Boots in the Ashes

Busting Bombers, Arsonists and Outlaws as a Trailblazing Female ATF Agent

By: Cynthia Beebe

Narrated by: Cynthia Beebe

Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The thrilling career of ATF agent Cynthia Beebe is told through the lens of six-high profile cases involving bombings, arson, and the Hell's Angels.

Boots in the Ashes is the memoir of Cynthia Beebe's groundbreaking career as one of the first women special agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (ATF). A smart and independent girl growing up in suburban Chicago, she unexpectedly became one of the first women to hunt down violent criminals for the federal government.

As a special agent for 27 years, Beebe gives the listener first-hand knowledge of the human capacity for evil. She tells the story of how, as a young woman, she overcame many obstacles on her journey through the treacherous world of illegal guns, gangs, and bombs. She battled conflicts both on the streets and within ATF. But Beebe learned how to thrive in the ultra-masculine world of violent crime and those whose job it is to stop it.

Beebe tells her story through the lens of six major cases that read like crime fiction: four bombings, one arson fire, and a massive roundup of the Hell's Angels on the West Coast. She also shares riveting never before revealed trial testimonies, including killers, bombers, arsonists, victims, witnesses, and judges.

©2020 Cynthia Beebe (P)2020 Center Street

Critic reviews

"Cynthia Beebe captures her remarkable career as the country's first female Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) agent in her memoir, Boots in the Ashes. She was hired in 1987, and her story is astonishing - even now when women account for only 16 percent of Criminal Investigators in the Department of Justice's Law Enforcement component. In one case after another, Beebe reveals how her fearlessness and valor commanded the respect of her extremely masculine peers and even the vicious criminals she investigated.... Well worth reading! (Fern Schumer Chapman, author of Motherland and It Is Night or Day)

excellent book and storyline

did not want to shut it off once I started it very real stuff ned more from writer

An excellent book.

I listened to this book on audible. It was a wonderful read, and I never found it boring. My kudos to Ms. Beebe for blazing a trail in spite of the obstacles put before women, especially when she started. The story of her career, and the cases that made her career are fascinating. Each case kept me spellbound and I was unable to stop the reading until I finished that particular case. If you are at all interested in how the ATF works, and the struggles for woman to break through the boundaries put up by others, this is the book for you.

Tough, smart, and articulate

A gripping memoir full of insight and adventure. Cindy Beebe fought criminals and bureaucracy through a long and successful career. I love author-narrated audiobooks, and this one is great -- Cindy tells a great story.

Well written and fascinating

Terrific read! A personal yet not soapy account of an I interesting career. Thoughly enjoyable

True crime but are these Bebe’s cases

In an office of several highly skilled arson & bomb investigators, the writer failed to mention them. Her cases as told, come from court transcripts, not actual case files of the writer as portrayed. The incredulous interviews always praising the writers interview skills, yet never solving case, just aftermath of someone lonely in prison. Where is the nitty gritty work in the ashes of a major arson, in the debris remnants of a bombing scene? What of the laboratory work, the piecing together of the suspect’s puzzles and efforts to hide their guilt? I expected more from the title and an agent of the agency known for its arson investigators, postblast investigations, K9s, and their world class training & research laboratory.