Blood In Blood Out: The Violent Empire of the Aryan Brotherhood - True Crime Book About Prison Gangs & Organized Crime | Perfect for Crime Enthusiasts & History Buffs

Super meth labs. Contract killings. Bank heists. Prison stabbings. Extortion. Prostitution. Gun trafficking for Mexican drug cartels. Through the miracle of time - what originates as a group of white convicts seeking protection from minority gangs transforms into a powerful crime syndicate of ruthless thugs crazy enough to scare the hell out of the most dangerous of criminals. With notorious shotcallers leaders Barry "the Baron" Mills and Tyler "the Hulk" Bingham commanding a whole army of skinhead-like gangbangers, the Aryan Brotherhood was successful in building an empire from behind bars in America's most secure maximum-security prisons.John Lee Brooks' "Blood In, Blood Out" works by giving us multiple stories of their business dealings, killings (sometimes horrific, such as Pamela Fleck murder or the torture of Adrian Rooms), and their backrounds before they became "Branded". It's divided in to two parts: first 5 chapters deals with the 2002 arrest and trial of Mills, Bingham and almost 40 other AB leaders on federal racketeering charges (RICO). Heavily-armed U.S. Marshals round up the charged one-by-one mainly in their prison cells. The government's plan is to cut off the head of the snake: put them to death by lethal injection. This is enjoyable as you see Uncle Sam drag a bunch of scummy convict snitches to the witness stand to testify against their former brethren in attempts to lighten their current sentences. Part two has 4 chapters of murder, mayhem and TCB (takin' care of business). With the help of the Nazi LowRiders, a younger ultraviolent white-supremicist style gang - the Brand ventures into gun trafficking for Mexican drug cartels to owning car dealerships and motorcycle shops in multiple states. But its the crystal meth operations that remains their true bread-and-butter.Definately recommended for gangster and gang true-crime junkies but I think its just the beginning. Brooks is certainly a talented author and does what he can for the lightest possible read on a heavy, secretive criminal society. Michael Thompson, an Aryan Brother-turned-snitch featured on the National Geographic documentary that came out several years ago - wasn't mentioned. Neither was Casper Odinson Crowell. I forsee in the future more books on these guys and the Lowriders to come that well go even deeper.Nonetheless "Blood In, Blood Out" is awesome. 4½ stars.