No comments about The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft.

5 comments about Evidence of Murder (Onyx).

1. Reading of crimes such as this, I cannot help but to wonder how many people get away with murders but disguising them as accidents. It is a chilling thought and this story was very well written.



2. I just finished reading this book and I have to say, that although I'm pretty sure he killed his wife, I don't think the state had much evidence. They kept referring to him drawing his wife's bathwater. What is so bizarre about that? My husband draws my bathwater for me more than I do! I hope to heck that if I ever fall and hurt myself in the bathtub, people don't blame my husband if he says he drew my bathwater! The only trouble I had with his innocence is the amount of bruising she suffered in the "fall". But otherwise, if it weren't for that, I would have to say I'm not sure he did it.



3. He did it, it's obvious. And as far as true crime goes, this isn't one of the best. Definately not a page turner.



4. I bought this book when I saw the case and its author featured on a cable TV show. I believe it was American Justice. Bill McClellan has given us a good true crime story here.

   What aggravated me was the fact that no one seemed to think there was anything wrong with Ed Post knocking his wife, Julie, around ("Putting a woman in her place????" PUH-leese - shame Julie didn't respond with a frying pan or a lamp!).

   The fact that Post skipped out of the funeral home and put the moves on another woman in front of his own daughter made me SO glad that he didn't get away with his crime.

   Then there was the victim's father, Hollis Thigpen, who apparently had nothing but contempt for Vietnam veterans, even as his own son displayed the emotional and psychological scars from that debacle. Like many people my age, I vehemently opposed that war but never have I disparaged the people who fought.

   Mr. Thigpen should try telling those who've lost brothers, husbands, sons, etc. in Vietnam that it was just a "scratch scrimmage"!

   All in all, a good read. I don't understand how a previous reviewer could have called it "tedious."




5. This book pretty much starts in the middle and stays there. Ed Post and his wife Julie are at a convention in St. Louis. He gets up at 6:25 AM to go jogging, wakes her up because he "knows" she will want to have breakfast with him, and runs her bath. When he comes back, she's dead in the tub.
   
   I have no doubt at all that he murdered her. Many reasons:
   
   The shower curtain was INSIDE the tub. No woman is going to leave a shower curtain inside a tub when she takes a bath, and any man who regularly (as Post claimed to do) runs a bath for his wife would have the common sense not to either. And as the book says, what woman wants to take a tub bath in a hotel - who's been sitting in that tub? She's going to take a shower. What woman wants to take a bath at 6:30 AM in a hotel anyway?
   
   Plus, he first said that the water was not hot enough for her when she first tried it, and he had to add more hot water. Later, he told another detective that she said the water was just perfect when she tried it the first time. He tells someone else that the temperature of the water was "tepid" like she always wanted it. Apparently he had no idea what tepid is, or maybe he realized tht when they found her 30 minutes later, the water was already cold, which it wouldn't be if it had been HOT.
   
   Why would she grab the towel ring anyway? If she's getting into the tub full of water, she would be squatting down and if she fell, it would be on her behind into the water. Who is going to stand up in a tub full of water? You're going to let the water out, then stand up.
   
   The bruises found after her body had been disinterred. Water in the tub retarded bruising. Bruises were found on her eye, and the back of her neck (among numerous other places). Since these parts of the body are indented, not to mention on opposite sides, it's a little hard to claim she hit both sides in the tub or the floor. One Medical Examiner's claim that the bruising was from the removal of her bones shows how stupid he is. If your blood isn't cirulating, it isn't going to rush to the surface when it perceives an injury. Your body can't perceive an injury if you're dead. Ed Post beat her, then held her face down in the water to finish her off.
   
   Witnesses: He'd beaten her before. He'd beaten at least one of his daughters. He visited prositutes.
   
   Evidence: He owed a LOT of money. Wife was insured for $700,000 (recent addition of $300,000). Same day he borrowed $2,000. Also owed her parents $15,000. Many other debts. Not a guy who can afford this insurance.
   
   The author doesn't go much into the background of either Ed or Julie. Julie is portrayed as a horrible woman who criticized everyone she worked with, and was nicely put, "difficult" to work with. Ed was a big talker who liked to exaggerate his military service, show off how much money he could spend, brag about his "very important" marriage, and very well-respected insurance agent. One of the detectives claimed he knew Ed was guilty because of his extremely tiny feet - in his experience men with tiny feet were the perpatrators.
   
   The writing is rather vague at times. The author talks about a grand jury being convened, and questions they ask. Then mentions that the grand jury fell apart. No mention of a later grand jury...suddenly, Post is indicted - but there's no mention of an arrest or bail. He's just indicted and waiting for his trial. Speaking of the trial, what the heck was wrong with the prosecutor? He let all the witnesses get off without saying anything. It's a wonder the jury had the brains to convict this guy. And as for his first lawyer, Ralph Whalen (a former prosecutor), he knew full well his client was guilty. He should be ashamed.
   
   At least his daughters and his brother finally woke up and smelled the murderer.

3 comments about Blood Highway.

1. Tragically truthful heartbreaking story of a young girl who just wanted to be loved. I do consider the book a tribute to Patty (victim) and feel Sheila (author) did a wonderful job in telling of this unacceptable crime. I truly do commend the author for the compassion shown for Patty.
   -- L.Rogers



2. Very well writen. Very detailed but with a tone of respect for the victims. Great first book for this author, hope she does more.



3. This was the first book that I read from Sheila JOhnson entitled Blood Highway about a madman who kills his pregnant girlfriend, Patricia Ann Booher, and drives with her body to ALabama. There I remember his crimes as awful, the book is memorable because the author writes about the bizarre nature of his crimes which includes killing two beloved pets that were more like children to the owners. I just finished reading a recent true crime book from the same author entitled Blood Lust which I thought was more interesting than Blood Highway. Regardless the crime against Patricia Ann Booher, the major victim, is one that I will never forget. From what I remembered reading this book, she had a difficult childhood and was finally happy on becoming a mother and looked forward to it. The senseless tragedy regarding her murder and the loss of her unborn child is something that I won't forget soon. The author does give a lot of background to both the vicious murderer but not as much while she does write about Patty in a loving, caring manner. Patty's loss was a waste of valuable life! May she find peace and love in the afterlife.

No comments about Open City: True Story of the KC Crime Family 1900-1950.

1 comments about Dead Ringer: An Insider's Account of the Mob's Colombian Connection.

1. Dull, bland and too long - that's how I would describe this book. I have a hard time imaging that even the people that worked on this case were interested in this book. It billed itself as the behind the scenes view of one of the most high profile and important drug busts involving the Mafia and Columbia drug loads.... How could so much bad writing fall into one book? My only assumption is that the publisher must be related to the author and this is a favor or wedding present. Stay away from this book like you would a messy divorce.

5 comments about Ungodly: The Passions, Torments, and Murder of Athiest Madalyn Murray O'Hair (Berkley True Crime).

1. Like other reviewers have stated, this is a very poorly written and biased book. One wonders if it is intentional or not. Easily one of the most biased books I have read, ever.



2. Although this book does give the chronological story of MMO's life, it is written in the sensationalistic style typical of true crime books; that is why I say it is more "true crime" than "biography". For 30 years MMO was the reigning goddess of atheism in America. Her fatal flaw was her contempt for humanity in general, not just Christians. Using MMO's diaries & atheist newsletter, the author lets us know her opinions of the people in her life. Her mother was a "dumb broad". Her office workers at her atheist headquarters in Austin were "scum, derelicts, lumpen proletariat" (the rest of the words she used -including racial slurs- might possibly be deleted by amazon.com if I included them here). Her oldest son, who converted to Christianity was a "post natal abortion". Her financial supporters were "gutless bastards". As noted in her diaries, she had a special dislike for Jewish people. It seems the only people she had kind words for were those who acquiesced to her domineering personality.
   The author has a lot of unkind words for people too, at one point remarking that Bill Murray's "homely" wife Susan wore thick, black-rimmed glasses "of a sort that a mean-spirited librarian might wear". (I'm not sure why the author singled out librarians for this insult.) There is a photo of Susan in the book and as far as I am concerned she has very pleasant features and I believe the glasses she is wearing were considered fashionable at the time. I think the catty remarks are unnecessary and take away from the quality of the book.
   At the time of MMO's disappearance I was living in Austin. I remember reading in the paper a speculative article that she had died and her son and grand-daughter had spirited her body away to someplace where Christians could not pray for her soul at her gravesite. Apparently nobody, not even the athiests cared enough about the abrasive and arrogant MMO to bother trying to find out what happened to her. The police seemed to have little interest in the case, and it took Bill Murray a year to file a missing persons report on his mother, half brother and daughter. It took a newspaper reporter, John MacCormack, and a private investigator, Tim Young, to initiate the investigation that would lead to the arrest and conviction of Waters and Karr for murder.
   One issue that I would have liked for the author to explore more fully was why Bill and Susan turned their daughter Robin over for MMO to raise. Neither Bill nor Susan seemed to like MMO, so why would they allow MMO to raise their daughter? If they had not done so, she would probably still be alive today.
   This is a very uneven work, still it is interesting and hard to put down due to the "true crime!" style prose that has a tendency to "hook" readers and hold their attention throughout the book.



3. UNGODLY is a superb account of the events in the O'Hair's lives. The book shows an UNBIASED look at these individuals despite what other reviewers have said. Most atheist reviewers will not like this book because it shows the true nasty nature of Ms. O'Hair. She was close to a criminal herself with all her tax problems. She was a hard person to like and was obnoxious beyond normal considerations. She had utter contempt for Christians and most people in general. Of course, this in no way excuses her horrible murder. It may be ironic, but I am not justifying murder. What I take issue with is that some reviewers have stated that the Christians in the book are portrayed as all good and the atheists are shown to be vile. I must have read a different book than they did. Certainly some Christians are portrayed as good, but others are portrayed as con-artists. Some atheists are shown to be kind people of good character while others push forward the gospel of hate. Some reviewers seem to take issue with any perspective that they disagree with. I am a Christian, and I have a dear friend who is an atheist. I feel that he is misguided, and he feels that I am incorrect. We debate, but we still maintain a mutual respect for one another. Dracos has shown both sides and told a reasonably accurate account of the O'Hair's lives. His work is researched to the hilt. UNGODLY is NOT biased in any way. Many times throughout the book Dracos portrays Madalyn in a negative light. He also shows respect for her abilities and empathy for her death. I have no idea if Dracos is a Christian or not, but in his acknowledgements he thanks Pan and the presiding Gods. This is tongue in cheek, but as a Christian I personally would not thank Pagan gods even in jest. I say this to point out that Dracos DOES NOT have some hidden Christian agenda. He is just giving a compelling account of a tragic yet interesting life.



4. I wouldn't classify this as a "biography," but it was a very interesting tale of O'Hair's life (and death). I hadn't followed the case against her murderers when it played out; it was quite fascinating to read about it.
   
   Despite what some of the reviewers have written, I didn't think this was a biased book. Hey, it's hard to portray as a saint a woman as wicked as her. Regardless of whether you agree with her Athiesm, she WAS an evil, greedy woman who bilked many of her supporters out of thousands if not millions of dollars. Sadly, it was greed itself that led to her murder.



5. A tawdry account of the life of O'Hair, apparently an egocentrist diminished by the history in which she found herself. The author's dislike of his subject and lack of documentation dominate.
   
   Omnisciently relates O'Hair's motives, thoughts, etc. without specifying sources. The author is contradictory, judgmental and petty in portraying O'Hair (e.g., how does he know she only bathed weekly?).
   
   One interesting point (speculative?--no sources) is on the origin of O'Hair's antireligious sentiment, a failed love affair. Fairly apparent that her response to religion was psychological contra philosophical, O'Hair was certainly not from the same cloth as Dawkins or Sagan.
   
   Interesting material, but lacks basic scholarship and appears to have been written for the tabloid set. Unfortunate, as the issues concerned are more critical today.

3 comments about Cleveland Cops: The Real Stories They Tell Each Other.

1. As a retired Police Officer, I have read literally hundreds of Police Books. Cleveland Cops takes out the "sanitizing" usually done on Police stories and takes you inside the real world of law enforcement. This book is "in your face" from start to finish. The reader will get to ride in the police car and learn the realities of the job.
   Chapter 8 "Some stories you never want to talk about" [ Kids in the crossfire] was a moving tribute to the officers involved. One story takes you to the scene as 2 officers respond to a domestic, only to arrive to a man holding a baby and shooting at them. Then having to feel the helplessness as this man pistol-whips the baby, throws a samauri sword at the officers having set fire to the house. He goes to the roof and jumps with the baby in his arms.
   It doesn't get any more real than this book. Straight from the Cops who were there.



2. After a lot of bad press, this book may help remind folks they have some very good cops in Cleveland - courageous and solid.
   
   One retired cop to all others - read this one!



3. I found this book very exciting and interesting. It is a book that I could hardly lay down, I had to keep reading it.
   This book brought to my attention just how critical a Police Officer's job can be, and a job I feel very few could do.
   I recommend this book for readers who like reading true stories that they can enjoy reading.

2 comments about Thou Shalt Not Kill.

1. I read Mary Ryzuk's book some years ago, but seem to have lost it, and want to find another copy. This was a really interesting book about John List and his family, the murders J. List committed, his escape for almost 20 years, and the final apprehension due in large part to a tip given on "America's Most Wanted," the TV show. I'd definitely recommend this one.



2. This book is based on the true story of John Emil List, a mild-mannered accountant and religious zealot who cold-bloodedly slaughtered his entire immediate family execution style in 1971. The author states that she "novelized" this book and that is obvious. But the facts are shown albeit with a lot of "padding", information she couldn't possibly have known, such as conversations within the family, etc. Still, having researched the story, I found this book to be truly entralling. List was a Mama's boy of the first degree. Born to a woman who married her own cousin's father, they were devout Lutheran German immigrants who lived in their own world in Michigan. Mother List, (it was her maiden name AND her married name), never let young John, her only child, be a boy or a man, for that matter. His dysfunctional childhood and upbringing almost certainly played a large part in what he did to his family. His wife, who had been married before to a soldier who died in the Korean war, had contracted syphilis from him. She met John as a lonely and very bereaved widow. She was John's first and only love. They married and had three children together, Patricia, John Jr. and Freddie. Helen, (John's wife), had a daughter, Brenda, from her first husband. She was very unhappy, especially when Mother List lived with them, and Helen knew how much her mother-in-law disapproved of her. Helen slowly began to lose her health and her mind due to syphilis of the brain. In this book, she is portrayed as a pretty much worthless person, bad wife and mother. But the woman was very ill. John would mow his lawn in a suit and necktie. An extremely eccentric man, his neighbors soon learned to just let them alone. He was a veteran of World War 2 and Korea, he was highly educated and intelligent. But he lost job after job, because of his inability to have relationships with people, he was truly a "cold fish", almost a robot. When they bought an old mansion in Westfield, N.J., (with the help of his mother's money), he continued to get fired from his jobs. He held the position of vice-president of a major New Jersey bank for a while, but lost that too. Faced with three teen-agers in the age of Aquarius he felt he had lost all control, and control was something John List had to have. He couldn't control his wife, who was going insane, he couldn't control his 16-year-old daughter, who was taking acting lessons, dressing as a hippie and embracing the occult, and he had gone through all his mother's considerable amount of money, (she was living on the third floor of the dilapidated mansion),he came to the conclusion that to save them all from the certain entrance to eternal hell, he made a plan and kept it. He shot his wife in the head in the kitchen as she drank her morning coffee. Then he went upstairs and shot his 85-year-old mother. As his children returned home from school, one by one, he executed them as well. He was very methodic, made extrodinary plans, such as having the mail and newspaper stopped, sent notes to the kid's schools claiming they would be out of state for a while, left lights burning in the house, and after placing the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags in the ballroom, YES, ballroom, he found his mother too heavy to move, so he left her upstairs where he shot her. He turned on macabre funeral music and got in his car and disappeared. He left letters for family members, friends and his pastor, to whom he confessed his crime, stating that it was God's will.The five bodies lay decaying for nearly a month before they were found. The neighbors noticed the lights flickering and going out one by one. Finally family friends checked on them and called the police. The man remained free for 18 years, remarried and took on a new identity, "Robert Clark". Thanks to John Walsh and the TV show "America's Most Wanted", and the extrordinary talent of forensic artist Frank Bender, who constructed a clay bust of what he thought John List would look like 18 years after the crime, a neighbor realized who he was, and he was finally arrested and given a life sentence for his heinous crimes. Incidentally, I'm 51 years old now, and if Patricia's father hadn't murdered her when she was sixteen, she too would be 51.

No comments about CORRUPTION AND DEVELOPMENT AID: Confronting the Challenges.

No comments about The Murder of Rachel Nickell (Blake's True Crime Library).