The Way Of The Shadow Wolves: The Deep State And The Hijacking Of America

Let me explain myself (and the 4/5 rating) for a minute. I read this with the intention to be entertained, and to laugh, and BOY-HOWDY did it DELIVER! I laughed so hard that I feared my neighbors would tell me to quiet down. This is a MESS of a story but it is the funniest book I have read in years. I am not a fan of Mr. Seagal but I have always found his swift rise and swift fall from fame to be an intriguing story in and of itself. I have not seen much of his output except for two of his Hollywood films Out for Justice(a fine action film) and On Deadly Ground(a fine comedy), and one of his awful direct-to-video films which was a torture to get through (No, I'm not telling you which one because its not worth anyone giving it a Google search). But this book feels like one of his recent, awful DTV efforts only in book format. Let me explain the outline of most of his recent DTV efforts:1. It begins with some nefarious scheme of something happening2. The pudgy, but good-at-everything-ever Steven Seagal is introduced and is super smart and says something like, ( in a raspy, gravelly Seagal voice that makes Christian Bale's Batman sound like Kevin Conroy), "Let's go get the (expletive rhyming with "Trucker") and show him who's boss."3. All-knowing, all-powerful Steven Seagal sits in a chair talking about life, conspiracies, and how he will do something to the bad guys (rhyming with "buck up")4. Interrogation where all-knowing, all powerful Seagal interrogates a bad guy and knows everything without being shown evidence just by going with his gut (THAT will come up later) while other people watch, shaking their heads in wonder at how smart Seagal is.5. Seagal beats down the bad guys and shoots them and hits them and does not receive so much as a papercut from his hand-to-hand combats and then kills the bad guy and his horde of lackeys without breaking a sweat in the bad guy's safehouse, hideout, or whatever6. Oh, and he gets with the young, attractive woman at the end who is a fraction of his age and considering the fact Seagal has faced numerous sexual allegations, I don't think this bit of "creative control" is very smart a move on his end (I know its vomit-inducing to watch!)I was expecting this book to be like that and it was, only excluding 6, which would otherwise make the film passable, if it starred someone with more charisma than Seagal. But this is a book so I will be more lenient on it.This book felt like a spiritual sequel to On Deadly Ground, with numerous conspiracy theories scattered throughout. The protagonist talks exactly how Seagal would read his lines in any film and the protagonist is literally god-tier, beating his way through the bad guys as if they are made of butter. And there is the bloated sense of patriotism, which I don't have too much a problem with. Again, I do not hate Seagal, I don't condone his actions or behavior (or now his writing style), but respect where it is due, he made a name for himself, something I haven't yet. Besides, after seeing him cut a man's shoulder in half with a band saw in Under Siege I think I should be careful what I say of him.This is a collaborative effort between Steven Seagal and Thomas Morrissey, an author who has a couple interesting books under his belt which I would love to read. But this book is not as bad as most call it. It feels like a low-rent Tom Clancy thriller only with conspiracy theories and some bizarre insulting stereotypes thrown in at times with too many characters, bad guys who appear and vanish, and battles where the good guy wins far too easily (because he is a self-insert Seagal), which hamper this story from being good. However, if you approach this book as fiction, you may not dislike it so much. Its the worst book I've read in years. On a final note, I thought, "This is silly but I'm glad Seagal hasn't made a film based on it." Later in the book, a character says, "We've reached the tip of the spear"I later find out Steven Seagal is making a film called "Tip of the Spear."Me: (in Luke Skywalker's voice) "No...it CANNOT BE TRUE! NOOO! NNNNNOOOOOO!!! NOOO! NO!"

This book brings to bear all the political and historical acumen one would expect from a college drop-out who has invested most of his time hitting people and who was given Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin himself, collaborating with an obscure and mediocre songwriter. Of course, the added bonus of a foreword by convicted criminal Joe Arpaio is truly icing on the cake. Pandering to xenophobes and conspiracy theorists, the book hits all of the important rhetorical pressure points. Oddly, it attempts to paint Native Americans in a positive light while appealing mostly to those who would prefer to see them marginalized and deprived of sovereignty and their lands. If one can overlook that glaring inconsistency, there are satisfying anti-immigrant tropes aplenty!But by far the best surprise is the book's anti-Catholic sentiment! Indeed, we learn that Catholics are apparently particularly susceptible to collaborating with the terrorist "jihadis." For example:“It all comes down to money. The jihadists have plenty of it, and the Catholics who are working with them want plenty of it. As long as that’s a factor, the whole thing works. The people who are being victimized there are the peons who have to work for these tyrants."This all has the added benefit of being delivered in the form of wooden dialog spoken by cardboard-cutout characters that have all the depth of a sock puppet. In fact, the abysmal quality of the writing may be the only reason to actually purchase the book, either as pure amusement, or as a particularly apt example to students of creative writing of precisely what not to do. Here is one of my favorite passages, where the creatively named character "John" encounters the spirit of his grandfather while attempting to urinate:"I have to go and find a bush. Wait for me there. Be right back.” He moved to a spot behind the building for privacy, but what he got was much more than that. He came face to face with his dead grandfather, putting him in a semi-stupor. Recovering quickly, he stammered, “Grandfather. Is this really you?”Chilling, right? By the way, we don't find out if he actually gets to relieve himself, or perhaps urinates on himself - which would at least be more interesting than the speech delivered by the dead grandfather. This, folks, is the gold standard in horrendous writing:“Listen closely, John Gode, because this is the only time I’m going to be able to talk with you. The one and only time I’m going to hold your face and lift your face up and tell you something. You must look forward and not backward. If the Great Spirit wanted you to live in the past, He would have given you eyes in the back of your head. Do not allow your heart to be painted with the brush of false division. Find your way in all the dimensions. You are a spirit of the universe. You are a part of everyone. When you understand this, you can walk this earth like I walked it once. I have told you this since you were a baby—you can always judge a man by the way he walks. By the tracks he leaves. Read those tracks, my grandson."So much there for future generations of aspiring writers to flee from in utter horror and despair...So, if you would like to immerse yourself in the verbal detritus of a bloviating has-been actor and his linguistically-challenged sidekick, this book is for you - particularly if you enjoy fixating on the paranoid fantasies of jihadist hordes flowing across the Mexican border, disparaging Catholics and Muslims, or imagining a vast conspiracy rotting the US government from within. There are multiple themes sure to delight the tin foil hat crowd and the ardent alt-right stormers (but only if they like Native Americans too). It is exquisitely awful.And really, I hope Mr. Seagal and Mr. Morrissey get some help - and I don't mean for their writing.

I feel sad to give this a poor review as I really wanted to like this book as I admit, I do like Steven Seagal's movies.....well the earlier ones.....but this book just didn't do it for me and that is also hard for me to say, as I like all books, or try to.....just couldn't feel for the characters or connect with any of them.....and the storyline dragged.....couldn't even make it through.....I felt better after reading other reviews knowing I wasn't alone....sigh

Wow! This is one fantastic book! I began reading it late one night and read for about an hour. I picked it up early the next night and could not put it down until I completed it! I HAD to know how it was going to end! Tom Morrissey and Steven Seagal did everything right in this book. The storyline was new. I have never read anything like it. The authors took us on a trip through what is a feasible story that could definitely happen in our country today or in our future. They wove this story using past events in our country, incorporating them with current events. The characters were so strongly developed it felt as if you knew them personally. I disliked the evil characters and entreated the “good guys” to win. I didn’t know until the end what the outcome of the conflict would be. I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on the style of writing. The authors use a unique, staccato type writing style which enhances the characters of the story: US Marshalls, FBI agents, Police Officers and of course Shadow Wolves.I could go on and on about the positive merits of this book but instead I just urge all that want to enjoy a well written book to purchase it and then settle in for a very pleasurable ride!

This movie reads just like one of Seagal's D-grade late 2000s action movies. If you like those (bad dialogue, ridiculous characters/scenarios, over the top macho posturing), you will enjoy this book just as I did!

An interesting read. Becoming more disturbing on many levels as the account unfolds of contemporary events. Would make a great TV series with ongoing revelations. NCIS genre.Understandably connects gut instincts almost exclusively to a pre-messianic spiritual world view. Apparently discounting any spiritual component to the Deep State's facilitation of violent jihad to destroy the American dream.The real battle of "the will to power" against the "will to freedom" to serve AND contract out of involuntary servitude.

Bought a dozen copies for family and friends - a message of liberty and freedom in a little book that will open eyes to a big reality, and calls Americans from all backgrounds to unite in defense of their families and nation which is UNDER SEIGE by incredibly evil and dangerous enemies.

A different approach to the border issues.

This book is a fiction, but after what i read on the Barak Hussein Obama's administration, and what i see happening in Europe, it is very close to reality... I hope i am wrong but i doubt i am. Everyone must read this book.