5 comments about The Masters of Deception: Gang That Ruled Cyberspace, The.

1. THIS BOOK IS SIMPLY IN MY LIST OF ''BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME''. I HAD STARTED READING IT AND JUST CAN'T STOPED !! IT'S FASCINATING TO LEARN ABOUT THE WAR BETWEEN ''THE MASTERS OF DECEPTION'' AND ''THE LEGION OF DOOM'' AND THE WIDE RANGE OF VULNERABILITY OF TELECOMUNICATIONS WORLDWIDE. I HARDLY RECOMEND THIS BOOK. A MUST HAVE !!!



2. Great book going behind the scenes of computer hackers in teh late 80's early 90's. It really takes you back to the time. Not overly complex. A fantastic read for anyone with an interest in computer crime or within the "IT" community. Easy enough to read for someone not technicle savy to understand the basics. For $10 USD you cant go wrong.



3. This is not a book about hackers; it's a book about some specific hackers who happen to come after much of the action was concluded. Even more than that, it's a book biased toward New York which contains every implied slander of Texas that one can meld into a narrative about hackers. I like the description of MOD, and thought the authors did an excellent job of building up the character of these kids, but find that for the size of this book, it missed an absolute raft of important knowledge. Why do people hack? What, besides damaged egos, makes it thrilling to have forbidden knowledge? How could our society be so incompetent as to leave these giant security holes everywhere? And finally: what was the global hacking culture like, outside of the spacy little land of New York City? The boys from LOD are treated as props and their contributions ignored, which is infuriating to someone who is familiar with the goings-on in the computer underground at that time. Also, technical writing is not difficult, and while this book tries to stay non-technical, I have to ask "why?" There are interesting details which are overlooked and could have been conveyed in English. These authors do a credible job of buildup, but then hype a few incidents into some metaphor for cyberspace, and consequently halve the strength of their book. I would recommend this to people who cannot simply pick up a copy of "2600" magazine or "Phrack" and figure it out for themselves, but not to anyone who cares about the heart, soul or brains of hacker culture.



4. Actually this is a great book about the hacker sub-culture, indeed one of the bests I have ever read. This book describes very well the whole story and social aspects of New York City hackers but fails when dealing with technical aspects or lacks it. I can afirm it's a good book for people who are intersted to know how poor guys in Queens, NY, rised from nothing to create one of the most notorious hacker gang ever and to improve knowledge about the late 80's and early 90's american hacker scene.



5. At 225 pages you can breeze through it rather quickly, enjoying a fascinating look at young people with the commitment, energy and intelligence it took to hack and learn new systems. It was a time when the phone company was deregulated but Ma Bell's offspring still held quite a lot of power and were irresistible to phone phreaks and hackers. If you don't expect too much you'll enjoy a look into the hacker sub-culture. They were explorers and not criminals. I attended several conferences with these guys in later years and can report that their pursuit of knowledge is still fascinating. Social engineering is still the best hack for me. Plik!

5 comments about Mob Star: The Story of John Gotti.

1. The book is a one sided story told by a man who is "obsessed" with John Gotti. Full of news reports that could be fact or fiction. This author has made a ton of money off the Gotti name and continues to do so. He will not let go, we know $$$ motivates him, we know the name GOTTI sells/promotes his web site, articles, and books, but could there be more to the relentless vendetta he has against JOHN GOTTI or is it in Italians themsleves. A dirty little secret?? The rumor is Jerry Capeci uses a pen name, and in fact he is of "irish" ethincity by birth. Could he have a hiddin agenda which motivates his writings of Italian Americans negative light????? Let us know Mr.Capeci!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



2. John Gotti started out as a nobody from Queens,New York, who would later become the biggest know name in the mafia today. After he assassinated Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino family John started to climb his way up in the mafia life.Through out the book the authors go into great detail about John and the family. John was always a fan of the press and media, he wanted his name to be know to all. That was also exactly what happend. John was the most feared man in New York for most of the 80's and the early 90's. After gettin extreamly popular the FBI and RICO started to fallow him and bug his hidouts and homes. In the mid 90's John and his two main men Sammy and Frankie were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.After that the Gambino family fell apart.

   The book Mob Star was thrillin and exciting. After reading the first chapter it was hard not to put this book down. The way the authors go into great detail about what is going on and how it happens, you feel like you were in the same room with john at every moment.Mob Star is a very fast reading book,only because you can not wait to see what John Gotti gets into next.I would recomend this book to anyone who likes the Mafia or just wants to read an excilent book.




3. John Gotti started out as a nobody from Queens,New York, who would later become the biggest know name in the mafia today. After he assassinated Paul Castellano, the boss of the Gambino family John started to climb his way up in the mafia life.Through out the book the authors go into great detail about John and the family. John was always a fan of the press and media, he wanted his name to be know to all. That was also exactly what happend. John was the most feared man in New York for most of the 80's and the early 90's. After gettin extreamly popular the FBI and RICO started to fallow him and bug his hidouts and homes. In the mid 90's John and his two main men Sammy and Frankie were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.After that the Gambino family fell apart.

   The book Mob Star was thrilling and exciting. After reading the first chapter it was hard not to put this book down. The way the authors go into great detail about what is going on and how it happens, you feel like you were in the same room with john at every moment.Mob Star is a very fast reading book,only because you can not wait to see what John Gotti gets into next.I would recomend this book to anyone who likes the Mafia or just wants to read an excilent book.




4. When I picked this book up I thought I would get a nice history of Gotti. That was true to some extent but the majority of the book was devoted to the trials. If you are a lawyer or someone who is interested in that sort of thing then this book is for you. If you want a good read then pick up the Capeci book on Gotti,that is top of the line! You can also read this if you are having problems sleeping....



5. This book was accurate and for someone who is intrested and enjoys reading about John Gotti this is a great book for you to read. A little dragged out in some areas such as the Trials but very interesting. I enjoyed reading this book very much, as i believe you will as well

5 comments about Ghosty Men: The Strange but True Story of the Collyer Brothers and My Uncle Arthur, New York's Greatest Hoarders (An Urban Historical).

1. Is it bad that, after reading this book, these men became my instant heroes? You'll have to read the book (ha, ha-- librarian trick) to find out. From my point of view, they're ensconsed warmly amongst their piles of junk, their tottering piles of old newspaper, their stacks upon stacks of boxes, their miscellania gathered from the sides of the road and trash cans-- four floors of bliss! Protection from the outside world! A true, not-metaphorical barrier from the slings of everyday life! I sleep (candid admission!) with piles of junk surrounding me on my bed. To be surrounded by piles of junk in an entire decaying old New York mansion? Indescribable bliss. My only complaint about this book is that it does not spend quite enough time on the Collyer Brothers themselves, dwelling more instead on Uncle Arthur (fascinating himself). But Five-plus stars to the lifestyle.



2. If this book doesn't get you to clean out your basement, nothing will. A true story about a couple of hermits whose junk collection got the better of them.



3. To much story about Uncle Arthur and not enough about the Collyer Brothers. This was a real disappointment, save your money and get it from the library.



4. I'm a compulsive hoarder of sorts and picked this up because of a link to another book on the subject. I disagree quite strongly with the previous reviewer. I absolutely adored the few chapters on the author's Uncle Arthur and thought they provided great insight and immediacy to the story on the Collyer Brothers. Given the wealth of detail about the brothers in this fine book I don't understand how any careful reader could feel cheated. If anything, I'd love to know more about Uncle Arthur, who, by the way, is cited in the title of this book. So, his inclusion should not come as much of a surprise.



5. This is a great (short) read. Local early 20th century History (U.S. History). Very entertaining!

5 comments about To Die For: The Shocking True Story of Serial Killer Dana Sue Gray.

1. Very good book, though in the end you still wonder what the real motives of this Dana Gray were for those appaling killings of elderly women. Is she a total psychopat? If so, you don't get that conclusion out of this book.



2. Braidhill's book is filled with interesting tidbits about Dana's life and terrible crimes, and it flows fairly well. I learned a lot about police interrogations too! But there are places where it could be better. I noticed LOTS of errors that should have been caught by an editor, but its still pretty good all-in-all. I only gave it 3 stars because its just not a page-turner, although I DID finish it so it couldn't be all that bad! Great for a distraction and to learn about serial killer's BIZARRE minds.



3. In the hands of a better author, the story of a brutal female serial killer with a heart of black evil might have been a very interesting read; however, this True Crime novel was nothing "to die for."
   
   Dana Sue Gray viciously murdered 3 elderly women in one month and attempted to murder a fourth, who lived to identify her. Although the murderess later claimed periods of amnesia and an overwhelming sense of depersonalization during and after the murders, Dana Sue Gray was able to deftly sort through credit cards, cash, and checkbooks with the speed and accuracy of a financial advisor and spend thousands of dollars within one hour of a killing.
   
   Once Ms. Gray is arrested, however, TO DIE FOR takes a spiraling tailspin into the abyssmal and the ordinary. Relying heavily on verbatim police interrogation records, the book slows considerably. When Ms. Gray is moved into protective custody while awating trial, there are endless chapters detailing the repetitious, histrionic, and manipulative letters Dana mailed to family members, friends, and other imagined supporters. In effect, this portion of the book could have been easily reduced by 40 pages without losing any real content.
   
   In addition to the problems already addressed, this book was filled with typographical errors and editing mistakes. I counted in excess of 20 typographical errors and found contradictory information about a single event printed on pages 67 and 286. On page 67, it is written that after attempting to murder Dorinda Hawkins, "Dana took $5 dollars out of Dorinda's purse, leaving a $20 bill, used the cash register key to take $25 from the cash drawer and walked out." Yet, on page 286 it is noted, "Dana... had fled with $20 dollars from Dorinda's purse and $25 from the cash register." A simple fact check and a reasonably good editor could have, and certainly should have, noticed this error.
   
   For experienced, "die hard" True Crime fans everywhere, your money would be better spent elsewhere. I read True Crime almost exclusively and I know what I like... TO DIE FOR does not even come close.



4. The quality of the writing is average, though the story/case is interesting. That is perhaps my biggest gripe. The word choice, the description, etc., are not as strong and captivating as that of other authors (Edna Buchanan, Ann Rule, M. William Phelps, etc.) The book is still worth reading though, and sheds inside into the police handling and media coverage of a female serial killer vs. a male one...



5. If you are a reader of Ann Rule's and/or Kathryn Casey's books, this one will be a huge disappointment. The story of Dana Sue Gray is interesting. How an extreme need to shop would motivate this young woman to kill elderly women, is fascinating. But the writer does a poor job in explaining most of the questions one has about a female serial killer.
   
   The books starts very slowly and is so redundant. The author goes over the same material several times, and jumps around in the story so that it becomes confusing. And like many crime writers, he seems to think readers are more interested in the law enforcement officials than in the subject of the book. I would rather read about the background of the subject and don't necessarily want to know so much about the investigators.
   
   The author moves quickly over some of the murders, then backtracks later to describe them in more detail. He waits until the last 1/3 of the book before he delves into the childhood, upbringing, and character of Dana Sue Gray. At that point, the book becomes more interesting and easier to read, but that section is way too short compared to the amount of time he spent on the investigators. It's almost as if he just stuck the chapter together the same way he wrote them, with no editing involved.
   
   The author leaves the reader wondering if another book has been written by a different author. One that may explain more about Dana's motives and whether it was remorse that changed her plea to guilty or if it was to avoid the death penalty. A lot of questions go unanswered. However, her life behind bars is detailed and I appreciated that glimpse into prison life. How female prisoners create beauty products out of the sparse materials they have access to, is quite imaginative!
   
   As a prolific crime story reader, this one is at the bottom of my list. I also ordered several other books at the same time and after reading this one, was happy to delve into a Kathryn Casey book where the story flows, is about the main subject with only minor references to law enforcement, and tries to understand/explain what motivates the killer.
   
   There are so many other great books about true crime. I would skip this one or try to find it at the library. Don't waste your money.

5 comments about Will to Murder: The True Story Behind the Crimes & Trials Surrounding the Glensheen Killings.

1. If this book were fiction, I might dump it for being completely unbelievable. Most people would think, "No one could possibly do all that." Unfortunately for Miss Elizabeth and her nurse, it was not fiction.
   
   I had been told it was boring--and horrible to read. I got it from the library and soon realized I couldn't put it down. I bought my own copy (online!) and couldn't wait to finish it. I have since loaned it to friends across the country (many are on the waiting list).
   
   If a reader doesn't like non-fiction where the authors really include their deep-down feelings, then he or she might not like this. If someone just wants to read what seems like an inconceivable story, this should be perfect.



2. My husband bought this book for me since I loved touring Glensheen and also I'm a big fan of true crime books. This book was the perfect combination. Loved all the nitty gritty details of everyone's life - really made it enjoyable - Like you're there.



3. I have followed the story for over 30 years now.
   I do not see Marjorie as "greedy", as a normal person would be greedy. She gave more to others and to her children, friends, and family than she did to herself. I think she had a "spending" problem, I see her as probably a bit spoiled by a person who knew nothing about discipling children, and she certainly was raised in a lifestyle that most of us never had, but did she kill her mother? NO, I don't believe she had anything to do with it. Upon Elisabeth's death, there had to be over 100 people that would have benefited.
   Her husband never once implicated her as an accomplice, even though he certainly could and had a right to, especially after she dumped him while he was in prison. Even after she was acquitted of the crime in her own trial, her husband certainly could have pointed the finger at her at that time, as she could not have been tried again for the same time. Yet, he did not. In fact, he said to his dying day that he didn't kill them either.
   I am just wondering why the so-called "third party" was never gone after, and why the case was closed?
   I think all of Marjorie's problem were a sign of this anger and rage she had inside of her over this money, that she could never seem to get her hands on. Her mother set the precident by giving her money as she needed it, but after the Trustees got control of it, she had to grovel and was humiliated by it. I would have been mad too, if someone was always trying to keep my money from me. What business is it of theirs if I wanted to spend it all in one day! However, there are proper and improper ways of channeling anger of course.
   A very good read in my opinion, but way too many holes in the story to be able to know who really did what.
   Much was based on hearsay.



4. Considering that I used to live in the Twin Ports--I lived in Superior, Wisconsin, but the news was mostly from Duluth, Minnesota and surrounding area--this book about the Glensheen murders and events following it was something I just had to read. When a friend of mine asked me what I wanted when I was in the nursing home recently recovering from an accident, I told her I wanted to get "Will to Murder", so she brought it to me as a gift! I had heard Gail Feichtinger discussing the book with one of the reporters on WCCO-TV out of the Twin Cities earlier this summer, so I just knew I had to read this narrative of one of the most famous murders of the northern Midwest.
   
   Although I still wondered about some of the evidence that was found at Glensheen, the discussion of the DNA testing in recent years could have been a sure thing for the prosecution to win the case compared to the faulty evidence that was used in court the first time. It's quite obvious to see how new methods of testing evidence, especially the method of finding DNA on most anything, has turned many cases around. Even if Roger Caldwell didn't do the crime, there were a lot of events that certainly pointed to him. The most glaring scene right after the murders was when all the missing jewelry somehow showed up in Marge Caldwell's possession. How could she have lied so blatantly about her mother's jewelry? I often wondered, as I continued reading this book, how one person could continue to dish up the lies, find more ways to spend money which she didn't have. It just sounded like a spoiled child that never grew up!
   
   Since I'm not much of a crime story reader, I sure kept glued to this book since it was about a murder that actually happened right across the Lake (Superior) from us. The history of the family just made it that much more interesting, and the author(s) gave details on the psychological basis for Marge's behavior, too, so that added to the interest of this narrative. Of course, coming from the mindset of a reporter (Feichtinger), one should expect this kind of detail. The appendices gives more detail for the reader--actual photos of the Congdon family, Marge Caldwell Hagen, the Glensheen Mansion, items from the murders of the two women and much more; history of the Congdon family; and other additional information. For anyone that wants to delve into this famous murder of the '70s and more about the ongoing antics of this Marge Caldwell Hagen, this book is well worth reading.



5. This has to be the most definitive and complete compilation of the facts of the Congdon murders at Glensheen. The authors are to be congratulated on a magnificent volume of work. Truly a Magnum Opus. This book is the ultimate of what the true crime genre should be. A big comprehensive read that mesmerizes and keeps one turning the pages. If the story of Marjorie Congdon won't put the fear of God in you concerning the psychopaths among us, then all else will fail. Your true crime collection will never be complete without this one!

3 comments about How the Cold War Began: The Igor Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies.

1. I looked this book over at Borders and decided not to buy it when I saw that the author claims that the jury is still out on whether Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy. Frankly, it's my opinion that the Venona decrypts of KGB messages during the World War II era have pretty much settled this issue. Hiss was a spy and so were a number of other people that Ms. Knight seems to assert "reasonable doubt on."
   
   Also, the assertion by her that the Gouzenko case marred amicable relations with the Soviet Union after World War II is ludicrous. To use Marxist terminology, that alliance collapsed of its own contradictions (democracies allied with expansionist totalitarian regime). Also, setting aside the Hiss and Harry Dexter White Cases, Venona indisputably proves that the Soviets were running an extremely aggressive intelligence collection program in the West of a scope and nature that is not normally associated with friendly intent.
   
   So I would give this a pass, but if you have to read it, you should also check out a book called "the FBI-KGB War" by Robert Lamphere. Lamphere was an FBI agent deeply involved in many of the cases that this book discusses and in my opinion, he has a lot clearer view of reality than Ms. Knight.



2. (had to enter this in "kid's review" as i don't want to sign up for an amazon account (sorry, amazon!)
   Picked this up as it hit the store this week because of my fascination with the cold war era and the red scare. The case of Gouzenko, who defected in Canada, is riveting. I learned about his case in a history class, but had never read the details of this young man who decided to defect - setting off the most unbelievable chain of events. Knight's research is meticulous, and the case she builds about the lives ruined in the spy hunt makes this book a must for anyone who likes history and a good spy story. I finished it in two days, and it's still making me think....



3. The book is a gripping account of espionage investigation and the political fallout from Igor Gouzenko's defection to Canada in September 1945. Knight argues that the Gouzenko case triggered a change of public perception of the Soviet Union, from that of a wartime ally to that of a deceitful enemy. This change of perception, and the political outrage in the West over Soviet espionage, precipitated anti-communist hysteria in the US and became the opening act of the drama of the Cold War.
   
   Knight's analysis is certainly interesting, placing her clearly in the ranks of revisionist historians (those inclined to blame the US for the Cold War). Her research is very impressive; recently declassified Canadian materials are consulted at great length. On the other hand, the Russian side of the story is inadequately covered. Knight resorts here to a few articles or interviews by former Soviet intelligence officers, omitting archival evidence altogether.
   
   Granted, as she quickly points out in the beginning, archival access in Russia remains problematic, and Gouzenko files at the GRU archive are certainly out of reach. But other archives (e.g. the Foreign Ministry, RGASPI) are more or less open to researchers, and Knight's omissions are regrettable.
   
   As matters stand, only half Gouzenko's story is told in the book; the other - the Russian half - still remains to be written. Still, Gouzenko's life and times are examined in great detail. Knight shows something of an ambivalent feeling towards Gouzenko's personality, admiring him for courage but censuring him for egoism and arrogance.
   
   The one important problem that is barely mentioned in the book is Stalin's policy in the early years of the Cold War. Only once does Knight offer her opinion about the underlying motivations of Soviet foreign policy - i.e. that Stalin wanted to cooperate with the West *before* Hiroshima - but this important observation is not buttressed by any evidence, except for a reference to the Zubok/Pleshakov book (Inside the Kremlin's Cold War).
   
   And yet, Stalin's side of the story is exceptionally important, for if he ruled out cooperation with the West in the aftermath of Hiroshima, then did it really matter what Gouzenko did, or what Washington witch-hunters thought - the Cold War had already begun! The book's title is "How the Cold War began", but certainly without a greater examination of the Soviet side of the Cold War, we can never really tell how it all began. Nevertheless, it is an interesting book, well worth reading, well-written, full of insights and pertinent information.
   
   Also, towards the end the author defends Alger Hiss (arguing that he was not a Soviet spy), though she does not really offer much evidence to undermine the well-known public prejudice to the contrary.

5 comments about A Fever In The Heart And Other True Cases: Ann Rule's Crime Files, Volume III.

1. Once again Ann Rule, a great storyteller and writer on the horrific detail, tells a story on a perfect murder. So perfect that any detective can agree with. Theres no such thing as a perfect crime that are in all fictional mysteries. An experienced homicide detective investigates an unexplained death with only blood,and no body. An incredible story that sheds light on a marriage that seemed happy, but lead to a betrayal. Also the author of the story made it so exciting for a reader to read, like adding a serial killer in the story. This story is like a murder waiting to happen.



2. I love Ann Rule's books, but the first time I tried it, I laid it down. Thankfully, I picked it back up, I was hooked. This is one of Ann's true crime files volumes. I really got swept up in the title story of a young man, his coach and mentor who got swept up in a love triangle involving the two men and the wife of the first man. It makes soap operas stink,(which I think they do anyway), The good guy takes poor coach into his home afer a divorce, and next thing you know, wifey leaves husband for coach. (No doubt for money and materials), then she wants hubby#1 back. Well, what follows is murder which benefits nobody but the wife, whom after one man is dead and the other in prison, proceeds to marry another poor fool. Ann sometimes tends to give too much credit to characters, (especially to looks), as she does in this case. This was an average woman who just knew how to play two men against each other, also involving others to make the murder happen. The other short stories are good, too, especially "The Highway Accident". If you are a Rule fan, of course, read it.



3. Ex-cop and serial killer expert Ann Rule isn't a profound writer. She tells the same story over and over again with new victims and grisly variations on the way a human being can die. I suppose there's nothing profound about me either, since I read her stories. But it's a relief to know that no matter how badly my life is behaving, I'm profoundly better off than the victims of Rule's psychopaths.
   
   The title story, "A Fever in the Heart" is 245 pages long, and the author admits she had a problem writing it, possibly because she was so close to one of the victims. My impression is that she also blames one of the other victims for causing the whole affair.
   
   Briefly, two high school coaches are in love with the same woman, who marries one then divorces him and marries the second coach, then returns to husband #1 who is promptly murdered. It seems like a fairly straightforward case, since only coach #2 had a motive to kill coach #1. Then the prime suspect is also murdered.
   
   "A Fever in the Heart" is an interesting mystery with good police-work, and sad, intricate relationships between the victims. However, I believe it is about 220 pages too long. Possibly because the author was so involved in the story, she tells it over and over again, each time in a slightly different way, but not different enough to hold my interest.
   
   The other five cases included in this volume are as follows:
   
   "The Highway Accident"--A man murders his wife and tries to make it look like an automobile accident.
   
   "Murder without a Body"--"Oregon's last murder conviction in which the body was never found was in 1904." Then a lovely, young teacher disappears, leaving behind lots of blood but no corpse. The prosecutor decides to go ahead with the case, anyway.
   
   "I'll Love You Forever"--Ann Rule found the murderer in this case so sinister that she changed her pen name so he wouldn't be able to find her. This is another sad story of a woman who marries a charming psychopath.
   
   "Black Leather"--A murderer who trolls for young men, then tortures them to death gets his just reward on his own killing ground.
   
   "Mirror Images"--Two convicts bond to the point where they take on the same alias. Both are sexual offenders who torture their victims, and both are on the loose way too long.



4. Ex-cop and serial killer expert Ann Rule isn't a profound writer. She tells the same story over and over again with new victims and grisly variations on the way a human being can die. I suppose there's nothing profound about me either, since I read her stories. But it's a relief to know that no matter how badly my life is behaving, I'm profoundly better off than the victims of Rule's psychopaths.
   
   The title story, "A Fever in the Heart" is 245 pages long, and the author admits she had a problem writing it, possibly because she was so close to one of the victims. My impression is that she also blames one of the other victims for causing the whole affair.
   
   Briefly, two high school coaches are in love with the same woman, who marries one then divorces him and marries the second coach, then returns to husband #1 who is promptly murdered. It seems like a fairly straightforward case, since only coach #2 had a motive to kill coach #1. Then the prime suspect is also murdered.
   
   "A Fever in the Heart" is an interesting mystery with good police-work, and sad, intricate relationships between the victims. However, I believe it is about 220 pages too long. Possibly because the author was so involved in the story, she tells it over and over again, each time in a slightly different way, but not different enough to hold my interest.
   
   The other five cases included in this volume are as follows:
   
   "The Highway Accident"--A man murders his wife and tries to make it look like an automobile accident.
   
   "Murder without a Body"--"Oregon's last murder conviction in which the body was never found was in 1904." Then a lovely, young teacher disappears, leaving behind lots of blood but no corpse. The prosecutor decides to go ahead with the case, anyway.
   
   "I'll Love You Forever"--Ann Rule found the murderer in this case so sinister that she changed her pen name so he wouldn't be able to find her. This is another sad story of a woman who marries a charming psychopath.
   
   "Black Leather"--A murderer who trolls for young men, then tortures them to death gets his just reward on his own killing ground.
   
   "Mirror Images"--Two convicts bond to the point where they take on the same alias. Both are sexual offenders who torture their victims, and both are on the loose way too long.



5. I'd just finished reading Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, (my first foray into true crime)and was so engaged in the story I thought I would give Ann Rule a try. I was very disappointed. The title story itself sounded intriguing, the love triangle turned deadly. Obsession and devotion leading to murder. The first 100 or so pages were okay, not Capote, but readable. But then the author just went on and on and on and on and on. I began skipping big chunks of the narrative,because it simply reiterated the same facts over and over again.We sat through a rehashing of every facet of the story, followed every excruciatingly dull bit of police/DA/Defense procedure. We sat through confessions, then sat through them again during the trial and through every incarnation of them given to cops, prosecutors, defense attorney's, etc. The entire judicial part of the story was five times longer than necessary. I nearly gave up. Stubbornness alone made me persevere and I finally slogged my way through the entire thing. I found the remaining stories more engaging, simply because they were more succinct. I've read that this isn't the best example of Rule's work, and may give her books another go. If you are new to Rule, I would recommend starting with something else.

5 comments about Sunk Without a Sound : The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde.

1. I think, at first, the cover scared me away, but once I started reading I was involved. I must applaud Brad Dimock's writing skill. He has written a book with the timbre and cadence of a Jon Krakauer about an episode of which we know very little. While Glen Hyde's life was well documented by his family, very little is known about Bessie Hyde or how the Hyde's marriage was holding up under the pressure of their Colorado River float. Despite this dearth of information, Dimock has succeeded in bringing Glen and Bessie to life. We care about these two people, who disappeared over 75 years ago, and we follow the scanty thread of facts that Dimock has been able to gather, hanging on to each clue in the hope of learning their fate even though we know from the beginning that the Hyde's were never found.

   Sunk Without a Sound can stand side-by-side with the best of Jon Krakauer and David Roberts.




2. The story of Glen and Bessie Hyde is the greatest Grand Canyon mystery. They are the honeymoon couple that disappeared without a trace in 1928. Many myths and legends have evolved in the intervening years (including a segement of "Unsolved Mysteries"). Brad Dimmock is a Colorado River guide (and a very good writer) who duplicated the couples ill fated journey down the Colorado. He has interwoven the historical material with his own modern attempt using a sweepboat similiar to the one the Hyde's used. I read this while visiting the canyon again. It was great sitting on the patio at the Lodge on the North Rim reading this fascinating account. If you love a great mystery or you love Canyon lore, you'll love this book.



3. Just returned from 7 day trip down the Colorado River/Glen Canyon. One of the favorite stories was of these "honeynooners". the book is a wonderful adventure and worth a read, particularly if you have the joy of rafting that water. Enjoy!



4. Although there are some points where the book jumps back and forth upon itself, overall this is an engaging read about an interesting couple and a man's struggle to understand their ordeal. Very easy and enjoyable read in which you become enrapt in what happens next and makes you wonder what the "real" story truly was.



5. I love this book Just this April, that my wife and I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time together. For me, it was the first time ever. We mostly hiked here and there on the South rim and a bit down into the canyon, but it was nothing big, though it was pleasant. However, I was intrigued with the tales of Glen and Bessie and I wanted to know more. I got another Grand Canyon book through Inter-Library loan and it mentioned that a fellow named Dimock was in the process of publishing a book about them.
   
   So I finally got this book and devoured it, once I got my hands on it. This guy not only heavily researched the Hydes, he also built a similar boat and took it through the Grand Canyon, albeit with a sweep boat as back up. Then he went by kayak to personally survey the area where the Hydes most likely died.
   
   I admit to being taken aback a bit by the book cover, which shows two people in modern garb and wearing life perservers in whitewater. However, who is better to show there than the author and his wife on the replica of the Hydes' "Rain in the Face" while barreling down what is presumably the Colorado River?
   
   I would even bet that this failed exploit provided the idea for Dana Lamb's book "Enchanted Vagabonds", in which he builds a boat and supposedly paddles it with his young wife all the way from California to Panama. However, Dana selected a route where cheating is possible.
   
   I want to thank Brad Dimock for answering what can be reasonably argued about Glen and Bessie.

1 comments about Seventeen Real Girls, Real-Life Stories: True Love (Seventeen Real Girls, Real-Life Stories).

1. This is book was sad, touching, and funny all at the same time! Real girls shared their real life stories about love. In my opinion, I thought it was a great Christmas gift! To girls out there, I'd read it!

5 comments about The Damage Done: Twelve Years of Hell in a Bangkok Prison.

1. These would be the first three adjectives I've use to describe this book.
   
   It didn't seem to develop in much of a linear fashion the way that stories ordinarily do, but instead leaps from one torture to another with no remarkable amount of literary finesse. As you surely know by now, the daily ordeal that Fellows managed to survive are described in excruciating detail. I knew this, like anyone even considering this book would, but it was still excessive. Having spent the last year in SW China, I'd consider my tolerance for shock and disgust to be not insignificantly higher than that of the average American, but it was still too morbid for me to really enjoy at all. Fellows should be commended both for writing a piece that scores of readers are anxious to digest and especially on blaming his decade of torture on his own faulty judgement rather than on foriegn judicial process. Their methods are barbaric, but it's hard to argue that Fellows authoring this wouldn't have an influence on any well-read person considering a career in international drug trade.
   
   I hope that whoever reads this enjoys it more than I did, but probably wouldn't be recommending this one. Lesson learned, if you somehow didn't know this already: don't smuggle drugs into Thailand if you aren't prepared to answer to horrific consequences like these.



2. There are very few things in this world that could be worse than being sentenced to a long stretch in a Thai prison. I picked up The Damage Done while on holiday in Bangkok and my trip certainly took a turn for the frighteningly paranoid.
   
   In The Damage Done, Warren Fellows readily admits to smuggling drugs between South East Asia and his native Australia. He further admits to the many criminal indiscretions of his youth which brought him to his most unenviable predicament. However, Fellows never begs for the sympathy of the reader but rather recaptures his not so anomalous tale of traversing an Asian court system and subsequently its notorious prisons.
   
   Fellows captures the rancid food, drug abuse and violence found in a Thai prison and the consequences such an environment plays on a captive's mental and physical state. Still, Fellows abstains from turning his experience into a preachy tale of woe, and keeps his work cuttingly sharp and extremely interesting.
   
   It seems that the news is filled more and more with tales of Western tourists being tried and convicted in non-Western justice systems. Fellows offers a glimpse into what transpires once the news coverage dies and the convict is left to his own devices; a stranger in a strange land.



3. "THINK ABOUT THE MOST WRETCHED DAY OF YOUR LIFE. MAYBE IT WAS WHEN SOMEBODY YOU LOVED DIED OR WHEN YOU WERE BADLY HURT IN AN ACCIDENT, OR A DAY WHEN YOU WERE SO TERRIFIED, YOU COULD SCARCELY BEAR IT.
   
   NOW IMAGINE 4000 SUCH DAYS TOGETHER IN ONE CONTINUOUS CHUNK" .
   
   In 1978 Newtown footballer Paul Hayward, William Sinclair, and Warren Fellows was convicted of heroin trafficking between Thailand and Australia. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in the notorious Bang Kwang prison - better known as the Bangkok Hilton.
   
   For the Australian public, Warren Fellow's story ended in 1978. For Fellows, it was the beginning of 12 years of hell in a place where sewer rats and cockroaches are the only nutritious food, where autocratic prison guards giggle as they deliver pulverising blows and where the worst punishment is the khun deo - solitary confinement, Thai style. The Damage Done is one man's story of an unthinkable nightmare. It is not Warren Fellows' plea for forgiveness nor his denial of guilt, but a story of endurance and survival and the abuse of human rights during which Warren speaks with frankness of the decade of life he wasted in leg irons. It is an essential read: hearbreaking, fascinating and impossible to put downIt is a brave and compelling read that poses harrowing questions on the nature of justice.



4. Interesting story with great detail. Warren leaves nothing out and after reading this book, you do not want to go to jail. Very unimaginitve that jail get be like this



5. I read this book a few years ago and found it to be a good read keeping in mind that "The Damage Done" was the first (Hilton) book of its genre. You can pick this book up at almost any bookstore in Thailand. Although it paints a negative image of Thai prisons, I don't think the Thai government minds this so much since it re-enforces the country's zero drug policy. Of course Mr. Fellows plays the role of victim very well like most of your former "Hilton" residents, by minimizing their own responsibility is to be expected when reading this type of book. Atleast this book has originality to add to its credit where other "Hilton" books fail in comparison to the point of reguritation. The Damage Done is no "Midnight Express" but still makes for a worthwhile read.