***thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC***

This was a quick read and I was immediately pulled in and was eager to find out more details about Whitney Houston and what it must have been like to protect her. The author makes a solid point in that he could protect her from everyone but herself. She was determined to “stand in her own”l way” so to speak and clearly, her addiction was more powerful than the other forces in her life (not helped by her co-addicts and enablers).

We pretty much all already knew that Bobby brown was a POS (technical term) but he was worse than I thought. I’m not surprised at his behavior but that didn’t make it any less shocking. We can all argue about what came first, the chicken or the egg, but whatever order, he was terrible for her.

Her bodyguard cared deeply for her and I’m sure it broke his heart to see such a tremendous talent, and seemingly very kind and loving person, destroy herself in real-time. He had his own demons from what I read between the lines (including a “fidelity problem”), but that made this book all the more enthralling. It felt real and raw and honest and that’s exactly what I look for in a memoir. You’ll get that here.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Protecting Whitney is the memoir of Whitney Houstons real-life bodyguard (or as he calls himself her CPO - Close Protection Officer) David Roberts.
David was hired as Whitneys bodyguard in the 1990s when Whitney was starting her European tour. The book details much of what went on in the industry, the people in Whitneys life and entourage and behaviours of those close to her. From his memoir, it seems he was a very trusted, reliable, and efficient protector and didn't let the stardom around him deflect what he was there to do - protect her at all costs. It was quite sad in parts such as the confidance from Whitneys doctor in relation to what the drugs were doing to her and her voice and the spiral of Whitneys downfall. He brings much to the table within this book and makes you question what those in power in her life were prepared to do and cover up to keep on bankrolling this vulnerable woman. Thank you so much, David, for sharing this with all of us who loved this woman and her voice so much. It must have been a huge decision to bring this out into the public.

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. This is a memoir written by Whitney Houston's bodyguard, David Roberts. It is very clear that David cared for Whitney immensely and tried desperately to not only save her from the threat of strangers, but also from her family and friends and ultimately herself. The memoir shows the emotional toll that David had to endure watching Whitney succumb to fame, addiction and her internal struggles. There is quite a bit of gossip and stories not widely known that show how those she surrounded herself did nothing to stop the dangerous path Whitney was on because she was making them money. Tragic.

David Roberts life changed when he was asked by the American Embassy in London to take care of the protection of a high profile American client. Not knowing beforehand who. Formerly, he worked for diplomats and other high profile clients. He never really heard about Whitney Houston, but he became her bodyguard from 1988 on, for Houston's UK leg of Whitney Houston's The Moment of Truth world tour. He saw there soon enough that Whitney's own protection and safety team wasn't organized that well, it was merely a chaos, in which he had to work to ensure a safety. For example, the house where Whitney and her entourage where planned to stay in during their UK leg of the tour was anything but safe, and her protection and safety team during the concert was also lacking, and was consisting mostly of strong looking man with no professional experience in their work field like David had. Because of David, Whitney's security improved, but the chaos where David's had to work in during these years with Whitney stayed, especially when Bobby Brown makes his noisy entrance in Whitney's life.
David describes vividly and in detail what he experienced during the years he worked for Whitney. Together with Whitney and her entourage, he traveled all over the world by plane, and through the US by a tour bus for many years. The most bizarre things and events happen. From protecting Whitney from stalkers who mysteriously made it to her hotel room, from strange and creepy fans at the first rows during a concert, till the entourage of Whitney he also has to deal with which goed not without problems, especially tensions arise between David and Whitneys creative producer Robyn Crawford, and Nippy Inc, the company of Whitney's father, and that many of the people around Whitney just used her as a money machine. From Bobby Brown and his crazy bizarre antics, who was being late for his wedding to Whitney , to the birth of Whitney and Bobby's Bobby Kristina, till the tragic period where Whitney and her entourage starting to do heavy hard drugs, which got serious after the premiere of the movie The Bodyguard (loosely based on David's work as her bodyguard) which lead Whitney to overdose during the recording of her next movie, Waiting to Exhale in 1995, and her addiction that never stopped which resulted in her death in 2012. In 1995, David tried to help Whitney by reporting her severe addiction to her team, but her entourage and management turned a deaf ear and a blind eye for Whitney's addiction problems and sometimes even took part in it, even when Whitney wasn't able to sing anymore and concerts where cancelled, and David was resigned from his bodyguard duties because of daring to say anything about Whitney's drug problems, which was truly sad to read.

We all knew that Whitney Houston had many issues and problems in her private life. It was eye opening though to read how her bodyguard experienced all this, and how it was from his point of view to be in Whitney's life daily. To be honest, I thought after reading this book that Whitney's problems where even bigger and more intense than I initially thought. It was sad to read that Whitney's inner circle of people (friends, family, management and people who wanted to tag along on her successes) conditioned her use of hard drugs, and even tried to smuggle it in countries where there is a jail or death penalty on smuggling drugs, like when they traveled for concerts to Singapore. Sometimes my mouth fell open and truly thought in what reality without normal morals the people around Whitney lived in. For them, Whitney's voice was a cash machine, without any normal care for her health of mental wellbeing.

David writes very entertaining, but keeps it all very realistic and honest, and doesn't scare away to name the ugly things in Whitney's life, which is truly good to read, he doesn't make things more pretty than they are, and I think if Whitney had more trustworthy people like him in her entourage (altough there where a few, like Aunt Bae), then maybe things wouldn't have downhill in such a tragic way for her. I truly liked reading this eye-opening and honest memoir by David Roberts, and I recommend reading it!

So, David Roberts was indeed her bodyguard or as he calls it, her CPO (close protection officer) during the 1990's with this stint starting during her European tour. He got to be up close and personal with Whitney, her entourage, Bobby Brown, and their daughter Bobbi Kristina. It was a lot of work and coordination with a bunch of people as well as staking out venues before-hand to see what needed to be implemented.

He didn't get to be her bodyguard while she was filming The Bodyguard, but did for Waiting to Exhale. He did witness the beginning of the end with her drug abuse, and the higher-ups in Whitney's company basically tried to hide it so they could keep on making money!

He tells a lot of interesting stories from the trenches of being a bodyguard for Whitney and I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed reading this memoir written by Whitney Houston’s bodyguard very much. It explains how the “machine” of her family and friends working for her, and others kept her in a bad place rather than getting her the help she needed. It was all about the Benjamins, forget loyalty or caring about Whitney. They enjoyed what they made off her too much to rock the boat. We all know the tragic ending it made. Beyond sad.

This is the story of Whitney Houstons bodyguard. Welshman David Roberts was offered a job protecting superstar Whitney Houston, at the time he didn't know who she was, but he came to be a close friend of hers. A great read, was good to see it from her bodyguards view.

I appreciated David Roberts sharing their memories and story with the reader. It had that writing style that I wanted and was hooked from the first page. It brought a new side to Whitney Houston to life and was enjoying the bond between the two.

Thank you, IPG | Chicago Review Press for the copy of Protecting Whitney by David Roberts. If you love a gossipy book, this one's for you! Lots of insider things about the people around Whitney as well as some of the people threatening her. I liked learning about the Close Protection business and what they actually have to do to protect their clients. It threw me off at first when he referred to Whitney as “the principal”. The way he wasn’t familiar with her so he studied her music and fell in love with it was so sweet. I could tell he was writing about her with love and respect and maybe had fallen a little in love with more than her voice. The epilogue was a little cheesy but sweet and the last sentence was perfect. If you want an easy, intriguing book, try this one! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Excited to receive this book, I read it immediately. An interesting and exciting, even exhilarating life, for both protected and protector. Ultimately though, this is a sad tale…for both the protected and the protector. What a minefield David had to navigate, how very stressful, and in the end so untenable and unsafe.