Call Me Commander

this was a really unique true crime novel, I enjoyed reading the story and getting to know this case. it really made me think.

I can't believe I have never heard of this story. I really enjoyed this one. It was very in-depth and it was easy to follow without getting bogged down with too much information. I really need a film to accompany this book.

Lieutenant Commander Bobby Thompson moved to Tampa, Florida in 1998 and quickly became one of the city's most prominent members, establishing the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a charity organization to support Navy troops overseas and domestically with thousands of purported members and chapters all over the country. Bringing in millions of dollars, the charity gained national attention, and Bobby Thompson was welcomed for photo opportunities several conservative political stars, including President George W. Bush.

When the Connecticut chapter of the nonprofit gets caught up in an audit scandal in 2009, St. Petersburg Times reporter Jeff Testerman makes a visit to Thompson's home, hoping to get a quote on both the audit and his suspicion that local politician Kevin White might have exaggerated his own military career in order to receive an endorsement by the USNVA. To Testerman's surprise, Thompson is more than a little disturbed by the reporter's arrival and denies the premise of all of Testerman's questions. This unexpected reaction prompts Testerman to dig a little further into both USNVA and Thompson himself, ultimately to discover that the man running the Navy nonprofit in Tampa, Florida appeared to have stolen his identity from another Bobby Thompson in the southwestern United States, who had never heard of the charity nor even been to Florida. This discovery set the stage for a years-long, country-wide fugitive chase undertaken by the U.S. Marshals.

This true crime tale, written by Testerman himself and another journalist, Daniel M. Freed, who continued to look into the details of the case after the suspect was finally captured and taken into custody, is told with such high stakes and drama--appropriate for the reality--that it was easy to become completely engrossed in the story. It took a few chapters for me to fully understand what was going on; aside from the similarity in Testerman and Thompson's names that had me flipping back and forth for a bit, the details of the audit, the evidence, and the political involvements were all thrown together a bit confusingly, and I had to spend some extra time getting my bearings That said, once I got there, it was hard to put this book down. I was equal parts fascinated and terrified by "Bobby Thompson's" long history as a military fugitive and eager to discover what would happen next in the hunt to find him. I loved that this book, while acknowledging "Thompson's" disturbing skill at evading his captors, did not celebrate his intelligence; there was no doubt that the authors understood "Thompson" to be a criminal and deserving of no admiration, a unfortunately common trope of the genre. Rather, this book was a celebration of investigative journalists and criminal investigators who work tirelessly to expose fraud and protect the legitimacy of the United States.

Wow, even being military, I had never heard this story! I was hooked. What a brazen guy who just wouldn't quit while he was ahead. Thoroughly enjoyed this one!