Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws

My Infiltration of America's Deadliest Biker Gangs

By: Kerrie Droban, Charles Falco

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Despite lacking any experience with motorcycle gangs, Charles Falco infiltrated three of America's deadliest biker gangs: the Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws. In separate investigations that spanned years and coasts, Falco risked his life, suffering a fractured neck and a severely torn shoulder, working deep under cover to bring violent sociopaths to justice. His dedication was profound; Falco spent almost three years infiltrating the Vagos gang and rose to second in command of the Victorville, California chapter. He even served time in San Bernardino's Murder Unit and endured solitary confinement to protect his cover and the investigations.

Falco recorded confessions of gangland-style killings and nearly became a target himself before he sought refuge in the Witness Protection Program. But discontent to remain on the sidelines and motivated by a strong sense of duty, Falco eventually left the program and volunteered his talents again to infiltrate the Mongols and Outlaws, rising in rank to vice president of the Petersburg, Virginia, Outlaws chapter. His efforts culminated in 62 arrests of members for various crimes, including assault and murder. Executing one of this country's most successful RICO prosecutions and effectively crippling the criminal enterprise, Falco's engrossing narrative of the dangers of the biker underworld harkens back to Hunter S. Thompson's classic Hell's Angels, vividly recounting a life undercover.

©2013 Charles Falco and Kerrie Droban (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This window into the criminal biker culture offers a tale as grimy and bloody as the world its writer moved through." ( Library Journal)

should have been abridged

the narrator voice is monotone and it gets repetitious the story could have stopped after is infiltration with the vagos and the arrests.

Great read for LEO

good information to those who deal with gangs. Gives LEOs ideas on what and how to address gang affiliations.

Alternative title: Vagos & Outlaws

I will be brief, the story was very well written and performed. This is more than the usual 'tell-all' I have come to expect from this genre, the author has a craft for descriptive details and giving the reader/listener a sense of the world that Falco inhabited-one of addiction, violence, and subterfuge. I was surprised at this book, it is one of the better ones I've read/listened to. Here is my only complaint: The Mongols are barely a footnote in this book, and they aren't covered enough to be advertised on the title.

Other than that it is an excellent book. Very well written.

enjoyable

I liked it, not as fan tasting as the TV show based on it but a good story.

Great book

great book and story kept me interested and wanting to hear more xxxx xxx xxx

Into an Abyss of Bad Actors

Where does Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's one of the best of it's kind. Falco was there, he chewed the dirt as it were and everything is from his perspective.

What other book might you compare Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws to and why?

Under and Alone comes to mind

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The treatment of women is appalling.

Any additional comments?

I can't believe how badly Falco is treated by the good guys at times. This book really takes you there and exposes the underside of OMG's.

Great book for the most part

It had several moments where it was hard to follow with so much going on

Straight Up Fiction

I have read quite a few books about 1%er motorcycle clubs, mostly about 81 and I have to say this book is probably the worst I have read. IMO there is not that much that I believed and I think Falco has a big exaggeration, I think he was just trying to spin a story that would sell. Also in my opinion he is just a glorified rat. I like Jeffrey Kafer, I have listened to several of his books and I think he narrated this bs story pretty well. I read this on Kindle as well as listening on Audible.

wild and true

just a great inside look of what it's like from one standpoint of a guys dedication

The last part is be less captivating than the begi

(As posted in Goodreads)
I started read – reading this on Kindle back in May, and I read the first two thirds or so of it. It was a whole section of the Vagos, and it was exciting, intriguing, scary, and a little bit sad. When I finished that section, I thought I was done with the book, but then I got into section 2…
By that point, I could no longer read it, so I switched to the Audio Audible in order to listen to the rest.
The tone kind of changed at that point, and although it was still interesting, somehow I didn't feel as connected. It was still a good book, but I am definitely glad that I could listen to the end instead of continuing to actually read.
I am starting to reconsider a former workmate and friend who was very involved in motorcycles and a motorcycle club back in the late '80s. I do wonder whether his motorcycling was at all involved in any of the illegalities and violence… I know that being a motorcyclists did not necessarily imply that one was involved in gangs by definition, but I do know how close "Snoopy" was to his group, and I know that he communicated and recreated regularly with them.
Just a thought…