1 comments about Jack the Ripper - Infamous London Serial Killer (Biography).

1. All this book has is the main Wikipedia article about Jack the Ripper printed out in book form... or at least the version of that article that was online when this book was put together. While Wikipedia uses a license that allows people to republish its content, which means it's not illegal for someone to have done this, certainly as a reader there's no reason to pay $10 to get what you can get for free online. More importantly, if you look it up online you can click links to read much more detailed information that's available in several additional articles Wikipedia has about Jack the Ripper suspects, victims, books, films and so forth, which this publisher didn't even bother collecting together.
   
   Simply put, there's no reason to buy this, or the other books by this publisher, unless you just like paying good money for a watered down version of something that's available for free online.

No comments about Unlucky to the End: The Story of Janise Marie Gamble.

No comments about Legends, Liars, And Lawbreakers: Incredible Tales from the Pacific Northwest (Amazing Stories).

No comments about My Ten Years' Imprisonment.

No comments about Branded by Ronnie Kray.

2 comments about Squad: The Us Governments Secret Alliance With Organized Crime.

1. The book is terrific in providing insight of the Mafia/CIA/Assassination conspiracies and the manner in which people viewed their actions as "patriotic." A well-read researcher will be able to connect the subtle dots while the amateur will simply find it entertaining.



2. This book reads as if Ian Fleming did the outline and Mickey Spillane filled in the details. Or was it an English major who studied their styles? The catalog data for this book is omitted at the front of the book. It is fast-paced like an adventure novel. The stories, if true, are confessions to murders, a crime that has no time limit on prosecution. So read this book with a critical eye. It claims to tell the background of many events since WW II. The picture on the back dust cover looks like a photo-montage to me.
   
   The subtitle claims it tells of the secret of the US government alliance with organized crime since WW II. That's certainly no secret, even if it has not been widely publicized. Either organized crime is controlled or tolerated by any government, or there is warfare in which the government usually wins. There have been books on the JFK assassination (and others) that claimed criminals were hired to perform the murders and provide "plausible denial" for powerful people. There is a narrow line between that and using military forces to do the same. After all, force and violence is the method used by any military. There is no way to prove the allegations in this book. Would a person confess to crimes and face life-long punishment? I think its reasonable to assume allegations of criminal action on the part of any government. The Select Committee to Investigate Assassinations in 1977 did uncover many such activities. Witnesses who were summoned died before they could testify. There are many other books that provide more information on historical events. [Read "Compromised" by Terry K. Reed about "Contragate".] The quality of this book seems to drop off near the end, as if a sign of lagging interest.
   
   There are some seeming false statements, like the "Hellcat Torpedo Bomber" on page 44. Was it really "six-packs of bear" on page 174? These questions the credibility of the author, or are clues to the parody.

2 comments about Iron House: Stories from the Yard.

1. Jerome Washington tells the stories that other sources have left out, or undetailed. Prison is a society, not just a group of people from the 'real' society. His own story is remarkable, giving him the unique ability to relate his observations to the reader. Washington strays from his own story as much as possible by examining the life of others confined to the same cage. Perhaps the pain of the recollection is the driving force of the reluctance to spill his own guts. He avoids it untill the end when he just can't hold back any further. Like all real quality writing, the author uses the language of the characters. The eerie result he may have intended has been achieved. The situations are scary, and the hope is bleek. The inmates are wild, hungry, and dangerous, and the prison employees are just as trapped - just as viscous: "They were angry that I was walking out of their prison alive ... and took false comfort in the hope that if I didn't return to prison, I would surely send my young to grow old behind their walls." Just as in other stories of prisoners or patients who believe the 'system' is corrupt, the reader must exercise his/her duty to examine the reality and the haze - and question what is perception, what is real, what is made up, and if the point of view is tainted by paranoia... why? You, the reader, will be a floating eye through a prison, through another world - with foreign rules, sanctions, and truths. And being seperated from the setting, although right there in the thick of it, you are safe from the prison's disease which spreads from animal to animal, through cage to cage, all the way to the to zookeeper.



2. Jerome Washington gives you a human outlook on societies "inhuman" population. It is a good read. If you have family in the penal system, on either side of the bars, you will have a different outlook on what they endure.

No comments about The mob murdered the father, others killed the son.

5 comments about Notorious C.O.P.: The Inside Story of the Tupac, Biggie, and Jam Master Jay Investigations from NYPD's First "Hip-Hop Cop".

1. This book from what other reviewers said really doesn't add much new info in terms of the much-publicized deaths of TuPac, Biggie or Jam Master Jay ... which is one of the big motivations I'm sure most of us consider reading a book like this.
   
   Also the fact that this book was written by a cop from the once secret "Hip Hop police" is also somewhat novel.
   
   You'll spend most of the first 20 pages sifting through this guy trying to straddle the fence -- sounding official & professional to rep police but also trying to come off as empathetic and altruistic in his quest to "save" hip hop's elite from crime & corruption.
   
   Read this book with a grain of salt!!!!
   
   I dropped it after Page 21 (go to a bookstore or library and read the bottom 2.5 paragraphs).
   
   Parker's basic premise in his defense of policing hip hop is NOT that he sees the stars as needing protection (which is why soooo many rappers still roll deep, packin' heat!), but rather that so many are still so heavily involved in criminal activity he's doing what he does for public safety.
   
   Give me a break.
   
   Who's really afraid of Ludacris? Jay-Z? Kanye West? Chamillionaire (or 50 Cent for that matter)?
   
   Parker dares to use the term "public safety" in this defense and discusses how any number of acts of gunplay could "breakout at any time" when rappers are in public.
   
   Let's see, we've got ...
   
   A raging war in Iraq & the threat of nuclear terrorism.
   
   Ongoing police brutality issues.
   
   Trickle down damage from crooked politicians.
   
   Real crime.
   
   All kinds of sexual predators.
   
   Increasingly fragile school systems not to mention poverty, intolerance & all kinds of social ills.
   
   Yeah, Parker's doing a great job defending society from public enemy No. 1: Poor black men who use hip hop success to rise to a better life.
   
   Skim the book's latter chapters for the minor details you seek if you'd like, but I pass on reading more of this crap.
   
   I'm sure he's got interesting stories to tell, but this book just reads like an opportunist looking to make a fast buck by preying on the weak-minded blind enough to believe rappers (code for young black men) must be tamed.



2. I bought this book with much anticipation as I have followed the Tupac and Biggie murders. With that being said, the read was hard due to the NUMEROUS grammatical errors on every page. Also how much can this guy pat himself on the back and call himself the "hip-hop cop"? His ego and lack of copy editing ruined a potential five star book.



3. Extremely disjointed, skips from place to place with out explanation. Reminds us several times he is the hip hop cop. It was so badly written that I had to put it down. Too bad as he has great stories to tell but needs a good editor.



4. I am a NYC Assistant District Attorney specializing in gang prosecutions. I was hoping that Det. Parker would provide insight into hip-hop crime. Instead, he simply promotes himself as the true savior of both law enforcement and hip hop. Simply put, he is frequently wrong on the law (i.e. he does not know what a predicate felony vs. a persistent felony; or how cooperation agreements work). Additionally, he fails to mention (until 2/3 the way through his book) that he currently owns a security company that is frequently hired by hip hop celebs and the music industry. It would have been helpful to know this earlier to discovery his bias. Finally, his analysis of the problem between the police and hip hop boils down to the police should be more respectfully and informed on hip hop and hip hop should stop shooting each other. Not very deep and not worth the time.



5. The best quality about this book is that the author doesn't hold back. He's dropping names all over the place. He's being completely open and honest with the reader. He writes to the reader like he's talking to his best friend. Sometimes, he's even ratting out his other cops. The guy was taking alot of chances with his career and his own life by writing the things he wrote. I've never seen anywhere else where a cop was so honest about what his job was.
   Now, there are problems with the book. The book is long winded. It goes on much longer than it needs to. The book is very self serving. The author loves to name drop about the people he's met.
   However, this seems like it's about as close to the truth as the general public will ever get to know about these murders. He's really showing outsiders what the system looks like from the inside.
   Alot of the hip hop cases, the author wasn't direcly involved with. Very often he speaks of rumors that he heard regarding cases. It's alot of hearsay and supposition. On the other hand, sometimes the author is telling facts of cases that were never revealed anywhere else in the media.
   I thought it was interesting that their were no arrests in any of the hip hop cases that he mentioned such as: Tupac, Biggie, Jam Master Jay, Busta Rhymes, etcetera. It's as if this was a top cop who decided he would rather be part of the hip hop scene than solve cases. I think at some point in his career he had forgotten he was a cop and just wanted to hang out with the hip hop crowd. Arresting the guilty didn't seem truly important anymore to this guy so much as serving his own personal interests.
   For the no holds barred, openness and frankess of his writing; this book deserves 5 stars. The author risked everything to tell his story.

No comments about Baptism By Fire: The Legacy of Don Starchild.