''Under and Alone'' is a book written by undercover ATF agent William Queen and published by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

in 2005 which chronicles his infiltration of the violent outlaw motorcycle gang, the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

Synopsis

William Queen was a nearly 20-year ATF veteran as well as a motorcycle enthusiast when, in 1998, a "

confidential informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

" contacted Queen's superiors, offering to help place an agent inside the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

chapter of the Mongols. Queen's work was soon to become the most extensive undercover operation into a motorcycle gang in the history of American law enforcement. Queen, using the alias Billy St. John, successfully infiltrated the gang by posing as a heavily bearded and long-haired motorcyclist who liked to drink beer and ride his

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

motorcycle. After becoming a full member ("patched"), Queen eventually rose to the office of Treasurer in the organization. As Treasurer, he had access to evidence of the gang's criminal activity and was able to build a case against dozens of Mongol club members. Initially, Queen was subjected by members to tests of his fealty by taking part in and witnessing the trafficking of drugs and firearms and the theft of motorcycles, as well as driving getaway cars. In the book Queen details how, after 28 months, he began to lose his own identity to his new persona. He explained how he learned to battle the conflicts both within the gang and within himself in order to keep his identity a secret. Despite the activities of the group, Queen also came to appreciate their camaraderie and sense of family. When the work began to have the effect of isolating Queen, he explains in the book, the Mongols began to feel like his own family, causing emotional difficulty for him when the investigation closed more than two years after it had begun.

Film adaptation

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...

's production company, Icon Productions, acquired the film rights to Queen's story, with early reports indicating that Gibson himself was interested in starring as Queen.

Daniel Barnz Daniel Barnz (born 1970) is an American screenwriter and director. Life and career Barnz was born Daniel Bernstein in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania,Champagne, Christine"10 Directors to Watch: Daniel Barnz" ''Variety (magazine), Variety'', 16 January 2 ...

and Ned Zeman were attached to write the screenplay. However, Gibson's arrest for drunk driving and subsequent legal issues shelved any plans for a movie based on the book.

References

* {{OutlawMotorcycleGroups 2005 non-fiction books American autobiographies Non-fiction books about gangs Mongols Motorcycle Club