym), a confidential informant who spent more than two decades gathering and providing information to authorities while working his way inside some of the largest drug operations in the world. Coauthored with Cea (No Lights, No Sirens) but written from Caribe's perspective, it promises intrigue like the films Donnie Brasco or Rush. Instead, the writing removes the reader from the gritty reality that would benefit Caribe's singular experience. Rather than getting into the psyche of a person who would be killed if the facade ever slipped, the reader is confronted with cliches and language that one would expect to find in a text written by someone pretending to have lived an exciting life as an informant.
VERDICT This true crime account might be enjoyed by those who are looking for a television- or movie-style version of these real-life events, instead of a more psychological study of a life on the line and based on lies. For fans of Christopher Mark Kudela's They Call Me Krud and the film Firewalker.
Reviewed by Ryan Claringbole, Wisconsin Dept. of Pub. Instruction, Madison , Jun 15, 2017
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