5 comments about The Forensic Casebook: The Science of Crime Scene Investigation.

1. A great book to explore the field and career opportunities. Very descriptive book. Wonderful for reasearch or leasure reading.



2. This is a 'how to' book: how to secure a crime scene; how to collect fingerprints (and feet, lip, and ear prints); how to identify blood splatter patterns, etc. It's not quite detailed enough to be considered a text book, unless the teacher uses supplementary material, but it is packed full of real-life examples, which is why I read it.
   
   This book is divided into five sections:
   
   "The Scene of the Crime"--some crime scenes are impossible for the first responder to completely protect, e.g. the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City after it had been bombed. For one thing, people had to be rescued from the ruins. Some of the more interesting examples in this book involve the movement of evidence off of the scene, e.g. a bullet that passed through a victim and lodged in a passing bicycle.
   
   I was also interested to discover that many states employ 'civilian' forensic technicians (it's cheaper than paying for another police officer). The swab-wielding cop is slowly fading from the American crime scene.
   
   "Working the Scene: the Evidence"--One of the best prints from a nightmarish crime scene came from a Christmas chocolate. Evidently the murderer didn't like nuts and put the chocolate back into the box, along with a beautiful print of his thumb.
   
   Criminals who stage crime scenes are often the easiest ones to catch. One man murdered three people, then dressed up in a gorilla costume and wrecked the house, just the way he imagined an enraged gorilla would have wrecked it, including a swing from the ceiling fan that ripped it to the floor.
   
   At first, the ident officer, Patricia McGuire was puzzled by the print of a four-inch finger tip. After the murder scene was thoroughly analyzed, it became obvious to her forensic team that it had been staged. They checked with the local costume shop, found out who had recently rented a gorilla suit, and arrested him for murder.
   
   "Working the Scene of the Body Human"-- One of the most surprising items in this section is how little DNA is still extracted and processed from crime scenes. Hopefully, as DNA becomes quicker and easier to process, it will become a major focus of a crime scene. One challenge of processing DNA from a crime scene is that it is so easy to contaminate the surroundings with the forensic team's DNA.
   
   Forensic Odontology is another fascinating tool. Be sure to check out the anecdote of the perp who bit himself in an effort to mislead the police.
   
   "Working the Scene: Different Stages"--A short section covering explosives and computers. Even as DNA can reveal a criminal's physical presence, so his computer can reveal the presence of his shoddy little mind, whether it be through pornographic photographs, bomb making instructions, or internet scams.
   
   "Working the Scene: Different Skills"--Another short section which includes the contributions of K-9 units and forensic photographers. Digital photography has actually made a criminalist's job harder because of the ease by which digital photographs can be altered.
   
   This book's numerous appendices delve into the qualifications needed, and types of jobs that are available to people who are interested in a career in forensics. "The Forensic Casebook" is a good overview for future criminal investigators, and could also be considered supplemental reading for TV 'true crime' fans (Hint: Columbo and the various CSI programs really take a beating for their sloppy investigative work).



3. Gave as a gift, my mom loved it...speedy (and reasonable) shipping, very pleased



4. I plan to study forensics next year and wanted a taster to whet my appetite. I was very pleased. It starts with the basics and very methodically explains all of the procedures from the initial arrival at a crime scene to its closure. All of the steps are explained perfectly and it is a great book to dispel the erroneous notions as portrayed in popular T.V. shows. All of the lab work is explained and it is easily understood. I would recommend this book to anyone with a genuine interest in forensics, and the procedures undertaken to resolve crimes.



5. I bought this book for my daughter. The idea was that she was really into forensics and wanted to learn more about the subject. Unfortunately, this book was so bad, she never finished it. I gave it to her as a research tool, and within a few weeks, she'd discovered so much from other sources that she started to doubt how informed this book was. She said it started out interesting, but as she learned more, the factual errors and inconsistencies drove her away from the book. She's still following forensics, but this book is not on her reading list.

5 comments about Donnie Brasco.

1. I'd put money that you've already seen the movie. What you wanna know is if the book is any good/better/different, right? I'd say different. For example in the book "Donnie" is much older, perhaps over forty - his kids are in high school, whereas as I recall Jonny Depp's Donnie was late twenties/early thirties perhaps, with pre-school-ish kids....Maybe that's not a big deal. A bigger difference is much of the tension in the book comes from one of Donnie's early connections and sparring partners, Tony, who feuds with Lefty over "control" of Donnie - this is a very important strand in Donnie's rise in the Mafia, and as I recall wasn't in the movie at all. Bottom line is there is far more in the book than the bare bones story told in the film, and it's a well told tale. Forgettaboutit, just buy it....



2. Gripping story of Joe Pistone posing undercover as Donnie Brasco for 6 years (!) to infiltrate the mob. As I read the story, I couldn't help but keep thinking how brave and street-smart this guy is. One slip and he's a dead man! Pistone thoroughly covered all his bases to maintain his fake identity. In the end, after the FBI agents announced to his mob ties that Donnie was actually an undercover agent all this time, they doubted it could be possible, and told the agents their was no way Donnnie was working undercover. That's how good this guy was!



3. like it much better that movie- so much more insight- get it if you are interested in this topic!



4. than the mob. Congratulations to anyone who does anything to reduce its influence and send its members to prison. Criminal trial attorney inner-city courts in a very large city, 30 years, state and fed prosecutor, and in my estimation this FBI agent is about as heroic as they come. Talk about role models. Forget about sports stars and pay attention to this former FBI agent and what he did for all of us.



5. This is the kind of story many would consider incredible hadn't these events actually taken place. Years ago a short-lived television series (two seasons, to be exact) called "Tightrope" aired in which a young actor named Michael Connors portrayed an undercover police officer known only as "Nick" who, week after week, successfully infiltrated various underworld gangs and operations. It was a fictional TV show, nothing more, designed solely for the entertainment of the viewing audience. In 1976 Special Agent Joseph D. Pistone of the FBI made that role a reality. Under the guise of jewel thief "Donnie Brasco," Pistone entered the dangerous world of organized crime and eventually penetrated it at a level so deep that he was actually "proposed" for membership in La Cosa Nostra when the "books" were opened. Renting an apartment on Manhattan's upper East Side (a lot more affordable then), Pistone began to frequent a local restaurant where he got to know a few "connected" guys. This led to his broadening his circle of associates to include, first, a Colombo-affiliated crew in Brooklyn and, later, a Manhattan-based faction of the Bonanno family. The fact that he was accepted and gained the trust of these otherwise wary, street-smart "wiseguys" is a testament to how well Pistone played his role, knowing how far to push the envelope in tricky situations and when to step back. The operation, which lasted six years, came to an abrupt halt when Pistone was given a "contract" to "whack" a Bonanno rival. By that time, however, the Mob had been irreparably damaged. Within weeks of the startling revelation that "Brasco" was in fact an FBI agent, a $500,000 bounty was placed on his life and the Mob began to exact revenge on those who had originally "sponsored" him. One, Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero, was picked up by FBI agents while on his way to almost certain doom after having been "sent for," or summoned, to a Little Italy bar by his former pals. Two others weren't so lucky. In August, 1981, the badly decomposed body of one Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, a capo who maintained a special fondness for Pistone even after learning he was an agent, turned up in a Staten Island creek, minus both hands. Seven months later, in March, 1982, Anthony Mirra, a psychopath who had been the first to introduce Pistone to the Bonanno crew, was found shot to death behind the wheel of his car in a downtown Manhattan garage. Co-written by Mr. Pistone himself and Richard Woodley, "Donnie Brasco" reveals the gritty, day-to-day workings of the Cosa Nostra lifestyle as it actually exists (or should I say existed?) and not the honorable, glamorized version of Don Vito Corleone's world as depicted in "The Godfather."

5 comments about The Mexican Mafia.

1. Well researched,deals mainly with small crew on trial for homicide.Detailed account of their exploits,fair amount of history coverd. One of the better books on la Eme.



2. A well researched and investigated book. If you want to learn about the Mexican Mafia then read this book. Although it is a little too cop/prosecutor orientated it is still good- you just have to skip the cop parts to get to the good gangster stuff. But not a bad read by any means. I would like to see something from Tony Rapheal with more gangster profiles. I know he has it in him. Check out his blog, In the hat.



3. This book was GARBAGE. I thought it was going to be like Machine Gun Mundos' book (Mexican Mafia), but, was not! Very disappointing.
   This guy is obsessed with The Avenues targeting Blacks.
   Well, Sr. Rafael: Get your facts straight! Why didn't you write anything about blacks targeting Mexicans? This has been going on for years, and I don't see the Media/books saying anything about this.
   And what the hell does this have to with IMMIGRATION? Jesus Christ, no wonder there is a green light on this guy (good).



4. "The Mexican Mafia", Tony Rafael, NY, Encounter Books, 2007, ISBN: -13: 978-1-5 9403-195-3-, HC, 362 (372) pgs. Includes Introd. 6 pg., Contents 1 pg., & Prologue 4 pg., & chart of 37 Eme members, associates, workers, etc., & Index 10 pgs. 9 1/4" x 6 1/2".
   
   A writer based in Los Angeles with a decade of active gangland researching via live interviews with gang members gives his revealing accounting of the history of Hispanic gangs, the Mexican Mafia, and the methodology used by law in securing convictions for murder, thievery and drug sales.
   
   The author gives a skillful chronicle of the rise of the Hispanic Gangs and the formation of the Mexican Mafia in Los Angeles and how the initial attempts to suppress gang activity actually led to its dispersion throughout the penal system. We are introduced to the lifestyle of the gangs, their activities including the names of the more prominent gangs in Greater Los Angeles, as the "Avenues" of Highland Park, a collection of 2nd and 3rds generation Mexicans.
   
   We learn, for example that Mexican Mafia, La Mafia Mexicana, or simply "Eme" (Spanish pronunciation of the letter "M"), was the brain-child of Luis "Huero" Buff Flores, member of the Hawaiian Gardens (California) Street Gang, in 1957. His idea was to create a "super gang" of institutionalized criminal inmates within the California Department of Corrections, beginning with Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) in Tracy, CA where new inmates are sent for evaluation before final disposition for incarceration. Strict rules were made and membership involved "blood in" and "blood out", hierarchy of rules on "signing", tattoos, drug running and collecting taxes, pimping, homosexuality, doing drugs, etc. and those "green lighting" rules on executing others as for 'ratting', etc.
   
   Missing, unfortunately, are several simple inveiglements that would have added much clarity to the book such as maps of the gangs' territories and depicting those zones where many of the murders took place. There is too much redundancy and wordiness in the later chapters that should have been easily deleted without injuring the story, suggesting an inconvenient "rush to publish". For anyone and everyone interested in gangs and gangsters, this is a basic book deserving to be read which profiles the ever successful attempts of the gangster Mexicans, many illegals, to terrorize American citizens and plunder their own, both within and outside of the penal correctional facilities.



5. I really like the book, i was not expecting to read about the trails but overall it was a good book. I read the bood in a week and i would read it again.

5 comments about The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS: Solving Crime with Mathematics.

1. Provides the background on mathematical techniques for solving eg. seemingly random crimes by identifying the most likely residence area for the perpetrator, determining whether the number of deaths while a suspect nurse is on duty is likely due to chance, assessing the likelihood that an individual within a crowd is a terrorist, etc.
   
   The bad news is that it doesn't even reference the most famous statistical tool for crime reduction - New York City's COMPSTAT, nor does it explain how credit card companies determine that a particular transaction is likely fraudulent.



2. I majored in math in college so I found this book quite interesting. I also am a fan of the show itself. It's a little technical at times but over all a good read for someone who is fascinated by modern crime solving techniques where math plays an increasingly useful role. Recommended for sleuth hounds.



3. Elementary, and then some. The book is a very simple read. Anyone who can follow the show can also follow this book. But the math...
   
   On page 84 it gives an example that says that there are 75 black taxis and 15 blue ones, correctly stating that this is a ratio of 5:1, then it goes on to say that the chances of a taxi being black are 1 out of 5. Clearly, this should have been 1 out of 6. (If there are five of one thing, plus one of another would make a total of six, not five.)
   
   Using 1 out of 5 instead of 1 out of 6 makes the math work out easier with little difference in the overall outcome, but come on. Two guys with PhDs in math making mistakes on elementary school level math? In a book that features math?
   
   As Einstein once said: "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler."
   
   (It might also improve the book if they added an e-mail address to direct errata to next time around.)



4. I do well with statistics, but if youre not competent with statistics you'll miss about half of the material in this book.
   
   You wont 'get' it, and you'll be bored.
   
   The other things I dont like about the book are the assumptions that suspects stay put and stick to their patterns. They dont. Suspects are worse than tomcats about wandering off and staying gone.
   
   But, hey! It keeps math geeks off welfare, and it looks good to morons who dont know any better....like police management.



5. This book is an excellent resource to help show the successes and failures of applied mathematics in forensic science. I plan to use this book as a resource to show students that mathematics has a very practical side.

5 comments about Whatever Mother Says...: A True Story of a Mother, Madness and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. Poorly written, which is odd since a reporter wrote the book, but a fascinating story. Sometimes, the writing was stilted, or repetitious, and even contradictory. In one of the earlier chapters, it is said Theresa was introduced to Satanism. Later on she constantly uses Bible quotes, Xty, as an excuse to abuse, as she fears her daughters are Satanic/possessed. Umm , what happened to her own interest in Satanism? Did it change? Or was it a throw away line?
   
   Throughout the book , the author references her weight as some sort of external sign of her loathsomeness. She 'waddled' to the door, the chair creaked under her frame, etc. Very offensive. Fat=abusive. Weight= brutality.
   
   Her control is so complete, the children are portrayed as never leaving the house, so it comes as a shock when in the next chapter the kids are always spending time at other people's houses or regularly fleeing the house to spend time with oddball friends. Or her control being so extensive allegedly because she feared the girls' promiscuity, but the d. Shiela working as a hooker and turning over all her money.
   
   The last two chapter are throw away chapters meander on possible reasons given by 'mind experts' (??) for her actions. He goes with 'sick' ' contagious' traumatized from a childhood experience'. No real investigation into her childhood, aside from the tales she told of herself. And the beginning of the book we meet her as an adult. What did she do for a living (we're told toward the end- worked as an orderly at convalescent homes)? Yet earlier, we're told she's a former nurse when treating her daughter after shooting her. but later she never uses that degree and it seems the author could've found out whether or not she really was a nurse, just said so, why she didn't work as one, etc.
   
   That said, the disjointed accounts of abuse are horrifying.
   
   There is no resolution in the end. It was written before the trial apparantly but mom got 50 to life, William who made good, got 5 yrs probabtion and Robert(?) got 3 yrs.



2. This book is written like a newspaper article. It has all the details but not really in a 'story' form. It's hard to follow but extremely interesting.



3. very disturbing book. I hope this woman died in jail. Should have had the death penalty



4. I read a lot of true crime, and like many others I was shocked and sickened by murderers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, the torture and murder finally by burning of Shanda Sharer and Jesse Cummings and his wicked exploits.
   
   Parts of this were even harder for me to read. Poor Suesan's account is horrific enough, but the account of Sheila's final moments is something that I haven't been able to stop thinking about since I read it. You just don't treat people like this! Ever! Especially your own flesh and blood.
   
   Extremely disturbing, pretty well written although a little short and it could have had a more detail. Either way, it keeps you riveted to the last page.
   
   I was annoyed when I did some research and found out they didn't give this revolting hag the death penalty because she agreed to plead guilty ironically to avoid it. But I took a closer look and my anger sort of went away. She'll have to turn 80 years old before she's even eligible for parole and ten bucks tells me that she won't make it that long. The guards should lock her up and the dark and forget to feed her. Then she can see how it feels.
   
   Rot in Hell, you nasty old hag. As a post note, I watched a video on her and she was labeled level 22 (torture murderer) on the scale of evil, which is the highest the scale goes up to.



5. before i read this book, i saw the story on cold case files. i read other reviews and many people have commented that the book has no ending or resolution. if your interested in the story of this horrendous crime then i would try and find the cold case files program online or on A&E. you will get the full story and the end result. i saw the broadcast about four years ago and i still to this day cant shake it from my memory. unlike the book, you wont be let down.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

5 comments about Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters.

1. Peter Vronsky has an interesting personal perspective on serial killers. His book does not try to be a definitive source on all serial killers, but does try to provide an over view to the world that some of these killers live in. His writing is thought provoking and brings to light many interesting statistics and facts about both serial killers and profilers. Definitely a great read for both the amateur as well as the professionals who may have to be searching for the killers. Also has a nice bonus chapter about surviving serial killer abductions.



2. A lot of reviews focused on the history covered by this book, but what I found most compelling was in fact the second half, which discussed the "formation" of a serial killer.
   
   In the first half, the author goes back a few centuries to uncover gruesome truths of serial killers across Europe. With every chapter, he steps forward in time, narrating the lives and biographies of famous and not-so-famous killers, from Jack the Ripper to the Boston Strangler. Every page delivers a shock, as the lives and practices of the killers are revealed.
   
   If you manage to survive through the photos in the center without passing out at the gore, you'll find the second half even more gripping. It explains how a serial killer develops, how his behavior differs from others in childhood, how he strikes his first victim, and the pattern that dictates his life from there on. There is plenty on the many types of killers and their various approaches to murder.
   
   A fair portion near the end of the book is dedicated to criminal profiling and crime scene investigation. The book closes with a chilling chapter on how to survive if you find yourself at the mercy of a serial killer.
   
   A very engaging read if you have the heart for the gruesome details!



3. One of the best books on the subject. Comprehensive & detailed w/ case studies. I couldn't put it down.



4. Ever since I first read "The Stranger Beside Me", the ground-breaking book about the serial killings of Ted Bundy, so brilliantly written by Ann Rule, I have read lots of true crime books covering serial killers.
   
   This is one of the best books I've seen covering the topic of serial killers, and is well worth the read. It is truly an educational and well-written study of a stranger who may be beside us!



5. The subtitles of this book promise a lot, but the book hardly delivers on those promises. Given that there really is still so little insight into the psychology of most serial murderers, a lot of the uncertainly here could have been excused if we hadn't been lured into these pages with the cover's promise of "definitiveness" dangled in front of us like candy from a stranger.
   
   The beginning chapters are especially disappointing. They are full of loosely written anecdote, repetitions, backtrackings, and citations of contradictory statistics. There was a recent spike in serial killings; any spike in killings is more apparent than real, probably a function of recording/classifying technique. Serial killers are actually a very rare phenomenon, there only having been 399 in recorded history; serial killers can and probably have lurked ubiquitously, brushing past us all the time, hidden behind facades of normalcy. The reader is ping-ponged between such opposing assertions. Also, statistical breakdowns sometimes confusingly add up to either more or less than 100%.
   
   While the writing remains generally loose, almost to the point of being sloppy throughout, things do improve as Vronsky gets into case studies. He has a particularly long section on Ted Bundy, providing a few insights that didn't come out in the excellent movie, "The Deliberate Stranger," and that didn't get generally circulated. It's the same with Ted Kaczynski, the "Unibomber" whom it's revealed might have been gulled into participating in potentially dangerous and disorienting LSD experiments done at Harvard.
   
   He also has a fairly good section on John Wayne Gacy in which he quotes Gacy as maintaining that it was "the other guy tilt" who killed all the youths found in his crawl space. Actually, that phrase, "The Other Guy Tilt" with its unstudied, sharply akimbo connotations, would have been a better title for this book than the misleadingly conclusive and academic titles that Vronsky chose.
   
   Even with the case studies, there is something to be disappointed about though. The reader might wish that Vronksy had spent less time on already well-documented lives, and had probed more into the backgrounds of killers who got less media coverage, at least in the U.S. There are so many (such as Dr. Marcel Petiot) who are disposed of in thumbnail sketches, even though their elaborate techniques might have provided a gateway into the murderer's mind.
   
   One gets the feeling Vronsky wanted to put something sensational and saleable on the market as quickly as possible, and didn't want to be bothered doing any difficult, original researches. He settled for second-hand sources, then jotted something down.
   
   However, the book did hold my interest. Some of the last chapters provided especially valuable correctives to the impression of forensic infallibility we get from modern TV shows and movies. For example, Vronsky points out some of the failings of the FBI's classification systems.
   
   On the whole, this book is worth reading, but there are probably better-researched volumes on serial killers out there.

5 comments about Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson.

1. 
   I was dubious about buying this book, but I decided to go ahead and get it since I'm familiar with the author. I knew it wasn't something I would like myself, but figured my boyfriend would so it wouldn't be a waste.
   After I got it I flipped through a few pages before my giving it to my boyfriend. Well why did I do that! I was hooked from the very first page.
   This is really and truly one of the best books I've ever read.
   It tells the story of Bumpy Johnson, the gangster who ran Harlem after fighting it out with the Mafia in the thirties. I had seen the movie Hoodlum, so I knew Bumpy was a colorful character, but the movie didn't tell the half of it. This books tells Bumpy's early life, how he turned to a life of crime, and the principles he had while in the life. He wasn't like the thugs they have out here now. He was tougher than any alive, for one. But also, as tough as he was (and he was tough!) he still was a good man in a lot of ways. That's why he was so loved.
   The book tells about Bumpy's childhood in Charleston, his arrival in Harlem in 1919, and how he got started as a gangster. We also learn about a lot of the other colorful characters he ran with like Bub Hewlett and Madame Queen who were also portrayed in the movie Hoodlum, and also what eventually happened to them.
   It also tells about Bumpy's time in prison, and how he raised so much hell there the wardens were trying to figure out how to get him the heck out of prison. Can you imagine that?
   The book also tells about other Harlem characters who've never been written about. Like Dickie Wells, who was a gigilo who romanced white movie stars and got rich doing so, and then spent all his money uptown in Harlem, treating black women to a good time. He was a gigilo who never took a dime from a black woman but bilked white ones for all they had.
   And the book also talks about Red Dillard Morrison, who was almost (but only almost) as colorful as Bumpy.
   And the book gives an interesting history of Harlem that I never knew, and how the black people had to hire people like Bub Hewlett and Bumpy Johnson (they called them the Harlem Bad Men) to protect them from the whites who would come up from Hells Kitchen and try to break black heads. Bub really put a stop to that!
   There's also great stories about Bill Bojangles Robinson, Lena Horne and others. And I didn't know that Bumpy was godfather to Sydney Poitier's oldest daughter. But with all that, Bumpy was still a bad man, and a colorful one that you can't help taking a liking too. He didn't smoke or curse around women he didn't know, but he would still shoot or cut a man in a minute.
   Like another reviewer already said, the book reads like a novel, and a really good one. Even though it's more than 200 pages I flew through it and then was mad when I was finished because it was so good I didn't want to stop reading it.
   I can't say enough about this book. Like I already said, it's one of the best I've ever read. I really, really, really recommend it to everyone!



2. Imagine sitting around on the living room floor in your grandmother's house, listening carefully as your grandmother recaps your family history. That is the feeling I got while reading Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson by Mayme Johnson and Karen E Quinones Miller.
   
   Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was already making a name for himself. His parents, worrying about his safety, send him to live with his older sister, Mabel, in Harlem. This was the beginning of a new sheriff in town, and he meant business.
   
   If loyalty is what you wanted; Bumpy was the man to find. Anything happening in Harlem had to be approved by him as well, and he never ever backed downed. Especially when he knew he was right. Though his main business was numbers running and protection, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, on a drug trafficking charge. Something he did not see coming, for all of Harlem knew the type of man he was.
   
   Mayme Johnson wanted to set the record straight about the type of man, her husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, was. The type of people he kept company with and how he dealt with those who thought they could bring him down. At 93 years-old her memories of the things which took place, from the time Bumpy was young all the way up until the day of his death, was impressive. Though she met Bumpy in 1948, he along with his true friends shared the events of his earlier days with her, as well as things that took place when she was not there.
   
   Mayme Johnson and Karen E Quinones Miller cleared up a lot of falsified information in Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson. Sometimes they flipped back and forth within the timeline, but it was not hard to keep up with. The main thing I had a concern about was the lack of proper editing. There were numerous errors of all sorts. The binding was also an issue for me. I found it hard to hold the book comfortably. All and all I still recommend Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson to anyone wanting to know the truth about the real American gangster.
   
   Jennifer Coissiere
   APOOO BookClub



3. I really loved this Book.. After spending years searching for any information on Bumpy Johnson, I was excited to find that this book would be published. When I recieved my copy I read it in two days, and was very happy to learn about the "Real Bumpy Johnson". He was some man... The movie couldn't get it right, but this book certainly has... Congratulations to the author on a job well done...



4. Mayme Johnson, Bumpy Johnson's wife of twenty years, decided it was time to set the record straight. In HARLEM GODFATHER, she does just that, providing readers an intimate and in depth look into the infamous Bumpy Johnson, his life and his character.
   
   Make no mistake; this isn't a wife's dreamy version of her husband's life, delicately covering the dark patches with a flowery illusion. No, by the end of the first chapter, you instinctively realize Mayme Johnson is a straight shooter and is giving you the truth, with all the fat trimmed away.
   
   Bumpy Johnson was Harlem. Period. Here, he becomes more than a conflicted character in Hoodlum or a blatant misrepresentation in American Gangster. Here, his charisma and creativeness prove he should be acknowledged with all the great bosses of the "mafia" heyday.
   
   Was he a criminal? Yes, but boy, did he run it with style and finesse, a true "Sporting Man" as Mayme Johnson calls them. It is that style, loyalty, cleverness and simple luck, which fixates mainstream America. Bumpy battled Dutch Schultz, played chess and bargained with Lucky Luciano and rubbed elbows with Hollywood stars and starlets, but would pull out his switchblade and slash a guy without a second thought.
   
   While Mayme Johnson provided an insightful and comprehensive journey of her husband's life, Karen Quinones Miller did a masterful job of seamlessly molding the pieces together in this flawless work. The amount of research, time and effort put here cannot go unnoticed. Karen Quinones Miller undoubtedly filled in the blanks, providing the political and historical climate, which enriched the telling of Bumpy Johnson's life.
   
   Mayme Johnson's candor is refreshing, and the simplicity with which she and Karen Quinones Miller deliver this complicated biography is wonderful.
   
   Reviewed by a. Kai
   for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers



5. I read this book in 2 days. I couldn't put it down. I was captivated. I'd always wanteed to know more about Bumpy Johnson ever since I was junior high and found out he really existed as I was a huge fan of the Cotton Club since I was a little girl. I am so glad this book was written because it dispels the rumours and lies and lays out the truth. With so much detail and information that anyone with the inclination to do the work could very well research it. I loved getting a more detailed insight not into just the obviously complex man Mr. Johnson was but also the mindset of the people of th Harlem Renassaince and learning allthese different and interesting factoids about celebriites I've heard about but never here all the true strides and accomplishments they had like the great Sarah Vaughn. I say this is information that needs to reach more people.

5 comments about The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers.

1. This is one of the best books availible for those interested in True Crime and the history of Serial Killers. The author has compiled a fast read and profiles for each person. Very detailed, It is a basic knowledge of the essential info. If you want more detailed profiles of certain serial killers i would recommend that you buy a book based on a certian individual.
   
   But this is a great basic info source.
   
   Most Recommended.



2. It's a pretty long read but it does contain some written material that might be inappropiate for some readers.What I really like about this book is the aspect of every serial killer which deals about their background as well as why would they committe such a crime that forever haunt us till this very day.Michael Newton does provide info that'll help us think and learn about who they are and what they are.Make no mistake that this book will give you everything you need to know about them except the only thing I wish that this book should have is more photos.Anyway,do yourself a favor and check this book out.



3. This book is pretty well written, with only a few minor complaints. First some of the region specific killers are missing such as John Norman Collins, but over all is very complete. The addition of a quick reference guide in the back that explains both solved and unsolved cases is a nice touch.
   
   This book along with Harold Schecters Serial Killer Files make a fairly complete analysis of the more deranged and sociopathic killers out there.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone curious about some of the most despicable people out there.



4. According to prolific crime writer Michael Newton, 84 percent of the world's active serial killers are in the United States.
   No doubt this is more a tribute to the relentless, 24/7 instincts of America's overheated information industry than to any inherent tendency to greater savagery in American folkways.
   And while Newton does not assess the impact of information-gathering on perceptions, he does takes pains to rebut claims that serial killers are a modern phenomenon.
   They must always have been with us. Newton says the first "documented" example was Locusta, who poisoned Emperor Claudius in ancient Rome; but both the Sumerian legend of Gilgamesh and the Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf" appear to describe what we would call serial killers.
   But across cultures and centuries, whatever it is that motivates serial killers seems to fall into easily delimited categories, once local details are stripped away.
   For example, there are "black widows" who poison husbands or family members, usually for money; "bluebeards," the male version of the black widow; plain robbers; religious fanatics; and various kinds of sexual deviates, of which the "ripper" is the most horrifying and best represented category in "The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers."
   Though Newton does not say so, accounts of "werewolves" from medieval and Renaissance Europe read exactly like the cases of pedophile rippers from today's newspapers.
   Whether we understand any better than the medieval jurists who blamed such brutal crimes on shape-changers is a question. We certainly subdivide the practitioners into more divisions than the medievals did: organized serial killers vs. unorganized, territorial vs. nomadic vs. stationary, solo vs. team.
   But Newton is rightly skeptical of FBI "profiling," which he says has never yet led to the arrest of a serial killer. Most arrests come through routine police work, though often the killer kills many times before leaving enough evidence to identify him. (Serial killers are, by definition, secretive; unlike mass killers, who seldom bother to hide their crimes and often wait quietly to be arrested.)
   The total of kills by some of these fiends certainly indicates that more police officers would not serve to lower the total number of victims.
   For one thing, some of the highest (but hardest to prove) totals are run up in hospitals and nursing homes where deranged nurses and doctors (or in one instance a janitor) can kill helpless people secretly. "Baby farms" where unwed mothers used to be sent to give birth were another opportunity for repeated, easy murder, but that one has become less common with changing attitudes toward bastardy.
   At the end of the encyclopedia, Newton lists several hundred active serial murder cases in which no suspect has been identified. It is an impressively scary list, although your chances of being serially killed are, compared to a lot of other unnatural ends, small.



5. It is written like an encyclopedia! Hahaha.
   
   It was a good simple easy read lots of basic facts.
   
   If your looking for those shockinng details. You are not going to get it here.
   
   The x-ray of albeit fich pelvis with the needle insterts was pretty interesting. Not much else.

5 comments about Hell's Angels: Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead'.

1. Long live the Big Red Machine! 8181818181818181818181.......



2. The guy that wrote this book was really trying to show how cool he is. I mean the the way he wrote it was over the top. You can tell he was trying to prove something. I have read Sonny's book and others and they much better written.
   This guy skips around, repeats things he's previously talked about in the book. And the way he talks to the reader is just crude. I mean, sure he's dealing with a rough subject, but come on, use better english.
   And I know what I am talking about. I lived the underground life for many years. I knew people like this, and this writer is someone who has never lived this life. He writes like a person who has never been around the people he is writing about.
   This book is an over the top, stereotypical view of the big red machine written by a total sidewalk commando, or rather keyboard commando.
   This book could have been a much better or clearer view of the HA than it is, but the writer's crude "trying to prove how cool I am" vocabulary, unfocused chapter organization, and other poor writing errors make this book a real dud. I'm still reading it, it's not so horrible that I put it down, but it came close.
   This book should have never been published the way it is. The publisher should be ashamed.



3. This is sort of a weird book. Yves starts the book writing in the style of a wannabe Hunter S. Thompson and then decides that he may as well just start "writing". I would say that the abrupt transition starts in maybe the first 80 pages.
   
   I believe that Yves Lavigne is probably the most knowledgeable author in the world about the major motorcycle clubs, other than insiders like Barger (or even Wethern) or undercovers like Queen or Dobyns (through authors), or in-touch contacts like Thompson.
   
   But Yves has some sort of agenda that makes him report every myth and fantasy that has EVER been posited as if it is a FACT. It doesn't take long to tire of this book if you have read everything else, because you have to believe, based upon acquired knowledge, that 30% of what he says is suspect, at best.
   
   I respect Lavigne for his obviously superior knowledge of the topic as a whole. But read every other account and determine for yourself if he has some personal agenda, even if it is as simple as money.



4. This is one of the most difficult books to read from a stylistic standpoint. It is choppy and seems to bounce all over the place. The editor of this book should be fired - there is way too much extra "stuff" in the text. There is so much fluff that should have been cut out that would have made this a lot easier to read. The author's choice to use slang (to the point of vulgarity) did not go over so well with me either. I understand that this is a book about the Hell's Angels - there is going to be a lot of choice language in it, but he continues to refer to the slang when describing items that are not HA quotes. I don't think this was a necessary device considering the type of book this is - it would have worked for a fictional piece, but not for something as factual as this.
   
   There are many other books out there on the topic of the Hell's Angels or Outlaw Mototcyle Gangs. I would suggest starting elsewhere if you are looking to read about the topic. This book as some interesting parts of it, but you'd be better looking at another title.



5. This is probably the weakest book on the topic I have read. The hardest to deal with is the author's weak writing style and use of profane misogynistic gutter language. This language used in context of describing the behavior and mentality of the subject might be of value, but the author seems to be some kind of wannabe outlaw and is using language that is inappropriate for a study of the subject. Couple this with shallow journalism and no real analysis and you have a trite and offending book not worthy of the bathroom collection. I read 70 pages, scanned the rest and chucked it in the bin.

5 comments about Party Monster: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland.

1. James St. James takes you into the world of the nightlife in the 80's and 90's with a wide spectrum of emotions ranging from euphoria, to jealousy, and fear in this collection of events of the club/entertainment field.
   
   James St. James goes into his rivalry and friendship with Michael Alig with brutal honesty and zeal from literally their teens until their 30's in PARTY MONSTER. James documents their partying and drug use in a fashion that you still care about them as well as their well being, while still hoping that these two will find their way out of the messes that their lives took towards the end of the book.
   
   It has good times, as well as sad times for the two main "characters" in this novel and this book makes you realize that even if people seem to be having a grand old time in the public eye, there may be unhappiness lurking daily in the backgrounds of their existence.
   
   This book does not have a happy ending, but does hold a small amount of redemption for James St. James with him trying to start his life over again in another part of the country.
   
   If you enjoyed the movie, you will enjoy the novel as well, and vice versa.



2. After watching 'Party Monster', I fell in love with James St. James, and although I was slightly disappointed by his tweeny novel, 'Freak Show', 'Party Monster' ,the novel, delivers!
   
   It is a definite page-turner and I don't think it took me more than two or three days to finish it. Book is packed with way more of James' humor and critique than we got from the movie. If you love the man, you'll love the book! Enjoy!



3. This book seemed like a mashup of true crime and memoir. The author, James St James was a 'club kid' in New York during the late 80's and early 90's. For me the most interesting thing about the book was getting a look at that whole scene. These guys made a living dressing up in the weirdest way possible and going to clubs. They were big into a drug called special k. It was a really nutty time and place.
   
   That said, the author writes very clearly and well. He seems to be writing as if you're more or less in the know so the book has a familiar tone. It's compact, has plenty of bizarre anecdotes and it moves along at a nice clip. Very good, very off-beat book.



4. oh James St. James! I fell in love with the movie and wanted to read the book oringinally titled Disco Bloodbath, yet its price was always so high. I stumbled on the Party Monster book and bought two, sending one to my son. We both read the book nonstop until done. We siply lovethe way James writes. He is witty, completely well spoken and an absolute roar with the way he thinks.



5. The movie, "Party Monster", could easily be called one of my favorites. The book, however was much different than I expected it to be. Of course, seeing as how I picked up the book after I fell in love with the movie, my opinion may be a little bit skewered. I wasn't expecting the book to be composed mainly of wit and laugh-out-loud moments, a part of me wanted there to be some of the emotion that was created in the film, but all of that aide, the book was amazing.
   
   James St. James wrote the novel with a tone that sounds like he is actually speaking to you. This is one of those books that you can't, or don't want to, skim over any small part of a page because the words are just that good. Though the overall topic of the story can be considered to be pretty serious, I couldn't get through a page without finding something to laugh at. Try sitting in a room filled with people while reading this book, I can guarantee that the chronic sarcasm and facetious metaphors will keep you from putting the book down.