Member Reviews

'The Truth Detector: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide for Getting People to Reveal the Truth' by Jack Schafer is exactly what you are looking for when you pick up this book! It is highly insightful and entertaining. Enjoy!

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What a cool, insightful read. There was so much fascinating information here that I otherwise would not have known about. I can’t say that it would help me in my day to day life, but I still loved reading about it.

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Beneficial and practical tips to raise your awareness and mindfulness. The narration has a nice ebb and flow without getting bogged down by personal anecdotes. Keeper.

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An interesting take on getting to the truth taught by a top-notch expert in his field. Informative and fun to read as well. This author clearly knows his stuff and is a good author, and he describes it in a helpful and interesting way.

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Very informative read! Great to get the inner look at ways that law enforcement can gather information. Lots of good tips and examples!

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Great book, shows a plethora of ways to detect the truth and lies, would highly recommend, Can't wait for more books from this author.

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An excellent text on methods to get information from people, and techniques to help you determine if they are being truthful. Written by a former FBI agent, it's loaded with very easily readable information and real life examples
The author's main technique is known as "elicitation", a method to get people to reveal information to you. I, for one, can attest to the effectiveness of the technique. In my three plus decade law enforcement career, I used it extensively. I didn't know it was called elicitation at the time. I thought it was just effective interviewing and listening. I learned it from my father, who was a very effective detective himself. He taught me to treat people with empathy and respect, to gently lead conversations in a productive manner, and to listen at least twice as much as you talk.
I was pleasantly surprised to read that "our secret" was well known by others. And the author is obviously a master at it! He explains so much, and with such great examples, it (almost) makes me want to "un-retire" and get back in the arena. Almost, haha. I will settle now for using the practices for examining salespeople and other folks that I have doubts about. AND definitely will use these lessons on my fellow fly fishing club members to get their secrets and fishing locations! Bwa-ha-ha!
If you're at all interested in getting truthful information from people who you interact with, this book will be of great benefit to you!

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Very informative. I really enjoyed this book! It was a very good read and easy to understand. I really enjoyed learning the techniques.

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I read The Like Switch by Jack Shafer and thoroughly enjoyed it. When I saw he had come out with another book, I eagerly got myself a copy. I’m glad I did! The Truth Detector: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide for Getting People to Reveal the Truth details methods from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Program to elicit information from individuals that otherwise may not be forthcoming. It’s fun and it’s informative. I don’t know what other topics Jack Shafer may write about it, but if he comes out with yet another book, you can bet I’ll be buying it!

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This book was such a fun and useful read! I've never though about how often we give out so much information. I always realized all of our information is out there, but it was kind of scary to realize how easy it is to elicit personal information. I found this book very interesting and helpful for some life skills. I enjoyed reading about previous FBI experience and how we can use it to have truthful discussions.

Thanks to Atria Books & NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Thank you to the publishers for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A few chapters in, I decided to put this book down. I'd have been more impressed if there were actual skills in here as it seemed like it'd be an interesting read. Instead, what I kept seeing was a boost to the author's ego about how he used to do this for a living and blah, blah, blah.

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The Truth Detector by Jack Schafer is a great read offering insight on how to get people to provide you with information. After reading this book, I attempted to use some of the techniques provided by Schafer to extract information from a few friends. I was surprised at how easy it was! While some of the techniques are things you may possibly already do, it was nice to get a name to the technique and more explanation. Schafer provides quick story tidbits throughout the book, which is a great way to give the information without reciting it. Very engaging and quick read!

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This entertaining read is a good addition to general nonfiction collections, particularly where pop-psychology and FBI titles are popular.

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