5 comments about Lethal Guardian.

1. Lethal Guardian was an exceptionally well researched and satisfying read. Buzz Clinton was an imperfect man trying to get on the right track in life, who married Kim Carpenter, a young woman who had a vindictive and manipulative family. She brought with her a young daughter whom Buzz wanted to adopt and raise as his own. The Carpenters resented Buzz and fought hard to get legal custody of the daughter. Buzz never backed down, and though the Carpenters did what they could to mar Buzz's character, the legal system found Buzz and Kim to be competent parents. In an effort to remove his new family from the hatefulness and manipulation of Kim's parents and sister, Buzz was preparing to move to Arizona. This didn't sit well with Kim's sister, Beth Ann, who had started her own campaign to get rid of Buzz. Beth Ann used her feminine wiles with both her boyfriend and her boss and anyone else she thought might be useful. Her boss, Haiman Clein, completely smitten with Beth Ann, was a lawyer who not only represented a drug dealer, but was also a heavy cocaine user himself. Beth Ann was able to convince Haiman to find someone to kill Buzz. Hard to believe, but the story gets even better and more complicated. I won't go further into the tale, but Phelps does an excellent job of sorting out all the details and people mixed up in Beth Ann's web. In the end, I felt like everyone got what they deserved. My one question is about what happened with Kim and her children. The Clinton's did all they could to accommodate her and their grandchildren after Buzz's death, but I wasn't clear on what Kim chose to do with her life. I applaud the Clinton's for their strength throughout the long ordeal that finally put those involved in Buzz's murder away.



2. "Minority opinions" are tricky but this reviewer believes one has to call `em as he sees `em, even if out of step with his friends in the amazon community. LG is a serious, studied tale of a custody dispute between 2 families that goes awry. Terribly awry. Someone meets his/her demise! The Clinton and Carpenter clans are the adversaries and a child names Rebecca is the focal point. LG is set in the area around New London, CT-not a typical true crime locale. Author Phelps weaves an interesting plot with some bizarre true life bad guys, though none qualify as "hardened criminals". In fact, two are decidedly white collar types. This reviewer tries to avoid divulging resolutions but most readers should be relatively satisfied and unshocked by the conclusion. LGs principal weakness, it says here, is its' length. There is too much detail! For example, Beth Carpenter's trip to England and Ireland could have been truncated. A stern editor with a sharp blue pencil should have shed some weight from the text. (Do such editors exist anymore or have they all been laid off?). Many may believe that LGs heft was needed to draw out the characters. As my friend Tundra has already noted, the Ann Rule rule is in effect! Skip those tempting centerfold photos because they divulge everything. For that matter, one should also ignore the front and back covers. There are "hints" thereon! The foregoing aside, true crime aficionados should still enjoy LG. Folks living in eastern Connecticut should pounce; they could easily add a star or two to the admittedly strict rating above.



3. Author M. William Phelps writes the mouth-dropping, mind-boggling tale of the Carpenters and the Clintons, described perfectly within as modern "Hatfields and McCoys." This well written story is the twisted actions of two attorneys, most specifically Beth Ann Carpenter, who would do anything for love and custody of Beth Ann's niece, Rebecca, respectively. And to accomplish their goals, they seek out low life criminals who will do anything for money to fund their criminal lifestyles.
   
   I found this book to be one of the best true crime stories I have read. It has everything an avid true crime reader loves including dirty little secrets, sordid affairs and kinky sex, devoted parents, and thrill of the chase.
   
   Five stars to this top author and his exceptional true crime book!



4. Leathal Guardian blew my mind. It amazed me that the case was solved at all. Phelps does a great job of digging into the character's past and making it all make some kind of sense. His empathy for the victims shines like a beacon in his writing making him a star in the True Crime venue.
   Kari Butler



5. LETHAL GUARDIAN (LG) covers the murder for hire of Buzz Clinton by an assortment of low lifes including a pair of thug/misfits, a drug addicted and sexually perverted lawyer, and Clinton's sister in law, Beth Ann Carpenter, who is also a lawyer. I feel about LG much as I did about another M. William Phelps book, PERFECT POISON.
   
   Phelps is a good writer and an exhaustive researcher. This is no cut and paste, casually written, slop job as are many true crime attempts. Phelps has obviously spent a long time in the research and writing of LG and has turned out a creditable and entertaining book.
   
   I have not rated this book 5 stars, however, because, as with PERECT POISON, I have some problems with the writing. I feel that the best true crime is written as reportorially as possible. Phelps does this to a large degree, but there are still too many "signposts", with Phelps indicating if not directly telling the reader what to think. His style is a little too chatty for my taste. This is, however, not criticism so much as observation. It is simply a matter of taste, and Phelps' is clearly different from mine in this regard. And it IS his book.
   
   Secondly, as I have stated, Phelps is a serious and dedicated researcher. But LG is too long, by maybe 50 or so pages. This may be due in part to what I believe is Phelps' problem in deciding what information to omit.
   
   Finally, Phelps engages in repitition - not a lot, but a little - and unnecessary verbiage - not a lot, but a little - which ultimately become somewhat irritating. I noticed this particularly in the last 100 pages or so where it felt as if Phelps started rushing as though he had become slightly tired of writing LG and wanted to hurry up and finish it.
   To provide some examples, several times during the trial phase of the book, Phelps provides us with testimony and then reminds us that it "it was up to the jury to decide" its worth. Well, yeah.
   As another example, throughout the book, and more than once, Phelps has provided the reader with important and detailed information about the personal weaknesses of the main characters. As such, it wouldn't seem to be necessary in the trial phase to repeat the numerous reasons that these people would be less than stellar witnesses. It has already been made abundantly clear.
   And as a final example from page 428: "If the jury was in need of latching onto a particular witness and drawing sympathy from that person, Tricia Gaul was that person - and Kane and McShane knew it." Well OF COURSE they knew it. They have already been described as fine and experienced lawyers who could be presumed to know what they were doing. A little less of this would, in my opinion, improve Phelps' style, increasing its intelligence.
   
   Still Phelps is a good writer and none of my disagreements are at all deal breakers. LG is fast paced and always interesting. Phelps handles both the trial and police investigation parts well. Lesser or unconcerned writers will often quote trial transcript directly, substituting verbatim copying for research, and will routinely discuss the minutiae of police investigation, probably because it is easily obtained, to the point of tedium. Phelps does not, and has no need to, do so.
   
   LETHAL GUARDIAN is very good true crime. I'm glad I read it and I think most fans of the genre will enjoy it.

5 comments about Body Brokers: Inside America's Underground Trade in Human Remains.

1. While the author's intent may have been to inform the public about "horrific" practices in the corpse trade, the book is long and drawn out, lacking the promised punch. A few abuses and some questionable practices are reported, and are certainly distasteful, but little is done to demonstrate that this is a widespread issue. There is no attempt to address valid medical needs for research. In fact, the medical profession is nearly vilified for needing anatomy lessons.
   
   The author had options to make this more meaningful, but in trying to go for sensationalism lost the opportunity to educate readers. There are a few unscrupulous characters in every profession. I don't condone their actions, but it is silly to compare this work to Upton Sinclair or Eric Schlosser. About halfway through, it becomes a real challenge to continue to the end. This might have been an interesting magazine article, but there is unsufficient material (or evidence) to qualify this as an expose. Perhaps it is best considered as the author's personal quest to deal with the loss of a friend, as she mentions initially.



2. A human head might bring in seven or eight hundred dollars, a spine at least as much again. Shoulders, knees, bones, brains, various viscera--pretty much every part of a dead body can be sold off if the corpse is fresh enough. The demand for material is high: medical schools and medical device companies and surgical skills workshops need bodies or body parts for dissection, and willed body programs don't produce enough corpses to go around. That's why, shocking though it is, there is apparently a robust underground trade in human remains--in the U.S., in the present day.
   
   Annie Cheney explores the gruesome subculture of modern-day body snatchers in her book Body Brokers, which grew out of an award-winning article she wrote on the subject for Harper's. She discusses in detail how bodies en route to their final resting places can be harvested for parts--by pathologists' assistants, for example, or corrupt funeral directors, or crematorium operators. She discusses also the various markets for body parts, including institutions that need bodies for instructional dissection as well as factories that transform human tissue into products--"injectable bone paste" and the sorts of things you might find in Home Depot, screws and dowels and wedges, except that they're made out of human bone. ("It's all precision tooled....") Cheney also provides a chapter on the "Resurrection Men" of the 19th century, men who, like their modern-day counterparts, did the dirty work of supplying corpses for a price. But the Resurrectionists usually had to dig up fresh graves to get their material.
   
   One comes away from Cheney's book impressed at the apparent extent to which this gruesome business is going on, and impressed also with how many people seem to be able to sleep comfortably at night when they've got a refrigerator full of heads in the next room. It's interesting to note also how efficient the business is: when possible, bodies are dismembered and their parts sold off individually.
   
   "The three of them went on in this way, methodically moving from body to body, part to part. Tyler removed Ronald King's elbows--one slice on the forearm and two swift strokes forward with his saw until the bones snapped in two. Then his hands and knees. One slice on his calf and his thigh, a few cuts of his saw, and the leg came right off. Then his head. Tyler plucked out King's brain like a smooth boiled egg from its shell."
   
   This makes perfect financial sense, of course. Why supply a class full of gynecologists with perfect corpses, for example, when the students can just as well practice on limbless, headless torsos?
   
   "Over the next couple of days, Brown hung around in the conference room, watching the gynecologists as they probed the vaginas of the dead women. When a torso needed adjusting, he noticed, the doctors called on Tyler to help. Tyler gingerly moved the chilly flesh into the right position, raising or lowering it so that the doctors could get a good view. When the dead ladies began to smell, Tyler spritzed them with deodorizer. At the end of the day, he packed them into Igloo coolers. The next morning he brought them out again."
   
   As you can see, Cheney's book is deliciously gruesome in parts.
   
   Body Brokers is readable and seems very well researched. The author documents her sources in the book's notes and bibliography. My only difficulty with it is that, although it's quite short--the narrative ends, a little too abruptly, after 193 pages--it is difficult to keep the names of the various characters and companies straight. (Cheney provides a list of characters at the beginning of the book, but it's still a bit confusing.) Otherwise, Body Brokers is an interesting and certainly an eye-opening read. It could make some people change their minds about leaving their bodies to science.
   
   -- Debra Hamel



3. This treatment of a serious topic does a tremendous disservice to all those patients, families and health professionals that recognize the vital need for donated organs and tissues for therapy and medical research. This will appeal to those who regularly obtain all their medical information from Grey's Anatomy.
   
   The author sensationalizes the fringe, to the detriment of the exceptional work being performed by scientists and medical researchers who are trying to move the field forward. Yes, the scandals exist. But, no group is more committed to addressing these issues quickly and decisively than those who work in the field of biomedical research.
   
   The theme is familiar and frankly, becoming old. If the topic interests you, as it should all of us reading these reviews, I'd direct you to Black Market by Michele Goodwin. Although not flattering, at least it's an honest representation of the field by an acknowledged expert with outstanding credentials. Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts
   
   For a real treat, rent a video of Coma and ponder how medical science has outpaced even Robin Cook.



4. I hadn't read much of the book before I thought that this book went into what Mary Roach's Stiff did not go into - exactly where cadavers come from. And this is exactly what the book is about - it is not about how useful and valuable cadavers are to medicine (read "Stiff" if that's what you're looking for) and it is not telling people NOT to donate their bodies. This book simply illuminates how/where a fair percentage of bodies and parts come to be part of medical science - she is not saying that this is where ALL of the bodies and parts come from. She is merely letting us know that a lot of people who donate their bodies are mislead - if not blatantly lied to - about how their bodies are used; they are especially misled when their donated bodies are capable of turning a nice profit where it was thought no profit would be made. Because people are so concerned about their bodies after death, this is a very valid piece of journalism. It also lets people know that there is a possibility their bodies could very well be harvested without their loved one's knowledge or consent.
   
   While this book was very informative I felt it read more like a crime novel or a true crime book (depends on the author in comparison). This book was more true crime readable than expose readable. I wouldn't call it a brilliant sample muck-racking but it was a pretty well thought out attempt that included plenty of primary sources.



5. "When you donate your body, you've given up the right to choose how it will be used" and "Leaving your loved ones with a funeral home may expose them to unscrupulous body parts dealers". That basically sums up the book.
   
   The first 1/3 of the book is an interesting (and disturbing) foray into the US body parts trade and the legal and illegal aspects of it. Unfortunately, the rest of the book doesn't build upon the first part and is simply backstory for how the investigations were done. Interesting, but not particularly exciting.
   
   This would be much more suited to an article, rather than a book.
   
   Verdict: Borrow it from the library (Remember what that is?)

1 comments about Corporate and Governmental Deviance: Problems of Organizational Behavior in C Society.

1. I had only bought this book for a course in university but we only had to do the first five chapters. I had to go on with it though. The cases are all extremely well written and did an amazing job of showing me how insane the corporate world can be. It's a great book if you're looking for something to change your perspectives on the ethics of todays business society and the major differences between "white collar" and traditional crimes.

5 comments about A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder And Its Aftermath.

1. I went to high school with Robin and Julie. I can't drive over the Mississippi River without thinking about them. The newspaper articles, and TV interviews in St Louis were mainly focused on Tom's (the cousin) guilt, and these "mystery 4 men". I was glad to hear a book had been written from "their" point of view. When I say "their" I mean Robin and Julie. Robin and Julie are gone, and no longer have a voice for themselves, so Jeanine did the best she could to capture this horrible moment in time, and the aftermath it caused.
   
   I feel that as much hatred that she COULD have to the four men that murdered her cousins, and let her brother be blamed for the crimes, Jeanine was fair, and kind to the men. She did not make excuses for their actions, but she did explain how a fun night out, a decision to rob, could turn so dangerous and deadly in minutes.



2. I have little to add to the other reviewers here. But as one who has written about victims myself, I believe this is the best account I've ever read of the devastation criminals leave in their wake.
   
   Read this not merely to learn about a heinous crime or evil men. Read it to meet two wonderful young women, or maybe three -- Julie and Robin, the victims, and Jeanine Cummins, the author.



3. I had this book on my book shelf for a while and hesitated to read it because I knew that it would be painful and depressing. This is the first book that I have read regarding true crime where you really feel to the core the effects and aftermath on the living. This book is excellent, well written, and one of the few books you read that will stay with you and effect how you process stories that you read and watch in the future. After reading this, you truly comprehend the pain and lasting effects that violence has on everyone left behind.



4. As one reviewer has noted, this is not a typical addition to the true crime genre. It shares much in common with Strange Piece of Paradise in that both are attempts by a victim/family member to depict the aftermath of a crime. Where Terri Jentz had to confront years of not knowing who her attacker was, Jeanine Cummins and family had to face having a beloved family member being accused of killing two other beloved family members.
   
   It's hard to review a book such as this without a certain amount of sympathy entering into one's judgment. It is for me, at least. This is not the best written non-fiction book you'll ever read, nor is the prose in it the most fluid. It is also, because of Cummins' decision to tell this in the third-person, the most emotionally wrought. But it is better written than most first person accounts I've read. Cummins takes considerable pains to bring Julie and Robin Kerry to life, to make the reader feel the loss Cummins and her family felt. The horror of their deaths (and the nature of their deaths) is compounded when Cummins' brother is accused of their murders.
   
   This is the story of the death of innocence, both literal and figurative. By the time the murders are caught, turn on each other and three are sentenced to death there little sense of justice for the family. Two girls have been gang-raped and murdered, one of the bodies has never been found. The survivor of the attacks has been first branded the likely suspect by the press then must relive the events over and over, in the trials and the subsequent parole hearings. As if this isn't enough agony, they must endure having the convicted murderers still claim their innocence and blame one of the victims. The question of Why? remains unanswered by the perpetrators and possibly unanswerable.



5. I wrote the author as to why a man emerging from a fall into a raging river would not first receive medical documentation of injuries. His broken hip would have been noted right then. Maybe this was brought up in the civil suit Tom filed later, but no mention is made in the book.
   
   Tom would have been screaming for the truckers to call an ambulance, as well as police, had he known what was coming at the station.
   
   I thought it reads very well in the third person, except for being a bit awkward when Tink is present. Those parts might have read better in first person. Perhaps mixing them would not work well, since she's actually reconstructing Tom's story, as told to her.
   
   It's a valuable story that needed telling.

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.

5 comments about Portraits of Guilt.

1. I am a reseacher in the area of human memory. My university studies and thesis are in the area of crime victim recall and memory malleability. I was given Miss Boylan's book by a fellow doctoral student who said simply, "Read this. This woman gets it."

   To my astonishment, this was true and to know that there is a woman struggling essentially all alone to enlighten police about the seriousness of memory malleability made me want to jump into the pages of this book and yell to the police she works with that there is scientific data backing up every word she says about this topic.

   Miss Boylan unfortunately writes in too kind a fashion, seemingly concerned about offending the masses, but sometimes creating change requires the proverbial 2 X 4 to create the desired impact. Although I appreciate Miss Boylan's subtle and polite manner, my only complaint about this book and her story is that she should and could have been much more hard hitting in her critique of what has historically gone wrong in criminal investigations. With what she's experienced, she is entitled to be direct.

   With the knowledge we in the academic world have now of how memory works, there is no excuse for the mistakes made in past cases to continue to take place. Jeanne Boylan should scream her message and take her lumps. I'd rather see her save lives than to worry about winning a popularity contest. She can speak from inside the world of police, whereas "us" in our ivory towers, don't have access to the real world as she does.

   Boylan relied on us to give her the foundation for her work and my predecessor's findings of three decades now, but those of us doing the empirical research have to rely on people like her to deliver our findings to the point of practical application in the police world. She can be the go-between from our world to inside real life criminal investigations.

   Overall, Portraits of Guilt is a great book, great 'on the mark' insights into crime victim memory and some lessons in Boylan's stories that had better be paid attention to before we lose more lives such as Polly Klaas. (Her book is dedicated to the Klaas girl's memory.)

   I give this book a five star rating for it's general level of readibility and for her stunning insights into trauma victim memory malleability, but Miss Boylan, if you write a second book, and I hope you do, next time, take the gloves off and try to come out swinging.




2. I found this book on Oprah's website under "Oprah's Books" and think highly of her choices so ordered it. I'm happy I did. It was a fast moving, compelling read and gave me a view into a world I knew nothing about. I feel entertained, educated and wiser from reading it. What more could you ask... I endorse the book, author and Oprah's good taste.



3. I've read a lot of good books about healing from trauma and the effects trauma has upon memory. I've also read a lot of books about the fallibility of memory that do not correctly take into account the actual experience of the trauma. Jeanne Boylan has succeeded in writing the first book that accurately addresses both sides of the understanding of memory. She clearly illustrates the way that traumatic memory can be malleable in the presence of suggestion. It is through the insight of Jeanne Boylan's work that we can keep the innocent people out of jail and the guilty people can be handled accordingly.

   She succeeds at what she does because she has both a natural ability and a deep understanding of trauma and memory. She also succeeds because she knows how to reach the heart. She works from her intuition as well as her logical understanding. Her kind and gentle nature is a true asset in the work that she does, and she could not achieve what she has achieved without it. In addition to all of this she has the added gift of being an incredible artist. Jeanne Boylan was born to do the work that she does; it is an inborn gift, which was further honed by her own personal experience of trauma and surviving a crime.

   Jeanne Boylan describes traumatic memory as being like a fifty-cent piece that has been tossed below eight feet of water. The memory gets buried by the intense emotional trauma, but at the same time is locked into memory. As the emotions arise our minds protect us by blurring the image, like the movement of water. We can still see it, but it is distorted. With the right approach the memory of the trauma can be brought back to the eyewitness's conscious memory in it's original condition, just as the fifty-cent piece can be retrieved from the water fully intact.

   Jeanne Boylan works with survivors to draw near perfect portraits of the criminals. Her technique is the art form. She says, "The answers to uncovering memory reside in understanding the powerful inner workings of the human mind-- and more importantly, in the power of the human heart. (p. 11)" She says "The higher the degree of personal trauma, the harder the mind works to discard or bury the image, but, also, the more likely it will have been encoded into memory in the first place, even if it is housed at a much deeper level of recall... Sometimes if we can coach the conscious mind to move aside we can still access the original untainted image--if there is reason enough for it to have been retained in memory. (p.13)" It is the release of emotions, no matter what form, that helps reach the image. She uses an interview technique, which brings the person into a safe space in order to access the memory without the emotions blocking it, and she uses carefully worded questions to prevent suggestions from distorting the original memory.

   During her chapters about the devastating kidnap and murder of twelve year old Polly Klass, she provides new insight into how to recognize the veracity of an eyewitness account. She explains that when witnesses remember the trauma or the attacker differently that this is actually a sign that they are telling the truth because no two people remember an experience identically. The discrepancies help to validate and preserve the images and details of the memory for later needs (as long as suggestion has not been introduced). There is usually one stronger witness, however that witness will often have a degree of self-doubt that can be increased when she/he encounters discrepancies among the other witnesses. Jeanne Boylan was the first person on the case of Polly Klass to treat the witnesses (also twelve years old) with the validation and support that they needed.

   The chapter about the abduction and torture of Sister Dianna Ortiz was the most powerful aspect of the book, for me. Anyone who has experienced a similar trauma will find a lot of healing and peace in reading this chapter. We watch Sister Dianna Ortiz work through the intense PTSD, become empowered, speak out and overcome the accusations that her experiences were a figment of her imagination. Sister Dianna Ortiz speaks of her healing, "Healing comes in many forms. I know I will always carry the memory of what happened to me on November second, 1989. For more than six and one-half years I have allowed my Guatemalan torturers and Alejandro to haunt me. Many times, I've felt like they danced within me. Many times I've felt that if I got close to anyone, I was going to contaminate them with the evilness that they left inside me. But today, I can sit here and say that that evil does not exist inside me anymore, and that is because of the work that I was able to accomplish with Jeanne Boylan. (p.282)... The images of my torturers and Alejandro have always stayed within me, and I have held myself responsible for the horrible things that happened on that November day, but today, because I was able, with the help of Jeanne Boylan, to put a face to these monsters, I can put them away from me. They no longer live in my soul. Until I faced them, I could never be free. (p283)"

   In the next chapter called Awakenings Jeanne Boylan says, "Though I knew instinctively the importance of freeing a victim of the evil left from an attack, never before had I realized so clearly the emotional power that floods the soul when the residual grip of an assailant is finally loosened, and gently removed from the heart. (p. 286)"

   Jeannie Boylan ends the book with the conclusion she left us wanting to hear since the Prologue. She weaves in her own experience, and powerfully does for herself what she has already done for so many others.




4. I became interested in this author after seeing her speak about eyewitness memory on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I found the book, read it and then noticed a composite drawing in the Elizabeth Smart case that seemed to bear no likeness to the man arrested for the kidnapping. Jeanne Boylan's name was periodically associated with the case and I felt let down that she'd so badly erred in doing the less than stellar drawing. (Though now we know that the man was caught because the Smart family realized his religious name, announced it to the public and then were given real photos by the man's own family that were aired on TV which then resulted in his subsequent identification and quick arrest.)

   Now, in more recent news reports, I found out that Jeanne Boylan actually interviewed the younger sister of Elizabeth about her memory of the abduction night and that the poor suspect drawing the media was showing was not from her interviews, but was from a local portrait person and was not taken from the little sister's sighting the night of the abduction but rather was taken from the family who knew the man and had spent many hours with him. Now I understood why the descrepancy.

   I felt relief. I momentarily thought Jeanne Boylan had lost her skills. Now I understand the difference between her interview and the drawing that is now linked to the case but does not look like the kidnapper.

   I look forward to the sequel of 'Portraits of Guilt' and to reading more about what happens to eyewitness's memories when the sightings are endured during moments of fright and fear and how that forces their vision very deep into the recesses of their mind as it did for Elizabeth's little sister.

   Praise the Lord that with help and encouragement, Elizabeth's little sister finally remembered the religious name with the help of the loving Smart family, the apparently astute police and Jeanne Boylan who all had fiercely guarded the young child's evolving memory while it was gradually surfacing so that the kidnapper was finally caught. Good things come to those who wait!




5. Jeanne Boylan could be a movie star or model. She is tall, slim, and blonde. She began her artistic career by doodling in notebooks as a child. Her art career is really based on getting serial killers, mass murderers, and criminals brought to justice. Her relationship to Marc Klaas, the father of murdered victim Polly Klaas who became an activist seeking justice for the victims. The book's narrative is taken by the author's perception and experiences. The Smith case rendered the same feeling that the mother was involved in her sons's abductions and murders. Reading about how Jeanne and Marc learned about their fates were both horrifying. They still had hope that a mother would not have gone so far or over the edge of the unthinkable. We all think that the criminals can be monsters but Susan Smith was also the mother to two innocent young boys, Michael and Alexander. Nobody believed her story of an abduction in a rural road in the middle of the night. Most motives behind carjacking is the car itself. Carjackers don't want two babies in the backseat. Sadly, a carjacker would have probably returned Michael and Alexander safely somewhere but Susan's story never washed out. Her sons' bodies were in the bottom on John D. Long Lake. Of course, Boylan writes about her failed marriage, her background in Montrose, Colorado, and how she became known as the woman behind criminal portraits which led to the captures of the Unabomber or Ted Kaczynski and others.

5 comments about Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw.

1. A must read if you want to really know Pablo Escobar - the history, stats, numbers and some key people. Its so easy to read you wouldn't want to put the book down. Def. check it out!



2. The full story of the life and times of Pablo Escobar: from his early life of crime as a headstone thief to his brutal rise to the pinnacle of the Medellin drug cartel. Most of the story however, is about how the joint military and intelligence Task Force eventually cornered and killed the drug Kingpin. That Task Force, was led by Ambassador Morris (Buzz) Busby, Navy Seal and ex-DCM for the Conference on Disarmament under Ambassador Louis (Lou) Fields (while I served as part of the US delegation with him.)
   
   The US "Delta Force," in conjunction with the Colombian security forces in an operation called "Centra Spike" had to pull out all of the stops to finally locate and kill the elusive fugitive.
   
   Not since "Black Hawk Down" has Mark Bowden written such a gripping thriller. Anyone who liked Black Hawk Down will love this one too.
   
   Five Stars



3. Book was very informative. It did a very good job detailing the time period of Pablo Escobar's rise and fall. Written very neutral and represented both sides of the hunters and huntee very well. A very complex operation during a time that was much different then today. If only we had the capabilities to apply the pressure the columbians used then we could probably capture or kill Bin Laden today. Similar paralles although Pablo's vice was drug trade and money, Bin Laden appears to be religion and hate. Wished the book had a few more pictures that expandeed on the charcters and groups that represented Pablo and those that represented the government. Good book that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Pablo Escobar.



4. Once I begin a book I usually finish it, even if it's not that good.
   But I couldn't finish this book. I read about one third and then quit. It was so boring. It was more about politics than drugs. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Doctor Dealer (a great read!).



5. This book went fast for me. The author's style is fairly direct, which is good given the subject matter (less direct approach leads to bogged down in names and who was where, etc.). On the negative side, occasionally he goes a little too fast and I missed important issues and people. In addition, this book loses a little perspective due to it largely being from the perspective of law enforcement - those who knew Pablo Escobear as associates are largely dead. Overall though, it's like a good piece of crime/manhunt drama.

5 comments about Tales from the Morgue: Forensic Answers to Nine Famous Cases Including The Scott Peterson & Chandra Levy Cases.

1. Dr. Cyril Wecht is one of the most sought-after forensic pathologists in the world: his expertise lends to providing proof that runs counter to popular opinion and his scientific expertise reads well for lay readers fascinated by true crime investigations. TALES FROM THE MORGUE: FORENSIC ANSWERS TO NINE FAMOUS CASES tackles high-profile cases from Scott Peterson's murder of his wife and unborn child to the assassination of President Kennedy and the death of Marilyn Monroe. Dr. Wecht reveals methods, evidence, trials, and pathology techniques in a lively discourse which reads like a thrilling murder mystery of nine famous cases. Fascinating reading and a lively writing style lend to TALES FROM THE MORGUE 's appeal to a wide general-interest audience.



2. At last, a book based on professional forensic evidence on the Scott Peterson case. This perspective, coupled with the book, Presumed Guilty, by Matt Dalton, create for me a more level-headed portrayal of facts, painting a clearer picture for the truth. Wecht's one piece of evidence for me, is the caffeine found in the toxicology test from Laci's autopsy. I have learned elsewhere, that Laci did not drink caffeine during her pregnancy. She clearly left her home alive, then, and was not drugged by Scott, as the prosecution suggested. She most likely was forced to drink caffeine under duress, suggesting the likelihood of an abduction. I do believe Scott will win his freedom, with a chance for a fairer trial.



3. This book is not particularly well-written. It's somewhat cobbled-together, a Frankenstein creation of mismatched parts.
   
   And here and there the reasoning doesn't seem sound. For example, Dr. Wecht's summary feeling that Scott Peterson was unfairly convicted of killing his wife and unborn son isn't sensible. He is basing his objection on the fact that all the evidence against Peterson was circumstantial. Well, but given the weight of that evidence...
   
   Then in his chapter on the accidental shooting committed by Johnny Gammage, basketball player, Wecht quotes the forensic testimony he gave on the stand. This testimony is garbled and contradictory. Wecht couldn't have been of much help to the attorneys for whom he was testifying.
   
   Again, in his analysis of the 1985 crash of the military plane Arrow Jet 950 in Newfoundland, Wecht seems to overlook a key possibility. He takes issue with the official conclusion that the crash occurred because of inadequate plane de-icing, and that the fire that engulfed the plane only occurred after impact. Wecht thinks the condition of the dead passengers and crew belie this conclusion, because he found smoke in some of the victims' lungs. Wecht's own theory is that it's likelier some sort of explosion (possibly even a terrorist bomb) rocked the plane in mid-air, causing an in-flight fire. But finding smoke in victims' lungs could also mean that some of the passengers survived a few moments after the crash and inhaled smoke from the fire that did in fact occur only after impact - couldn't it?
   
   Some better chapters follow, but by this time I was growing leery of Wecht's interpretations. So even though he presents an interesting, concise account of the Kennedy assassination, I don't quite trust his dissenting conclusion about it, especially since the majority of his peers reviewing recently released material come to opposite conclusions. However his theory sounds correct.
   
   Similarly his chapter on Marilyn Monroe's death sounds as if it could be the final word on the subject. His unsensational theory about her cause of death should quash all the lurid, teasing TV speculations that periodically get aired. But even here, Wecht undermines an otherwise good analysis. He sees fit to gratuitously interject the fact that Marilyn Monroe wasn't his "type," that he prefers "cool brunettes." Informing us of his taste in woman while he contemplates Monroe's stomach and colon contents, makes him sound like the ultimate jerk. He perpetrates one final indignity on Monroe.
   
   But there is value in reading about these different cases on which Wecht says he consulted. You'll get summaries of the facts of each case. And you will learn how much of forensics is art rather than science. You'll come to better distinguish the dramatized certitudes of the CSI series from real life, where there are often as many different opinions about the cause of a crime as there are forensic scientists working on the case.



4. This book is awesome! Great detail of each autopsy. Marlilyn Monroe, & JFK autopsy details are amazing! Easy read, you never want to put this book down!



5. Written so the layman can understand it. Very good reading.

5 comments about If I Can't Have You, No One Can.

1. Don Lasseter has done an amazing job on this book. It has taken me back many years ago, when I knew that I had Sarah by my side. I loved her so much that words could not explain. This book shows the pain that we went through. How forever our lives are changed. Namey, has changed our lives forever and not for the better. Sarah was my cousin. She will foreer live with us in our hearts and our prayers. Reading this book,has taken me back to the days in court watching Namey enter the room. This book tells a lot about the turth. Matt is still very much part of our family and forever will be. Thanks to Don, her life story will live on to hopefuly one day help others.



2. This book was written about my cousin Sarah, her borfriend Matt, and the person who destroyed all our lives. With pain and a tear in my eye, I made it through this book. Even for myself, who knew exactly what happened, I got confused a couple times. I do have to say that this book was well written, and during the jury trial, I could picture my self sitting in that court room like I was a few years back. I am glad that so many people have taken some time to read this book, and have found a spot for Sarah and Matt in their hearts.
   
   Matt is doing well. He is a strong guy, someone to definitley look up to. He is still working and going to school. I admire him for everything he tried to do for my cousin, and now, for everything he is doing for himself. Never Give Up!



3. Sarah Rodriguez was a beautiful young woman with a whole life ahead of her. Unfortunately, she had two men including a dangerous psychopathic killer Richard Namey who would kill her and the love of her life, Matthew Corbett, who was shot and survived with paralysis. The story takes place in Orange County, California where the author, Don Lasseter resides.
   One of my main criticisms of this book is the enormous amount of detail regarding Dennis Conway, the Orange County prosecutor. I know more about him than the victims themselves. While I know a lot about Sarah and Matthew's lives, I know more about Conway and his childhood in Massachusetts and how he became an attorney. Most true crime authors don't spend an enormous time on the background of the prosecutor's life. At times, I felt confused and had to re-read because the author simply was talking about Conway as opposed to Corbett, Rodriguez, and Namey who are more central figures. The book is a good true crime read but unclear at times.



4. I don't think so. we really need to pay more attetion to the people who are in a constant rage. they are the one's who kill to kill.I feel for the girl and her boyfriend who was left behind to miss her forever and her family who has lost a piece of them to never return.



5. ALTHOUGH THIS BOOK WASN'T TERRIBLE, IT WASN'T GREAT EITHER. IT WAS A LITTLE STRANGE. I HAVE NEVER READ A TRUE CRIME BOOK THAT GOES IT TO AS MUCH DETAIL AS THIS ONE DID CONCERNING THE PROSECUTOR. I ENDED UP SKIPPING MOST OF THAT PART. NOT ONLY DID IT GO ON ABOUT HIS CHILDHOOD, BUT IT ALSO INCLUDED CHILDHOOD PICTURES. WHO CARES? PERHAPS THE AUTHOR COULD NOT MAKE THE BOOK AS LONG AS HE WANTED, SO HE THREW IN TRIVIAL DETAILS.

5 comments about Careless Whispers (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. I found this book generally interminable and sometimes incomprehensible, with poor pacing and organization, and its hero-worship of the detective became downright annoying. I read it many years ago, long before there was a public outcry over the convictions (and execution), but even then felt that the case was a reach. My advice is to avoid it, particularly since even the factual basis for the book is questionable at this stage.



2. Kenneth Franks, Jill Montgomery and Raylene Rice had the misfortune of meeting up with David Spence and his his friends, brothers Gilbert and Tony Melendez in Koehne Park in Waco, Texas. In the park, the teenagers met with their brutal, untimely death at the hands of David Spence and his friends.
   
   Truman Simons, a veteran police office, took the case personally and worked dilligently to obtain the proof needed to convict the three men who murdered these innocent teens.
   
   The twists and turns of this book make it hard to put down. From the intial investigation to the prosecution of Jordanian born Muneer Deeb for his role in the deaths of the teens (and, yes, I do believe he was guilty but walked on techinicality), the book is full of details as you walk side by side with investigators as they seek justice.
   
   The only disappointing aspect of this book is that little information was available regarding the third victim Raylene Rice. However, the author makes note that her family essentially decided to deal with the death of Raylene by distancing themselves from the other victims' families, investigators and prosecutors. At one point, Stowers even writes that Raylene, because of her families actions, almost became somewhat of an afterthought to the public.
   
   This is an excellent book. One I'm sure that will keep you reading, with never a dull moment!



3. I remember reading this book about the hideous nature of the crime involving the three teens who went out for a night of fun but didn't expect to be brutally murdered and raped on their last night of earth. Carlton Stowers is an excellent crime writer and this book is absolutely a classic to be read. The triple homicide in a secluded section of the woods in Texas where two girls and a young man lost their lives. I remember reading this book and angry about the horrific murders of such young people. Of course, the book does unfold like a murder mystery. It begins at the beginning of the case and unfolds gradually. I was it was fiction but sadly it is not because it's all true. The author paints the victims as young kids with dreams and ambitions that they would never live to fulfill in their short life.



4. Just a reminder when reading this story that the author is a friend of the prosecutor. It has true parts but it is one sided. It is the story that the prosecution would like for people to believe.
   I hope some day the other side of the story will be printed. The 3 teens that died in Waco were not the only innocent deaths in this story.



5. I checked this book out at the library, and when I learned a friend of mine (and co-worker) was one of the prosecutors in the book, I purchased it online. Also, the story was powerful and "close to home" since I was born in Waco and all my aunts and uncles still live there. I buy every book I can find written by Carlton Stowers. He is a great author and I get into his books. What happened to these three young people was tragic, and Mr. Stowers captured the pain of family members as well as the frustrations that Truman Simons felt by being sabotaged by the Waco Police Department. I came away angry at them for their petty behavior and cruel deception, and total lack of respect for the survivors by not putting forth their best efforts to resolve this crime. Had it not been for Truman Simons, this would have been an unsolved cold case. Kuddos to Truman!Careless Whispers (St. Martin's True Crime Library)