This book really brought about a new perspective on life while also reflecting deeply on the authors life as well almost like a memoir. It really stuck with me after reading it.

Many times in life I have loved reading about historical events but never thought of the aftermath of cleaning them up. We seek to hear of the heroism that helped their fellow man out and while that is important I want to know how everything works as well. This book was fascinating to see the behind the scenes of how we recover and clean up the unimaginable. Truly worth a read.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* I was unaware how long we have had agencies like this in place and just how many times they are needed. Very interesting book.

This book of essays was both horrifying and fascinating, turning a spotlight on a subject we try to avoid but can't ever truly escape: death, and what happens to the people and objects we leave behind. Jensen's very matter-of-fact way of writing about this helps to make it digestible somehow, and the narrator of the audiobook did a great job as well. I do think some of this could've been cut out as it started to get a bit redundant and lost some steam in the last few chapters.

Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living by Robert A. Jensen explores a grim, but fascinating, and little written about topic. This subject makes for a unique narrative on the human condition, life, and the behind the scenes job of those that deal with the aftermath of tragedies we often hear about. Thanks to NetGalley and Saint Martin‘s for proving me with an opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for my honest review.

A poignant memoir about the author’s career working in the recovery of the deceased after mass casualty events. A topic that could feel too heavy quickly or easily be handled clumsily is beautifully written about here. The writing was precise and while maintaining empathy for the people discussed. This book covers things that most of us have probably never thought about and are glad to not have to be experienced in. It is an unflinching look at death and often quite brutal death at that. Some chapters cover the aftermath of natural disasters and some cover terrorist attacks or other human caused catastrophes. The memoir looks at the events and balances personal recollections and stories with facts about the aftermath of the tragedy and the ways that the handling of it by all involved helped or hindered the healing of those most affected. It’s as dark as you’d imagine but if you feel you can handle it is a worthy addition to your reading list.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC audiobook.

This book is phenomenal!
I got it as an audiobook advanced reader copy and I would like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to hear it.
The author, Robert Jensen has had a number of very fascinating jobs, but now is the owner of the worlds largest disaster recovery company. What is that exactly? It is the team that goes in to recover the bodies after a disaster.
Just about any disaster you can think of has had the influence of Mr. Jensen and his company involved in one way or another.
911 .? They were there. Covid recover in New York, yep they were there. Oklahoma bombing, ditto.
Sure, the author shares details about those disasters ( and many others ) but that is not what makes this such a great book. Indeed, it is the way he shares: the humanity of how he treats his staff, the families and just as important the bodies. How he shares how they try so very hard to identify each and every one, the effort that is put into helping families cope with the reality ( disasters do not often leave a whole body to identify ).
But, also he shares how DNA has developed, the history of disaster recovery, preparedness for disaster and hope for the living.
And it is all narrated by Adam Barr , who offers a very calming voice to a very difficult subject.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. This book is insane. But admittedly a little hard to read. The author is in charge of disaster relief from huge cases like New Orleans and hurricane katrina to 911 and the twin towers. Their company goes in, sifts through and recovers bodies, helps reunite with families and helps complete the circle when the government and FEMA might be taking a little longer. Definitely was an amazing read to the other side of the way emergency relief goes. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the gifted book!

Robert A. Jensen is the Company Chairman and Co-Owner of Kenyon International, the world’s leading full-service disaster management company. In this book he talks about his experiences in retrieving human remains and personal effects from horrific circumstances. He has responded to The Oklahoma City Bombing, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

Jensen approaches these disaster situations in a very brusk and matter of fact way. But you would expect him to after over 30 years of dealing with death and destruction on catastrophic scales. His care though for the families left behind is evident in the way he speaks about them and the way he works to build systems of response that bring compassion to devastating situations.

Jensen shares what he has learned from his experiences about life and about being prepared for disaster should it come. I think the things he shared are good nuggets of common sense and wisdom gained from his expertise.

The only thing that kept this book from being amazing was the author's lack of humility. He has accomplished much, but he is also a fan of tooting his own horn. And his political commentary was a bit too harsh for my taste. I also feel like the book could have used a bit more editing and polishing to really help it shine.

Overall though I found this a fascinating read and have spoken about it to many people who have asked me in the past week what the most interesting book I read recently was. This is one that will stick with me.

I don't think many of uo think about those that handle the aftermath of disasters. It's a truly demanding task. While this might not be the best fit for.all readers, I found it interesting and enlightening.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eALC in exchange for my honest review.

A touching memoir and a great place to start planning for your future. From advice on preparing for a natural disaster to a great critique on modern personal-responsibility, most of this book is stories about how people handle the logistics of lots of corpses. Interesting and honestly entertaining (or entertainingly honest), reminds me of the tone of [book:Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory|25189315] in a great way.

**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an interesting memoir of what happens in death after a disaster. There were many historical and national disasters referenced, as well as 9/11 and COVID-19.

4.5 stars

This is an excellent book in terms of both content & writing, on a topic I’m personally invested in: disaster relief & crisis management. The particular focus of this book is on the recovery of human remains of victims of mass fatality events, & care & advocacy for these victims’ loved ones. The writer has decades of expertise in this field, & writes from a place of deep compassion & respect for human life & dignity.

[What I liked:]

•I was excited to read this book, & was definitely not disappointed by the experience! I took a course in grad school on crisis management & disaster relief (focusing on data & communications technology support), so this book is right up my alley but centers on an aspect of the field I hadn’t explored before: caring for the dead & those they’ve left behind. This book is very informative & educational, yet accessible to a broad audience.

•The writer sincerely & respectfully addresses difficult topics including mass fatality incidents, large scale tragedies, & the handling of human remains. His approach to his work is based in treating the deceased with dignity & caring for their grieving family & friends. These attitudes clearly come through in this narrative, & I’m impressed by how sensitively & articulately he discusses such complex & painful issues.

•I was not expecting this book to be so personal, in fact at times it feels like a memoir as much as an informational text. However, I enjoyed hearing the writer’s personal thoughts on his work & how his professional approaches have been shaped by his experiences, as well as how he himself has been shaped by them. For example, he discusses how he personally manages the psychological impact of being around constant tragedy. I think this adds to the reader’s understanding of what it’s like to work in this field.

•The writer does a great job of addressing the wide variety & complexity of events his teams are called in to support (plane crashes, war zones, terrorist attacks, etc.), & the organizations they support (local & national governments, international aid organizations, airline corporations, family members of victims, etc.). In many situations there are several entities involved in the crisis management, often resulting in procedural & communicational confusion. I enjoyed learning about how the writer & his teams help these entities navigate the chaos & work together, as well as how policies & best practices have been shaped by lessons learned from specific mass fatality events throughout the last few decades.

•The specifics on the development of technology used in identification of human remains over time, the technical & logistic difficulties encountered (preservation & transportation of remains, conflicting cultural customs, etc.), safety assessments, & political tensions were quite interesting too. I learned a lot from this book, & never felt bogged down by jargon or superfluous detail.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The organization of the book felt a bit arbitrary. Some chapters are cohesive & focused topically, but others seem to jump around with unrelated material & anecdotes lumped together. This didn’t greatly detract from my reading comprehension, it mainly just puzzled me. I think the book would benefit from a more thoughtfully constructed narrative structure.

•This is not necessarily a flaw, but be aware that the writer approaches this book from a very personal standpoint. It’s not written as a purely informational text, so he does share his personal opinions & feelings on issues like how to make sense of horrific loss, the importance of having a loved one’s remains to begin the process of grieving & healing, how governments can best address the aftermath of civil war & genocide by respecting the remains of victims, etc. He never represents his views as objectively universal facts, & emphasizes the importance of respecting cultural context & the individuality of grieving experiences. Just don’t be surprised if he (respectfully) expresses views you may not agree with, & hopefully this aspect of the book won’t hinder your reading experience.

CW: death, natural disasters, war, genocide, accidents (plane crashes, etc.), terrorist attacks; discussion of embalming practices, cremation, identifying human remains & body fragments, & forensic science techniques

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Received an early preview thanks to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
This book was fascinating
Robert Jenson owns the largest disaster recovery firm and has responded to all major disaster events around the world.
His approach to tragedy brings peace and utmost respect and honor to those who have been lost.
He brings insight into mass tragedies as well ad the process of death and traditions around that
There are a lot of really interesting points that he makes throughout the book but the one that stuck most was the implication that death isn’t the end but just the beginning.

This was a very interesting book. I had never given much thought to how much work goes into the aftermath of a mass casualty event but now I don't think I will ever hear about one without thinking of the people that are involved in recovery. I am really thankful I had the opportunity to read this book.

A really fascinating look into a world that most of us don't even consider. The author brings us right into the aftermath of mass casualty events and explains the difficulties and intricacies of taking care of the personal effects of those that are no longer with us.

This was an excellent, heartbreaking book. I cried a lot, and I think the capacity to spark that much emotion is the hallmark of something excellent. The author’s experiences caring for the dead in a respectful and compassionate manner have left him able to speak to the human condition in such a unique way, and the writing is never dry. I’ll recommend this all around!

Thank you so much Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for this Alrc!

This is a remarkable book. I’ve always wondered how the victims of airplanes and other mass-casualty events were recovered. Mr. Jensen is the head of a company that does just that. While the book goes through the process with quite a lot of detail, I also enjoyed his commentary on what he has learned from this process and how it has changed. I listed to the audio book, and Adam Barr did a magnificent job with the narration. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in return for my honest review.

An amazing and extremely fascinating book. It provided so many answers to questions that I didn't even know I had. Mr. Jensen has had an amazing career providing a service for people/ countries/ and agencies in crisis. He and his company are the folks that provide a sense of calm and reason in a time of great turbulence. Definitley worth a read. Thank you for this ARC. #PersonalEffects #MacmillanAudio #NetGalley

I was completely fascinated and engrossed in this book. I anything about forensics. I'm not sure how I fell in love with this topic, but I read, watch, and listen to whatever I can find on this topic.

I was surprised at the number of incidents this author had worked on throughout the world. He and his team from Kenya (located in Houston) drop whatever they are doing when a call comes in because of a disaster.

I have never thought about the different components which take place following a disaster (airplane crashes, fires, hurricanes, etc.) We see the devastation on TV or read about it online, but after the initial coverage, most people do not think of the impact these situations have on the survivors and familiy members. Jensen goes into detail about how the bodies, the family, and the company, government or business is managed. I was surprised to learn the amount of care the Kenya company go to in order to help the families begin to grasp their new normal.

The narrator was wonderful. I felt as if the author were reading his text directly to me. His voice was even, calming,
and worked well for the book.

This book will not be for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed this read.