5 comments about Miscarriage of Justice: A Novel.

1. Miscarriage of Justice is based on the actual events surrounding a 1913's love triangle gone horribly and irrevocably wrong. Kip Gayden has delivered an impressive novel that is as exciting as the crime and verdict were shocking. Anna and Walter Dotson were prominent members of the small Tennessee community of Gallatin. Walter, in addition to being a very successful physician, was active in numerous community activities, Masonic Lodge, church bible study and city orchestra leader, and he also had political aspirations. While Walter was attending various groups and meetings, his wife, Anna, was home with her two children. There's a pointed change in the marriage after Anna miscarries their third child, all the romance and intimacy the couple had once shared was drained from the relationship. As time and time again Walter rejects his wife's attempts to rekindle the romantic fires, she is left feeling lonely and unfulfilled.
   
   When Charlie Cobb and his family moved to town, he began working at the local barbershop and quickly became Walter Dotson's favorite barber. It isn't long before the flirtations between Charlie and Anna spiral into a full blown affair. They are both so consumed by the affair and finding ways to be together they fail to recognize the whispers, quiet nods and gossip, that eventually reach Walter. With her adulterous behavior exposed, Anna confessed her actions to her husband and then at his behest, to her brother. What follows is a crime that rocked the small Tennessee community to its core and a controversial verdict that would ultimately play a roll in the women's rights movement.
   
   Masterfully weaving fact with fiction, Kip Gayden has crafted a wonderful novel that brings the characters to life and gives the reader a front row seat in the private lives of people that lived almost a hundred years ago. Gayden has the ability to take the reader back in time and present a believable story, that is informative and entertaining. Threading the women's suffrage movement into the story at the onset puts the reader into the mindset of the era...painting a detailed picture of Anna Dotson's daily life and the importance of women's rights.
   
   A tragic, beautifully delivered historical novel that was a real pleasure to read. I look forward to reading Kip Gayden's next novel. Miscarriage of Justice: A Novel has a wonderful combination of everything, true crime, romance, deceit, adultery and historical fiction.



2. I LOVED this book! I'm not always content with historical fiction, sometimes there is too much history and not enough story. This book is a perfect mix of both. It centers around the Women's Suffrage movement, a 1913s love triangle, and the longing of a lonely woman. The author has done a great job blending together the facts and the fiction to create characters that come to life and characters that I was able to care about. Hope to see more good works from Mr. Gayden!



3. Kip Gayden has written a wonderful novel based on actual events that took place in Gallatin and Nashville Tennessee in the early 1900's. The reader is exposed to a different time in history that has been all but forgotten. The subject matter which is as much about womens suffrage as it is about murder; but it is also about passion and forbidden love.
   Anna Dennis meets her future husband (Walter Dodson) in summer camp. Walter Dodson takes note of Anna the minute she arrives at camp with her father. Anna soon takes note of Walter and signs up in all of his camp counselor activities. When Summer ends and they depart, both Anna and Walter find themselves wondering if they would ever meet again.
   Years later the two do meet again at a hospital where Anna takes a job and where Walter just happens to be a physician. Once they meet eye to eye again, there is no stopping this powerful romance; well almost. Anna's miscarriage of their second child and Walter's ambition and thoughtlessness, sets in motion a wanton, lustful, extramarital, love affair that had no chance of ending well. The actual newspaper articles are included in the novel which makes the novel a historical fiction.
   It is an easy, wonderful, read and I recommend it highly. Miscarriage of Justice: A Novel



4. This book was great-fast read! I am in Nashville and it was fun to know the places where the book was taken place.
   
   I had hoped that the Women Suffrage had played a larger part of the story.



5. I bought this book because it is set in my home county and for a first novel, I wasn't expecting much. However, I was hooked from the opening page. This is a great read. I'm looking forward to more books by Judge Gayden. Now I'm off to see if I can find pictures of the characters in the Sumner County Archives and read the newspaper accounts for myself.

5 comments about Double Cross: The Explosive, Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America.

1. This book kept my interest through most of it and was a pretty easy read. While all the information in the book may not be true, it makes you wonder what parts are true.
   
   I recommend this book for anyone, not just those interested in the mob.



2. Whilst I agree that this book is sensational and written to cash in on the Giancanna name, I would advise all of the reviewers who dismiss the JFK/MOB link to read up on Jim Garisson's investigation into the assassination and, no less, the Warren Commission Report as well.
   
   Sure, Chuck Giancanna is a two-pit leech (by his own account), and Sam Giancanna probably had an ego the size of an elephant, but learn to weigh up the sources.
   
   The lone-gunman theory that this book arguably sets up makes a hell of a lot of sense. A lot more sense, thank you very much, than one Lee Harvey Oswald being able to shoot so well from such a bad angle. Oh, and do any of the reviewers who pan this book know anything about the magic bullet theory, put forward by a so-called expert as "evidence" that there were only three shots fired at Kennedy?
   
   Sam Giancanna may not have been as powerful as his brother makes out. He probably didn't sleep with MM the weekend before she died, but if you read the book by MM's former maid, Lena Pepertone (excuse the spelling), then you will know the conspiracy theory about MM's death should not be taken lightly either.
   
   Read Jim Garrison's well-researched books on JFK and read the blessed Warran Commission Report, between the lines if you can, and you will find all the corroborating evidence you need to accept much of what is said about SG in this book.



3. I first read this book about ten years ago. I found it to be quite interesting, particularly the part which deals with the rise of organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s-30s. I didn't like the way the book was written, however, and I heavily discounted much of the latter part of the book because I couldn't believe that America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) would work hand-in-hand with organized crime, and because I, like most Americans, still held the Kennedys in high esteem. If I had read the "Authors' Note" in the front of the book, I probably wouldn't have been quite so critical as to how the book was written; and if I had known how corrupt Joseph P. Kennedy and his sons were I likely wouldn't have discounted much of what I did earlier. In any event, after reading two or three more recently published and thoroughly documented biographies of the Kennedys, I decided to go back and re-read and re-evaluate this book.
   
   Based on this second reading, I have concluded that this book is one of three things: an accurate historical biography of Sam Giancana and his criminal empire as told from the perspective of his well informed younger brother, a historical novel, or a public service message and wake up call for all Americans. Perhaps it is a combination of all three. My inclination is to believe that most of the information contained in the book is true, but I still find the latter part of the book, that which deals with the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert, to be somewhat hard to believe.
   
   Organized crime has a long standing reputation for taking care of its friends and an equally well earned reputation for taking care of its enemies; so it's not hard to believe that Sam Giancana orchestrated these murders, as well as that of Marilyn Monroe. But, I still find it hard to believe that two future presidents and high ranking officials in the CIA knew about or were parties to these happenings. Or maybe I just don't want to believe it.
   
   In any case, since I can't figure it out, my suggestion is to read this book along with two others and then make up your own mind. Those books are: "Joseph P. Kennedy: The Mogul, the Mob, the Statesman, and the Making of an American Myth" by Ted Schwarz and "The Dark Side of Camelot" by Seymour M. Hersh.
   
   (By the way, ex-sailors will particularly enjoy this book since the crude language used by the mobsters will likely bring back a host of salty memories.)



4. To tell you the truth, I heard about this book for a few years before I found it in a Goodwill bookstore. Something you wouldn't normally find in a Christian store. Nevertheless, I was excited to see it for under $5, so I picked it up.
   
   I was kinda interested in the book because I heard there were some links between the Mob/Outfit and the CIA and Kennedy's assassination. I was really intrigued. So, I read it.
   
   The first bit is setting the stage for the main course of the book. Background and history of Sam and Chuck's upbringings, interactions, beatings, etc. Quite shocking to say the least. Now, the excessive violence of Sam is not something to be read by the squeamish. The language, and vulgarity is profuse in the book. In the context of the book, it is necessary though. To get the true nature of the man that was intimately involved in the climax of the mob's influence in America, and what we find out is around the world, too.
   
   Nevertheless, we see Sam Giancana from the viewpoint of Chuck Giancana, Sam's little brother. Sam becomes Chuck's surrogate father because Sam is so violent, and insists he will take care of Chuck. So unsettling to realize how dysfunctional some families can actually be.
   
   The multiple gory details of what Chuck saw is really unsettling. It is hard to imagine this happening between 50-60 years ago in America! Sex, drugs, music, adultery, spying, murder, intimidation, stealing, drug running, lottery rigging, loan sharking... the list goes on. Everything you've heard about that the Mob/Outfit does, he documents. Oh yeah, Marilyn Monroe is also in the book, related to the Mob/Outfit. Read it and find out!
   
   The link to the CIA and John and Jack Kennedy is amazing. Truly a masterpiece written. I do believe that with the information coming out now about Kennedy's death - deathbed confessions of the real killer - will only strengthen this book's credibility. Not that it needs it, but will maybe perk up some onlookers to actually read it.
   
   Enjoyed the book and strongly encourage those of you to pick it up.



5. My wife got this book for me because I was reading MURDER MACHINE and could not put it down. Well, this one does not dissappoint either. Sam Giancana was one hell of a Don. This guy was into everything, but his claim to fame was running the Chicago Outfit once it took control of Las Vegas. Al Capone is all you hear when it comes to the Chicago mob, but other than Tony Accardo there were none stronger than Giancana. Just ask JFK!!!

5 comments about Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas.

1. This book is really great.Hate to tell that jackass who wrote the olsen casino review but its a non fiction story and it was written long before the movie came out. Anyone interested in the mob or vegas will love this book!



2. Perhaps a little more well known for "Wiseguys", the book that became the movie "Goodfellas", Nicholas Pileggi is as good as they get when it comes to writing about the Mafia, its people and the drama of living the life. It is unfortunate that he doesn't work very fast - more books would be welcome.
   "Casino" is the true story of Vegas in its heyday prior to the mega resort/casinos we see today, like Excalibur, New York New York, The Luxor, etc. Before large corporations turned Las Vegas into a theme park with casinos, the Chicago mob pretty much controlled the then famous casinos of the day, like the Stardust, where the movie "Casino" disguises it with the fictional name of The Tangier. Skimming the profits was the mob's business. Perhaps the greatest handicapper of all time, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, ran three major casinos and ran them well. Chicago sent out the legendary Tony Spilotro to keep an eye on "Lefty" and protect him and the moolah. Spilotro, however, had ideas of his own and soon became mired in a horrendous mess, dragging Rosenthal and eventually all the mob controlled casinos to their demise with him. Rosenthal still lives, and even has a web site, but Spilotro at books' end learns the hard way that being insubordinate to the mob and skimming their skim has dire consequences.
   Pileggi is a master at showing a picture of the lives of these people, the shady deals, the threats from every corner, from the state, other criminals and the Mob, and how difficult life is for those who choose the gambling scene as a way of life.
   It's morbid but fascinating reading. A must for fans of organized crime books.



3. It has been a long time since I fell on such a good book. Interesting characters intertwine in a decisive decade for Vegas. The story is based on the real life of Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal who left his mark in the gambling industry.
   
   Money, power, greed, lust, and crime with flair intertwine in seventies' Sin City. Pileggi is a natural born story-teller who knows how to make it all work and keep you glued to the book with every turn of the page. The writing is style is spot on. It's so hard to find contemporary literature written with such a simple language, yet capable of conveying an intriguing story.
   
   The fact that I had only seen bits and pieces of the movie, also helped. I could place the faces of De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone behind the characters while still enjoying the novelty of getting acquainted with the story for the real time.
   
   I would recommend this to anybody who is interested in recent history, the mob, and the gambling industry overall.



4. Book came in the time frame and in the condition specified.



5. Very disappointed as the book is more like a movie script (i.e. "He enters the room, voice over") This makes it very dull and I couldn't get into the book altho I tried several times.

3 comments about Rat Bastards: The South Boston Irish Mobster Who Took the Rap When Everyone Else Ran.

1. I saw this book and was interested because of the movie The Departed. I saw it in the theatre, and then got the DVD when it came out. Because I am from the area, I knew The Departed was about Whitey Bulger, more than some movie remake of Internal Affairs.
   
   Up until now I had resisted the other books about Whitey and the Irish mob in Southie. This one just looked more interesting, and hit me at the right time.
   
   I have read the other reviews for the hardcover, especially those who are from Southie. It seems people either love it or hate it, and him. I am more lukewarm about the book. I don't have any inside knowledge to tell if he was telling it straight, or making it up.
   
   I thought the writing was ok, not great, but not awful. I imagine his writer was trying to keep the tone and structure true to how Shea speaks. It was a quick read, and a bit engaging, though not a real page turner to me.
   
   I thought that there was a real lack of self-reflection from Shea for the most part. He was just as brash in his story as he was in life. He says this is what I did, this is the surface reason why, deal with it. Very rarely does he dig beneath that.
   
   Other than the prison stories he is very vague about what he did, or what his activities were for Whitey. As he says he followed Whitey's advice about never letting someone else have anything to hold over you. But even without that you shouldn't expect anything specific from him in the book because: 1.) Anything that didn't come out in his trial, he could probably still be prosecuted for; 2.) He says he is not a rat, and so he won't tell anything about anyone else, that isn't already known; 3.) he doesn't want to get those who are guilty in trouble with the law, or make them feel a need to come after him.
   
   What you do get is the sense that he never really grew up. He does want to prove continually how tough he is, and after all the others ratted out, that he is not a rat, but better than the others. He comes from that odd group of males who think that they still should act like teenage jerks, even when fully grown. By choosing to be a perpetual child he also throws away any chance for a real happy life, when he won't commit to Penelope. He gives up a wife, a family, and a home. He is probably too scared of that type of work, and risk. Rather he wants to follow the movie image of the tough-guy gangster, and take the easy way out. Its an empty image that he has opted for, rather than a real life. Its actually sad.
   
   Yes what he did in terms of selling drugs, and being a criminal is bad. He doesn't really care, and he never says he is sorry. He feels bad for the accidental innocent people he hurt, but he never considers the families of his marks/victims/customers, as innocents whom he hurt all the time.
   
   I think the book says just as much about him indirectly as it does with his input. It was a quick, interesting read. I wouldn't buy it in hardcover, but think paper is ok, and maybe borrowing from the Library is the best.



2. John "Red" Shea spends his life making sure he is a "man." To him, this means beating up anyone who doesn't conform to his macho teenage code learned on the mean streets of Southie. One would think Shea would have learned a few lessons about maturity after 12 years in federal prison. You don't get that impression after reading his memoir, which is one of several by members of Whitey Bulger's former gang. Shea takes pride in being the only one not to 'rat,' an act akin to him of the lowest human order. His tale will be glorified by Mark Wahlberg in an upcoming film, evidently. It will make a good movie. But as real life, it's just a waste. The book is a decent read, not as good as some of the others in this genre. It doesn't really take off until the middle when he finally reaches the stage where he becomes Whitey's "protege," as a drug dealer. The prison section is interesting, too. If you like tales of human depravity and bleakness, you'll eat this one up.



3. Shea can say honestly that he is not a rat because he never turned "states evidence" and plead guilty through plea bargaining.He was a "soldier"in Whitey Bulger's Irish crime mob.His job was as a protector and volume drug dealer. There are no murders or "hits" described in the book,whether because Shea doesn't want to be a "rat",or because he never participated in any.The reader is left to speculate whether Shea was a contract killer or not. Certainly from the level of violence he maintained it would be a possibility.Despite it all he seems as if he has a Dr. Jekyll side,at times a warm,sensitive personality.
   He found out too late that "rats" are everywhere in the criminal world,as a matter of fact that is whom "the life" attracts.A code of honor as professed by Shea is a liability.So maybe the criminals' best move is in the words of Forrest,is to"get there firstest with the mostest",that is be the first rat with the most info for the Feds.You can soak up the summer sun with a summer blond. The others can be reviewed on Amazon in regard to their prison memoirs, complete with accounts of homosexual assaults and prisongang riots.Whitey Bulger just outsmarted all of them and that's why they're so angry at him.The criminal needs to be aware that the government always uses "badguys" to get other badguys.Shea needed to realize this when he went into a life of crime.Rats are part of the crime world,a calculated risk so stop bellyaching when one pops your balloon.

5 comments about Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: Stories of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll and Murder.

1. You have probably read some of these articles over the years in magazines and weekly newspapers. Here are some great stories of the last twenty years. Stories about John Holmes and Rick James are great. Mike Sager goes into great detail to give a rounded picture of all his subects. The stories about journalists Janet Lewis and Veronica Guernin are pretty intense. Some of this stuff is about obsessions we all had about ten years ago like Easy-E Eric Wright and the Heaven's Gate Crowd. It's funny how time flys. Check it out.



2. I bought this book on a whim because it looked interesting in the store. I'm glad I did as I've enjoyed it very much. The book is a collection of nineteen articles originally published in Esquire, GQ, or Rolling Stone. The subjects are generally sad and sordid but Sager takes the time to understand his subjects and explain not only what happened to them but why. Some of the incidents he describes are familiar but Sager's work has depth and reveals and explains things other more superficial coverage missed. I recommend this book and will be looking for future work by this writer.



3. each piece in this book is somewhere in the 20 to 50 page range, but despite the brevity, you feel as though you've gotten an in-depth look at some dark, dark american lives. nothing here that you could call feel-good fluff. but it is mostly all very interesting; it kept my fingers flipping the pages faster than 90% of the other books i've been reading of late. highly recommended for those who like good writing on sex & drugs & murder & other sorts of mayhem. and personally i don't think there is a lot of good writing out there on those sorts of things.



4. First things first. I bought this book based on having read Sager's "The Devil And John Holmes" story in Rolling Stone back in '89 and really enjoying it. While I enjoyed all 19 of the stories presented here, I was close to tearing the damn book in half by the time I reached the final offering. Why? Because as I progressed through the book, I began to dread Sager's pet phrase of having someone "cut their eyes" at someone or something else. It's in almost half of these stories. Don't believe me? Check out pages 24, 39, 138, 154, 170, 209, 299, 357, and 416. I fault his editors at GQ for this as at least 6 of the 9 stories were first published in that magazine. Would that stop me from reading anything else by him? No, but in the back of my mind I'd be waiting for someone to "cut their eyes".



5. Based simply on the title of Mike Sager's "Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: Stories of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N Roll and Murder," I had to buy the book. The title promises a lot, and the book delivers.
   
   The compilation of essays from Sager's journalism career at GQ, Esquire and Rolling Stone magazines features stories of real people who find themselves in improbable situations and what becomes of them. Love triangles, religious cults, musicians, surfers, politicians, cokeheads, moms, pornos, law enforcement agents and prisoners: every person and situation that Sager presents, he presents in a way that one might not normally think of. The 19 stories serve our culture up to us in sometimes unappealing but always intriguing ways. And because each chapter is a complete entity unto itself, the book is good for picking up and putting down if you have a hectic schedule.
   
   Completely enjoyable (though I confess there was one story that I had to skip over - which one it was, I won't say!). Thoroughly recommended.

2 comments about Transportation and Cargo Security: Threats and Solutions.

1. Worth the Invest
   
   The authors have relevant and current information that highlights the importance of the topic
   
   Bernie Martin PE



2. On any given day at America's airport terminals, grandmothers are asked to remove their shoes, raise their arms, and submit to a wanding with a magnetometer. That is in stark contrast to commercial transportation security, where even nearly seven years after 9-11, risks far greater than grandma go unchecked.
   
   The book Transportation and Cargo Security: Threats and Solutions provides a comprehensive look at the myriad details involved with the complex, dynamic world of commercial transportation security. It includes information on maritime, land (railroad, trucking, mass transit), pipeline, and air transportation modes.
   
   The book's 14 chapters provide a thorough overview of the specific topics that cross sectors, such as threats, countermeasures, and personnel concerns, as well as laws, regulations, government agencies, and standards for specific sectors.
   
   Many books on these security topics include over-the-top statistics and fail to present a pragmatic view. Transportation and Cargo Security takes a practical yet hardheaded look at the core issues, which gives the reader a superb understanding of the various threats to the transportation system.
   
   What is frustrating is that the book often refers to laws passed just after 9-11, yet many agencies and industries are still noncompliant with the many requirements contained in those laws.
   
   Transportation and Cargo Security: Threats and Solutions is an excellent reference that anyone who deals with transportation security will find extremely valuable. This is the book that everyone in transportation security should have read.

5 comments about Perfect Poison: A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine.

1. The story of Kristen Gilbert, as told by M. William Phelps, is something that hits so close to home. Is there one of us that has not placed our care into the hands of someone who we trusted would ensure our safety and well-being, such as a nurse or doctor? This was the case of many VAMC patients, and their families, who thought they were being treated for their ailments, but instead died of sudden cardiac arrest as a result of EPI posioning. And Gilbert was not discriminate in her victims as they ranged from their thirties to those well into their golden years.
   
   What was the most fascinating aspect of this book is to see the clear evidence of psychosis in this young lady and to ponder how she was able to hide her insanity for thirty plus years.
   
   I found that in the third portion of the book it became a bit redundant with the information regarding her trial. However, there were still many aspects of the trial that were newly presented and attention catching.
   
   M. William Phelps is perhaps the best true crime writer today. His books, just as this one, are well researched, provide indepth information, and, overall, are fast paced and attention grabbing. Just as I have recommended his other books, I highly recommend this one too!



2. In PERFECT POISON, M. William Phelps has written a very good true crime story. Phelps has dug up another of those sociopaths he apparently has no trouble finding, this time a criminal and narcissistic nurse named Kristen Gilbert, who, while intelligent, is, in typical narcissistic/sociopathic fashion, not as smart as she thinks she is.
   The book's positive points are very strong. Phelps, as he proved in his EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE, is an intelligent, diligent, and professional writer.
   He has chosen an interesting story, and he moves the narrative along well, even in the last third of the book which is the often tedious trial segment. Phelps' research is impeccable and he clearly spent a lot of time
   and energy on this book.
   
   There are several reasons why I do not think PERFECT POISON is as good a book as EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE and why I rate it 4 rather than 5 stars:
   
   1. PERFECT POISON at 474 pages is too long. I attribute some of this
   to Phelps' apparent inclusion of every possible scrap of
   informations he found, some of which is irrelevant, uninteresting
   and occasionally just nonsense. I personally don't care to know how
   lawyers, detectives, etc., are dressed, and certainly not more than
   once. On page 232 Phelps spends two paragraphs describing a
   building's parking garage, and states "Guards sit in tiny wooden
   kiosks and take money as people exit the parking garages." Somehow I
   just don't see this as unique. Did Murphy (page 287) really "put
   out his first cigarette and prepare to light another."? While
   discussing his trial strategy with his detectives, did D.A. Welch
   (page 307) really "raise his eyebrows." Cynical,lazy, incompetent
   writers of true crime use this device to fill their pages. Phelps
   is clearly too good and too thorough to be so all inclusive for
   this reason, but the book could use some editing.
   
   2. I believe that in the best of true crime writing an author
   as good as Phelps will basically write as a reporter, skillfully
   presenting the facts and allowing the reader to form his own
   opinions. Phelps does not do this. The tone of PERFECT POISON
   is dramatic rather than objective and Phelps' writing in the trial
   section is clearly biased toward the prosecution. On page 132,
   Phelps writes that the result of an audit of drug security at a VA
   hospital indicated that there was no accountability. He then
   repeats, italicized, in his very next sentence, "There was no
   accountability." On page 66, he writes that "most of the codes
   were being called during the busiest times...and, lo and behold,
   on Gilbert's tour of duty. Phelps is a talented enough writer
   that it is irritating when he uses italics and "lo and
   behold"s to emphasize what his narrative has already made crystal
   clear, particularly since I would assume that most of his
   readers are adults.
   In the trial section, Phelps has defense attorney Miles
   "delivering a diatribe" and classifies a cross examination of
   some government witnesses, which, though unsuccessful, does not
   appear to have been especially stupid as "Another misguided
   claim by Gilbert's defense." Prosecutor Welch, on the other hand
   "had come from the old school of law where litigation was all
   about information - possessing it, controlling it, managing it,
   and using it effectively." While I'm not sure that statement
   has any actual meaning, its tone lends Welch a biased dignity and
   competence not found in objective writing.
   
   I present these flaws, as I perceive them, because I think Phelps is an excellent writer who can do better than PERFECT POISON. But even so, it is still a very interesting and well researched story. I'm happy to have read it and think most true crime fans will love it.



3. I HAVE GOT NOTHING DONE FOR THE LAST THREE DAYS. THIS BOOK HAD ME WANTING TO KEEP READING IT EVERY SECOND. GILBERT WAS REALLY, REALLY A SICK, SICK PERSON.



4. We should add Kristen Heather Strickland Gilbert to the list of sociopathic narcissistic murderers who are female. She is cold-blooded, calculating, manipulative, controlling, obsessive and possessive over her husband, her children, her boyfriends and friends. Kristen comes across as the angel of death but she suits her nickname. As a nurse in a veterans hospital, she would claim several lives through poisoning and rare medicines misused on purpose. She has a terrible attitude and discards everybody around her as easy as the needles that were filled with poisonous injections. She would finally get justice and be sent to Texas to remain a federal prison for the rest of her life. Despite a near death sentence, she is probably far away from Leeds, Massachussetts and the terror that she caused while as a nurse on duty during the graveyard shift. The patients were much better off being neglected than meeting with the angel of death who caused such terror, heartache, and misery where ever she went.



5. Every once in ahwile I read a true crime story just to mix things up. As I read this story I was most amazed that something like this could happen so easily. It wasn't the best story I have ever read but the pages did fly by pretty quickly.

5 comments about Accardo: The Genuine Godfather.

1. Finally there is a book about the man that was the driving force behind the Chicago Outfit.While Sam Giancana has the fame and if often credited as being the Outfit's boss in the 60's, little is there any mention of the man who put him there.This is a great overall book with plenty of history on the man who the law couldn't lay a hand on.If ever there was a "successful gangster" it was Accardo, and this book explains why.This is also a great book to famialize yourself with Chicago's major organized players from Al Capone down to Joe "The Clown" Lombardo.



2. I find it amusing that every gangster biographer wants to elevate his subject to the level of being the most important figure ever in the history or organized crime. But one would expect a certain level of objectivity from a former FBI agent, even one who self-promoted himself for years as Chicago's number one Mob-buster. Roemer's admiration for adversary Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo is understandable in a way. Clearly one of the most untouchable mobsters of all time (though it is not true that he never spent a night in jail), Accardo's seventy year criminal career with no standing convictions shows he was no dumb hood. All the same, Roemer goes out of his way to inject Accardo into everything that ever happened in Chicago. His account of the Prohibition years is so far off the mark it's hilarious. He has Tony Accardo saving Capone from Hymie Weiss in the Hawthorne attack, which contemporary accounts credit to Frank Rio. He places Tony in New York with Jack McGurn, Anselmi and Scalise, and "a guy named Rio Burke" as the hitters of Frankie Yale in that city's first Tommygun killing. Strange, as I met the late Rio Burke and SHE never once mentioned handling a machine gun though she was a friend of Al Capone. Tony, McGurn, Anselmi and Scalise and "possibly Fred Burke" (in whose Michigan hideout the machine guns were found) are claimed to have been the St. Valentine's Day Massacre gunmen, on the basis of some bugged conversations Roemer claims to have heard years later and vaguely alludes to. More credible suspects, such as Gus Winkeler, who later ran Moran's former North Side territory for Capone and was highly publicized in the early Thirties, and Raymond "Crane-Neck" Nugent, who was once arrested at Capone's Miami estate, are dismissed as insignificant nobodies on the bare fringe of the Capone mob. Roemer goes on to have Accardo accompany Capone to the famous Atlantic City Mob convention, again at the expense of number one bodyguard Frank Rio, and conveniently oversteps the Philadelphia arrest and conviction of Capone and RIO by moving the meeting ahead one year to 1930. I find it amazing that a guy like Roemer could spend all that time investigating the Chicago Mob and display such little knowledge of its early years. No wonder the FBI took so long in catching up with organized crime! Roemer should have either stuck with the Fifties/Sixties time-frame he knew firsthand or else done some competent research on the pre-World War II era. As for the claim that Accardo had "more brains before breakfast than Al Capone had all day," well, like I said earlier, Tony's successful life in crime is impressive, and owes much to his low-key style but one doesn't need to distort history to emphasize this. And, when it all comes down to it, Capone was the guy who built the Chicago Mob and the guy who brought Accardo up through the ranks as well. Successful as he was, Tony was only following in Al's footsteps like so many others.



3. Incredible. Here we have a retired FBI agent writing about a thug who he claims is the best godfather ever. He writes so admiringly about Tony Accardo that I really believe he wanted to give Joe Batters a foot massage, back rub and ticker-tape parade. I had to put the book down before I puked. True, the writer covers a lot of ground in his homage to this killer-thug and parasite, but it's all wasted by his glorification of a criminal.



4. Retired FBI Agent William Roemer (1926-1996) takes an interesting look at one of Chicago's most infamous mob bosses. Anthony "Big Tuna" Accardo (1906-1992) was a player in the syndicate from the prohibition-era 1920's until his death more than six decades later. Once complimented as "a real Joe Batters" by Al Capone for having killed another mobster with a baseball bat, Accardo had a mix of toughness, brains, and closed-mouthed brawn. As the author shows, these characteristics helped him rise through the syndicate ranks and avoid the downfalls (imprisonment, early death) of many associates. Accardo ran or helped rule the Chicago syndicate as boss, consiglieri, and finally as elder statesman. Readers also get a look at the Chicago mob and its many sources of illegal activities. The author regards his subject with a mix of distaste and respect, as did so many others in and out of law enforcement.
   
   Roemer's books are very readable, but they suffer from a few doubtful claims and flirtations with the facts, not to mention some self-boasting by the author. Still, his easy-reading narratives on the Chicago mob are worth a look.



5. This book was much better than i first assumed it would be. Tony Accardo's exploits are well documented from early in his mob career all the way to his death. But Roemer,the author, tends to get in the way a little bit. He is the FBI agent that was after this guy, so he was fully aware of the vicious nature of Accardo and the Outfit as a whole. Yet he talks about Accardo as if he's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Far too much praising of Accardo and self-promotion for my taste. But that aside, there isn't a boring moment in this book. It also clearly shows that Chicago held more power than all the east coast families combined. Overall, a very good read, if you can put up with the author.

5 comments about The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro.

1. This book is interesting, but many questions remain unanswered. In this kind of affairs, the number of protagonists, places and sub-affairs -the whole surrounded by a thick haze of secrecy and deceit- gives a headache...and is somehow frightening...but in the same time I think we feel unsatisfied. We'd like to go farther and deeper. Is it a kind of addiction ?



2. If you read a good newspaper, watch the network news, get a weekly news periodical (all of which I do) and think you pretty well understand American politics (as I did) then you REALLY REALLY need to read this book. I have come to believe that one cannot possibly understand how this country operates by getting one's information from the mainstream press.
   
   If you find some of the information a little hard to believe and you are tenmpted to dismiss it, you might want to try to do a search on the relevant topic. You will almost always find supporting information.



3. This book begins with an investigation into an attempt to corner the market for law enforcement software and ends with the death of Princess Diana and 9/11. One needs a formidably extended elastic to find a link between the latter events and the death of Dany Casolaro.
   It is a very meager extension of L. Fletcher Prouty's book `The Secret Team'.
   The only interesting pages are those explaining the PROMIS program (and backdoor software) and its ability to track movements of vast numbers of people around the world by tapping into the computers of, e.g., utility and credit card companies. Example: A sudden change in water consumption could mean that a person has `guests'.
   
   I cannot recommend this book.



4. I read this book about a week ago and I have to say that although it was quite informative, it left many holes. Unfortunately, we may never know exactly what happened to Danny Casolaro because powers that be will prevent it from becoming public knowledge. The book was mostly a gripping tale about his life as he tried to expose connections between the CIA, drug trafficking, hollywood, and weapons procurement in a tax free Indian reservation. The book lost me when they added a chapter about Lady Diana which had absolutely no connection to his death other than the CIA knowing about it. Still if you want some forbidden knowledge, I'd recommend the book anyway. It is a fairly quick and easy read.



5. Excellent book that uncovers the truth about who
   killed young Danny Casolaro and more importantly,
   why! Mr. Norman and Mr. Skolnick were both on RFA
   several times and the reader sould also look for
   Skolnick's books here on amazon as well! Pick Up
   on any that talk about the Nugan-Hand Bank, BCCI
   or the Inslaw case!

5 comments about Into the Deep: The Hidden Confession of Natalee's Killer.

1. . . . This guy tells you, based on Deepak's email to an older, female Amercian friend of Deepak's. Hodges dissects the email, line by line, to disclose the methods of means, opportunity and motive in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. As well as the panic that ensued afterward. The book utilizes three typefaces to distinguish between Deepak's email, what Deepak's thoughtprint is REALLY revealing and what Hodges interprets as having happened. Do I believe. YES. I always thought that this was a simple crime, perpetrated on an unassuming, conscious and hence, UNWILLING victim.



2. The analysis of Deepak's email message is thought provoking and makes sense in many ways. I certainly do think that he and his two cohorts are guilty of a heinous crime involving Natalee. However, when analyzing the email, what should be taken into consideration is the fact that English is not Deepak's native language, and it is obvious that he does not properly speak or write it. Because this was a typed email message, some of the the misspellings and "slips" might be attributed to those factors rather subconscious indicators of crime specifics. Indeed, the case for the analysis of thoughtprints in the message is definitely intriguing, but I think it may have taken in too much where improper use of English and spelling were obvious.



3. I recently read Dr. Hodges' book and in my humble opinion I believe it solves this horrific case. It is far more complex and ugly than most realize. Another writer wrote that perhaps it was God's saving grace that allowed Natalee to die because emotional recovery after such an experience would be next to impossible. If you truly want to know what happened that night in May I recommend this book because I believe it tells the whole shocking story. It brings to life aspects of the case that never crossed my mind but after reading this book it became so logical. There are so many factors that went into this crime from the time Natalee met Joran until her body was disposed of. I highly recommend this book. Judy from PA



4. With "Into the Deep", we return to the Natalee case, that horrible abduction and murder that won't go away. Author Hodges describes himself as "an experienced psychiatrist" and "forensic psychologist". ID is based entirely an email sent by Deepak Kalpoe to an American woman he had befriended. Hodges parses, picks, peruses and pores over the email from every conceivable investigative angle. ID is absolutely thought provoking and challenging. It demands the utmost in reader concentration. Also required is a basic familiarity with the Natalee case. Hodges' premise is that Deepak, in his rambling, ungrammatical, free flowing, and bizarrely punctuated message, "confesses" to the abduction, gang rape and dumping of Natalee Holloway's body into the sea off the black island of Aruba. The author draws a clear distinction between the conscious (Left) brain and the unconscious (Right) brain. The Left may deny guilt and cover up bad deeds-but the Right always wants to come clean. The email, according to Hodges, is Deepak's Right-influenced "confession". Strenuous attention is paid to use and placement-of periods, capitals, colons, quotes, parenthesis and spacing between words. Hidden meanings are also examined: "Holiday Inn" means "Holloway End" and "dropping Natalee off at the Holiday Inn" means she is "buried in the waters off the Holiday Inn". Besides the concentration mentioned above, ID requires an act of faith by the reader in the professional competence of the author. Fair Warning: Some of the findings here are very graphic and disturbing. Natalee must have suffered a gruesome death after she was gang raped. Those looking for light reading or basic true crime should stay away from "Into the Deep". The scenes depicted here may be uncorroborated but this reader had that sinking feeling that they are all too true to life. This reviewer has always wondered how these 3 quiffs can live with themselves. According to ID, Deepak cannot. Are their lives the living Hell that Beth predicted? How do they sleep at night? Are they seeing shadows in the dark? The bottom line is that "Into the Deep" is highly recommended. We true believers can only keep hope alive in this sad case. Will justice ever be done?



5. I enjoyed reading the book, but some of the things that the author hinged his analysis on, could be interpreted many ways. Another reviewer mentioned that English not being his native tongue, slips/verbiage could be attributed to that. That's true, but I guess one could also argue that maybe slips would be more readily apparent in someone not writing in their native tongue making his conduct more apparent in his words since he's not able to "weasel word" his explanations. But to me, the endorsements of the book/science were few and unknown. Perhaps this forensic science is still so new that we are just learning about it, or its a "junk science." Not sure, but I suggest the reader make his/her opinion. Certainly, profilers do look at writings for hints in a perp's psychological makeup, but whether it paints such a graphic and clear story is doubtful. Finally with the release of VanderSloot's covertly videotaped "confession" which I put more stake in, there was no mention of the K. brothers which makes one wonder.