Lori's eBook Review - "The Boys of Birmingham" by P.L. Ryan

Find Out What Really Happened in Alabama in the 1960’s.

The Daughter of William Saucier, Known as “The Grey Ghost” Shares Stories of the FBI, KKK, Martin Luther King, James Earl Ray and J. Edgar Hoover.

The Boys of Birmingham Written by P.L. Ryan tells the story of FBI Agent, William Saucier, and includes stories of how he helped disintegrate the KKK in Alabama in the 1960’s. The Boys of Birmingham provides readers with insight into this historical time.

This intriguing eBook spins the story of the FBI career of William Saucier, known as “the Grey Ghost,” “the Sauce,” and “the Bay City Strangler” in his identity as one of the Boys of Birmingham. That’s what the northern Irish Catholic membership of the FBI office in Birmingham, Alabama was called during the 1960s.

The eBook tells how P. L. Ryan, the daughter of Saucier, and her family had to weather the hot climate and bigoted hostilities of the area, including attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. But the Boys managed to “spook” the Klan back, as the book recalls many humorous stories about how their FBI work managed to disintegrate the local KKK. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had created the Boys of Birmingham based on comments Dr. King made concerning how the FBI had no black agents, and that the southern FBI was “sympathetic” to racism. Hoover answered King’s complaint by sending northern federal agents down into Birmingham whenever they committed a minor infraction.

Becoming one of the “Boys” was actually considered to be a form of punishment, sending an agent down into “the Pits of Hell.” But all the Boys eventually developed lifelong friendships as the result of this “punishment,” with their families becoming very close.

The Boys also were ordered to investigate Dr. King during his stays in Birmingham, becoming his “shadows” and being involved in the infamous Hoover tapes of King’s “indiscretions.” New information about these is told in this book for the first time, as also new information is given concerning the assassination investigation. The book tells how Saucier, as the lead field agent in charge of the Birmingham investigation, and the other Boys locate the identity of James Earl Ray, King’s killer. And Saucier himself is the agent who discovers a way to directly locate Ray, which swiftly results in his arrest. Thrilling, gripping and hilarious at times, this book covers the exploits of Saucier and his fellow agents, including one man, the Dallas Duplicator, who’s heavily involved in President Kennedy’s assassination. He may have been the infamous “blond man” who picked up the fifth bullet in Dealey Plaza, site of the Kennedy murder and source of the gunfire. This agent was the same one who arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy’s presumed killer, and this book may also bring some new information concerning that investigation to light.

A note from the Author, P.L. Ryan:

“The days and experiences I was privileged to live in Birmingham have forever shaped my life. I would certainly not be the person I am without them. I choose my field of work by shadowing my ever-giving mother to shanty towns, Head Start pre-school programs for underprivileged Black Americans in Birmingham, Catholic schools and of course also to church on Sunday. Due to my parents’ encouragement, I completed my bachelor’s degree in psychology, becoming a social worker dealing with the underprivileged in America.

I have struggled as a divorced single parent and am the blessed mother of three children, being also the proud mother of a Marine who fought in the Iraq War. I get to smile at my emerging young daughter every day as she becomes a young woman, and my youngest son has kept the vital spark in me alive. But I have never met someone so alive as my nephew Joseph, also a Marine and true life brother to my oldest son...and there are so many other people, like my brothers, who have profoundly touched my life. You could say my hobbies are my children, as they’ve been a joy to raise and a challenge at the same time.

I have to say I love to knit, thanks to my boss, who is the best - and who helped me rediscover it from my high school day. I have written many more things that perhaps someday you will see published, but this book was so intense and personal that I can finally say "Dad, I got it done!"

Visit eBookGuides4Life to purchase the eBook, The Boys of Birmingham, written by P.L. Ryan.