Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put this book down
Review: It wouldn't be quite accurate to say I enjoyed this book, due to its sad subject matter and the many tragedies described. But I couldn't put it down, read it in two sittings, and will keep it to possibly read again. I work for a magazine that reviews books, and I found Race Against Evil in the stack of hundreds of reviewer's copies in our office. I like to read about espionage so I picked it up because the word "Interpol" was on the cover, thinking it was about the political kind of espionage. It's actually about the struggle to end international trafficking in children and child pornography. After reading it, I have nothing but admiration for Mr. Bannon. He endured a great deal of personal tragedy, and subjected himself to the kind of horrible crimes most of us would rather not think about, in order to rid the world of the wicked people who murder and torture children. Often he posted as a pedophile in order to get close to the criminals targeted by Interpol. There are some who would say that he, and Interpol, were wrong to assassinate these kinds of criminals, yet the alternative would be that they would escape justice, and continue to murder and abuse children. It's worth noting that there was one American child molester that he did not kill, but left him injured with the evidence of his crime around him, hoping that the US justice system would give him his due. But most of the assinations took place in other countries, such as Romania and Thailand, where these criminals would escape prosecution.Rather than being shocked at the executions of these vile criminals, I felt glad as I read about them. In the course of the book, many children are rescued from hideous nightmares, and how many other innocent lives would have been ruined if Interpol hadn't stopped these criminals in the only way possible? Sometimes you have to look at life in terms of choices. The ideal solution would be to bring the criminals to justice, but since they purposely took refuge in countries where they could not be prosecuted, the choices were allowing them to continue to their vile crimes, or to kill them and to prevent any further murder and torture of children. Personally, I'm not shedding any tears that these child abusers were killed without mercy, and I respect and admire Mr. Bannon for his role in the effort to stop this hideous crime. It's also a well-written and fascinating read, although the subject matter is often disturbing, it's an important and necessary book.
Rating:
Summary: Fact or fiction?
Review: If the trafficking in children is real--and it is (see Congresswoman Linda Smith's site, Shared Hope International--she has talked through many a night with child abductees who "work" in brothels, and was at the 3-03 international summit on sex trafficking sponsored by the U.S. State Dept.; also see Focus on the Family, use search words), then Bannon's book, fact or fiction, is "true to life" insofar as the horrors described. See also Noreen Gosch's heartfelt cry for justice, "Why Johnny Can't Come Home" (her only child's name is Johnny Gosch). Well-written, knowledgable (Bannon has been an expert on Discovery Channel re eastern martial arts, and was right on the Y2K fiasco), until credible evidence is presented to the contrary, "Race against Evil" has to be considered one of the most courageous confessions of an ideologically motivated killer since "Inside the Aquarium," and, more importantly, a reminder of a huge and sinister abuse of humanity by a focus of evil sometimes called "pedophilia."
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking
Review: It was difficult to tear myself away from this book. Even when I was at work, the author's humility and convictions stayed with me. I have seen the affects of child abuse and molestation in my career as an RN, but I've never read such a candid and real book about the personal sacrifices of the noble officers that investigate these cases. The book is chilling and sad, but at the same time so exciting that it was over too soon. The author offers hope through the most terrible conditions.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: A gripping thriller that had me turning pages late into the night. I couldn't stop reading it! I finished it in two days and lent it to my father. When he gave it back to me, I had to read it again. What a story! This guy can really write an exciting, non-stop ride. I love true espionage books and this is one of the best I've ever read!
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This is a very entertaining read, though I realize some other reviewers have wondered about the validity of the stories the author is telling. Call me gullible, but I'm guessing that much of it is true. I found the descriptions of the bad guys very interesting, and the process of tracking such characters down was also intriguing to read about. The book is quite detailed, and really draws the reader in. Whether all of the stories are indeed true or untrue, the book is hard to put, fascinating, and in my opinion well worth reading. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
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Summary: This is serious truth!
Review: Ten years ago I met a young Indian whoes father was a Diplomat from India. I was expressing my concern over our children being kidnapped, not being found and no bodies. He said his father had told him children were kidnapped, put on private jets and flown the the Middle East. Now I know it is absolutely true. Now I have another question, why hasn't our government told us. Wouldn't going public deter at least some of the kidnappers? And find more children! Dear God what is the answer!
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Summary: Sad truth of South Korea
Review: "Race Against Evil" was recommended to me by a close friend, "Dr. Hyung-Jin Lee," a colleague of many years who had worked with me on some of the cases in Dr. Bannon's text. My friend has now retired to the life of a university professor, but we chuckled quietly in our cups while we read of all the cases from the past and toasted our colleagues of all the years. To this day, I have never met Dr. Bannon and after reading this text, who can say if he will ever return to South Korea? I knew of him the way you know of others in a given career, with bits of gossip and reports that bear reference to him.
Some of the criminals in "Race Against Evil" text were notorious. I was fascinated to learn of the final fate of Chong and Eunmi, the former a case that has long remained open but unsolved, and the latter an infamous incident that even now brings to heart the terrible cost of the division between South and North Korea. Over the years, my friend "Dr. Hyung-Jin Lee" has spoken of Dr. Bannon with apprehension and love, anger and devotion, in the way that only two brothers can possibly feel. As I read "Race Against Evil," I came to an understanding of the personal life of my good friend, "Dr. Hyung-Jin Lee," and I also grew to appreciate the great love for South Korea that Dr. Bannon expresses in his book. The text is filled with a sadness that the author eloquently describes of the Korean feeling of han, that terrible sense of injustice and misery that grips our national conciousness. Please read this text of a lonely journey as a boy grew to the full flower of his manhood and embraced his own humanity and also a whole culture that he served with a heart so tender that I read the last page with open tears. In these pages you will learn not only of a humble and courageous man but also the struggles of the Korean people as seen from the eyes of all of us who try to defend the innocent in our land.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling reading from beginning to end
Review: Courageously written by David Race Bannon, Race Against Evil is the dark, gripping memoir of one man's ruthless service to Interpol from 1979 to 1999. His dedicated mission was to search out child pornographers and human slave traders, -- and then to end their lives. Exciting reading, disturbing revelations, and with an emphasis on Bannon's personal misgivings as to whether or not killing criminals makes the sanctioned assassin no better than his targets, Race Against Evil is compelling reading from beginning to end. This is the stuff of which legends and blockbuster movies are made!
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Summary: "...it's also about love"
Review: Race Against Evil is a deeply moving memoir of what it means to watch the love of your life die before your eyes. It is the emotionally raw story of Interpol agent David Bannon's life with Sidelle Rimbaud, a French counter-terrorist soldier, from domestic bliss through joint assignments and finally painful death. You will read this book with a lump in your throat. It is one of the most moving I have ever read. The early sections of the book honestly evoke their blossoming relationship, as well as offering a deft portrait of intelligence life in 80s Europe and Asia: "Like all good stories," Bannon writes," it's also about love." Bannon writes with a clarity and sincerity that is all the more extraordinary because of the contrast between his life before and after Sidelle. The book is filled with Interpol assignments and breathtakingly-penned tales of criminal investigations, but Bannon fulfills his promise (again from the Prologue) that in every page "she will be there, beneath the surface, because everything that happened from the day I met her until the day I was able to make peace with her memory is about that one woman." In the final moments with Sidelle, Bannon's story at times feels almost too intimate to read on. The book is clearly a cathartic experience for Bannon; it is also probably one of the most painfully honest books about the loss of a lover to be written in a long time. I cannot remember when I last read anything that moved me as deeply as this brave and honest memoir. I recommed this extraordinary book most highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Unreadable and Implausible
Review: This is without a doubt the most unreadable book I have ever read. Not a single paragraph rings true. It is inconceivable that Amazon's 5-star rating is legit. Everything and everyone Bannon writes about is lifeless. The reader is never given any sense of how this young man supposedly transitioned from Mormon missionary to hitman. The confusing and disjointed narrative is made even more irritating by the dozens of names he stirs into his story. These are names of people that are complete ciphers and often seem to be included for no reason other than to add to the reader's general confusion.
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