The following are just a few of The 231 Club book reviews:
“A fascinating expose of the life of an agent of the CIA, who was involved in many different kinds of ops. He worked with Chauncey Marvin Holt, the third of the three tramps in Dallas (often mistaken for E. Howard Hunt), whom I met after he watched my 4.5 hour documentary of the assassination of JFK (“JFK: The Assassinationm the Cover-Up and Beyond” 1964) and called me up at 3:30 AM to tell me he had been up all night watching it and thought I got it right! That was pretty high praise from soneone who was actually involved by preparing 15 sets of forged Secret Service credentials for use by others who were involved.
I have also met J Bartell, with whom I had lunch in North Hollywood years ago. I greatly enjoyed reading this book and am going to feautre J on my video show, “The Real Deal”, produced by MBC (Media Broadcasting Center), the archives for which can be found on-line. I recommend this for a look into the dark side of life.” – James Fetzer
“All in all, this book is an effortless read and a real gem of a page-turner. If you want a view from a real “spy with a license to kill” then stop watching Bond films and have a read…it will surprise you.” — Richard Ricciardelli
“The book is an easy and fast read and the selection of photos adds to the storytelling. The 231 Club is categorized as a CIA memoir and it certainly is that but I’d also put it in the action-adventure category with a bit of self-help thrown in to boot!”– Andrew
“Forcefully written and easy to read … I can’t wait for the movie.” — Jeff Shermer, Real Estate Broker.
“It is rare for me to start a book and read the whole story in one sitting, but I could not put this one down. … I rate this book a 5+++++. It is not only a very action filled story, but it made me look at the fact that the choices that we make in our lives affect our very souls.” – Rhea Mullen, Psychotherapist.
The 231 Club is well written and I certainly appreciated the author’s voice and the casual style. It also made me think what I would have done if I were in his shoes. Take the safe road and stay in my day job of therapist or take the one going left to the big unknown with plenty of risks along the way?
Fortunately I was in my armchair enjoying the dilemma. All in all, the book is very interesting, both in the author’s background as well as in the various stories he tells of life in the fast lane. The author’s adventures make for very good reading especially when you know they are true tales of CIA exploits. What may have started as high level thinking about the jobs that needed to be done in South America or Latin America during this time period was soon relegated to the people who actually had to carry them out and they often did so with very little resources or help from the upper level “suits”.
This was a very interesting read and I would highly recommend it.
– Piaras
It’s a great read, that I just couldn’t put down. I read through it in about 2 days. It is a very interesting story which tells a story that seems both familiar and yet different at the same time.
J Bartell was an instructor, lecturer and chief of staff of a large California-based therapy institute whose clients included people from all walks of life. But it was his worldwide travels on behalf of affluent clients, including heads-of-state, that put him on the radar of the CIA. What started out as simple courier work eventually lead to Bartell becoming part of a small group that handled off-book assignments, meaning no record, so there’s “plausible deniability”.
The group, consisted of Bartell, his CIA handler Chauncey Holt and former U.S. Marine, Michael Harries, best known for having created the famous Harries Flashlight Technique used by law enforcement around the world for handling arms in low-light conditions. Additional support to the group came from master gunsmith Jim Boland and Jeff Cooper, who is considered to be the father of modern combat shooting and tactics. –
Wow. Utterly riveting. The journey from therapist to assassin seems so disconnected and counter-intuitive, but Bartell brings us right into his thought processes and we take that journey with him. If you’re looking for a Tom Clancy novel, this is not it. If you’re looking for the grit and fear and difficult choices of real life, this is it. If you’re looking for three dimensional human beings dealing with some of the greatest philosophical issues of humankind, this is for you. If you’re looking for the real life history of our nation’s agencies–right here. I strongly recommend The 231 Club to any reader, regardless of preferences. – Pucinell
J has been interviewed by award winning investigative reporter Judd McIlvain, a winner of eight golden mic awards and multiple Emmy Awards and award winning investigative journalist/crime reporter Peter R. de Vries of The Netherlands.
“The Bartell Process is the most powerful tool created for behavior modification in the last hundred years.” - Peter R. de Vries, Award-Winning Investigative Journalist
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt." - unknown author
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