5 comments about Who Killed My Daughter?.

1. Who Killed My Daughter? is one of the best books I have ever read. The title itself just caught my eye one day and I immediatley knew that I had to read this book. It is so powerful. I can't imagine the horror and frustration Lois Duncan went through while searching for her daughter's killer. It was even harder for her when the police refused to follow up on important information. She then received help from psychics and a journalist. It was an incredible journey for her filled with sadness, anger, tears, suspense, and shock. I recommend this book to all young adults and adults. Everyone must read this. Knowing that this is actually a true story adds to the horror and suspense. It gives us an insight on the life of Lois Duncan, her daughter, and the rest of her family, as well as important information. This is a must-read book.



2. This is one of the best non fiction books I have ever read. It is a real tear jerker. I would definately recommend it if you love a good mystery book. Also,I definately disagree with the well written but meaningless review comment. It is not meaningless and the facts are real. I am 13 and I would definately allow my child to read it if I were older. It is a good book.



3. After reading the book and as a retired P.I. of 30 years I've come to my own conclusions pertaining to this murder. Based on ONLY the evidences and personal experiences in this matter, following are the possibilities:
   1. She was pregnant with the child of her Vietnamese boyfriend or gang-raped by the Vietnamese gang. Lois Duncan or her husband's own prejudice simply cannot allow the child to be born. So either one or both of them planned the demise of their daughter.
   2. She had an affair with a police officer(possibily during one of the frat parties). How many parents know everything of their son or daugher's personal life? How many of you told your parents everything in your personal life? That officer wanted her to leave her boyfriend, but she refused. Officer was mostly likely a white male between age of 23 and 35. The fact that she ultimately chose a Vietnamese over him is too much to handle.
   3. She was prostituting herself on the highway, and it was simply a business transaction gone wrong.
   
   Above are my personal opinions reguarding cases like this. Since I did not personally interview any of the parties involved, I can only reach these general conclusions.



4. I feel bad for the mother and the story itself is very interesting, but its dependence on ham-handed psychic readings was a pretty big turn off. I admire the mother's chutzpah but her investigative techniques are far cry from those displayed in Graysmith's far superior Zodiac.



5. After reading Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan I decided to buy all of her supsense novels just because it was so good. Well...I hadn't read any of them but for some reason I was like I'll buy Who Killed My Daughter? and I just have to say WOW!!...I'm a Christian so some of the things in this book really made me think; and I really feel like contacting this author because she also explained her faith a tad bit in the book also. This book is heart-breaking but also very inspirational. I also looked forward to reading this because my sister's friend died in a car accident three years ago and her mother has also written a novel, filled with interviews of her daughter's friends (my sister is in the book). However, I do not know what the title of this book, the last name of the author, or when this book is due to release but it is in the publication process. Overall, read this book.

2 comments about The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

1. A few years ago, Gary Chafetz wrote a book on a notorious malpractice case in which he countered the easy, even lazy, journalistic narrative that dominated the headlines. The story had it that an elite Harvard psychotherapist led an unfortunate, confused working-class medical student to despair and suicide. Chafetz' research uncovered a quite different, and more plausible, story that re-focused he narrative and largely exonerated the psychotherapist from the most serious charges leveled against her. It also told a story of a successful professional, who had done much excellent work and was destroyed by the financial costs of defending herself. In his new book he examines Jack Abramoff, whose name has come to exemplify the rotten core of K Street Republican politics. Chafetz's book should be read widely, not only because he casts doubt on this most recent narrative of villainy...this time the story of the evil, powerful lobbyist who has robbed and defrauded naive Native Americans, but also, and more importantly, because he deals quite harshly with the role of John McCain in the affair. According to Chafetz, McCain's desire to destroy Abramoff arose more out of a personal grudge than from his desire to root out corruption nd in the process he was both unethical and dishonest. McCain, in Chafetz's analysis, shows a vindictive and deceitful side, one far from the "straight talk express" so beloved of the sound-bite corporate media. One doesn't have to accept all Chafetz's argument about Abramoff's activities to appreciate what he has accomplished in writing a carefully researched book against the grain of common wisdom and even against such fair-minded commentators as Bill Moyers. It may be that a very flawed man operating in a deeply flawed political culture has been made a scapegoat while another greatly flawed man is now the Republican candidate for the presidency. At any rate, voters should see this book soon.



2. This book seems to be well researched and makes the point that selective, one-sided, political arguments--political propaganda actually--are the norm in Congress, the Executive Branch and the Justice Department. I think we thoughtful voters realize all that and find it despicable, but what can we do about it? More about this later.**
   
   As you read the book, you realize how much lobbyists run the country and the majority of our politicians. Greed often seems to be the lobbyists' and the politicians' bottom line. I don't come away feeling sorry for Abramoff, though I do worry about how much lobbyists can greatly influence the direction of the country.
   
   The discussion in the book does make me wonder how much we really need to know about McCain's POW days, though I don't agree with those who argue that if he became president in Jan. 2009, he could eventually, possibly, be blackmailed by those who know the whole truth about his so-called collaboration with the N. Vietnamese while he was their prisoner. Of course, the KGB archives could have additional negative info about McCain's days as a POW and could TRY to blackmail him, but at this stage in his life that might be a futile gesture on the part of the KGB. We would know their motivation and perhaps wonder how we ourselves would have withstood inhumane treatment.
   
   **Our beloved country is a mess. I'm discouraged, and I sometimes wonder why anyone bothers to run for office any more. Campaigning is a dreadful system AND BORING for viewers. But as a registered independent, I would argue that we need to register and vote our concerns but first by (1) studying the issues and the politicians, (2) canceling out the many lies spewed out by the candidates and their staff members--who apparently think we voters are stupid--and (3) by daring to speak the truth ourselves since much of the MSM doesn't, as you note from daily readings and Mr. Chafetz' book.
   
   I gave the book only three stars because of the appalling lack of editing throughout. I often had to read sentences three or four times to figure out which words were missing or incorrect, and there were a lot of those! Publishers used to hire proof readers to do such editing, but I guess those individuals are a dying breed who cost the publishers too much money? There's that bottom line again. Still, I think the book is worth reading and do recommend it.

4 comments about Gangsters of Harlem.

1. Overall, I liked it a lot. It is interesting reading and - at least in parts - a useful historical reference.
   
   The book's opening, which deals with the Italian gangsters of East Harlem in the 1900s, contains some inaccuracies about the Morello-Terranova clan (The Morello family was certainly NOT the "first established Italian American Mafia family;" Giuseppe Morello and Peter Morello were the same person; Nicholas Morello was actually Nicholas Terranova; and the Terranova boys were half-brothers to Giuseppe, not step-brothers.) and makes some shaky statements about the origins of lottery rackets.
   
   Despite these errors and others, the tales of Morello, Lupo, Terranova and Gallucci certainly will appeal to the casual reader. But why Chepesiuk decided to lead off his book with this superficially researched stuff rather than use the more reliable bits of it to backfill stories occurring later on remains a mystery. A tougher reviewer might penalize him a star for that bad decision, but there's enough good stuff in the rest of the book to make up for it.
   
   "Gangsters" starts moving with the Harlem Renaissance of the Jazz Age. Tales from this period are easily worth the price of admission. Chepesiuk explores colorful underworld characters like Dutch Schultz, "Mad Dog" Coll and Owen Madden, and renowned entertainers like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Louie Armstrong. The reader is likely to be left wanting more from this exciting and culturally rich era (though some Milton Mezzrow material sounds like it was drawn from a drug-culture website or from Mezzrow's own notoriously unreliable autobiography and is very difficult to accept).
   
   Chepesiuk finally hits his stride as he discusses the rise of the African American gangster in Harlem and the various underworld rackets, including the evolution of the drug trade's focus from heroin to marijuana to crack cocaine. He provides fairly detailed biographies of the more noteworthy figures, like Bumpy Johnson and Queenie St. Clair, Frank "Black Caesar" Matthews, "Untouchable" Nicky Barnes, Pee Wee Kirkland and Frank "Super Fly" Lucas. At this point, the author seems more determined than he was earlier to set the historical record straight. He challenges some old legends and "Gangsters of Harlem" becomes a valuable resource.
   
   On the whole, "Gangsters" is a well written and entertaining work. I do recommend it... from about Chapter 2 on.



2. THIS BOOK SHOWS THE FOUNDATION OF HARLEM, WHO WAS THERE FIRST TO WHO IS THERE NOW. I FINSHED THE BOOK IN ONE DAY...IT WAS ACTION PACKED. NOW I'M WAITING FOR BLACK GANGSTERS OF CHI'TOWN.....IF YOU VIEWED IT COPE IT!! ONE



3. This book offers a cohesive history of the development of crime in Harlem. This well-researched book spans many decades and takes the reader out of the "Dutch Schultz" mindset that so often dominates Harlem's history of numbers policy, as well as drug dealing gangsters. It is a good addition to the library of any reader who is interested in the history of organized crime (and not so organized) in New York City. There was new information about Madam Queen Stephanie St. Clair, a woman who is a more or less "cold case" in terms of what is really known about her. In short, this is a worthwhile investment and a great book to read if you want to brush up your Shakespeare - or Bumpy Johnson - whichever comes first!



4. I ordered this book at the same time I ordered Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, and I'm so glad I read that one first. Because when I started reading Gangsters of Harlem and got to the part on Bumpy Johnson I couldn't believe my eyes. Mr. Chepesiuk just jotted down all of the misinformation that's been floating around on Bumpy Johnson for years and is passing it on like it's research! All of the stuff about Bumpy attending the Avery Institute and a bunch of other nonsence is in this book, when if the author had bothered to talk to any of Bumpy's family and old friends he would have discoved all this stuff was wrong.
   If you want to find out the real story about Bumpy Johnson, read Harlem Godfather: The Rap on Bumpy Johnson which was written by Bumpy's wife. It also has a lot of stuff about other old-time Harlem characters.
   
   And then when reading another review on Mr. Chepesiuk book that says he got a lot of the stuff on the Italian mob wrong, too . . . well, it just makes you wonder where he's doing his research. Does being able to read old magazines with wrong information and copying what you read qualify as research?

5 comments about Son.

1. SON is the type of book that you never forget. As you read, you keep thinking that surely it's fiction and remind yourself that there is a man, a real man alive today, that lived this nightmare. He endured unspeakable verbal abuse but, when he reached a point of no longer being able to "hang in there," he retaliated against his monster mother in the only way he knew how. If I sound sympathetic toward SON, I am up to a point. I am certainly sickened by his dreadful crimes, but he was a psychopath and he did all that he knew to do to block out the reality of his bizarre relationship with his parents. You can draw your own conclusion by reading this incredible book. When the book was made into a "made for tv movie" I didn't think any movie could do the book justice, but it did. The book became even more real after watching Dale Midhoff as SON and Elizabeth Montgomery as his insane mother. If you ever see it listed, don't miss it. All of Jack Olson's books are extremely well-written and always fascinating, but SON is the best.



2. Thank your for the speedy delivery of the book.



3. This true story is a chilling reminder that we live in a world stranger than fiction. I could not put this book down. If you want to look into the world of the psychopath, this is the book for you.



4. KEVIN AND HIS MOTHER ARE VERY SICK PEOPLE. THIS BOOK HAS ME LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER AT NIGHT WHEN I AM OUT AND ABOUT. VERY GOOD READ!



5. If you've ever wondered what reviewers mean when they use the phrase "true crime classic" this is the book that will explain it. Jack Olsen has written many fine true crime books and every well-read true crime fan has their favorites of his works, this Edgar Award winner is mine.
   
   Frederick Harlan "Kevin" Coe is the son of a respected Spokane newspaper editor and his eccentric wife. The whole family is a little off in Olsen's telling, but batty in a way that reminded me of families I knew or knew of growing up. Maybe every town has a family with a flamboyant parent, one "perfect" child and one child that is "going to become someone important." Other people in town notice that the flamboyant parent's stories never quite add up and the child that is going to be something never seems to grow up but everyone is far too polite to actually say anything. Besides, it's no one's business, right? That's the Coe family - mother Ruth was the flamboyant one, telling people about her Southern belle background (she was from Washington State), Kevin's sister was the "perfect" one (she promptly high-tailed it out of Dodge as soon as she was old enough), and Kevin is always on the verge of something big, to hear him tell it, that is.
   
   But Kevin never really grows up. He's forever reinventing himself, just like Mommy, to the point of rechristening himself "Kevin" and making up civic groups for himself to head up. Olsen makes it clear that Kevin Coe's twisted relationship with his mother Ruth fueled his rage against women. Ruth does a fine job of keeping Kevin tied to and dependent on her while complaining that he's, well, too dependent on her. Olsen shows all this but like the great reporter he was, he doesn't comment on it. He presents the facts and lets the reader draw the inevitable conclusions. For instance, he slowly catalogs the many nicknames Ruth and Kevin have for each other and those around them, showing how detached they are from their fellow humans, how utterly unable they are to interact with anyone else on a truthful emotional level.
   
   What makes this true crime classic one of my favorites is encapsulated in its well-chosen subtitle: A Psychopath and His Victims. Olsen spends as much time and expends as much reporting effort understanding Coe's victims and the horrible toll of his crimes on them. He shows us these women living normal lives before, struggling with challenges like divorce and low self-esteem but still moving forward until Coe gets them in his sights. We come to know these women in a few short sentences and begin to understand the devastation Coe causes them.
   
   This is a great book for any genre and a must read for true crime fans; and it's sadly as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.

5 comments about Entering Hades: The Double Life of a Serial Killer.

1. Congratualations to John Leake on this outstanding work! Having been directly involved with Unterweger's extradition to Austria, I can report that women lawyers, law enforcement officers, and diplomats were instrumental in every aspect of this fugitive's return to Austria to answer for his hideous crimes against women. This gives new meaning to the words "poetic justice."



2. I bought this book based on the glowing reviews. I love true crime stories and was excited when this arrived. I tore into it, and it was off to a pretty good start. Then it started to drag...and drag....There were so many little details and names and places that I was bored stiff. I found myself daydreaming and having to reread passages on numerous occasions. I ended up skimming the final few chapters and then picking up at the end. I could not relate at all to the main character, Jack, and I had zero sympathy or empathy for him. He was purely evil and narcissistic and unlikeable, which, according to the author was the opposite of how many people in Vienna's society would have described him. I just didn't get it. Maybe the timing was wrong for me and this really was as great a book as the other reviewers claim. For me it was a borderline painful reading experience.



3. As good as anything Ann Rule ever wrote--and maybe even better.
   
   About the only complaint: author could have delved deeper into Unterweger's mother's life, as well as what exactly the killer's life was like as a young child, as he was raised by a grandfather who evidently was a mean drunk, etc.
   
   Other than that, a fine job of writing as well as research.
   Author John Leake definitely has a career in this field.



4. John Leake's Entering Hades: The Double Life of a Serial Killer is a very well researched and written book. Like others, I concur that the aspects of Jack Unterweger's double life and the ultimately deadly Austrian liberal perspective with respect to the ability of criminals to be rehabilitated were very well done. Less well developed were an explication of the reasons behind the protaganist's murderous behavior--his childhood (and his misrepresentation of certain aspects of his mother's and father's history)--and his sexual inclinations and their relationship to his murderous behavior. The fact that the story spans the Atlantic with key portions in two key Austrian locations--Vienna and Graz (where the American author's German language and translation skills shine)--as well as Los Angeles and, to a lesser degree, Miami, also adds interest to the book.
   
   In short, a very good true crime book about a most disturbing protaganist, particularly considering that this is the author's first book. I look forward to future books from this author.



5. John Leake researched for four years in Vienna and Los Angeles to write this book. He literally spoke to hundreths of people and the result is one of the fines written and researched true crime books I have read recently. What I really applaud the author for, is his genuine lack of vanity. He never judges and never comments on Austria's most gruesome serial killers of the 20th century. After Jack Unterweger got released from prison (for viciously killing a young girl in Germany) he was already a well know literate. In jail, he wrote a book and many of Austria's intellectual elite voted for his early release. He soon became a star of the café society in Vienna. He had numerous affairs with women of all ages, classes and backgrounds. He could have made it. But then the killings started. Eleven women were killed in the time between his release and his escape to Miami, where eventually he was apprehended. Three of them in Los Angeles. John Leake depicts the picture of a sociopath with obvious considerable charms who could function in society as long as nobody questioned him and his stories. He was a cold blooded killer, a narcissist, a liar and a very mediocre writer. I congratulate John Leake to this book and I hope to read more of his books in the future to come.

1 comments about Seventeen Real Girls, Real-Life Stories: True Crime.

1. Not worth the pages it was written on. Finished 1/2 hr or less. I don't know what I expected from "Seventeen."
   
   alienface

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 Written in Blood.

1. I had seen on Court TV about this murder and was looking forward to the book. It is far too vague. I wanted to know more of Kathleen as a person, not just offhand remarks by her stepson alluding to her drinking making it sound like that was a big part of her life and yet I knew it was not. However I wanted that explained more fully in the book. It was interesting to read about an obviously brilliant woman who despite her brilliance made a very bad choice in marrying this man and finding out more and more about him, not getting out before she literally could not.
   It happens to so many, many women but I felt so very sad for Kathleen and for the lovely daughter she has left. The book left out so many things
   that would have helped us understand Kathleen better.



2. Not once, during either of two frantic calls to Durham 9-11 did Michael Peterson mention the blood...and there was a lot of blood. During the early morning hours of December 9th, as Kathleen lay dying on the stairs, police and rescue personnel rush to the home on Cedar Street.
   
   Connecting the complex sequence of dots that convinced a jury of his peers that Michael Peterson was indeed guilty of murder would have been the easy part, because the evidence had been painstakingly detailed during the five month trial. But, Diane Fanning takes the reader behind the carefully orchestrated performance in the court room and delivers the journey through the raw, unfiltered eyes of those who lived it. Detailing the crime scene, police procedure, the autopsy and the trial I fully expected, however, this book is chock-full of extras. Intimate conversations between Kathleen and her beloved sister, details concerning the exhumation and autopsy of Elizabeth Ratliff, the suspicious death of George Ratliff and much more. There's also eight pages of photographs that give the reader a glimpse of the Peterson's before, during and the aftermath is punctuated with a single photo of Kathleen's headstone.
   
   During the trial, the defense displayed an air of arrogance both in and outside the courtroom. And much to the chagrin of Peterson's few remaining supporters, the author pulls no punches describing the showboating behavior of David Rudolf and Thomas Maher, the mysterious discovery of the missing blow-poke and the effect these antics had on the grieving families.
   
   Superb, unflinching, emotionally gritty at times, Written in Blood is a stinging, in your face novel that paints a haunting picture of the madness that often lurks behind the gates of the nicest communities or in the home right next door. And reminds us all that the monster hiding in the shadows is easily recognized in hindsight...but, that's too late!
   
   Although the last chapter of this story will be written by the North Carolina Supreme Court, Written In Blood is as complete a history of the Peterson saga as could possibly be written. If you enjoy reading a true crime novel that goes behind the scenes and beyond the glare of the cameras, Written In Blood does not disappoint!
   
   Happy Reading!



3. This book about the Michael Peterson murder case(es)was chilling! This guy got away with murder once and figured why not give it another try with predictable results. Lightning does not strike twice! It is the most even-handed chronicle of events published. All true true-crime fans should read this book!



4. Diane Fanning is to be congratulated on the superb job of reporting and writing in this outstanding example of the true crime genre. Michael Peterson is interesting for some of us because of the sheer tension surrounding the case. Did he really do it? Was a man like this really capable of such a crime?
   
   Ms. Fanning doesn't flinch, nor does she muddy the waters by giving too much play to the outlandish nonsense the defense team tried to use at trial. The crime scene photos, the amount of blood, the setting, and Peterson's own strange double life, all begin to tighten the knot of very solid circumstantial evidence. (In other words, one could also write a book about the OJ case without trying to pursue the "mysterious" drug dealers the defense hinted at but never identified. There was simply no evidence which pointed toward these chimera. Defense lawyers scare up images of "some other person did it" in nearly every high profile murder...they just never name the other party.)
   
   Far and away the best book on the case...and something you must read if you're also going to see either the TV film or the long European documentary. Good job. Great read!



5. I have read the other book about this case but I have forgotten most of it. In my opinion, this book is the better of the two regarding the Peterson Case in North Carolina about a successful novelist who kills his adored, loved, wife, Kathleen Hunt Peterson, after so many years of marriage right before Christmas. I have read some of Fanning's other books but this book is by far her best because it's so detailed with information. Since I usually just read true crime stories, I was hesitant to read about the Peterson case since I already Jones' book entitled "The Perfect Husband." I was shocked by the detailed information of the blood evidence all over the house at first. As Fanning writes, this book unravels some disturbing behaviors by the widow, Michael Peterson. Of course, it turns out there was another similar death of Elizabeth Ratcliff in Germany years ago. As the investigation unfolds in the Peterson case, Michael's secret life emerges from the shadows and it's a shock to those who knew him as the perfect husband and family man who had two sons, two adopted daughters, and a stepdaughter. He had a wonderful wife who deserved more than to die an ugly tragic death. When I read that she had lived 2-4 hours after she was struck before her husband sought out help, it made me cringe for her. He waited for her to die. The author details Peterson's military background and his experiences his Vietnam as well as his divorces and relationships with women.

5 comments about Zero Day Threat: The Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity.

1. The book has good facts on latest threats on cyberspace.
   I admire the author's plot setting in how he tried to combine a real
   life scenarios from a informative story line.
   
   As a point of improvement, it would be great if he invested more on a more exciting story, so that an avid reader wont get sleepy in the middle of the book.



2. I highly recommend Zero Day Threat by Pulitzer Prize winner Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz. This is a must read for anyone who currently uses or contemplates using the internet. Ignoring the information in this exceptional book is like journeying to a foreign land without speaking the language or carrying a GPS. The risk may be as great as walking down a dark alley with all your earthly goods exposed to any predators waiting for an easy target. The book is interesting, informative and full of good advice. Not only will you understand why the internet has become a huge risk - you will learn how the organizations that you thought would protect you actually put you at risk! The book is loaded with practical recommendations that you can put into use right now that will help you practice safe computing and guard your identity and credit. Don't close the barn door after the crooks have escaped with your horse. Read this book now and avoid spending hundreds of hours, frustration and your money to fix a problem you could avoid. Better safe than sorry - and this is just the insurance you need.



3. Excellent book re: the international scope of identity theft. From thief to enabler, the authors follow the chain of criminals from start to finish. You'll never feel as secure as you did before you read this book.



4. This book is an excellent quick read, with stories and information that will draw you in until you finish the book, and then scare the pants off you to the point that you never want to make another online purchase again.
   
   The authors break each chapter up into three unique pieces which cover the topic for that chapter from three different angles. Being in the IT security field I am always interested to here compelling true stores on security breaches and security incidents. These stories were by no means a letdown to those interests. I was completely astonished to find how integrated the identity theft trade was with methamphetamine use and abuse. In addition, the book also does an excellent job of detailing out how banks and credit reporting agencies do and/or don't work with you if your identity does happen to become stolen.
   
   I would highly recommend this book to every information security professional; online shopper; individual interested in the roots of phishing, computer viruses, and identity theft; and anyone responsible for the well being of a business, organization and/or its employees.



5. Zero Day Threat: the Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity is an interesting and eye-opening look at how banks and credit card companies make ID theft and fraud rather elementary. But with all that, this book must be read in the larger context of how today's society deals with, and is often oblivious to risk. When is comes to risk, American society tolerates tens of thousands of drunk-driving deaths, gives millions in federal tobacco subsidies, and is oblivious about near-epidemics such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. With all that, it is doubtful that the myriad horror stories Zero Day Threat details will persuade Congress or the other players to do anything to curtail the problem with identity theft and internet fraud.
   
   The internet and web have indeed revolutionized society, and there is hardly an industry that has not been positively affected by the net. On the down side, the net is the new conduit for criminals. For example, in the few years before the web became ubiquitous, U.S. and international law enforcement nearly had a noose around the child pornography industry and brought it to a near standstill. After the web, authorities have given up hope that child pornography can ever be contained.
   
   Similarly, white-collar crime and fraud has been exacerbated by the net. Zero Day Threat details the various loopholes that criminals use to carry out their attacks and crimes. Each of the book's 18 chapters is divided into 3 section, exploiters -- which details how the crime lords and their teams carry out the crimes, enablers -- which details the history and current practices of credit card companies, banks, credit bureaus, and data brokers, and expediters -- which recounts how technology and technologies enable these crimes. I found that the breaking up of the chapters into such triplets is occasionally confusing, and you are left wondering what story you are in.
   
   The book is based on the premise that the payment industry, namely the credit card companies, banks, credit bureaus and data brokers have created an infrastructure that is pliable, nearly endlessly extendable, but paper-thin when it comes to security. The system is built for ease of access, ease of granting credit, but without a robust security infrastructure or privacy controls.
   
   Consider that the PCI Security Standards Council was not created until late 2004, and that will give you an idea how security is anathema to the industry. The outgrowth of PCI is the PCI Data Security Standard which is the first uniformly created set of comprehensive security requirements for enhancing payment account data security. While the industry debates the efficacy of PCI, attackers are busy at work running innumerable fraudulent schemes.
   
   The authors paint an honest appraisal of the lack of security in the industry and have their facts in order, although an occasional hyperbole does creep in, for instance when the authors repeatedly state that the hackers in question went weeks without sleep. But a huge error is where they state in chapter 11 that PCI is controversial, with some merchants complaining that it is too costly to implement. There is nothing controversial about PCI, and the security controls it requires are sorely needed. While merchants express their discontent about security and its associated costs, attackers steal from underneath them. The quicker the merchants get that they needed security, the quicker the attacks will stop. But as the book shows, that will not happen anytime soon.
   
   Part of the reason why identity theft will not go away anytime soon is similar to the problem in the air traffic control industry, as detailed in Terminal Chaos: Why U.S. Air Travel Is Broken and How to Fix It. There are too many players in the game, all of which focus on their own interests, and no one wants to take responsibility for the problem. The fact that the Social Security number (SSN) is still used as a key personal identifier, combined with the ease at which an individual 's SSN can be obtained and misused should be enough to give anyone pause.
   
   The primary purpose of a SSN has been to track individuals for taxation purposes. But in the last decade, the SSN has become a de facto national identification number. When established in the 1930s, the Social Security Administration meant for the SSN to be used as a way to track a person's earnings for Social Security benefits. Despite its narrowly intended purpose, the SSN is now used more for non-Social Security purposes, than for the reason it was created. Today, SSNs are used for identity verification, and are the de facto identifier for the credit and financial services industry. With SSNs being aggregated by the millions, they are the fodder for the stories in the book.
   
   Book such as Silent Spring, which helped launch the environmental movement, and The Jungle, which exposed the corruption of the American meatpacking industry, were watershed books that changed America. While Zero Day Threat is not in the same category as either of these books, it is highly unlikely that the level of outrage it will create will be much, nor the indignation significant. Because as bad as identity theft is, and as much grief as it causes, there are far too many politicians, powerful companies, lobbyists and more that are in the way of any change.
   
   Nonetheless, Zero Day is a most interesting look at the many players that work together to facilitate the countless identity theft rings. The book is an absorbing look at the many international players and their enablers involved. While identity theft is not going away anytime soon, Zero Day Threat details the problem, and shows what you can do to ensure that you are not a victim.

5 comments about What Cops Know.

1. Connie has done a magnificent job describing patrol officer tactics and daily procedures. I was a cop for over 13 years and I GAVE this book to all my probationers (rookie cops). This book should be required reading in ALL police academies including LAPD.



2. This is a readable and interesting narrative about police work and much that goes with it. Author Connie Chandler interviewed 125 Chicago police officers in the late 1980's to put this book together. The officers speak plainly and openly about their jobs, and let us see what it's like to wear a badge. Readers learn about working the streets, and crimes that range from property crimes to violent offense and the mob. Some of the stories are interesting, some humorous, and some downright depressing. But nearly all are interesting in the capable hands of the author. Good writing is engaging and informative, and this book easily passes the test.



3. If you are looking for a terrific, can't-put-it-down summer read, I would highly recommend "What Cops Know." I've read it several times and it never fails to fascinate. The author's in-depth interviews with Chicago police officers and detectives cover everything from the beat cops' encounters on the street, to the sex crime officers' investigations into rape and crimes against children, to the undercover narcotics investigations, and more. There's a great wealth of stories here from cops who have seen it all. Perhaps it was even more interesting to me because I lived for 12 years in the Chicago area profiled in the book--the city's Area Six. The voices of the police officers come through clearly in this book, much as the workers' accounts in Studs Terkel's classic "Working" did. A must read for any true crime fan! Written in 1992--and if Ms. Fletcher hasn't written an updated "What Cops Know--Part II", she should!



4. Years ago, I had the opportunity to tag along with some police officers during their patrols. While nothing much occurred, I learned some fascinating facts and heard some amusing stories. On one occasion, while in City Hall, a former politician from an inner city neighborhood warmly greeted the policeman that I was with like a long lost friend or family member. Afterwards, the copper explained that he routinely arrested the politico when he was a street punk. Years later, the man sued the police department for brutality and was elected to serve a term on the City Council. He ended his career in elected office by being sent to prison for corruption. The truth is stranger than fiction. One of his successors required a gubernatorial pardon to serve as a councilman!
   
   The cops see and hear things that many of us unobservant taxpayers never see or constantly overlook. With that statement as a preface, I have to give high marks to this anecdotal account of "What Cops Know."
   
   This is a highly readable and entertaining book that you will find difficult to put down. The police are sometimes cynical, humorous and jaded by turns, but their stories are never without interest. You will find tales of criminal stupidity and heartwrenching tragedies described in these pages. It is a wild ride.
   
   The truth is out there. St. Jude is not the patron and benefactor of police officers for nothing!



5. This book is a real tour de force. Teaches you the politically incorrect reality of what goes on behind the scenes. I won't spoil it for you, but just about every page has some new fact that makes you think, "whoa, I didn't know that!"