Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

"Damned from Memory" is an explosive expose by former US narcotic agent Sparky McLaughlin who, according to him, has been a cop all his life. The first part of the book is his own personal story explaining how he developed a calling to become a cop and his first few years on the job in Philadelphia. In telling the rest of his story, we get to learn the flow of drugs from the streets and brings us all the way to the White House, the US State Department, and the CIA. It is disheartening to know that Washington politicians are willing to raise funds even from personalities who are linked to drug traffickers. And it is an ugly revelation that dedicated cops are punished, with their reputations soiled, when they want to get to the bottom of the narcotic problem in the US.

Harassed by the CIA in cahoots with international drug traffickers, McLaughlin painfully learns that honesty and dedication to his job as a narcotic agent will change the course of his life forever. His book "Damned from Memory" is a creative nonfiction that exposes one man's war against the narc-traffickers in the US and the reasons why it is impossible to win it. Face to face with powerful criminals working together with international drug traffickers, it becomes a matter of life and death. Sparky McLaughlin writes with frankness that shows his courage and dedication. His life reads like an action packed novel and sends a chilling message on why the US can never win the war against narc-traffickers. This is one of those books that keep the reader on his seat until the very last page. Written with zeal and conviction, it seems the author's pen can also be made as an effective weapon in this ongoing war. What makes the story more compelling is the fact that it is happening in real life. And what makes it scary is that it is still happening now.