5 comments about For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Chicago.

1. In For the Thrill of It, the author has done a commendable job of producing a well researched book on one of the more celebrated trials in the early part of the 20th century. In addition, he possesses a writing style that makes this book an easy read.
   
   Persons interested in crime, criminal behavior, and the courts will find reading this book enjoyable and enlightening.



2. From the first chapter:
   
   "It was a good location and an auspicious time gambling was then unregulated in the city and there were at least a dozen gaming houses within a block of Jacob Franks's pawnshop."
   
   There are at least half a dozen similar instances of run-on sentences in the first chapter.
   
   There is a pony in here somewhere, as the joke goes, but it takes too much shoveling to find it.



3. This book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in human behavior, the criminal process, Chicago, Clarence Darrow or political ambition, among many other things. Baatz has taken a chilling and complex case and made it terrifically readable and exciting. His meticulous research assures the reader that s/he is reading non-fiction, yet Baatz is a superb storyteller and the book reads like a great piece of fiction. All of these events took place in my neighborhood in Chicago, and I now find it easy -- and creepy -- to picture the parties to this crime on my streets. I can't praise this book enough, I hope someone makes a movie of it that is faithful to this well-told story.



4. How to understand Leopold and Loeb, the two young men who live on in national memory as the poor rich kids who murdered a youngster in 1924 to see if they could pull off the perfect crime? Motivated on the surface by a Nietzsche-inspired urge to go beyond conventional standards of good and evil, the crime actually seems to have been drawn from much murkier waters: sexual passion, feelings of inadequacy and rage, cultural ennui. Like Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov, what Loeb and Leopold claimed as their motive was only the tip of the iceberg.
   
   Simon Baatz's For the Thrill of It explores the underbelly of Leopold and Loeb by focusing heavily on the psychiatric testimony of three expert witnesses marshalled by defense attorney Clarence Darrow. These three witnesses--William White, William Healy, and Bernard Glueck--shared Darrow's view that most of criminal law was really a subset of psychology: criminals are suffering from mental disorders and need to be treated rather than punished. Despite this conviction, Darrow entered a plea of guilty for his two clients, fearing that if he copped an insanity plea and took the case to a jury, he would lose. So his strategy instead was to plead guilty and try to lessen the sentence by convincing the presiding judge that Leopold and Loeb were crazy as bedbugs.
   
   It didn't work. The two were sentenced to 99 years. Loeb was killed in prison 12 years later; Leopold was eventually paroled and died in Puerto Rico.
   
   Baatz's book is both an intriguing history of one of the most notorious American crimes of the twentieth century, but also an interesting reflection on the insanity plea in criminal cases, told through the intense courtroom battle between Darrow and Prosecuting Attorney Richard Crowe But in all honesty, at times I found myself flipping pages. The book is perhaps 100 pages longer than it need be, and Baatz's invention of scenes and dialogue and internal monologues for the key players in a book that purports to be history is (for me, at least) disconcerting. The story is dramatic enough without Baatz's "literary" interpolations.
   
   Still, well worth reading. Leopold and Loeb remain intensely interesting characters. One can understand, to some extent, the psychology behind In Cold Blood murderers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. They were social outcasts, "losers" seething with anger at the cards dealt them by fate. But what motivated Leopold and Loeb, wealthy, intelligent, educated, healthy young men? Even after a reading of Baatz, they remain mysterious.



5. Baatz meticulously researches a fascinating subject and then tells the story in beautifully written prose. It is not an exaggeration to compare his book favorably with Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, i.e. I couldn't put it down! For The Thrill Of It is the best book ever written on the subject matter and is one of the most riveting non-fiction crime books of our time.

5 comments about Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions.

1. I liked the story behind what these kids did. It was exciting and scandolous. I didn't like the actual people in the story. Most of them seem like overpriveleged brats who were looking for a free lunch. I was also a tad disappointed with how simple their methods really were. It had less to do with brainy algorithims and more to do with teamwork and deception. All in all though, an interesting book.



2. This book came to my attention after hearing a radio interview with one of the MIT Card Counters. I immediately searched out this book, and it didn't disappoint. Ben Mezrich does a great job of boiling down a sophisticated card-counting system, following the rise and fall of one of the team's key members. And for those interested in the details, an essay on card counting mechanics by the main subject, "Kevin Lewis," is presented at the end of the book.
   
   This was Mezrich's first forray into non-fiction and it shows at times with some cheesy and tedious metaphors and heavy-handed attemps at injecting prose into the action. Nonetheless, the book is short enough and the action quick enough that I wouldn't describe this as a major distraction.
   
   If you liked "Rounders" or the casino scene in "Rain Man," then this book is probably for you.



3. Book was like new and delivered as promised. Great book for a great price. Very easy transaction. Thank you!



4. Mr. Mezrich, in "Bringing Down the House", gives us a fascinating account of a group of MIT students who took "card counting" at the blackjack table to a whole new level. This fast paced page-turner takes a thrill ride that reads like a novel. Great read!!



5. It's certainly worth the read and is an interesting look at a group taking on Vegas. As most know, the book chronicles the rise and fall of one of the MIT blackjack teams and gives a behind the scenes look at the roller coaster ride they went on. There were tense moments that kepy the reader turning pages when the team was avoiding being caught, but there really weren't as many stories of the "Vegas" lifestyle as I was expecting. The finish was predictable and somewhat anti-climatic.

5 comments about Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs.

1. I just finished reading Stolen Innocents by Elissa Wall. From the moment I opened the front cover I was pulled into a story of strength and very real trauma that Elissa was subjected to in her childhood. Elissa's account of her life makes your heart ache for her and makes you feel as if you were right there with her but like many other people in the story unable to help her and you are left feeling as desperate as she did. The strength and survival instinct Elissa displayed is amazing. I encourage anyone to read this book, there are lessons for ever man and woman. Elissa is a role model of what can be achieved when you are trusting of the process and are not willing to be defeated! A portion of the proceeds from the sales of this book go to MJ Fund , a fund designed to help other people in the situation. That alone is a great reason to purchase this book. God bless you Elissa, and thank you for filling my heart and showing women not to back down and be defeated.



2. I felt this book was a very good book very well written......one can only imagaine what that poor girl went through.....peace be with her!!!! overall it was a very good book!!!!



3. This was a long story of how Elissa grew up in the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints community, how her life was controlled by a man called "The Prophet" whom she was taught to believe spoke for God and how she eventually broke free. She was forced to marry at age 14 against her will, was raped and finally left the community and brought charges against "The Prophet." This book gives the reader an inside look into the workings of a polygamous cult and shows how difficult it is for people to leave. It is shocking that this really happened in America in recent times.



4. I've recently read three books on life in the polygamous sect, the FDLS, and this is by far the most readable of the three. Elissa Wall's story is contemporary. She recounts the mental and physical pain of living under the leadership of Warren Jeffs and the difficulty of breaking away from a religious community in which one has been raised. A fast read, this is a fascinating book that gives insight into the recent court cases concerning this fundamental group.



5. Elissa was forced to marry her 19-year-old first cousin at age 14 while living in a polygamous sect. Eventually a nearby stranger helped her break free at age 18, after which she provided crucial court testimony against sect leader Warren Jeffs.
   
   Elissa remembers when her father, a respected geologist, engineer and entrepreneur, obtained his third wife. Having three wives was required to achieve the highest level of heaven.
   
   Two wives had already created a climate of suspicion and distrust involving issues such as parenting style, spending priorities, and the access to the lone husband. Sect fathers lived in fear of local prophets - if considered a threat to the faith they could be expelled from the colony and lose both their family and home. Not being able to bring peace to a home could also qualify for expulsion. (This happened to Elissa's father, who then spent much of his life attempting to regain them.) The sect prophet also had the power to compel wage-earners to quit their job and move closer, even to sell a business to designated buyers (eg. the prophet's relatives), with most of the proceeds going to the church.
   
   Members were expected to dedicate Saturdays laboring on churchwork projects. Outside "non-worthy" books and TV were banned.
   
   There were 22 children in the family at the time. Elissa went to private sect school in a converted 20+ bedroom home. Her mother was an herbalist, and as a consequence Elissa rarely saw a doctor. Her older sister was married to the 81-year-old prophet.
   
   Women had no rights vs. a husband. Elissa eventually recognized that getting married and having children was a sect means of disciplining - she would then be under the threat of having her own children taken away. Regardless, by age 16 she had had 2 miscarriages and a stillbirth.
   
   Eventually the people Jeffs had abused got together for revenge; they saw Elissa as a valuable tool to be used through the courts. Jeffs was arrested, tried and convicted of being an accomplice to rape of a minor, and sentenced to a minimum of ten years in prison, with another trial scheduled in Arizona. However, it was also disconcerting to read that some in the community then refused to work with her husband.
   
   Elissa is to be commended for rebelling, taking a public stand against Jeffs and the sect, and helping end or at least curtail these practices. Additional "good news" is that rebellion ran in her family - her brothers and several sisters also escaped, despite their parents' strong opposition.

5 comments about Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A..

1. This book is a great book, very eye opening and wonderfully written.
   
   I have to wondering though, throughout the book, what is going through the author's mind...
   
   He complains that the police treated them poorly. They were CRIMINALS. If they weren't up to no good at that SPECIFIC point in time, they were ABOUT to do something terrible or definitely had already DONE something terrible.
   
   I don't understand how the author calls the police... "rioting police... in a murderous frenzy..." HELLO, you were doing illegal drugs in a public place, your friends stole something from a liquor store, then a mob started banging on the doors of the liquor store to let them in - am I missing something? Can you really blame the police for acting as they did? You just committed several crimes! The police were doing there job and acting defensively when KNOWN gang members committed crimes...
   
   Then the author complains that he was thrown into an adult jail cell, with murderers and rapists, despite being a juvenile and too young to be in that specific jail. OK, fine, but earlier in the book, he was talking about hanging OUT with FRIENDS of his while they were RAPING UNCONSCIOUS WOMEN. He had SHOT people before, held guns to innocent peoples' heads during robberies. WHY IS BEING SURROUNDED BY MURDERERS AND RAPISTS *SUDDENLY* SO offensive to him? He wasn't old enough to be in an adult facility, but he was old enough to do drugs, drive illegally, drink illegally, commit robberies at gun point. Who is the author kidding? He acts like the police somehow treated him so badly but he DESERVED it. He was a criminal! The worst kind of criminal.



2. i was intrigued by this book when i saw it in the store so i bought it. it was very educational for me as i never knew how bad things would really get in gang life. i grew up in the burbs and this was all very shocking to me. it was truthful, sad and awakening.



3. I had no choice when it came to reading this book. It was after all, required in my college english class in order to survive the masses of quizzes and essays. But I will say that although I did not want to read this book at first, once I read the first couple pages I was hooked. I no longer wanted to read it just because it was required, now I was reading it for pleasure. Although the book is strongly graphic especially on the sex parts, it is done in a most tasteful manner. As a young latina born and raised in America, I was very touched by what my people had gone through in the past, and it is knowledge I had ignored taking the liberty I have now for granted. I really recommend this book if you're up to take a good dose of eye opener.



4. I heard this book was good, but didn't know how good it actually was until I read it. There isn't a dull page.
   
   What's most alarming about the book is not necessarily the events that take place, as many movies about this lifestyle have been made since the book's first publishing, sort of numbing the harsh realities of gang life to even outsiders who grew up in secluded suburbs, but the age that Luis Rodriguez actually is when the events are taking place. Some of the day to day drama described in the book is so adult like that you can only picture the subjects of these tales being 18 to 25 years old, yet the reader is often reminded that the author was as young as 14 when some of them took place.
   
   What may also separate the stories told in this book from the stories told in typical 1990s west coast gang folklore, from hip hop to film to books like 'Monster', is the sexual situations Mr. Rodriguez describes that he took part in and witnesses, again, in some cases as young as 14. Some are romantic, and almost remind the reader of a time when romance was first discovered in their lives, yet there are some that are so disturbing that the reader is quickly brought down to earth, reminded that love and romance in a violent, drug infested environment is far different from the kind most Americans have grown to know, that is dictated by Hollywood fairy tales.
   
   Luis Rodriguez finding his outlet from the gang life through art and writing could give hope to any current gang member who happens upon this book. It's one thing for a suburban high school teacher to tell a 'homeboy' that he can express his views through art, it's another for an older 'homeboy' himself to tell him.
   
   A must read for everyone, from suburbanites with little knowledge of the gang life who would like another version than that given by media outlets and law enforcement agencies, where the knowledge tends to be limited to crime reporting and identification of territories and monikers, to kids and adults wrapped up in the gang life, and just looking for any story that can inspire them or give them some kind of direction to a better life.



5. What more is needed to say about this memoir? This is singlehandedly one of the most powerful memoirs I have ever read and that goes without saying. I was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, the same one that Rodriguez builds and describes and I can honestly say he is completely spot on. About? Everything. The racial, identity, and sexual struggle that Rodriguez weaves in this story is compelling and really grabbed me and immersed me into his life. This memoir says what there is to be said, and it says a lot.

5 comments about Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss.

1. i'm disaapointed by this book, I got half way reading it but got bored. Nothing I have not read already in the papers. I give it 1/2 star.



2. Great Novel-like read...Altho author biases towards Casso, he truly makes a hero out of him in reader's eyes. Paints vivid pictures of every crime and non-crime-related tale and leaves reader waning more and more after each chapter, not only about Casso but every Made Man mentioned.



3. Man, I sure hated all those mafia books on the shelves taking up space in my bookstores! I thought, who cares about these cretins? Not me!! Even though I have a couple thousand true crime books, none deal with Cosa Nostra, I've never seen The Sopranos, and have only seen Godfather I. The topic was of zero interest to me.
   
   However, having loved Mr. Carlo's '96 Night Stalker, I admired his writing stle enough to pick up Ice Man.That book just blew me away because of the way Mr. Carlo was able to actually humanize a monster like Richard Kuklinski (not glamorize!). There were no holds barred when it came to his reporting of the atrocities committed, but Mr. Carlo's use of backstory and tell-it-like-it-is views from Kuklinski's family had me hooked from the beginning to end. And for the first time, I bought several copies and mailed to friends in Texas that couldn't care less about such things. Now THEY are buying Mr. Carlo's books, too.
   
   This leads me to his book Gaspipe. I didn't even hesitate to buy it because it was written by Philip Carlo; that's good enough for me! It's extremely rare to find a book where the author and family live next door to the book's subject, grew up in Bensonhurst where so many made guys lived, and understands "the life". If Mr. Carlo can turn my taste in non-fiction around with just two books, then I consider that a writer with a truly great gift.
   
   While he never sugar-coated the horrific crimes Anthony Gaspipe Casso did, just as in Ice Man, Mr. Carlo makes you see the whole man, especially his deep love for his parents, wife and kids. (Yes, I know Hitler adored his mother!) And NO WAY would I ever have had sympathy for a mudering goon like Casso, but it really hacked me off about the FBI's actions in picking and choosing the evidence to come out in court. It's also an OUTRAGE that the government didn't honor their commitment to Casso's 6-1/2 years sentence like they did for other informants.
   
   I am a huge fan of Mr. Carlo, and have ordered his other books. i wish him many happy years of writing and continuing his meticulous research.



4. Both my husband and me thoroughly enjoyed Gaspipe. Both of us come from Dyker Heights and thought Carlo's portrayal of the Mafia culture was eerie and uncanny. We note with dismay the posting here of R.J. Rios. I can only say that this fellow's sources of information are the three hundred books he says he read. That's woefully inadequate. The Mafia is all about secrecy. The Mafia is clandestine by its very nature. Having said that, it seems ludicrous that any one person, based on the reading of books, would set himself up as an authority. I am sure there are people in law enforcement who knew nothing about what Carlo wrote so insightfully and simply in Gaspipe. We note, too, that Carlo has publicly said -- we recently heard him on a radio show -- that Richard Kuklinski, aka the Iceman, did lie about certain crimes. When most of the participants in any given crime, murder, are dead, it's very hard for an author to verify one way or another what exactly happened. No author in any one book could tell all the tales, trials and tribulations of a character like Anthony Casso. To do such a thing, the book would have to be thousands of pages. A compelling book has to be a condensed version of all that happened. The days of Tolstoy and Joyce are long gone and forgotten. We think Carlo wrote the most insightful, in-depth tale of a Mafia boss ever put on paper. It's a first class job from a first class writer. Highly, highly recommended.



5. With the skill of a linguistic sculptor, Philip Carlo reveals a microscopic characterization of all his protagonists in true crime and in fiction. In Gaspipe, Mr. Carlo is chiseling to the core of the professional criminal only as an artist with a deep familiarity and innate understanding of his subject and his material can do. Carlo holds us spellbound and turning the pages of Anthony Casso's life because Carlo has been there-physically, emotionally, and pyschologically- in the place where Anthony Casso has spent his life of crime. Carlo knows the neighborhood, the culture and its people. and he knows how to take us to that place where he and Casso learned their life lessons. Carlo gets Anthony Casso, and he shows us who the Mafia underboss is inside and out. This is one of those marathon reading experiences---you cannot put Gaspipe down until the very last of Philip Carlo's words on him have been read. Anthony Casso is real. Philip Carlo is a master of true crime.

5 comments about The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren.

1. Not only is "The Man Who Made Vermeers" a great introduction to Han Van Meegeren and his notorious Vermeer forgeries, it serves as an excellent window into Nazi-controlled Holland during the war. It is Lopez's examination of Van Meegeren's Nazi sympathies--and his deft analysis of how Van Meegeren's faux Vermeers sprang from the same 20th-century Nazi iconography as contemporary propaganda paintings--that really sets the book apart. A devasting reappraisal of the man who "fooled" Hermann Goering and a good read for anyone interested in art, World War II, or how the two intersected.



2. I just finished reading this book and I really enjoyed it. It's a book that appeals to the general public -- not only those into art. I'm not especially interested in art myself, but I got so into the story and the characters that I read it in record time. Faster than I've read anything in a long time. The author clearly did a huge amount of research. But he turns it into a really easy read. I definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a really interesting true story.



3. As an art historian, I approached this book with considerable skepticism because the story of Han van Meegeren has been told so many times and, in general, so badly (at least outside the Dutch academic literature), that yet another volume on the subject seemed like it would probably be a waste of time. "The Man Who Made Vermeers," however, is a very different kind of book than its too many English-language predecessors. In its level of detailed research on Van Meegeren, this book is comparable only to Marijke van den Brandhof's out of print "Een vroege Vermeer uit 1937," which I highly recommend to readers of Dutch. As Lopez acknowledges, had Van den Brandhof lived, she might have gone on to pursue many of the lines of inquiry explored in "The Man Who Made Vermeers." In any case, instead of indulging in the usual anti-intellecual sneering that the Van Meegeren story tends to inspire in people who write for a popular audience, Lopez successfully adopts an approach that I could easily compare to Simon Schama's best work, where story-telling, history, and a profound engagement with the world of ideas make for an exciting narrative that is nonetheless well grounded in real scholarship. "The Man Who Made Vermeers" contains, for instance, a discussion of the history of Vermeer attribution and misattribution that is as good as anything in the academic literature but that is completely comprehensible to someone with no previous background in art. The only objection that I might raise to the book as a whole would be that Lopez sometimes concedes a little too much to the lay reader. In his efforts to appeal to a broad audience, he shies away from interrogations of his methodological framework. Quibbles aside, much to my surprise, this is a very strong book.



4. "The Man Who Made Vermeers" is an amazing piece of work. Stunning. Truly impressive. Fun to read, easy to follow, hugely informative. It covers so much ground with so much ease that it is breathtaking. I'm mostly a reader of fiction, but I bought this book because Amazon recommended it with Joseph O'Neill's "Netherland." What the two books have in common, aside from a slight Dutch connection, is that they are beautifully written works by people who really know how to tell a story. I was so engrossed by this book that I was sorry when it was over. Very well done indeed.



5. "The Man Who Made Vermeers" tells the story of Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren in greater detail, with deeper insight, and providing a more compelling sense of historical context than any other treatment I have seen of this subject. The author, Jonathan Lopez, is an elegant prose stylist, and he manages to synthesize an extraordinary amount of original research into a tight and extremely entertaining narrative that combines elements of a real-life mystery story with a wide range of thought-provoking ideas.
   
   At the heart of "The Man Who Made Vermeers" is the notion that forgeries are always in some way "about" the way the present looks at the past. In the case of Van Meegeren, who was an ardent fascist sympathizer, it seems that the forger incorporated, either consciously or unconsciously, the visual repertoire of Nazi culture into the fake Vermeers that he created from 1936 onwards, after his visit to the Berlin summer Olympics. (He had faked other Vermeers in a more 1920s-influenced style before that.) In particular Lopez's discussion of the effect of Nazi Volksgeist painting on these post-1936 "Vermeers" is a tour de force - completely riveting to read and extremely convincing. The way that he ties Van Meegeren's practice as a forger to larger questions of fascist ideology is also quite impressive.
   
   In general, the author's understanding of the historical and culture trends of the era is very solid, as is his knowledge of Dutch art history and of the history of Holland in general (According to the information in the back of the book, he apparently also writes in Dutch, so maybe he is of partly Dutch background.)
   
   As a work of narrative story telling, "The Man Who Vermeers" holds together beautifully. The straightforward structure, swift pacing, and reader-friendly, non-academic tone make for a pleasurable experience from beginning to end. Personally, I found the descriptions of life in Nazi-occupied Holland particularly gripping and really well done. This is an excellent book, highly recommended for readers with an interest in art, criminal enterprises, or World War II history. It is likely to be the definitive book on the subject for many years to come.

5 comments about Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw.

1. Once I begin a book I usually finish it, even if it's not that good.
   But I couldn't finish this book. I read about one third and then quit. It was so boring. It was more about politics than drugs. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Doctor Dealer (a great read!).



2. Book was very informative. It did a very good job detailing the time period of Pablo Escobar's rise and fall. Written very neutral and represented both sides of the hunters and huntee very well. A very complex operation during a time that was much different then today. If only we had the capabilities to apply the pressure the columbians used then we could probably capture or kill Bin Laden today. Similar paralles although Pablo's vice was drug trade and money, Bin Laden appears to be religion and hate. Wished the book had a few more pictures that expandeed on the charcters and groups that represented Pablo and those that represented the government. Good book that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Pablo Escobar.



3. The full story of the life and times of Pablo Escobar: from his early life of crime as a headstone thief to his brutal rise to the pinnacle of the Medellin drug cartel. Most of the story however, is about how the joint military and intelligence Task Force eventually cornered and killed the drug Kingpin. That Task Force, was led by Ambassador Morris (Buzz) Busby, Navy Seal and ex-DCM for the Conference on Disarmament under Ambassador Louis (Lou) Fields (while I served as part of the US delegation with him.)
   
   The US "Delta Force," in conjunction with the Colombian security forces in an operation called "Centra Spike" had to pull out all of the stops to finally locate and kill the elusive fugitive.
   
   Not since "Black Hawk Down" has Mark Bowden written such a gripping thriller. Anyone who liked Black Hawk Down will love this one too.
   
   Five Stars



4. A must read if you want to really know Pablo Escobar - the history, stats, numbers and some key people. Its so easy to read you wouldn't want to put the book down. Def. check it out!



5. Killing Pablo is the story of the life of Pablo Escabar, the leader of the Columbian Drug Cartel. The time that he spent in power and the time when he lost it all, when all sorts of law enforcement and mercenaries were after him.
   Pablo Escabar was the Columbian Drug boss. He had alot of pride in his family, they were the most important part of his life, and the most important part in his drug filled world. Pablo was so rich that when ever he got into trouble with the drug enforcement agency or any type of the law he could bribe his way out of trouble by paying off the officials.
   I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding out more about the columbian drug cartel and the Escabar family.

5 comments about The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer.

1. This book was an intense read. It's definitely filled with everything you might expect from reading the Amazon description. The one flaw is its lack of credibility, but I guess if a killer is as good as this, he wouldn't leave a trail of evidence to prove his stories are true later on.



2. It's completely believable. (did someone say it isn't totally believable?) It was the first experience I'd had reading any first-hand telling by someone as he in his teens kills his worst bully. His cold disposing of that body and getting away with it. Horrific. But what was meaner than his own father? The ice-man was hit, bashed for reasons that weren't clear to him at the moments his father came down on him. Out of the blue. Bad enough, child battery, when daddy states his reasoning. The iceman even believes that this daddy beat over and over his older brother until that child died. Hello? Mom? where was Mom? Right there! The beatings and other humane neglects formed warm pulsating heart into permafrost in he who became Ice. Ok. Life tells us there are no sufficient provocations for violence. but there are things done to soft and cuddly humans while they are dependent and trusting of the big humans who are in charge of such tenderness that screw their wee minds and there you go. What the Iceman did to his victims is unreadable. You lay (throw?) the book down and gasp and take days to recover and reluctantly give it your time yet again. A horrific read or did I say that? Yet Mr Carlo, you did good. Why did you not have to stop over and over to vomit as you related what are facts of such vile magnitude I'll never figure. maybe you did. Utterly unforgettable, and I tentatively thank you for reporting/writing it.



3. i am no book reviewer but at first i thought this is one crazy dude.several times i stopped to try to find out how many people wererolled up into this one guy.the photos and discription of him didn't seem to jibe with the dates.it'sfun to read but itt can't all be fact.



4. Great book about one of the most notoriously unknown killers of all time!
   
   Richard Kuklinski was a very interesting man to say the least, his family life, his secret life of murder and his long list of petty crimes and schemes!
   
   When you finish "The Ice Man", you'll feel as if you know the guy. The book starts off talking about Richard's horrible childhood and how/when he committed his first murder and takes you through his early days of crime and his association with the Mafia!
   
   "Big Rich" as he was known to his friends killed over 100 men, possibly as many as 200. He killed using almost every means possible. Kuklinski claims to have killed the infamous Jimmy Hoffa and ruthless mobster Roy DeMeo. He not only killed for money, he killed without a reason. Strangers, punks, thugs and the homeless all felt the wrath of the Ice Man, but never women or children according to Richard.
   
   Many people, including Richard Kuklinski believe he was poisoned while in prison, which ulitmately led to his death. Richard was going to testify against Sammy (the Bull) Gravano, he died in prison days before!
   
   You can buy the dvd's here at Amazon of Richard's HBO interviews, they can also be found on Youtube! The interviews are excellent, they give a real life perspective of Big Rich!
   
   Great read, very interesting stuff, truly a natural born killer!



5. This is a reprint of the review I wrote for my book review website Letters On Pages (www.lettersonpages.com)
   --------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Horrifying.
   
   That is really the only good way to describe The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo. The book itself isn't horrifying...in fact it is fantastically written. What is horrifying is Richard Kuklinski and the things the did during his lifetime.
   
   You see...Richard Kuklinski was a Mafia hitman. He killed people for money. He also killed people because they upset him in some manner, like flipping him the bird while driving. The middle finger was a particularly terrible affront to Kuklinski...one that would likely earn you the death penalty. But those killings aren't where he made his mark on the world. Richard "The Ice Man" Kuklinski is known as one of the most dangerous mob related people ever. I say mob related because he was Polish, and you can't officially join the Mafia unless you are Italian. You can still work as a hired killer though apparently.
   
   Kuklinski was a giant (literally at 6'5" 280lbs) psychopathic, sociopathic, anti-social, paranoid person. He had the classic serial killer upbringing: hyper-abusive parents, picked on by local bullies, enjoyed torturing animals...etc. His home life was so abusive that his father actually killed Richard's brother by beating him. So obviously there was no love in his house, or anywhere throughout his childhood. This, combined with his genetic disposition for violence and personality flaws, turned him into one of the most prolific killers ever. Kuklinski killed over 200 people during his life, most of them mob/organized crime related. His lack of conscience and inability to feel remorse meant that he was a perfect killer. He could "go see somebody", torture (if that's what the client wanted), kill, and dispose of the body with no second thoughts.
   
   In fact, he had a family and loved them dearly. Actually, I don't know that he had the capacity to love. But he cared for them quite a bit. His home life was like Jekyll & Hyde though: sometimes he would be the most caring, thoughtful person around. Other times he would go on a rampage, destroying furniture and beating his wife. He never harmed his children, however. In fact, he would kill people for abusing children. He was a regular vigilante.
   
   This book is amazingly interesting and I couldn't put it down. To read the stories that this man told were shocking. Carlo does a pretty good job of not being too explicit though. There are a few stories that are especially bad...but otherwise it's OK.
   
   I (like a lot of other people) am interested in serial killers and why they do what they do. For some reason they are really interesting to people. I'm sure there are plenty of psyche people who could explain why. Kuklinski is one of the ultimate serial killers, and therefore, garners a lot of attention. That he did all of this while leading a relatively normal family life only futhers the intrigue.
   
   Three HBO documentaries of Kuklinski were filed while he was in prison. I have seen one of them and it's pretty riveting stuff. It's actually frightening to watch him cavalierly describe taking another man's life. Sometimes he gets mad and glares at the interviewer...which is a haunting view for that person I'm sure.
   
   I very highly recommend this book to anyone interested in True Crime, serial killers, or the Mafia. Be prepared though.
   
   Rating: 5 out of 5

5 comments about Assata: An Autobiography (Lawrence Hill & Co.).

1. I'd only heard her story in snippets; she was a Panther, a revolutionary and a wanted woman. She has been lauded and lambasted and I believed that she was someone that I needed to learn more about. My education started by reading her biography.
   
   From a literary standpoint, the book is beautiful. Well written, easy to follow and interspersed with her own poetry. For it's beauty however it is still a difficult story to read. Because it is a story of a woman whose eyes, mind and heart were wide open to the possibilities of freedom and equality but was faced repeatedly with inequality, injustice, persecution and racism. Most times her story was horrifying, particularly her imprisonment, sometimes she kept it light, when speaking of her childhood, her friendships, etc. But through all times, I would suggest that her story remains relevant and inspiring and makes the reader thirst for more knowledge of her and the movement for which she sacrificed so much for.



2. Even if you have never heard of Assata you should pick up this book. It's the autobiography of a woman who now lives in exile in Cuba, telling her story of how she was arrested in the U.S. and charged with murder. When you pick up this book you can easily read it cover to cover. You will love her style; the book reads as if she is speaking to you one on one and telling you what happened. Her story is something that will show readers a view of society and government that they may have not seen or heard of before - the other side of the Black Power movement in the 1960s-1970s. The book speaks out on the corruption of the justice system and the government. Follow up after the book with materials and resources on her website for more information. Assata's few published books are difficult to find but well worth the read. She is a strong figure that is still active in making change in our society today. As a person who had not know much about the Black Power movement I was absolutely blown away by Assata's book, her work, and her continued vigilance and courage.



3. This book is a must have for revolutionary minds of the next generation. Assata illustrates the life and times of the struggle. She also reveals what black women had to go through and endure. This book is worth the purchase. Young brothers and sisters need to feed their brains with this one.



4. This is by far the best autobiography I have read so far. It was an easy read and extremely expressive. In many ways it is disturbing if you think of what the character goes through. The explicit racism, abuse, pain that Assata had to endure is decribed really well. You get to in fact life in her era, in her life when you read this book. I literally could not put it down and read it in 2 days.
   
   It pretty much gives you and idea of how things were in the 70's, what black people went through especially women, what the black panther party was really all about, the dirty system we call law, explicit racial comments and treatment etc. If you like stuff like that, then you'll love this book.



5. Wow...When you read this book you feel in another era , in another world but the sad part is that is not, it is our world and what hapened to this woman was real.I recommended to everyone regarding your ethnic gropu, but specially to blacks and whites in this country.

1 comments about Open City: True Story of the KC Crime Family 1900-1950.

1. I am anxious to read this book! I grew up in the north-end "Little Italy" section of Kansas City (3rd and Gillis). I later became a Police
   Offier,where I worked with the Metro Squad, including Mob incidents, as I was familiar with the "family" and knew many of them personally. I remember working with Bill Ouseley and George Lukenhoff at the Kansas City FBI office back in the 60's. John W. Yates, Jr.