My Descent into Hell: – Bruce H. Bell | review by Mihir Shah, The US Review of Books

For a book so incredibly comprehensive in scope, the root is undoubtedly an evolving father-son dynamic that exposes the underbelly of society and sheds light on several of history’s watershed moments from a unique vantage point. There is genuine care for large portions of the text as Orris Bell grooms the author, his son, to follow in his professional footsteps as well as the extracurricular indulgences he affords himself as a womanizer. Overall, the memoir probes into a son’s growth and the chaos that leads him to what most deem an inevitable death trap in Vietnam.

Succinctly written, Bell’s work is easy to read yet intriguing in its historical references. One can simply look up many of the names, events, and even locations to establish a connection. Beneath the surface, the work shows how one’s actions can lead one to the dark side and the lengths one would go to ensure that their secrets remain hidden. Bell doesn’t shirk from acknowledging that his father was mired in many illegal and even criminal activities culminating in his association with the Mafia. As the author grew up, this relationship manifested into trips to South Padre Island, bullfights in Matamoros, or visits to extravagant strip clubs. This was when the author perceived the more harmless side of the Mafia connection. However, something within him snapped, and how he viewed his father was redefined following Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. In many ways, this represents Bell’s coming-of-age moment as he finally realized that he wasn’t a proponent of the actions his father and his affiliates had taken dating back to John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

Though there are many historical references, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to the Rockefellers, the text never feels like a dense history book. On the contrary, with short sections clearly delineating the topic of discussion, audiences can easily connect and dig deeper into the areas and timelines they resonate with most. As the memoir progresses, Bell is able to peel back the curtain on many of the inner workings of the military and intelligence agencies like the CIA. Specifically, when Bell drops out of school and enlists in the Army, he is convinced that his father’s influence will keep him out of Vietnam and instead on a less futile journey to Germany. This misguided notion not only adds strain to the father-son relationship but embarks the reader onto a chapter in the author’s life that is the namesake of the title, a descent into a hell so treacherous that severing all ties to the attachments of the outside world is the only way Bell can preserve his existence. The fallout of Vietnam for him and the repercussions of the threats he makes to expose his father and the Mafia lead to a whole different type of hell that sees him institutionalized and manipulated in the most mind-boggling ways—by the permission of his own father, no less.

Bell’s insights are undeniably riveting as the prose reaches a more frenetic pace toward the end of the work. His father’s latter years and Bell’s own time working within the CIA are supplemented nicely by Bell’s relationship with his mother. Ultimately, the strong blend of history’s pivotal moments juxtaposed in the day-to-day life of the characters who were real-life, flesh-and-blood human beings lends itself beautifully to the idea of what darkness can forge. In the wrong person, darkness can rot one to the core. Yet, in the right, that darkness can become an avenue of light and redemption, an emblem of greater things to come.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review