Protecting Whitney The memoir of her bodyguard

Roberts was a security consultant living in the UK when he received a fateful call in 1988--his protective services were being requested for international pop sensation Whitney Houston as she embarked on the European leg of a world tour. Despite an off-putting initial interview, Roberts was soon hired by Houston's corporation. Over the next seven years, Roberts got to know Houston along with members of her family and entourage and found the entertainer both sophisticated and devoted to her family. A former policeman, Roberts was adept at neutralizing threats, but he eventually learned that some threats emanated from those closest to Houston and couldn't be easily offset. Roberts knew to keep his clients at a certain distance, but as his memoir poignantly illustrates, Whitney Houston had a magnetism that pulled people close. This brief, well-composed history of the author's time protecting the late superstar from dangers both internal and external reads as a moving valediction from a confidant.

Security consultant Roberts debuts with a blunt account of his seven-year stint as Whitney Houston's bodyguard. After a career in the North Wales Police and the Royal Air Force, Roberts was running a security firm when he was offered the role of security chief for Houston's Moment of Truth tour in 1988. Skimping on the personal details of his relationship with Houston, Roberts instead provides detailed insight into the workings of Nippy, Inc., the corporation that employed Houston's support staff. Prone to "knee-jerk, ill-prepared" decisions, the group--mostly comprising friends and intimates--prioritized money over the star's well-being, Roberts claims, noting that they kept Houston on demanding tour schedules and supplied her with cocaine and marijuana even as her substance use problems worsened. In addition, they failed to offer her options for rehabilitation out of fear it would damage her image, even though the drugs caused so much damage to her vocal chords that a doctor warned Houston that her continued use could mean the end of her singing career. Despite the book's somewhat stiff prose ("My anger and actual hatred toward all those who had facilitated Whitney's ability to do this herself was profound"), Roberts offers revealing insights into the simultaneous power and vulnerability of megawatt stars. The result is a captivating behind-the-scenes look at the price of fame. (Jan.)