Chain of Evidence

A chilling true account of police undercover work tells how a woman police officer, "Victoria Seele," infiltrated California's decadent motorcycle gang, the Hell's Angels, gathering incriminating evidence against them. Lit Guild, Doubleday, & True Crime Book Club selection. Major ad/promo.

Readers are expected to take on faith that events related here happened as the pseudonymous author reports; that the dialogue is accurate, even though spoken almost two decades ago; that the anonymous police officers were as brave as depicted. But no matter, for in the large play of history this yarn of an undercover action infiltrating biker groups in Orange County, Calif., is hardly of consequence. Detroit's re-creation, which reads shamelessly like a script for the film that is to be made, is strictly box-office. According to the author, this 1977 cop caper led to the largest series of arrests ever made in California, with 77 bikers imprisoned for drug dealing, theft, arson, prostitution and murder. The romanticized stars of Operation Hog are police officers Wayne Carlander, gruff and shrewd; Victoria Seele, classy and glamorous; and biker Clifford Mowery, a handsome thug who proves to have a conscience. The reason for the anonymity? The Hell's Angels of the day posted a $25,000 reward each for the killings of the two cops (whom Detroit interviewed) and the turncoat biker, who died in a motorcycle accident shortly after the trials. Photos not seen by PW . Film rights to Michael Dealey.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Detroit's story of an undercover sting operation into the Hell's Angels is quick and breezy but insults the reader with its sketchy rendering of a fascinating scenario. One can sympathize with Detroit (a pseudonymous screenwriter), whose account of a police infiltration of the notorious biker gang, naturally invites comparisons with Hunter S. Thompson's authoritative tale. This sparse made-for-TV product pales next to Thompson's searing depictions of life with the Angels. One day in 1977, Orange County police detective Victoria Seele (Detroit uses fictional names throughout the book) accepts an assignment to ride on the back of Clifford Mowery's Harley-Davidson. Mowery, a hardscrabble biker and convict with a long rap sheet, grudgingly offers to serve as an informant in order to stay out of jail. For eight months, the two crisscross Southern California making undercover drug buys from motorcycle-gang members. Seele, with her surfer looks, awkwardly survives parties at which she is the only one not using drugs and not wearing the typical biker garb (denim vest, waist chains, and strap-on buck knife). During one particularly vulgar Angels party, Seele nearly jumps into bed with two other women in order not to blow her cover. Detroit sprays his text with scare phrases, telling us, in case we haven't caught on, that these people are dangerous, and here Seele is risking her life. Occasionally, we are given glimpses into Seele's supposedly deteriorating home life, but like the rest of the details here, these scenes lack the power necessary to instill even a meager visceral attachment to the characters. The pieces (and sources) for a spectacular story are here: leather-clad bikers, courageous cops, and a backdrop of Southern California's sleaziest bars and dustiest back roads. But for all its drama, this is, in the end, forgettable. (Literary Guild selection) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Cliff Mowery was a biker who cooperated with the Orange County Police Department in infiltrating the Hell's Angels in 1977. Posing as his rich girlfriend was a female undercover agent who spent eight months gathering the evidence that eventually resulted in 79 arrests for drug dealing, murder, and extortion. This account of the operation is sometimes plodding and sometimes skillfully crafted to convey the danger and tension in the various undercover situations. Without resorting to stereotype or caricature, the characters have been well developed against the various backdrops of home life, biker bars, and police routine. A good narrative of a dangerous and important operation that dramatically affected the strength of the Hell's Angels in Southern California.
Christine Moesch, Buffalo & Erie Cty. P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.