This book goes far beyond what I initially expected in a book about personal safety. I'm sure many will find specific instances that Spencer Coursen explores, to be highly controversial. (Especially, school lock-downs in cases of an active shooter scenerio.) He's right though. Much of what has been put in place, in public settings, can actually put you in more danger than it protects you. That doesn't mean we need to live in fear. It does mean we always need to be aware that possible threats exist. The most important lesson Coursen has for us, is to not trust others to protect us. We must be actively responsible for our own personal safety.

Throughout the book, Coursen gives solid examples and advice to build a better safety net around us. He warns throughout that feeling safe, ignoring potential threats, can mean we are exposing ourselves to greater danger. We can all learn a lot through this book. Knowledge and action will be what keeps us safe.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting informative book full of secrets and THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE...


Thank God I picked up this book because BOY is my life messed up. I don't mean to be a phobia master but I need to get more protection. Reading this book made me realize how much I'm letting other people know about me! PEOPLE I DON'T EVEN KNOW. I'm sorry but I just need to scream a THANK YOU at the author (Spencer Coursen) for writing this because this will definitely save my life one day.

The fact that I just dump info everywhere and nowhere at the same time is *great*

I got an insight into how "bad guys" think which was go helpful because listening to this book made me realize I am opening the door to my life and calling them all in...

But anyhow! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me an arc!

This book is a must read!

While some of this book concerns things most people with common sense should know (i.e. if you post your vacation updates as you go, hundreds of people are aware that you are not home), and some of it was a little over the top (i.e. recommending a shot gun because it both sounds scary to intruders and also can be used to shoot birds if necessary for hunting food) I found this book to be an EXCELLENT commentary on personal safety.

I loved that the focus of this book was on how *you* can effect your own personal safety more than any outside force can. *you* can take small steps that can both drastically reduce the likelihood that you will be chosen as a target and also increase your chances of survival should you find yourself in a situation that is out of your control.

There were so many things I found fascinating about this book, but the thing that stuck out at me the most was the author's professional assessment of school shootings. He points out that schools often neglect to do updated security assessments because they know they don't have the budget to make any recommended adjustments and don't want to be caught failing to follow recommendations. It makes sense, and it's so simple, but what a fundamentally demented way to approach school safety. The author's opinion of lock down drills and gathering places being about accountability for the schools rather than being about making sure your child is safe, are equally concerning. I was so fascinated by the complexities of the subject that I wish he would do a book tour or a Ted Talk and discuss it further. I have so many questions. What if I told my son to follow his advice and go out the first floor window and run.... only to find out the gunmen had a friend outside and my son and potentially other students were injured? What if my child ran out of the school, into the neighborhood and got lost? Wouldn't a parent be pissed at the school for not knowing where their child is? What if other kids followed him and now ten kids are off school grounds and lost? How would the police even begin to try to find them while also responding to an active shooter? I was just so interested to learn more!

Please do a Ted Talk or something, this book was fascinating and people need to learn a lot of these things!

This was an incredible way to learn the ins and outs of security and privacy lessons.
I took it all in and learned alot from Spencer!
This was a well written book! With a lot of great information!