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Personal Effects
- What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living
- Narrated by: Adam Barr, Robert A. Jensen
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
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Publisher's summary
This program includes an introduction read by the author.
The owner of the world’s leading disaster management company chronicles the unseen world behind the yellow tape, and explores what it means to be human after a lifetime of caring for the dead.
You have seen Robert A. Jensen—you just never knew it. As the owner of the world’s largest disaster management company, he has spent most of his adult life responding to tragedy. From the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, and the Bali bombings, to the 2004 South Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, and the Grenfell Tower Fire, Jensen has been at the practical level of international incidents, assisting with the recovery of bodies, identifying victims, and repatriating and returning their personal effects to the surviving family members. He is also, crucially, involved in the emotional recovery that comes after a disaster: helping guide the families, governments, and companies involved, telling them what to expect and managing the unmanageable. As he explains, “If journalists write the first rough draft of history, I put the punctuation on the past.”
Personal Effects is an unsparing, up-close look at the difficult work Jensen does behind the yellow tape and the lessons he learned there. The chronicle of an almost impossible and grim job, Personal Effects also tells Jensen’s own story—how he came to this line of work, how he manages the chaos that is his life, and the personal toll the repeated exposure to mass death brings, in becoming what GQ called “the best at the worst job in the world.”
A rare glimpse into a world we all see but many know nothing about, Personal Effects is an inspiring and heartwarming story of survival and the importance of moving forward, Jensen allows his listeners to see over his shoulder as he responds to disaster sites, uncovers the deceased, and cares for families to show how a strong will and desire to do good can become a path through the worst the world can throw at us.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
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Congressman and Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Michael McCaul, has spent years in Washington watching the administration turn a blind eye to the most pressing possible threats to the country. Now, in Failures of Imagination, McCaul turns away from the over-sensationalized, unrealistic fears circulated through the media in order to expose the most legitimate and looming national security threats, which have long been swept under the rug by the administration.
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Spot on.
- By Prince Parker on 02-27-16
By: Michael McCaul
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Here Is Where
- Discovering America's Great Forgotten History
- By: Andrew Carroll
- Narrated by: Andrew Carroll
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The centerpiece of a major national campaign to indentify and preserve forgotten history, Here Is Where is acclaimed historian Andrew Carroll’s fascinating journey of discovery in which he travels to each of America’s 50 states and explores locations where remarkable individuals once lived or where the incredible or momentous occurred.
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A Man who Loves his Country
- By Daryl on 03-12-17
By: Andrew Carroll
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The Cell
- Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It
- By: John Miller, Michael Stone, Chris Mitchell
- Narrated by: John Miller
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
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The Cell provides the first complete treatment to piece together what led to the events of 9/11, ultimately delivering the disturbing answer to the question: why, with all the information the intelligence community had, was no one able to stop the September 11 attacks? It also includes a first-person account of John Miller's face-to-face meeting with Osama bin Laden.
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What led up to 9/11?
- By Richard on 12-31-03
By: John Miller, and others
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Truth Worth Telling
- By: Scott Pelley
- Narrated by: Scott Pelley
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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A 60 Minutes correspondent and former anchor of the CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley writes as a witness to events that changed our world. In moving, detailed prose, he stands with firefighters at the collapsing World Trade Center on 9/11, advances with American troops in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and reveals private moments with presidents (and would-be presidents) he’s known for decades. Pelley also offers a resounding defense of free speech and a free press as the rights that guarantee all others.
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A great listen... worth your time
- By Christina on 05-26-19
By: Scott Pelley
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Eagle Down
- The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War
- By: Jessica Donati
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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A Wall Street Journal national security reporter takes listeners into the lives of US Special Forces on the front lines against the Taliban and Islamic State, where a new and covert war is keeping Afghanistan from collapse.
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Excellent depiction of the non tactical battle.
- By Paddy on 11-16-21
By: Jessica Donati
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Black Ops
- The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
- By: Ric Prado
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism.
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Impressive and Inspiring!
- By medardo on 03-12-22
By: Ric Prado
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Chasing Shadows
- A Special Agent’s Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice
- By: Fred Burton
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1973, a gunman fired five shots into Colonel Joe Alon, a kind, unassuming Israeli Air Force pilot. As it turned out, Alon wasn't just a pilot and family man - he was a high-ranking Israeli military official and hero of the Israeli Air Force. The assassin was never found and the case was closed. As a counterterrorism special agent, Fred Burton reopened the case and pursued the killer.
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A history of terrorism
- By W. A. Weeks on 12-01-11
By: Fred Burton
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Guardian
- Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA’s War on Terror
- By: Thomas Pecora, Jon Land, Lindsay Preston
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Somalia was Tom Pecora's first deployment as a CIA Protective Operations Cadre (POC) officer, responsible for providing protective operations support in hostile areas of the world. He later headed up a series of the Agency's undisclosed protective operations teams. From 1989 until his retirement in 2013, he was assigned to multiple war zones across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, doing the kind of work few are even aware exists.
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Don’t buy it
- By L-E Industries on 06-18-20
By: Thomas Pecora, and others
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The Book of Honor
- The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives
- By: Ted Gup
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
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In the entrance of the CIA headquarters looms a huge marble wall in to which seventy-one stars are carved - each representing an agent who has died in the line of duty. At the base of this wall lies "The Book of Honor," in which the names of these agents are inscribed, or at least thirty-five of them... In this remarkable program, author Ted Gup delves into covert lives and classified deaths at the CIA.
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Painfully narrated.
- By RM on 08-16-19
By: Ted Gup
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The Gatekeepers
- Inside Israel’s Internal Security Agency
- By: Dror Moreh
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The companion to the Oscar-nominated documentary, an unparalleled look inside Israel's security establishment. Imagine the following situation: You have just received a tip that six suicide bombers are making their way into the heart of Israel's major cities, each one to a different city, to set off explosions in the most crowded centers of population. How far would you go to stop the attacks?
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Excellent Narrator
- By jameson ritter on 02-10-17
By: Dror Moreh
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Idaho Falls
- The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident
- By: William McKeown
- Narrated by: Bob Dunsworth
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When asked to name the world’s first major nuclear accident, most people cite the Three Mile Island incident or the Chernobyl disaster. Revealed in this book is one of American history’s best-kept secrets: the world’s first nuclear reactor accident to claim fatalities happened on United States soil. Chronicled here for the first time is the strange tale of SL-1, a military test reactor located in Idaho’s Lost River Desert that exploded on the night of January 3, 1961, killing the three-man maintenance crew on duty.
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A Really Good, but Dreadfully Written Book
- By Matthew on 03-08-17
By: William McKeown
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The Hidden Nazi
- The Untold Story of America’s Deal with the Devil
- By: Dean Reuter, Colm Lowery, Keith Chester
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Sidekick to SS Chief Heinrich Himmler and supervisor of Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, General Hans Kammler was responsible for the construction of Hitler's slave labor sites and concentration camps. He personally altered the design of Auschwitz to increase crowding, ensuring that epidemic diseases would complement the work of the gas chambers. Why has the world forgotten this monster? Kammler was declared dead after the war. But the aide who testified to Kammler's supposed "suicide" never produced the general's dog tags or any other proof of death.
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10 minutes of content hidden in a 12+ hour book
- By Scott G on 10-21-19
By: Dean Reuter, and others
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The Love Stories of the Bible Speak
- Biblical Lessons on Romance, Friendship, and Faith
- By: Shannon Bream
- Narrated by: Shannon Bream
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Bible reveals not just butterflies and broken hearts. In Scripture, we see God’s beautiful design for the partnership of marriage. We witness friendships that cross all boundaries. We watch as families navigate the many seasons of life. Our guiding example for them all is the deepest, most abiding, foundational love ever known: God’s unconditional love for His people. In The Love Stories of the Bible Speak, Shannon Bream draws lessons from the good, the bad, and the ugly of Biblical romances, friendships, and families.
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Uplifting and motivational book
- By Joseph Sullivan on 03-31-23
By: Shannon Bream
What listeners say about Personal Effects
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-23-23
Amazing job and story
Gave real insight into job I never thought about. The compassion for those lost and their families make me know there is good in the world.
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- Cassandra Hitt
- 10-26-21
Such an Interesting Story
Robert A Jenson has lived such an interesting life with such a unique story to tell. Faced with the world's worst situations he finds a way to show it's important to respect the dead and those who mourn.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-10-21
interesting line of work
This was a very interesting line of work to learn about.
I was put off by a few things that I had to push aside so I could enjoy this book. As a retired military officer I could not believe he would say he might not "turn the key" when he was a missile officer if Trump had been president at the time. That is an extreme statement for someone in that position to say the least. His party bias comes through several other times in the book.
I would not let that stop me from recommending the book.
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- Mollie
- 07-02-22
Very informative and eye-opening
Robert A. Jensen’s nonfiction work “Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me about Caring for the Living” may just be one of the best, yet somehow overlooked, books from 2021.
Born in 1967, the 57-year-old Jensen is a former U. S. Army officer; he later owned Kenyon International Emergency Services, a company that responds to fatal and non-fatal incidents.
According to Jensen’s website robertajensen.com, Jensen spent 35 years responding to disasters.
“While at Kenyon,” his website states, “Robert responded to numerous mass fatalities including the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, 2004 Asian Tsunami, 2005 Hurricane Katrina, 2010 Haitian Earthquake, and several airline disasters.”
Prior to his time at Kenyon, while still in the Army, he also responded to the Oklahoma City Bombing tragedy.
According to his website, in his role as a director coordinating large-scale incidents, Jensen worked in “assisting with the recovery of bodies, identifying victims, and repatriating and returning their personal effects to the surviving family members.”
“Personal Effects” is Jensen’s insider’s view on what happens when a tragedy with numerous fatalities occurs.
For example, after working an airplane crash and sifting through all of the items he and his team recovered, Jensen tells how he had to return to a family the personal effects, which included two passports and some hair curlers, of a young man who had been killed in the crash more than a year earlier.
The mother had always doubted her son had even been on the plane, but the hair curlers, which had belonged to her own mother and were in the suitcase her son had borrowed, made her come to terms with the loss of her child.
Until that moment, because her son’s body had never been recovered, the mother had no closure, but after the return of her child’s belongings, she did.
Little revelations like this one and hundreds of others are peppered throughout the book.
The book is eye opening. Tragedies like the ones Jensen describes happen all the time, and while they are usually reported on the news for a few days, the real work of the tragedy begins once the cameras disappear. The real work begins when teams like Jensen’s show up.
The narration for this work is quite good, but the reader was a little slow for me. I had to speed it up to 1.5, which was perfect.
Also, there are a few times when the author comes off as self-congratulatory (such as when he mentions writing a letter to try to get bodies released, though he is not sure it was ever read, but the bodies were released a week later), and that can be slightly off-putting, but it does not happen often enough to take away from the overall message of the book.
A fascinating read, “Personal Effects” should be on everyone’s reading list.
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