The Informant

Based on a true story, this book tells the story of Mark Whitcare, the executive who wore a wire for the FBI when they tried to bring down a corporate giant, Archer Daniels Midland, involved in one of the largest price-fixing cases in history. Kurt Eichenwald wrote this to tell the American public what really happened. He based it off of "eight hundred hours of interviews...as well as tens of thousands of confidential corporate and government records, including secret grand jury testimony. Much of the dialogue comes from publicly unavailable transcripts of secret recordings made by a cooperating witness with the FBI over more than two years." It is essentially a crime novel, but it just so happens to be true. I liked it, but didn't love it. I feel like Eichenwald dragged out some parts of the story and that was unnecessary. The story though, of the bipolar Mark Whitcare, was extremely interesting. I have not seen the movie version, which came out in 2009 starring Matt Damon as Mark Whitcare. If you like business-crime stories, then you should read this, but if you're not interested in stories like this, then this book isn't for you. Rating: ★★★