No comments about Dime Novel Desperadoes: The Notorious Maxwell Brothers.

5 comments about Men Who Rape: The Psychology Of The Offender.

1. This text stands above most others in providing a depth, an intimacy, and a science to the perplexing question of men who rape. It even suggests, against all pc correctness, that men may also be victims of tragic circumstances that lead to their criminal acts. Provides good science, with little politics.



2. This book constitutes the best in it's field providing a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of sexual assault on the part of the offender. After twenty years it remains relevant and fortunately will be reissued in a paperback format in December 2001. It essential reading for everyone whose work brings them into contact with victims and/or perpetrators of sexual abuse.



3. This book constitutes the best text in its field, providing a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of sexual assault on the part of the offender. It has stood the test of time, having been in print for over twenty years, and remains as relevant today as the day it was written. [It will be reissued in a paperback format by Perseus in December 2001.] MEN WHO RAPE is essential reading for everyone whose work brings them into contact with victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse. It remains the classic text on the psychodymanics of rape.



4. Although Dr. Groth wrote Men Who Rape in 1979, it has remained the definitive source for information about male sex offenders for all these years. Here he dispels myths about rape through careful documentation, delineates his basic and enduring classification of rape, and explains the psychological dynamics that drive each offender: the Power Rapist, the Anger Rapist, and the Sadistic Rapist. Professionals working with sex offenders, as well as victims of sexual abuse and those trying to help them, need to understand these basic concepts.
   
   Any mental health professional working in the area of sexual abuse of children or adults should be thoroughly familiar with this book, now once again in print and available in paperback. Its academic style makes it difficult for the general public to read easily, but well educated non-professionals will find it worthwhile. In my own work with sexual abuse victims I draw heavily on this resource to help them answer the question, "Why did he rape me?"
   
   -Dr. Lynn Daugherty, Bestselling Author of the Award Winning Classic Why Me? Help for Victims of Child Sexual Abuse (Even if they are adults now), Fourth Edition



5. I work in a prison based sex offender treatment program. I provide court mandated individual and group treatment to offenders in the last 18 months of their sentences. Until recently the majority of my clients have offended against children; however, I was recently assigned 2 rapists whose victims were adults. My supervisor recommended Men Who Rape as a jump-start text for addressing these clients' needs.
   
   The text is very useful in that is provides general classifications for the major types of rapists. It addresses the motivations inherent in each type. It explains the concept that rape is far less about sex than it is about anger, power or control. It uses clinical interviews with both perpetrators and victims to illustrate concepts.
   
   It is a useful basic text. Published in 1979 there is some dating apparent in the language used, most especially in the interviews. But it is worth the money, for the paperback edition anyway.

5 comments about The Blooding.

1. In 1983, a rapist and killer struck in Leicestershire, England, leaving a dead girl in a wooded pathway near an insane asylum. A year later, in another part of the same county, Dr. Alec Jeffreys uncovered something called a genetic fingerprint, of which no two are alike unless they belong to identical twins.
   
   With that, the biological leftovers of the killer's attack became evidence that could theoretically put him away, if he can first be persuaded to take a voluntary test.
   
   Joseph Wambaugh's 1989 true-crime story "The Blooding" is perhaps the author's most accomplished book, as he delves headlong into a strange netherworld where science and crime intersect, both in terms of genetic fingerprinting of which this case provided the first working model, and of the psychopathic mind of the killer, whom Wambaugh studies at length in the book's second half.
   
   "The Blooding" captures a small British community in a state of terror, and details a frustrating, often misguided investigation that gets its man only after much confusion. "As with many police investigations the secret ways of people often produced peripheral mysteries as baffling as the one in question," Wambaugh writes, and to his credit he follows at least a couple of them at such length you think you are about to discover the killer at last before hitting a dead end.
   
   Say this for Wambaugh: No one else makes police investigation seem so thrilling and comprehensible, and at the same time so worthy of respect. Here he is working far away from his California home base, but the differences in culture and police technique only seem to serve to sharpen his focus. He even manages to delineate a few of the key investigators, though here, unlike his more famous "The Onion Field", Wambaugh's interest remains firmly on the case at hand, however absorbingly he may portray certain indescribable emotions, like that of a father called upon to identify the body of his daughter, "the cruelest, most ravaging sight this world has to offer," he writes.
   
   As Wambaugh notes at another point, "murder annihilates privacy," and in this case this means not only the agony of a murder victim's parents but the ethical question of mass-collecting DNA samples for possible use against a suspect. For it is clear without this innovation of Dr. Jeffreys' and its employment by the Leicestershire constabulary, a killer would have gone free, perhaps while an innocent man was put away.
   
   Humane, electric, alive both to individual moments large and small as well as to the overall significance of the case, "The Blooding" is so good you may close it as I did feeling guilty you enjoyed a book so given the circumstances that produced it.



2. This 1989 true crime book tells of two murders in English Midlands villages that were solved by DNA testing of the local male population. It was the first in the world. This book lacks an index, a table of contents, and pictures. Wambaugh recreated events from reliable witnesses or independent corroboration. Two 15 year old girls were raped and strangled three years apart. Could an innocent suspect confess to murder? Can DNA testing be defeated? [This shows an England that is not in the tourist press. The writing shows Wambaugh's skill, it reads like a fast-paced novel.] Details of the crimes are accurately described.
   
   Chapter 1 describes the three small villages. Leicestershire is the site of Bosworth Field, Richard III the last Plantagenet. The half-nude body of a 15 year old was discovered one morning (Chapter 4). People were scared and alarmed by the murder (Chapter 6). The body was found near a mental hospital. People were terrified, they had no protection. The police followed every lead, anonymous or not. After months of investigation it was shut down. Chapter 9 tells of the discovery pf DNA analysis at nearby Leicester University. [What is a "donkey jacket" (p.75)?] Further investigation continued into DNA (Chapter 10). Everyone's DNA is different except for identical twins. The murder of a child creates additional problems for the family. A suspect was arrested for the second murder (Chapter 14). The suspect confessed after being questioned by the police (Chapter 15). The family of the victim also had problems (Chapter 16). In order to prove the suspect murdered the first girl they used DNA analysis (Chapter 17). The result: one man raped and murdered both girls, but it wasn't the suspect in custody! The television program "Crimewatch UK" showed a recreation of the murder and asked for clues (Chapter 18). The police continued to check all reports.
   
   The police tried a new tactic; they would test the blood of all male residents who were in an age group (Chapter 19). There were no identity cards in England then. Chapter 22 tells how one blood test was done. [If anyone tells you a hard-luck to gain your sympathy you should assume it's a confidence trick.] Chapter 23 describes the scientific precision of the testing. At one unguarded moment a man told of taking a blooding test for another. Someone repeated this to the police, who compared signatures and got a break. "He looks the way our man ought to look!" (Chapter 26). The confession showed neither remorse or emotion. Real life confessions are rarely tidy. One girl survived because she fought back (p.267). There was an ironic ending fro the chief investigator (Chapter 28). The psychosexual sociopath "looked almost human" (p.275). Chapter 30 tells how the media covered this.
   
   Joseph Wambaugh shows his bias in the term "gun-crazy country like the U.S." (P.243). The small villages in the US have high gun ownership with no such murders as in this book. It can't be a coincidence. Or is it the higher rate of church membership? Journalist Per Wahloo wrote novels that used Swedish society as the background. They documented their lives and housing. Wambaugh tells little about these villages, or what people do for a living. How do they compare to others?



3. I love Wambaugh because his books are so much like Giovanni Guareshi's "Don Camilo" series, where I cannot read two pages into the book before I am cracking up so loud that my wife becomes concerned about what the neighbors are going to say.
   
   This book is a page turner, very interesting, never boring. But it is a serious non-fiction work and there are no laughs.
   
   I have read now all of Wambaugh novels, (except "Echoes in the Darkness" which hasn't arrived yet) and the best and funniest of all, IMHO, is "Delta Star", which deserves not five, but six stars. Make it seven stars if you like German shepherds.



4. I love Wambaugh because his books are so much like Giovanni Guareshi's "Don Camilo" series, where I cannot read two pages into the book before I am cracking up so loud that my wife becomes concerned about what the neighbors are going to say.
   
   This book is a page turner, very interesting, never boring. But it is a serious non-fiction work and there are no laughs.
   
   I have read now all of Wambaugh novels, (except "Echoes in the Darkness" which hasn't arrived yet) and the best and funniest of all, IMHO, is "Delta Star", which deserves not five, but six stars. Make it seven stars if you like German shepherds.



5. This is a docudrama rather than a novel. It's a dramatization of the sleuthing behind the arrest of a serial killer in England, and it's chief point of interest is the first use of DNA evidence to solve a crime. Wambaugh does this sort of thing better than Truman Capote, because he's more of a storyteller; but unlike Capote, the less imagination required to tell the story, the better Wambaugh does. Here his writing is at its best, because he has little to concoct--just arrange the facts to tell the story. The story might be of more interest to students of crime than the rest of us, but it's an interesting tale and a good read. As usual, Wambaugh has trouble depicting women, less than usual, because so much is on the record and available to him. All in all, well written light reading that will consume no more than one afternoon. But the question that runs through all of his work remains: Why does he have no idea what women are like?

5 comments about Mafia: The Government's Secret File on Organized Crime.

1. This book is a piece of garbage and has no value. It was not described as nothing more than one page notes and a picture of Mafia members who woulfd range in age from 117 to 85. It was a total waste of $23



2. Interesting for buffs with a little info for today. Better off having it available in a searchable PDF file you can download.



3. This book is not worth the money, It grabs the reader with the title < mafia > .
   And then shows you a police blotter from a few states dating back to the fifties
   Everybody in the book is dead. worthless information



4. A catalog of redacted FBI one-pages on certain mobsters roughly 1960's era; not complete and in serious need of updating. No charts or other supportive info.



5. Really nothing more than hundreds of reprinted pages and photo's from the U.S. Dept of Narcotics Enforcement in the early 1960's, it is very interesting and a vital resource for any crime historian.

5 comments about LAbyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal.

1. An outstanding book. Very well researched and a methodical investigtion of the underworld that the rap music business has become. To the few people who thought that this book was a waste of time I can't imagine that you read the same book. There is so much evidence that the top brass of the LAPD covered up certain investigations that it is overwhelming.



2. As a fan of both Tupac and Biggie, I was very interested in learning more about what really went down. Former Officer Poole seems to think he has the answers so I was eager to learn what he knows draw my own conclusions. I was very disappointed.
   
   First of all, to my absolute surprise, nobody else seems to have picked up on the author's extreme bias. For example, on page 14 of the hardcover version, Sullivan notes that "[In the early 1960s], as now, black males committed a hugely disproportionate amount of crime in Los Angeles and across the country." WHAT? I can't even believe that went to print. Question: do black males commit a disproportionate amount of crime in this country or are they accused and convicted disproportionately? At the very least, if you're gonna make such outrageous comments, back it up. With no statistical data, I consider Sullivan's comment to be hearsay. Then, just a few pages later, on page 18, Sullivan gets a little diatribe going about how the LAPD hiring process has become less stringent over time, noting that "liberals had successfully argued that [baring applicants with juvenile records] limited the number of blacks and Hispanics who could join the LAPD." I'm not even 20 pages into the book, and my reading of the author is that he really doesn't like minorities or "liberals," whatever the latter term means to him because he sure doesn't define anything. Yet I decided to take these and similar comments with a grain of salt and press forward with the book.
   
   If one-tenth of what's written in these pages is true, Biggie and Tupac were just as despicible as Suge Knight, the LAPD, the affiliated gangs, the attorneys and just about everyone else who graced the pages of the book. And that made me really sad because it's hard for me to listen to the music the same way. Tupac and Biggie were not innocent; they were just greedy [...] who courted violence successfully. Truthfully, none of the stuff about the LAPD or any of the other authority figures surprised me. Money and testosterone--bad combination. Lest you think I'm a man-hater, the women in this book are appalling, too. I hate to say it but Tupac and Biggie got what they deserved.
   
   I do think that Sullivan's style is extremely readable and engaging. I also like the way he attempted to provide background on the LAPD history, the history of the Crips and the Bloods, etc. If you're not likely to be critical going into this book, it's not bad for escapism. Unless you were living in a plastic bubble or don't keep up w/ current events, I doubt that you'll be blown away by the overall picture Sullivan paints.



3. If ur a fan of either tupac or biggie GET THIS BOOK .....russell poole blows the lid on how death row was really run. He explaines the level of corruption within the LAPD, and how and why the investigations into their murders remain unsloved. After reading this book, and watching the Nick Sullivan Biggie and Tupac dvd, its plain and obvious to all who was behind their murders!



4. I recommend this book for several reasons. First off, it is extremely well-written. There's no rambling, it's very well researched, and the way the stories and facts are expressed are not dry at all. The writer, Randall Sullivan, writes for Rolling Stone magazine, so it's presented in that style. Even if you aren't interested in the Tupac/Biggie story, this book still goes deep into the origins of the Bloods and Crips, East coast and West coast rap feuds, and especially, just how corrupt the LAPD was(and probably still is). I've read other books on these subjects, including the recently released book by "hip-hop cop" Derrick Parker, but this book is by far the best. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.



5. This book is one of the main reasons I could not bring myself to vote for former LAPD police chief Bernard Parks, in our most recent mayoral race. Seems we were so worried about more negative press in this city, we too often just looked the other way. One of the better documented works on the subject; the background info on L.A. street gangs, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. are worth the cost alone. Will keep you glued to the pages.

5 comments about Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster.

1. I think this was exciting story but it was too long. You would have to read too much to find out too little about a character. I mean it was cool to find out all of the illegal activities going on in the Irish Mob but it was to little information spread out threw many pages which takes me days to read.
   The reason I choose this book was for a school project but it turned out I got some pretty interesting information about the Irish Mob from this book. The author goes to much into detail about unimportant people rather then the important roles in the story. This book is pretty violent and I wouldn't recommend it to nonviolent law abiding citizens.



2. This was the first book I read that focused primarily outside of Italian and Jewish organized crime. This is the book that you want to read as an introduction. I personally took an interest in the chapters on Danny Greene and James Bulger and began to read deeper into them. I cannot say how excellent this book is and I recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested. The best thing about this book, is that you don't need to know much about Irish gangsters to read it. It is broken into short stories and once you take a liking to a particular era or gangster, you can read up on them. Definite good buy!



3. While a pioneering effort on the fascinating topic of Irish-American organized crime, I was somewhat disappointed with Paddy Whacked, considering the acclaim this book has received. The general background of Irish gangsters and the problems faced by Irish immigrants seem very well researched but the effort falls way short when you get down to specifics. Bugs Moran (born Adelard Cunin) was not actually Irish but the son of French-Canadian immigrants and his North Side mob, composed of mostly Germans and Poles, could hardly be considered an Irish gang. The century-long rivalry betwen Irish and Italian gangsters appears overblown here, as an almost continuous conspiratorial intrigue rather than the simple melting pot dynamics of gradually assimilating successive immigrant cultures. Where is the evidence for Owney Madden (English-born but of Irish ancestry) being forced by the emerging Italian-Jewish syndicate to turn on his Irish brethren? The supposed alliance of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and Jack "Legs" Diamond probably owes more to newspaper speculation than anything else and English's theory that it constituted a possible Irish combine to challenge the Mafia falls flat when one realizes that most of Coll's gang were Italians and that Diamond's mob was also ethnically mixed. And it's really a stretch connecting Joe Kennedy's early bootlegging involvement to the JFK assassination which may or may not have been a Mob hit. I also have problems with the fictional dialogue sometimes employed in this book. Paddy Whacked is an ambitious effort but still leaves a lot to be desired and falls far short of being the definitive study of Irish-American organized crime.



4. This is a great book for the most part. It details how the Irish Mob pioneered the way in which organized crime would be run in America, a system which was then copied blatantly by the Mafia.
   
   The book also details the many wars that broke out between the Irish Mob and the Mafia and how in most cases the Irish used superior cunning, ruthlessness and violence to defeat the Mafia and Black Hand for many years. Finally a combination of assimilation into mainsteram society by the Irish, and the superior organization and numbers of the Italian Mafia allowed them to replace the Irish Mob as the premiere organized crime syndicate in America.
   
   It also details how in a few areas, the Irish continued to control certain territories particularly in NY, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. It discusses groups like the Irish Mob in Boston and the nototrious Westies in NY, who continued to run vast crime rackets up untill the 80's and 90's. The Westies and Whitey Bulger's "Winter Hill Gang" were so lethal and feared, that even during the 60's, 70's and 80's, the Italian Mafia didn't interfere with there buisness or infringe on their turf.
   
   The only place where the book faulters is the recycled and laughable theory that the Mafia killed John F Kennedy. This theory has been disproven by any number of well known and highly respected scholars, many of whom are convinced that there was indeed a conspiracy to kill JFK. However most scholars believe that any conspiracy involved the CIA and other much higher level government forces, and that the Mafia played a passive role, if any role at all. The Mafia as English points out in his book, would not even allow their members to kill police, prosecutors or politicians on a local level, so the idea that they would authorize a hit on the most powerful political figure in the country is quite frankly, ridiculous. It also fails to account for the fact that the Mafia, even with all their power, never wielded enough to kill the President of the United States. They couldn't and wouldn't even attempt to kill mafia procecutors in NY.
   
   Other then that the book is a great histroy of the oldest, most fierce and most succesfull criminal group in American history...The Irish Mob.
   
   PS. It seems odd that Mr. English would do such a detailed review of Irish Organized crime and yet not mention the fact that the North Side Gang in Chicago saw a major resurgence under the "Cavanaugh" family beginning in the late 1940's. Several books have been written about the fact that from 1950-2007 the North Side Gang in Chicago has killed scores of Chicago Mafiosi and now controls a vast swath of criminal rackets on the Niorth Side and throughout Chicago. I find it strange that Mr. English doesn't mention that in his book.



5. I found this to be an extremely well-written book chronicling the Irish mob from the later part of the 1800's to the present day. Some of the historical facts were astounding, leading me to research on my own even further. I also found the history of the mob from the early 1900's to be exciting, giving me a sense of the brutality of the era that erased the movie bred image I had in my mind. It is hard to fathom such an intense life those men and women must have led. Thanks to TJ English I got a chance to catch a glimpse.

3 comments about Global Outlaws: Crime, Money, and Power in the Contemporary World (California Series in Public Anthropology).

1. There's little doubt in my mind that transnational crime networks are vastly understudied relative to their impact on global health, security, and economics. Anthropologist Nordstrom clearly agrees, and lays out the fruits of three years of field work in this loosely arranged triptych of illegal (or as she would put it, "il/legal") trade. Broken into twenty brief (6-10 page) chapters, the book starts with the micro of a lone war orphan hawking cigarettes in Angola and slowly zooms out to the macro of international trade and finance. Each chapter opens with a photo, which helps to ground the discussion in the lives of people, rather than policy. The framework is an ambitious one, attempting to tie together a very broad range of material, and it doesn't always work. For example ports are the focus of three unconnected chapters rather than one sustained narrative.
   
   Others have written about much of the same material before, especially the drug trade, the arms trade, and overhyped blood diamond trade. However, these accounts are generally written from a journalism or policy perspective -- none that I'm aware of have grounded their material in such deep fieldwork, nor written about it with such a good ear for the pithy quote or telling anecdote. One of the central themes of the book is that while drugs, arms, and diamonds get all the press, her fieldwork reveals that trafficking in more mundane goods, such as food, is ultimately a much larger part of the informal economy in much of the world. Particularly chilling is her expose of the international shipping industry and just how laughable the customs and security controls on it are. (The same problems are also well documented in William Langswiesche's Atlantic Monthly essays collected in the book The Outlaw Sea).
   
   Unfortunately, the positive aspects Nordstrom's writing are sometimes weakened by the kinds of arcane theoretical digressions and awkward terminology that often pop up in works by academics. The writing is alo marred by a certain shrill tone when it comes to the workings of large multinational corporations and a somewhat snide approach to the operations of international aid and relief agencies. While I don't generally disagree with her analysis, I find the strident and bitter tone somewhat diverting from the truths she lays out. Criticisms of structure and writing aside, this is a valuable, and quick-reading work that anyone with an interest in world affairs should check out. Nordstrom has done a stellar job in illustrating the pervasiveness and flexibility of informal trade networks, and how they can be manipulated around the world to move just about anything, anywhere.



2. If you want to change your thinking about how the world works and adjust it to how the world really works, then read this. If you want to believe that everything is on the up and up, then don't read this. The work covers everything from cigarettes to port security to portable wealth to banking. While most of us recognize that we live in a global world, we often forget that this global world has trade happening in the back room of the cafe with the help of the banks. This is a very honest look at many forms of illegal trade and finance from a very human perspective.



3. An intriguing look at the culture and economy of smuggling and other illegal commerce, Global Outlaws opens many windows to provide a wide range of perspectives on the illegal economy, from the selling of a single smuggled cigarette in an African town to the movement of shipping containers (and their contents, legal and illegal) through a number of major American and European ports. Carolyn Nordstrom provides a rich view of the interdependencies of legal and illegal commerce, both the mundane (cigarettes, washing machines) and the exotic (endangered species of fish for high-end restaurants world-wide). She gives a sense of the range of people and networks involved in these activities, along with the benefits (how else could people get drugs to remote battlefields?) and the threats (could there be a bomb in that container of Barbie dolls?) of smuggling.
   Much of the book represents deep field work at its best. Her presentation of trans-national shipping and port security contains good information that is not integrated so well as other parts of the book.

5 comments about Heart of a Soldier.

1. From childhood in the 1940s to 2001 two men's military experiences in colonial battles in Africa, Vietnam, and events leading to 9/11 provide a chronical of military temperment and commitment. This chronology includes their training, fears, heroics, loves , and being drawn into the mechanisms of terrorism before a terroristic event sets the stage for a final act of heroism demonstrated by one of these men.



2. I just finished this book a few days ago and cannot believe he was a real person-he truly was a Kipling or Hemingway type of character. To be brave so many times in your life, and just trying to do the right thing is refresing to see, and we need to see more of it. His friendship with Dan is very close, and not always seen among men due to homophobia. What was most uncanny was how they knew 9/11 was coming and tried their best to prevent it. Unfortunatly it ends badly when Rick does one more heroic act, but he was a good example how to be a good, if somewhat flawed person. Needs to be made into a movie.



3. I had finished We Were Soldiers Once...and Young, and I was very interested in knowing more about Cyril 'Rick' Rescorla, one of the soldiers who had been in the Ia Drang valley. I googled his name and was thrilled that this book had been written about him. After everything he survived in Vietnam to die while making sure others got to safety on 9/11, I was stunned. I have read many books about Vietnam and this is by far the best. Wow what a story. I will keep this book forever, and when I need a refresher on humanity, I will reread this magnificent story. The book is a very riveting war story, so well written I couldn't put it down. Even my friends who aren't interested in wars of the past are reading it.



4. this book chronicle's one man journey through the 20th century. His journey spans two devastating periods in America's history and is narrated through the eyes of the everyday man.



5. This book is what our current life is really about in the Post 911 era. We visit two soldiers who live life together in Africa and then in Vietnam. It (at the end of the book) debunks our police frame work and the cover-ups of the Bush and Clinton Administrations. These two soldiers warn us of the impending Air Strikes against the Twin Towers years in advance. There can be no second guessing the correct warning they gave the NYPD,The FBI, and others. This book should be made into a film. Give this book a buy and pass it around to all you know and care for. And yes I was there on top of the towers in 1989 and felt the tremor of impending doom awaiting us in the future. Every American should be proud of these soldiers and applaud them.

5 comments about Cries in the Desert (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. This chronicle of "Sex" Torturer David Ray and the crimes of his daughter, his girlfriend and and another "friend" was a fast, page turning read. The narrative flows easily with many descriptions of how the "gang" of evil nobodies were successfull for years in their twisted fetish and how authorities finally put the criminals in prison. Even with the disturbing content of the crimes described in the book it keeps the readers interest and provides a few surprise elements as well. Highly Recommended. UPDATE: as of the writing of my review the girlfriend and other friend of Ray still sit in the New Mexico prison system. His daughter is on probation. Ray himself died 8 months after sentencing - having served a total of only 3 years of his 238 year sentence at the age of 62.



2. I don't remember what I did with this book. I gave most of my true crime literature to a colleague who would pass it on to her daughter. I remember this case well. Maybe because I just read a book about it. Glatt gives you the basics of the crime as horrendous, terrorizing, and horrible as it was for those women. David Parker Ray was one sick creature who with his partner, Cindy Hendy, committed some of the most unthinkable, unimaginable acts towards women only. He did things that I can't write here. Let's just say that one FBI agent committed suicide while investigating this case. Need I write more, Glatt writes more about the victims and possible murder victims of Ray. He claims to be a sadistic serial killer but there are no bodies that were unearthed. He was one of the most sadistic criminals that I ever read about and a judge who cared more about due process than about putting him behind bars. Ironically, the judge died and he was replaced with a judge who didn't show the same preference to the defense as his predecessor. Ray died in 2002 only in prison for 3 years which I think is a pretty sad testament that he didn't suffer as much as his victims. Ray's tape recordings are chilling but I don't think Glatt included them in the book. They're x-rated and not for the squeamish or underage. my thoughts go the to the victims who are still living who suffered so cruelly and needlessly.



3. Fast to the point, a lot of details about the crimes. Not about history of towns and families like some books go into.



4. I read this book in just a few days. It kept me interested from beginning to end. But just a warning, it scared me to death. To think there are maniacs out there like David Ray walking the streets makes me not want to go out alone. Another book that scared me equally was "The Night Stalker" about Richard Ramirez. I never leave my doors unlocked.



5. In looking over many of the other reviews, I can not help but notice that many of the reviewers did not actually read this book. Certain negative reviews have nothing to do with the book at all. For those interested in the book, I would suggest reading the reviews of people that obviously read the book not the star rating of this book.
   
   When the story of David Parker Ray first made news headlines in 1999, there seemed to be a degree of shock in how something so extreme as this could happen. Quite literally, David Parker Ray abducted women and made them sex slaves in the trailer known as his "toy box". He was able to carry this on for so long because his victims walked the fringes of society. John Glatt makes clear that we may never know the extent of David Parker Ray's crimes. He once claimed to have killed as many as 14 people, but he is not serving over 200 years in prison for any time of murder.
   
   One of the portions of this book that I appreciated most was Glatt's history of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. While it is a great source of trivia questions, the history has faded with the passage of time.
   
   The extreme nature of David Parker Ray's crimes may make this book difficult to read for some. The author does not shy away from details. Admittedly, I would have liked to have seen Glatt go into more details in some areas of the book. Still, this is not a deep enough flaw to warrant strong crticism. As a whole, I found the book to be informative and interesting.

5 comments about Unlocked: A Journey from Prison to Proust.

1. After reading this book I realize without a doubt, what a harsh punishment prison is. We have a tendency to think people who have committed vile crimes and are sent to prison are getting off "easy." After reading Louis' book, I see just what a misconception this is. He wrote with a raw, brutal honesty that held my interest from start to finish. He is to be commended for turning his life around and honoring his dear mother's memory.



2. An incredible journey written in a hand steadied by humility and courage.
   
   The story is common, the telling fairly standard, but the heart of the writer is what sets this one apart. No need to rehash the particulars of his guilt. Literature saved him and Ferrante tells us how. It is to his credit that he honored his past, a credit to the power of family to direct one's life. In order to gather and maintain the strength to survive incarceration, Mr. Ferrante called on the most honored of family values -- respect, loyalty and humility. Beneath all the bravado of the first chapters lurks the soul of an honest thief, a "family" man who embraced all the power and responsibilities of his code.
   
   We experience Ferrante's incarceration and evolution; he is a caged raptor. In the chaos of migratory predators, he remains a humble solider, unknowingly paving his own way to redemption. After his conversion, he says "... whichever religion you follow, or none at all, the bottom line is to behave kindly toward others - especially those who aren't so nice to you." This from a remorseless thief, destroyer of lives, a man who never found that "one big score" until he looked beyond himself and away from the small, insular world of his families. The raptor's vision sharpened and from his cage, he saw his small life against the hugeness of the world and its history. The raptor viewed his past and his potential and made his choice.
   
   The soul-crunching horrors lurk in the details of daily life in confinement. Part "Goodfellas", part "Shawshank Redemption," this modern-day Dickens will provoke social change in all things institutional. Some men (the prisoners and their guards) adapt to survive; others descend to their lowest existence. Ferrante woke up, took what the system offered (long periods of reflection) and restored himself to life. Like the brutality of his life (before and during prison) his journey once begun is startling by its urgency, its peace and its beauty. When for the hundredth time he suffers the unfairness and humiliation of being stripped and robbed of his meager prison possessions, he realizes the effects of his actions as a thief. When he abandons his connection (thus his outrage) to his lost belongings, he gains connection to his soul and the soul of humanity. The Golden Rule always applies.
   
   Conditioned by knowledge, observation and reflection Ferrante's flight back to freedom is a lesson in what some call "laws of attraction." As his mind and heart flexed and grew, so did his opportunities for release. This book is not a sermon; it is not an indictment or a "payback" to anything or anyone. It is simply and powerfully the testament of a journey back. Animals in captivity have been known to sever a limb to escape their chains. Ferrante severed nothing; he incorporated his whole life into his future and soared.



3. It wasn't until I had purchased both Ferrante books that I realized they were one and the same. Its entitled,"Unlocked",in the USA and, "Tough Guy", in the UK. While they're both well worth the read I really wasn't planning on spending for it twice. I'll probably give one of them as a gift rather than go to the trouble of returning it. You,of course,can buy as many as you please!



4. I Ordered 2 Of The Same Books They Were In Very Good Condition I Will Be Re Buying Books From The Persons I Got Them From ,Got Them In No Time At All Thank You Again Darla Arreola Sacramento ,Calif



5. I don't usually read books about prison or crime. I bought this book because the sub-title said "from prison to Proust". I happened to be reading some Proust at the time and became intrigued at the thought of a convict reading the same. So, after reading the book description, I decided to take a chance on it.
   
   Worth every cent. If the "f" word terrorizes you, you'll be a basket case by story's end. Yet this isn't gratuitous cursing like in the movies. It's part and parcel of Ferrante's world, which would sound completely ridiculous if you tried substituting "freakin" like they do when certain movies make it to the television wasteland.
   
   I won't go through the events Ferrante records. This is a very honest book told in a straightforward manner. It is NOT politically correct in any sense of the word, and I found that alone quite refreshing. All the blemishes of Ferrante's pre,ongoing and post-prison life are presented without any cosmetics, racial slurs and all. If you're one of those types who takes obligatory offense at everything not sanitized for your perusal, spare your phony sensibilities the counterfeit shock and stick to books already pre-chewed for your intellectual malnutrition.
   
   When this book arrived in the mail I didn't intend to read it right off because I had two other books I needed to finish. But when I started skimming the book I read the first chapter. After that I was hooked and put my other reading aside. Just finished it today. Ferrante tells his story very well, makes no excuses and embellishes nothing. Much of it is sad to contemplate. But his own tenacious overcoming of a bad life strictly by awakened sincerity of desire through the vehicle of literature in the most hostile of environments is storytelling in the grand tradition.
   
   I've read a lot of books and not all of them made me feel like I got a good return on my money or time. When I closed the book I felt like I'd been touched in the place where a good book is supposed to touch you. It made me think and feel differently from when I did before I read it. And, in my view, that's what a good book is supposed to do.