Thursday 18 July 2019

Confessions of a Mountie: My Life Behind the Red Serge

Today I finished reading Confessions of a Mountie: My Life Behind the Red Serge by Frank Pitts.

Confessions of a Mountie is the dramatic memoir of retired RCMP Officer Frank Pitts from Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. His story begins with a terrifying standoff between him and a machete-wielding suspect. As his life flashes before his eyes, Frank Pitts recalls his enlistment, training, and cases both solved and unsolved that have led to this moment. Through these flashbacks, we learn what a day in the life of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer is like and that decisions, often made in the blink of an eye, can mean the difference between life and death. 

Frank Pitts’s story has excitement, humour, and tragedy all rolled into one. Most of all, this heartfelt memoir shows the human side of the men and women who serve in the RCMP.

I've always felt being a Mountie or a police officer of any kind would be a hard job to do and a harder one not to take home. That really comes to light in this book. Also, many in the force never have to take a life or be in danger of having theirs taken but as one main incident which runs through this book shows, not only can it happen, but there are consequences to face after.

Pitts recounts a multitude of stories, some humorous, some tragic. Some show how the mind reacts to some of the horror it has to deal with.

I enjoyed this book and am glad I had the opportunity to get a look inside an RCMP officer's life. An excellent review of his career can be found on the Flanker Press website.

1 comment:

Teena in Toronto said...

Interesting book on what it's like to be a mountie.