WITSEC: Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program

New York: Bantam Books, 2002. First Printing. Hardcover. Good/Very good. [8], 359, [1] pages. Illustrations. Index. Ink check marks in margins of a few pages. Gerald Shur is the man credited with the creation of the Federal Witness Protection Program. Pete Earley (born September 5, 1951 in Douglas, Arizona) is an American journalist and writer of non-fiction books and novels. A former Washington Post reporter, he is the author of books about the Aldrich Ames and John Walker espionage cases. His book Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Fact Crime Book in 1996. His book about the John Walker spy ring, Family of Spies, was a New York Times bestseller and was made into a CBS miniseries starring Powers Boothe and Lesley Ann Warren. In 2007, he was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for his book Crazy. Derived from a Kirkus review: An eye-opening history of the controversial Federal Witness Protection Program, from WITSEC founder Shur and award-winning journalist Earley. They chronicle WITSEC's development and its role in defeating American and international organized crime. Shur answered Robert Kennedy's call for energetic young lawyers to hunt down mobsters for the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. Shur realized that unless the government established some way to protect mob witnesses from violent retribution, organized crime would continue to thrive. He conceived WITSEC, and organized crime in America began to crumble. Shur guided WITSEC into equally successful battles against international drug cartels. The third-person account of Shur's activities and WITSEC's history is supplemented by a protected witness's 30-page first-person narrative.