1 comments about April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers.

1. I am a Virginia Tech alumnus and I just finished this book. It amazes me that in spite of all the tragedy, the Tech community showed its strength in numbers and will overcome this in time.
   
   Let's Go Hokies!!!

5 comments about Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge.

1. This book was not titled or described as it should have been. This book was so far off base from the description on the front of the cover " A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge." No the book should have been titled " Boring account of religious cults." The author never focused on the story surrounding the pretence of this book. It was to be about a MURDER not religious history of the 60.s 70's ect. Did not even finish this book.



2. Well-written tale of neo-religious cult spinoffs that head down a dark and desolate path. Expertly told story should please students of religious history as well as true crime readers.



3. Very well written, although disturbing book: I didn't know much about the Children of God/The Family except for a short segment on 60 Minutes several years ago about Ricky Rodriguez and the murder-suicide. I read this book a few months ago, and it's still in my head. Definitely worth reading but the level of abuse described is horrific.



4. My name is Josh Bruni and while I haven't yet read the book, I have heard about it and would like to make a few comments about COG/the family.
   I was born and raised in "the family". I left when I was 20 in the year 2000. My mother and 6 brothers and sisters still live in "the family" in various parts of the world. I'll never rejoin and I don't recomend anyone else join. What a lot of people who've never been a member don't realize is, when you have been born into "the family" you don't know what "normal" is. When you leave, it takes a while, several years in my case, to realize how weird and twisted some of the things you've been taught actually are. Any book that exposes the inner goings on of that group, I strongly recomend. See also the book "Not without my sister" by ex-members of the same group.
   
   Josh Bruni
   [...]



5. This book provides a background and context for the murder-suicide of Ricky Rodriguez, the involuntary prophet-apparent of The Family, an international religious cult. Also known as The Children of God, the group began in the late sixties under direction of David Berg, a self-appointed prophet, polygamist, pedophile, and narcissist. It continues today, led by Karen (sp?) Zerby, Ricky Rodriguez's mother. The book is a very well-rounded account of the cult's beginnings, compared with other so-called new religions, written by a journalist who covered religion for major newspapers for many years. It's a quick, informative read. I also recommend Not Without My Sisters, a memoir by three girls who grew up moving in the cult around the world.

No comments about Serial Killer's Apprentice: And Other True Stories of Cleveland's Most Intriguing Unsolved Crimes.

No comments about The Incarcerated Woman: Rehabilative Programming in Women's Prisons (Prentice Hall's Women in Criminal Justice Series).

5 comments about Scene of the Crime: Photographs from the LAPD Archive.

1. Just a note on other reviews in regard to the lack of captions. The LAPD negatives are not kept with the case files. There are very few case files even available, as they have been destroyed due to lack of space. There is a normal descruction process within the LAPD for paper files. The cases researched in this book were taken from old homicide log books. Also newspaper databases were used. If you would like more details on the LAPD Archive please visit fototeka.com



2. Scene of the Crime was a bit disapointing due to the fact that the readr must go back and forth from the photos, to the captions, which are compiled at the end. Quite a few of the cases have no information available at all, as the other reviewers have mentioned, and although the LAPD has done a great job maintaining paper on most of these cases, some details are bound to slip through the cracks.
   
   A few of the cases depicted in "Scene of the Crime" are also depicted in Huddleston's "Death Scenes", though nowhere near as graphic. Many of the locations found in the book are still standing, as a matter of fact, I often pass by the building shown on pgs 52-53 (traffic collision at 1st and Boyle) though now its an apartment building but still featuring the unique parapet up top.
   
   Overall a pretty good read.



3. I am sure everyone is aware that Scene of the Crime is not the first collection of police archive photos to be released. The past few years have seen the release of many collections of such photos; the most well known being New York Noir, Evidence and Death Scenes. New York Noir and Death Scenes have a common thread in their use of well-known writers in their introductions. Luc Sante the noted New York historian collected the photographs for Evidence and penned the introduction for New York Noir. Katherine Dunne, the author of Geek Love is responsible for the intro to Death Scenes. Scene of the Crime follows that tradition; drafting the modern master of Los Angeles noir, James Ellroy, to pen the introduction to this collection of archival Los Angeles crime photos. Much as Luc Sante was the ideal choice for New York Noir, Ellroy is perfect for this collection of photographs from the city that has been his muse.
   
   Some may be inclined to compare collected archival crime scene and police photos to the work of Weegee, but to do so would be a mistake. In his time Weegee photographed to satisfy tabloid papers and their readers. Don't get me wrong, I love the photographs he took, but the police photographer is not in it for the same thing. The crime scene photographer is there for documentation. It's his job, no different than taking portrait shots of unruly and unkempt children in a corner alcove at the local mall. However, there is art to be found in crime scene photos, it is not just point and shoot. The angles, the shadows, the composition of the photos, why some have the faces of the victims shown and why some do not, these are all aspects of the art behind the documentation of the crime scene.
   
   After the introductions and essays the photograph collection is shown with no documentation other than the notes of the photographer written on the image. This technique forces the viewer to look at the photos and imagine the stories behind them. How and why did all the subjects living and dead end up facing the lens of the Los Angeles Police Photographer? The two suited men shot over dinner. The man shot dead in an open doorway. An empty room with an open door. Bloodstains on the floor. Cheesecake photos pushpinned to a panel wall. Cigarrette cartons and bottles strewn across a wood floor. Heads resting in puddles of blood. Knife and razor cuts. Bodies laying in doorways, on steps, in cars, on streets, face down, on their backs, partially dressed, fully suited, naked and cut into pieces. Bodies lying in tubs, lying in shallow graves, shot, beaten. Dead and beaten women who would be beautiful if it were not for the blood that has run from their mouths, noses, and ears. Sharp dressed men, with their suits covered in their own blood. Ah, the good old days...
   
   After the collection an index tells as much of the story behind each picture as possible. It is interesting to look at the index and see how close your imagination was to the reality. How close were you to deciphering the scenes? Did you nail the stories behind the SLA note, the suicides, the lovelorn, the rejected, the beaten, the famous, the unknown, the riots, the drunks, the mobsters, the stars, the starlets, the starry eyed, or the Manson family?
   
   At first I did not appreciate the layout of the book, photos with no captions. Without the background you are forced to study the scene more intently than you would if all the details were given to you. What happened? What time did the crime take place? Why did the crime take place? Who would commit such a crime? Who's body are you looking at? In effect, you become a detective, arriving at the scene of a crime, knowing absolutely nothing other than what you are staring at. In the end, this is a perfect layout for a collection of crime scene photographs. A book that becomes more revealing and more interesting every time it is opened.



4. Scene of the Crime is the latest in a recent influx of collections of crime scene photography, and it has added appeal in that some of the images are of famous cases, such as the Black Dahlia murder and the Manson Family slaughterhouse. The book is laid out in the same manner as most of these books, with black and white images presented in the first half of the book, and information for each photograph at the back. Unfortunately, many of the photographs piqued my curiosity, only to find a sad, unsatisfying, "case information unavailable" comment awaiting me in the back of the book. Still, many of the images are so well-composed and interesting that they could be seen in art museums rather than cold case files, so this is a minor quibble.
   
   However, there are also quite a few lesser and uninteresting images as well, which left me feeling a bit cheated given my suspicion that the LAPD coffers are overflowing with many more graphic, historic, and fascinating images. Comparing this book to the classic LA crime gallery Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook serves to further point out this collection's shortcomings. There is nothing in here as punch-in-the-gut brutal as the image of the decapitated baby on the cutting board or as surreal as the peaceful head sitting in the middle of a road after a traffic accident, both from Death Scenes. Taken on its own merits, I might have given the book a five skull rating, but in comparison with its more amazing brethren I'd have to rate it a four.



5. I saw a story about the authors on a local PBS show in Los Angeles, they are preserving the LAPD photo archives and have picked some of their favorites for this book. It's a bit gruesome in parts (of course, they are crime scene photos!) but it is an interesting glance into L.A.'s past, and I'm glad these folks are doing what they can to preserve our heritage. The photo presentation is great - this is a nice, large format book that gives you good sized images. Recommended for fans of photo and/or the macabre.

1 comments about The Chicago Conspiracy Trial.

1. Great historical trial. You will find that the same is going on now 40 years later with the current administration.

1 comments about King of the Gypsies: Memoirs of the Undefeated Bareknuckle Champion of Great Britain and Ireland.

1. This book was interesting to me for two reasons. The first reason being that I love biographies/autobiographies about fighters and the way they live so this book was no exception. The second reason I found it interesting was because it opened my eyes to a whole culture of people that I never even knew existed. All I knew about Gypsies were the old lady Meleva from The Wolf Man and Brad Pitt's character Mickey from Snatch. Well it turns out that the way Guy Ritchie depicts the gypsies in that movie is pretty dead on. Anyway, I have sort of a spoiler so if you don't want to know how the book ends do not read any further. I was pretty sad when i got to the end of the book. By the time you get to the end you feel like you've known the author Bartley Gorman, his family and his friends. Bartley became very ill shortly before finishing the book and talks about it. He died not long after finishing the book, so you get the feeling like you were sitting next to him listening to his life story right before he passed away. For me that was pretty sad. So anyway if you like to read true stories about fighters and fighting you will probably like this book, because practically every page talks about someone fighting. In fact the only thing I didn't really like about it was at one point he went on about all these old time fighters and it was just like "and this guy fought that guy and that guy fought this guy who fought the great fighter Joe smith who fought..." for a few pages. Other than that it wa a good read for me.

5 comments about Amy: My Search for Her Killer: Secrets & Suspects in the Unsolved Murder of Amy Mihaljevic.

1. I found this book to be FULL of twisted tales and dead ends that only made you want to read more. The author does a GREAT job at inserting his own thoughts and comments to make the reader FEEL what it is he is experiencing in the search for Amy Mihaljevic. At times you find yourself as frustrated as the author was and in the end you wished it hadn't ended at all, for Amy, for the author and most of all for you the reader. A GREAT book.



2. I was 21 when Amy disappeared. Like everyone else in northern Ohio, I watched tv to keep track of any new information on her case. Then one day, she was found in a field just a few miles from where I grew up, in my own hometown, an area that I knew like the back of my hand. I remember bawling like a child as I watched the local news. My ex-wife complained that I should be crying about a child I didn't even know--one of the final straws on the way to divorce. I'm very grateful to Mr. Renner for keeping this case alive, and in the first few pages I wanted to like this guy. I have also been to Bangor, Maine, and visited some of the sites from Stephen King's "It." I also admit that I stayed up all night on a Saturday and read this book cover-to-cover. It is a compelling story that draws you in. It's all the more fascinating when you recognize/remember some of the characters in the book. However, the way the book was written and the way information was presented bothered me. I understand that "true crime" is often melodramatic, but Mr. Renner has a tendency to go overboard. For example, he states in the book that he is "from the country" and is familiar with farms/farmland. He is either making this up, or he has a completely different definition of these terms than I. In describing the area where Amy was found, Renner calls it "desolate" and states that it is a "half hour from the highway." WHAT?? US RT 224, an EXTREMELY busy highway, is less than 2 miles south. Apparently the word "highway" is meant to convey only I-71, which is about 1/2 an hour away, a distance that someone who is truly from "the country" doesn't think twice about. "Desolate" is just not the proper description. The area is a field where crops are grown. Drive outside the city, pretty much anywhere in the USA and you'll see alot of them. It becomes apparent that Mr. Renner has a very condescending attitude toward the unwashed masses who have not seen the wisdom of their "progressive" betters in the city, and it truly ruins the story. I also believe it may have slowed his investigation. At one point he is describing a visit to the Ashland County Coroner's office, where he was greeted somewhat less warmly than he expected to be. If he came into my office dripping with officious superiority, I'd have told him to stick it. This is not to say that there aren't self-important bureaucrats in Ashland County--oh, yes, they are there. But throughout the story, so many homes have peeling paint, "rural matrons" have raspy voices, etc., that eventually it seems to be page filler more than information that adds to the story.
   There have always been rumors in Ashland County about Amy, and who might have been involved. Renner covers these individuals well, but again does his own investigation a disservice by focusing on the area's supposed remoteness almost as if it were Mars. Anyone with a simple sense of direction (all the roads in the area run parallel and perpendicular) or a rudimentary map could easily end up in that very spot--this is NOT an area that a person would have to know well to get around if they can draw a square. Again, I would commend Mr. Renner for keeping this story in the public eye. Unfortunately, the most telling comments from the book are from a conversation with a co-worker:
   "Look at all those people," Kevin said to me. "It's our job to tell them what to care about, you know?"
   "I always thought it was our job to protect them."
   Kevin sighed. "They don't want us to protect them."
   No, guys. Your job is simply to report the truth. We'll figure out what's important and protect ourselves.
   Amy, may you rest in peace. God Bless You.



3. This book leaves the reader feeling like an unwilling participant in the sensationalism of a tragedy that tore apart a small suburb. Through interviews of fellow students, who were at the time only 11 years old and this book exploits the community and tragedy surrounding her disappearance and murder. This book is a disgrace to her memory and the people who still feel the sting of her loss. Not to mention that the writing itself, is juvenile at best.



4. For being a true story, this book was written with little literary or journalistic regard. The author sensationalizes every aspect of this case and writes like an amature high school paper reporter. He manages to make every person involved look bad, from Amy's mother to classmates who found themselves in the horrible situation of being witness to her abduction. He even goes so far as to insinuate that Amy's good friend tries to tempt him into cheating on his wife when he interviews her. Please!
   
   In case someone missed this fact, the author had no relation to Amy, did not live in Bay Village at any point in his life and certainly does not understand what it was like to live in a small, suburban town when every parent's worst nightmare comes true. The author made a choice to sensationalize a horrible situation for his own gain. If he really wanted to help find Amy's killer, he would have been careful not to villanize the people who tried so hard to solve this case. He also would have left himself out of the story completely.



5. I thought James Renner did a great job getting all the facts of the case out through his writing. I read this book, cover to cover, in less than 48 hours...that's how concise and compelling it was.
   
   Each suspect that is mentioned makes you think, "Aha! He's the one that killed Amy!" Then another suspect appears and makes you think that this person is the one.
   
   I hope and pray that someday the true killer is found. No questions, no doubting. Let this little girl rest in peace.

4 comments about The Mafia's Greatest Hits: Ranking, Rating, and Appraising the Big Rubou (Mafia).

1. Whom else, but that ace chronicler of crime, David Jacobs, could make these over exposed expose's seem so fresh and insightful? The stories are well told, the facts and figures are correct, and the rating system is a welcome and interesting gimmick. I read it in two sittings. The men singeled out in these pages were no doubt tough, but not as tough as putting the book down.



2. I have read several books on the mafia and each one is full of this one or that one plotting the demise of the other before he is whacked himself. It's a life of constant stress and your bodyguards and best friend may very well be the ones involved in snuffing out your life. This book is different in that ten mafia hits are analyzed and rated on their effeciency in being carried out in addition to the degree the hit accomplished what it was intended to do. Interestingly, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is well known to all, but it didn't accomplish what it was intended to do (wipe out Bugs Moran) and, in fact, backfired in that the outrage of the public called too much attention to the mob. This was not a good thing. Other than this hit in Chicago, all but one of the remainder take place in New York City. The ones I found to be the most spectacular were the elimination of Albert Anastasia (The Mad Hatter) in a barbershop, Carmine Galente in an outdoor section of a Brooklyn restaurant, the elimination of Paul Castellano and his bodyguard in front of Spark's Steak House between 2nd and 3rd Avenue and the wipeout of Dutch Schultz and three of his cohorts in a Newark, New Jersey chophouse. The grading, if you will, of each hit made it different from other books you may have read on the mob.



3. David Jacobs narrates the stories of ten of the Mafia's most notorious murders with the skill of a good story-teller. He covers the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the murders of Dutch Schultz, Albert Anastasia and Bugsy Seigel among others.
   
   This is not the right book for a reader looking for a detailed study and analysis of any of the murders involved, but it is more than a quick journalistic summary. Jacobs adopts the pose of a critic, of the judge at a sporting event, evaluating each hit on a scale of 20, with points for stategy, tactics, and results. On that basis, the most elaborate hit, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre flunks at 10, since the object of the attack, the death of Bugsy Moran, was not achieved and the blowback did severe damage to the Capone mob.
   
   Jacobs comes up with a credible explanation of the unsolved murder of Abe Reles ("The Canary that Couldn't Fly" --- the Murder Inc honcho who turned state's evicence) and an entertaining summary of all of the hits.
   
   But what sets this book apart from others is the analysis, and the comparative analysis, of strategy, tacics and result.
   
   The writing is not without defect. ("Believing him dead, the shooters fled. Torrio was --- but not mortally." How can someone be "dead but not moertally?"] OK, the meaning is clear and the writing is vigorous and entertaining.
   
   The greatest hit: The assassination of Don Salvatore Maranzano (18 points out of 20)



4. 
   David Jacobs, the hardboiled true crime writer who gave us Hellcats, Vixens, & Vicedolls: Women, Crime, and Kink of the Fifties and Ku Klux Klan America's First Terrorists Exposed (Shadow History of the United States), along with Mr. Goodfella, Henry Hill, rats out the mob in this bullet-riddled history of mafia executions. Jacob's prose is faster and more hard-hitting than a speeding bullet and always hits their mark. So, pick up this book, and don't talk to no one--or else!

5 comments about Bound by Honor: A Mafioso's Story.

1. The book as such is an easy read and has some amusing stories, it is, however, filled with appearent contradictions and self promoting spins on most of the events.
   The writer is clearly unable to put is own life into perspective and believes he has done no wrong........but that the government is at fault for hunting down organised crime, mostly himself and his father (who is depicted as the role model mobster).
   The book is worth reading if the subject itself is of interest to you. For most readers it will become clear that the writer is a complete and total loser.



2. I have read nearly every book written about the Mafia, both good and bad. Let me say this: Bill Bonanno's book goes beyond bad. It's absolutely awful.
   
   The title itself, "Bound by Honor", is soaked in irony. Where is the honor in breaking the law, going to prison, living a lifestyle that includes trampling on the rights and lifestyles of other people?
   
   My own father truly was a Man of Honor. He got up everyday and went to work and made an honest living. He may not have gotten rich, but he never served a day in prison or lied to save his own skin. But Bonanno has done both. Where is the honor in that?
   
   As I read one of the book's passages about a gunfight that Bonnano was in, it struck me that his vision of that shootout was rooted more in stupidity than in danger.
   
   While Mafia books do interest me, the lifestyle itself disgusts me and makes me glad that I live a clean life.
   
   My biggest regret concerning Bonanno's book is that I spent money on it- even if it was on sale. It was a waste of money written by a blowhard who wasted a college education and probably put a good wife through hell. Some Man of Honor, that Bill Bonanno.
   
   So the bottom line is this: don't waste your money. His story isn't worth reading, he isn't worth respecting, and there isn't one scintilla of honor to be found in the activities of his family.



3. I'll keep it simple. The Bonnanos are the worst liars I've ever seen. Bill and Joe are trying to rewrite history, and it's getting pretty pathetic.



4. This is a well written, interesting read. If you are looking for the typical "mafia" book full of violence and the stereotypical, almost mythical, portrayal of mob leaders, this book is probably not for you. This book provides one man's insight (a man who writes from an insider perspective) into many important events in our recent history, including the JFK assassination.
   
   One of the other reviewers mentioned that a true "man of honor" is one "who goes to work everyday" and that Bonanno was not a man of honor. In response to that I would only say that there are many lawful jobs that are not honorable. Is it honorable to work for a big corporation that exploits men and women for cheap labor? The second point is that the Italians (along with other immigrants) suffered discrimination when they arrived to the U.S. and had to provide sustenance for their families in any way they could. Furthermore, they certainly did not have a monopoly on organized crime as other immigrant groups were also forced into that lifestyle in order to survive economically.
   
   Overall, I would say this is a very interesting read and is one of the more well written books on the subject of the mafia in general and the Bonanno family in particular.
   
   It would be naive to assume that Bonanno does not present events in a light that is favorable to his family, but everyone engages in this sort of thing. Moreover, anti-mafia books have also engaged in this sort of hyperbole, presenting mobsters as demons who are not even human and enjoy violence for its own sake. I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle. One thing is certain, the mafia cannot be understood outside of the historical and cultural context that spawned it.



5. This is a sort of watered down story of a mafiosa. The author does not disclose or detail some of the slimy backhanded sneaky criminal things that he surely committed an the book borders on a made for LIFETIME movie vibe.