I thought this book was really good even if it was a little braggy. I think that Ms. Beebe really did a lot for women in the ATF and showed that sometimes when you are underestimated it is a good thing because you can do amazing things when people don't think much of what you can do. She is an inspiration and I liked what she was able to build and the rapport she was able to do with the worst of the worst. Great job and thank you for sharing your life!

A true story of the work that ATF agent Cynthia Beebe conducted as an agent. She goes over why she entered the agency by going through the academy and then other training. She walks you through how she put the evidence together and then the many undercover cases that she worked on and the people and different gangs that she also took down. She had a very interesting career and because of her knowledge of bombs, she would be able to make her cases stick. This is a very good book.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the book before it was archived.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and I am voluntarily posting this review.

This was a very interesting and informative book providing a behind the scenes look at ATF. I was very interested in what was revealed in all of the different investigations which were shared with us. It also provides us with a look at the way women were treated and regarded as time progressed. I am very glad I was permitted to read this book.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. Agent Beebe was clearly a hard-working, accomplished agent who enjoyed her job and did it well. It would not have been easy for her to navigate a man's world, and she does not shy away from that in this book. Her career was an uphill battle, and she won. She worked difficult cases and her success in those cases changed lives. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

This book is simply awesome I love policeproceduralandteue crime books and this is a fascinating look into a truly amazing career. So well written a thrilling gritty account behind the scenes of an ATF agent.

Thank you for sharing your inspirational story!

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

This was an interesting book but it seemed to drag at times. You can find a lot of the reasoning behind his ATF does things. If you like police procederials you will enjoy this book.

Excellent narrative describing what it was like for one of the first female ATF agents. Chronological storytelling and a pleasure to read as the author has a grasp of the English written word. If you are remotely interested in reading about a few cases and the struggles faced as a female trailblazer in the world of federal law enforcement, then I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Wow what a fantastic book. So well written and a thrilling story to read for a gritty behind the scenes of an ATF agent. What a life you have lead, thank you for sharing it with us.

Cynthia Beebe spent a career as a “Street 13” ATF Special Agent that worked about every type of crime in ATF’s portfolio. ATF is one of the smaller Federal Law Enforcement agencies that are responsible for keeping the streets of America safe and Cynthia’s role as a street agent brings to life the cases from outlaw motorcycle gangs, arson, and bombings. She worked in two major field divisions along with service as an “other treasury agent” assisting the Secret Service during high profile operations.

As a reader she accurately describes both the excitement and drudgery of arriving at an arson crime scene and then spending days removing ash and the burned building remains looking for that clue which will identify the criminal and bring them to justice.

She skillfully weaves her personal story of a woman entering a mostly man oriented agency. Facing sexual biases she proved herself over and over as a comment and highly producing agent.

As a book in the “real crime” genre I found it as a great read and well worth the time to read and understand a small cog in the US law enforcement community.

Wow! That was my thought ….throughout this book. Over and over. Cynthia Beebe has done us all a favor by letting us peek behind the curtain and get a first-hand account of her captivating career. We get a taste of the thrill, the frustrations, and the triumphs that came with her job. With three daughters of my own, I love a book with a strong female trailblazer and Cynthia takes the cake!!

Excellent material and writing! At last a look into the bada$$ teams of the ATF and who looks on them with favor. Deputies and detectives have ill responses to FBI (I worked both ER and jails as a nurse in Wisconsin), but I never heard anyone say bad stuff about ATF. Well, except for the baddies. I loved reading about some of the cases she worked on and the different state agencies worked with. Because she came in at the beginning of the integration of women into various law enforcement agencies, the is also a look into what women had to put up with and try to change. I admit that I was amazed that not only did she have no prior law enforcement experience, but there is no mention of her needing to take criminal justice classes. An amazing recounting of the work life of a real asset to law enforcement! Need a copy for my shelf!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Center Street via NetGalley. Thank you!

"Boots in the Ashes" is a memoir by one of the first female special agents for the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives). The author briefly talked about her childhood and how she got interested in joining the ATF. She then talked about six of her most notable cases, including the steps she took to investigate the case all the way through to the court verdicts. At the end, she briefly talked about why she retired and her life now. Her cases were interesting, and she also talked about what it was like to be one of the few female agents at the beginning of her career. Overall, I'd recommend this book to true crime fans or those interested in what an ATF field agent does.

A fascinating and insightful look behind the scenes of the life of an ATF agent and the complications that come with being one of the first female ATF agents. I found this book interesting indwell-written.

A very interesting biography by one of the first female ATF agents. Easy to read, flowing nicely, her stories of pursuing bombing and arson suspects were captivating. And of protecting political people, up to and including the President, during campaign seasons. And of dealing with the sexism that one would (unfortunately) expect during the days of her career.
Not the typical retelling of macho, gun-slinging stories that one has come to anticipate in these type of books. Beebe shows the benefits of patience, careful investigations, and staying out of the political games.
I admire the author, and her dedication to her craft.
Excellent book!

Boots in the Ashes. Cynthia Beebe

A few weeks ago I saw a post on twitter announcing the publication date of a book, Boots in Ashes. Given my 30 years in the Fire Service this caught my attention straight away. When I dug around a bit and found that it was a memoir of an ATF Special Agent, who specialised in Fire and Explosion investigation, the discipline I specialised in for the last 12 of those 30 years, I knew it was a book I wanted to read.

Thankfully I managed to contact the author, Cynthia Beebe, and she helped me get my hands on a copy. That in itself must have been brave, after all she was going to let a subject matter expert review her book. Well I’m glad she did because this is a fantastic read.

Cynthia plots the course of her career by looking at some of the landmark cases she worked on, and some of the experiences she had whilst serving as a Special Agent in the ATF

The cases include the bombing of two Judges homes, targeted “Hits”, and her pursuit of Hells Angel type biker gangs. The book took me longer than usual to read because every time she mentioned a case I reached for Google and got lost in a worm hole of reports and witness accounts. This added a depth to the book, and in fairness each of these stories could have been a true crime book on its own. I hope that there will be another book where we get to hear about some more of her work.

It’s not just the cases though, it’s the way she describes the scenes. That first time she attended a Fire Scene and the confusion she felt at the destruction of the building which had been ravaged by fire. The determination she had to ensure that justice was done and that the culprit was found and taken to court.

The frustrations of working with, what a times were bigoted old men, makes Cynthia’s achievements even more impressive. When I teach University students one of the most often asked questions, by the young women in the class, is can women make good firefighters. My answer is always the same. Some of the best firefighters I ever served with were women. All of the worst firefighters I ever served with were men. Hopefully the question will stop one day but until then I’m going to point those who ask it in the direction of this book.

This book will be a great read for anybody who is into true crime, but I think there will be a lot of Fire Investigators and Crime Scene Investigators in the UK that will be looking for a copy, and they are going to love it

STOP Reading whatever book you are reading now and dive right into this book!
I could NOT stop reading this book. It was spellbinding.
The writing was personable: Learning about the murder of a dear friend when the author was a young adult, struggles with her mom dying, to adoption.
The writing was clear and concise: I never felt like Ms Beebe was too technical, she spoke plainly and eloquently about arson and bomb investigations.
I learned so much about the ATF, mostly how long a case can take to go to trial. Also the trailblazing way in which she joined the ATF!
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I hope that the author opens up more of her vault of cases and writes more!

I can't recommend this book enough!

An interesting biography of a woman who tackles a career as an ATF agent when women agents were still fairly rare. I love stories about groundbreakers like these. Despite some pushback from some Neanderthal type men, most of them carry on and continue, going on to have excellent careers. Caroline Beebe was doing well in her job, quickly learning as she worked on cases of arson, guns, bombs, drugs and conspiracy. There were also times that they worked guarding different government officials, including the Vice President and President and the presidential candidates during election years, working with the secret service.

She recounts some fascinating cases she worked on, like a mentally ill bomber who lived in a shack. He was suspected of having planted bombs that blew up the homes of two judges, one while the family was home. She went out to interview him and he did his best to convince her that he was God, among other things. She also questioned him about the many ranting, threatening letters he sent to people all the time.

I really enjoyed this book, reading about her different cases as she investigated and built them towards prosecution. Bombings and arson cases. Really fascinating to me, if you’re into this kind of stuff, check it out and see what you think. Advanced electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Cynthia Beebe, and the publisher.