5 comments about The Ultimate Evil The Truth About The Cult Murders, Son of Sam and Beyond.

1. This book was so compelling I have thought about it for many years. I read it when it first came out in first printing. Have been looking for it for years,and have been unsuccessful. Now I will order it and read it again. This is the ultimate truth is stranger than fiction read. The powerful distracting the populace with horror we can not escape for the purpose of leading astray from a the truth send shivers down your spine.



2. The law enforcement community should not let politics block a new invetigation of the case.The evidence is there and the families of the victims should have some closure.More importantly, the other killers involved must be brought to justice!



3. I read this book several years ago and it chilled me to the bone, I can remember the things taking place in my hometown of Minot ND. Reading this book was frightening to me as I read and knew many of the people involved in this case. Maury Terry is right -- Berkowitz did not act alone. A must read for anyone interested in FACT not fiction.



4. Having lived in California during the decade of the sixties I recall that the Haight Ashbury scene turned very vicious around 1969. Where people would share their homes, beds, food, wine (and dope if you were so inclined) freely in '67 and '68; by '69 a real evil, rip off, vicious, criminal type element drove people away from that scene, or into isolated seclusion, in droves. It culminated graphically in the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont in 1969. The street thieves, cults, criminals basically took over as if the flower people were lambs for the slaughter. This book, while often having a "nailing jelly to a wall" feeling, puts the whole change into perspective with the elements of Manson, the entertainment industry, mafia, cults, devil worshippers, pedophiles and upper class perverts as a driving force. The author mentions the London scene, Marianne Faithful, Kenneth Anger and the Stones in passing. For many years I've wondered about the reports that Brian Jones had been intentionally drowned in his pool by a rough element in July of 1969. (The kind of rough element the author cites as surrounding Mama Cass.) Marianne Faithful attempted suicide soon after Brian's death. Anita, (Brian's lover and later Keith's wife) was involved with the occult and some years later a teenage lover killed himself in her bed. Many music celebrities were into the occult (from Satanic to S&M to Nazi symbols and themes) from the late 60's through the 70's. It reminded me that Brian Jones was invited to the Monterey festival in '67 by John Phillips and may have known or met many of the same people in California and London that were into the occult fringe the author describes. It also occurred to me that the perfect theme song for this book and the scenes it describes is "Sympathy for the Devil" written by the Rolling Stones in 1968 (".... Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste....") In addition to all of the intermeshed tentacles of this Godless underground of killers and perverts, it is really scary that the author's words and photos reminds us that Berkowitz and alot of the other criminals involved looked like regular people, had 9 to 5 day jobs as trades people, doctors, lawyers, policemen, etc. I guess you never know who is sitting next to you on the subway or who is knocking at your door. If Maury Terry writes another one, I'll buy it. I hope he puts an index on the next one.



5. Everybody knows that David Berkowitz is the Son of Sam and he is held responsible for the senseless murders and shootings in the summer of 1977. The author does an excellent job in bringing about the era as well as explaining the circumstances regarding all the victims. Apart from this book, I barely read the Son of Sam case since it didn't interest me as much as others. The author also tries to tie Son of Sam murders with a bizarre murder case at Stanford chapel in Palo Alto, California in 1974 involving a young wife from North Dakota whose husband was a student at the famed university. The book is a heavy read and there is a lot of information to sort out but the author does write clearly and well regarding the possible connections between satanic cults and the murders and deaths of so many others as well. I am one for conspiracies anyway so I am beginning to believe Maury Terry's argument that there is more than meets the eye.

5 comments about Shots in the Dark: True Crime Pictures.

1. Although light on detail, this book, based on a Court TV documentary, provides a good general overview of the history of true crime photography. Some of the images are compelling - though they can almost all be acquired elsewhere. For example, the images of early 20th century New York homicides are culled from Luc Sante's Evidence. However, if you're looking for an introduction to the Morbid Side of Photography, this is a great place to start. The book is divided into six general sections: Crime Scenes, Killers, Sensational Cases (such as infamous thrill killers Leopold and Loeb and John List who murdered his entire family in 1971), Retribution (such as the lynching of three rape suspects in San Francisco), Gangsters (such as Bugsy Siegel), and Presidential Assassins (such as Lee Harvey Oswald). An endlessly entertaining, if lightweight, morbid concoction.



2. Better photos, better writing. If a photo was interesting, the author didn't give much information. In fact she might go on and on about a crime for which there wasn't a photo. If a picture was really interesting, she gave extremely limited info. And I couldn't figure out who or what the 4th picture of the Lizzie Borden axe murder was (author didn't bother to specify - if it was the father's, someone took off his clothes and moved his body onto a different piece of furniture for some reason). All I could gather throughout was that she believes crime is society's fault - not the perpetrator's.



3. "Shots in the Dark"is a book of crime-related photographs...Many of them are quite explicit and full of gore..I cannot for the life of me understand why the two people responsible for this volume,so-called"photo historian"Gail Buckland,and"authority"on photography Harold Evans seem to think that we require thier windy ramblings in order to "understand"the"meanings"behind these pictures..I mean,really !Is it that hard to understand,for example,that the woman pictured on page 50 is dead,and was the victim of a murderer?Not that the captions are unwelcome...no...it is the essay work,especially the stuff written by Evans,that grates..Buckland likes to publish books which feature photographs of the dead,the more grotesque and mutiliated the better...In her earlier volume,entitled"Looking at Death" she features a picture of the mutiliated corpse of Benito Mussolini and his galpal Clara Pettachi after they had been lowered from the beam in the town square where they had been hung by thier feet after execution...Il Duce's face is horrible to behold,and yet Buckland rhapsodises about the"meaning"of this picture,as if it has any apart from shock value and/or historical content...I cannot help but think that most who buy that book,or "shots in the dark"will mainly do so to be shocked or titilliated...a few will do so for the historical aspect...a very very few will do so in order to be helpled by either Buckland or Evans to grasp the alledged"meanings"associated with these pictures..
   As mentioned earlier,the text by Evans is especially annoying...Evans apparently sees some cosmic meaning in these pictures..A picture of cops arresting someone...a pair of 1920s men who fell,or were pushed down an elevator shaft..By golly,if we look hard enough we can discern the secrets of the universe in these pictures,or so Evans seems to imply...BALDERDASH !
   There has recently been a spate of such books,which would suggest that the public is perhaps tired of the fake gore,blood and guts to be had on both the big and the little screens,and wants to look at something real...Maybe ,like the long ago romans,we yearn for admission to the arena,where some real gladiators can kill one another,or some real christians can be eaten alive for our pleasure,and ,for most of us,these pictures take the place of the afore-mentioned entertainments?...
   If you want some explicit real-life photographs,many involving murder and torture,then this book will fill the bill...but if you want the answer to the meaning of life,or even what these pictures are supposed to"mean",go somewhere else,because Buckland and Evans haven't got a clue.



4. If you are entertained by the disturbing, this book is great for keeping your sick mind entertained and your idle hands out of entrails. I would also recommend this book to anyone who isn't afraid to look through the eyes of a crime photographer of times past and appreciate the gall it took to actually take some of these pictures. The text in this book is not that fantastic, but it would be very hard to find words more interesting and memorable than the faces in these photographs. So...jeah...good (picture) book.



5. It wasn't as detailed as Death Scenes but still gives it a great run for the money. I'd recommend it for anyone who is fascinated with forensics. If given the chance, I would still buy it again.

No comments about The Tippling Philosopher.

5 comments about Fake: Forgery, Lies, & eBay.

1. I am a high end art collector at major auctions and have looked at ebay items up for sell. So many are obviously fakes that I have written to a couple of power sellers. They immediately threatened to sue me.
   
   However, that is not why I am writing this review. This is a story of someone who knew nothing about art but was slowly engulfed in a new world where profit opportunity was high and old rules no longer applied. The individual involved acted like a major corporation in slowly bending the rules until they no longer believed the old rules or thought they could not possible be caught.
   
   I think the story should be read by every corporate executive in America. It shows how easy it is to justify going 65 in a 55 zone and then occasionally speeding up to 85 when you think no one cares that you are going over the speed limit.
   
   It is also an inspirational tale. I am very impressed with the author and how he changed his life around.
   
   I would also recommend this book to anyone buying or selling on ebay. It is unbelievable how some of the items are marketed there. Ebay is not incented to police it to the degree they should. Buyer beware. At least for sure, I can tell you the art is not what you think it is!
   
   This is a fast read .. get it.



2. My son picked "Fake" for our mother/son book club. The boys are sixteen; the mothers work in a variety of professional fields. No one was bored. Everyone finished the book, which is unusual. Discussion was lively and wide-ranging, even with the author present. I asked and he came!
   
   Part of the charm of the book, the story and the man derives from our inherent hope that people can grow by surviving adversity, even self-made, or perhaps, especially self-made. Walton gives readers an engaging look at the California art scene and ebay, while allowing us to watch him decide what he will do next.
   
   If he writes another book, I'll definitely read it.



3. This "author" is a liar, a lawyer, and a snitch. If you think it couldn't get any worse it does: he thinks his writing is clever. Wait for his victim (Fetterman)'s book.



4. Someone had recommended this book to me as a "good read". really didn't even know why I bought the book as I thought reading about ebay would be totally boring. Well I was wrong. The book sat on a shelf at my home for 3 months before I even opened the cover. Couldn't sleep one night and picked the book and started to read. I honestly couldn't put it down until I had finished from cover to cover. It is a great story and well written by the author. Whether you don't care about art or even Ebay this is an interesting story written in such a way that you find yourself totally emersed in the deceptions of an art forger who gets caught and the story line of getting caught and punished in a court of law. This is a good read.



5. This great analysis of the internet market over eBAY has been passed through the art lovers in our family. Their response has been very interesting, indeed !

5 comments about The Sex Slave Murders: The Horrifying True Story of America's First Husband-and-Wife Serial Killers (Sex Slave Murders).

1. Hai (dont mind my English cause I'm from Holland)
   
   I,m sorry I bought this book cause I dont think this is a very good one.
   I was very irritated by the writer finding excuses all the time for the wife of Gallego.
   It made me very angry.
   She Charlene Gallego lured the innocent victims in a trap,(in the back of a van,asking them if they wanna smoke some marihuana) knowing what her husband was planning to do to them. and Mr Flowers is writing how quilty she felt and that she could not do anything else,had no other options!!
   How does he know?
   And then on the end of the book he suddenly changes his mind?
   Dont buy this one. There are much better books than this one...



2. Where to begin.....first of all the print is large and there are a lot of chapters so there are a lot of blank pages. Must have been the publishers way of making the book apprear to be longer than it is. Secondly the author repeats himself, well, repeatedly. He uses the same phrases over and over. Again a ploy to make the book longer. If the editor and publisher had done their jobs this book would have been only half as long. Also, the writing is dry and unimaginative. This story could have been much more interesting if he had taken the time to flesh out (pardon the pun) the characters, their deeds and the storyline itself. I found that I had to stop myself from skipping pages as I was bored with the pace of the book. I've read much better. Hopefully the author will improve with experience.



3. After reading this story, the only real reaction the book elicited from me was a shrug of the shoulders and a "meh" (tm Bart and Lisa Simpson). I am attributing this to a couple of factors. First, the chapters are very short, and the story jumps back and forth between the crimes and the trials of one of the main characters. While this can be an effective way to tell a story, it's not working for me in this book. The chapters are quite short, and at some points the story shifts back and forth with each chapter - this results in a very choppy flow (or lack thereof) to the story.
   
   Second, the writer really seems to project a lot of Charlene's mental state into the book without any indication of where this is coming from. Did the author interview Charlene directly? Did he make assumptions based on the trial testimony she gave? Is he a mind reader? I find it a bit strange that he is continually writing declarative statements of how Charlene felt or of what Charlene was thinking without giving any context as to where this information was coming from.
   
   All in all, I think the book did have one strong point, in that there was no lingering on the actual crimes - no graphic descriptions, no gratuitously gory descriptions of murder scenes. As another reviewer has said, the author also does a great job of humanizing the victims, rather than just making them names to add to the roll call of a body count. Overall, though, I just didn't feel like there was anything in the book that really grabbed my attention.



4. Sitting at Barnes and Noble bookstore I was rummaging through the True Crime book section, looking for a new book to read for a school book project. I came across "The Sex Slave Murders" by Flowers and decided it would do for my project.
   Not only did this book just satisfy my criteria for school, it satisfied me as a reader. Normally, I am one to skip pages and not want to read, but I couldn't put the book down. From victim to victim I became more appalled by the Gallegos, but couldn't stop reading. I was so curious to see what would happen next.
   Every other chapter Flowers wrote about a new victim, what happen to them, what the police think happened to them, and how Gerald and Charlene covered up their tracks. Flowers showed us back and forth the struggle Charlene had killing and helping her husband rape other women, afraid she would be the next victim if she didn't help.
   I think Flowers did a great job getting into the heads of these criminal masterminds. I also enjoyed the fact that he go back and forth between trial and murder, that way I wasn't overwhelmed with their cruel acts all at once.
   I give this book a 5 star. It kept me hanging on till the very end. I would recommend this to anyone, Flowers shows the world the sick and demented creatures that roam the streets like one of us. The Gallegos put fear into eleven victim's eyes, and I was able to see that through Flowers writing.



5. Well, I just paid $7.50 for this paperback from a competitor, and I'd say that's what it's worth. If you're into this case, it's worth the read. Just be sure to do a search for the title. It can be easily found for under $10 at many sites.

3 comments about We're Dead, Come on in.

1. One of the better books I have read about deadly force incidents. It actually included photographs and, more importantly, diagrams of what occurred. Few authors bother with any diagrams and spend almost all their effort on background of the participants; as a result, readers of most such books know plenty about the actors but little about the actual event.
   
   This author took the time to describe the events in detail and included the court testimony and diagrammed the incident. A much better account of this event is the result. I wish more books about unfortunate incidents took this author's approach.



2. Very good history of Springfield and Greene County, Missouri during the 1930's for those dreadful days.



3. If you are interested in the 1932 Springfield Police Massacre open your wallet and buy this boook. The author truly hits the mark when it comes to describing the actual gunbattle,the folks involved, and the investigation. The only problem is-- he apears to be out of his element when he attempts to give historical background concerning the depression era in the Ozarks,Pretty Boy Floyd, Oklahoma, etc. While he clumsily attempts to work in the Civil War battle of Wilsons Creek and the Bald Knobbers(in all the wrong places) he fails to mention such things as the Leonard Short Gang (A very high profile bunch of area bootleggers and bank robbers operating at the time)or the Bilyeu-Meadows fued. The book is also a bit structurally disorganized in places. But--best work to date concerning this interesting subject. Well written (style-wise). All in all--a bit flawed but a good read... R.D.Morgan... author of "The Tri-State Terror" and "Taming the Sooner State"

3 comments about Blue Thunder: How the Mafia Owned and Finally Murdered Cigarette Boat King Donald Aronow.

1. This book has to be the best summary of politics, drug running, the offshore powerboat industry, the Mafia, crime, corruption and intrigue that I have ever read!! Aronow was an old friend of my family's in New Jersey and when he got murdered we all waited for the book to come out, sure enough it did and was excellent. If you love the mob, fast boats, fast cars, fast horses and beautiful women, BLUE THUNDER is a MUST READ!! Enjoy . . . . . H.L., Florida



2. If you have an interest in offshore racing, take the time and read this compelling book about the father of the the industry. Ever heard of Thunderboat row? Find out the impact he had on some of the largest manufacturers in the country, and their attempts to to keep him out of the boat building business. You will learn about the rise and murder of Don Aronow and how state law enforcement of Florida(at the time led by the infamous Janet Reno) either bungled the investigation, or for whatever reason, let his death go unsolved. You will learn of the allegation that Don Aronow had ties to the mob, South American drug smugglers, and to the DEA. At the end you can surmise what you will of what his life was about, but you can't take away what he meant to the sport of offshore racing. Read it and pay homage.



3. I have really enjoyed this book. I like true stories, and am especially interested in speed boat racing, and stories about how the Mafia infiltrates businesses, and eventually takes them over! It certainly is an interesting read.

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.

3 comments about The Lyncher in Me: A Search for Redemption in the Face of History.

1. Warren Read is the great-grandson of Louis Dondino, one of the ringleaders of a riot in 1920 Duluth that led to the lynching of three circus workers accused of raping a young girl. In an effort to make amends, the city of Duluth dedicated a memorial to Elmer Jackson, Elias Clayton, and Isaac McGhie. Warren Read spoke at the ceremony, apologizing for what his great-grandfather did.
   
   Read follows Michael Fedo's (author of THE LYNCHINGS IN DULUTH) lead in disguising the names of the two young people responsible for the lies that resulted in the murder of the three blacks. If you're hoping for "the why" you won't find it here.
   
   Read provides some interesting anecdotes, mainly Elmer Jackson's rather casual response to his own hanging. Just before he died, he surrendered a pair of dice, saying "I guess I won't need these anymore."
   Another touching narrative was Louis Dondino's friendship with Black Bill, a railroad worker he knew later in life after he moved to Washington state. Warren Reid also spends most of the book complaining about his own dysfunctional family. His father also did time in prison for molesting his own children, and his stepfather seemed to revel in psychological if not physically abusing Warren. There's even a somewhat humorous incident involving a twelve-year old black girl who bullied Warren for an entire school year after he insulted her hair-do. Also, during the summer, Warren and his sister Karen would escape to their grandparents home in Wisconsin. Read does an excellent job describing what sounds like rural living from the nineteenth century. His grandparents had no indoor plumbing or electricity. They took sponge baths and got their water from a nearby spring.
   
   After his speech at the ceremony in Duluth, Read tracks down Elmer Jackson's relatives in Topeka, Kansas, and in Marshall, Missouri. His historical account of the all-black community of Pennytown near Marshall is extremely compelling. Coincidentally, while staying at a hotel in Topeka, Read, a gay man, just happens to run into a demonstration by The Westboro Baptist church led by Fred Phelps, the virulent homophobe, that picketed Matthew Shepherd's funeral in Laramie, Wyoming, and funeral of fallen Iraqi War veterans. Call me a cynic but this seemed like an awful coincidence.
   
   Much of Read's book is rather self-congratulatory, especially after he apologizes for his great-grandfather's part in the lynchings. It's easy to apologize for somebody else's mistakes. Read's version of the Lyncher in himself, was his hatred for the black girl who'd bullied him in his band class. If he'd confronted the Phelps demonstrators, I would have been more impressed.



2. This is an unusual book in that it's both a memoir and an interesting look at American history. Read manages to retell an event in compelling "true crime" fasion while laying the possible effects that event had on his family in the traditional "family dysfunction" memoir style. The fact that he seeks out the family of the victims for a kind of reconcilation might puzzle some people, but I thought it was a pretty amazing thing to do and the perfect ending to a powerful story. I thought the connection to Fred Phelps in Topeka was a timely reminder of intolerance today(I've been in Topeka and that family is out in the streets constantly, so the author very likely did see them). There were moments that struck me as "preachy" but maybe that was just my interpretation. This is a different kind of book--a real story where the author does more than just "tell", he dissects and reflects on his experience, so the reader needs to be prepared be more than just an observer of someone else's life. I didn't realize the lingering effects of this book until well after I put it down. A strong companion to other books written for this genre.



3. Lynchings of black Americans was a form of terrorism that existed too commonly in our country years ago. It's a legacy that still has a hold on society today and anyone who doesn't see that is fooling themselves. Read looks at the idea that the tendency to create violence--in society, within our families--is a reality that most of us could relate to. The writing in "The Lyncher in Me" is poetic and evokes stark images of dysfuntion, violence and, ultimately, redemption. The criticism that Read is "self-congratulatory" or "preachy" is absurd. I was able to hear him speak at a reading and from what I gathered upon meeting him, nothing could be further from the truth. He might be proud of what he's done, but after having heard and read about his experience, I think he's earned that right. He not only shoulders the task of trying to make amends for his family's role in the lychings, he goes above and beyond to try and put out a story for one of the victims.
   
   The final third of the book really delves vividly into the story of Elmer Jackson (one of the men lynched--Read wasn't able to find any leads on the other two men). It's clear in reading this portion that Read has taken great pains to meticulously research and reconstruct this man's life and history, including all things related to him. It's fascinating and impressive. I'm not sure that I would have the tenacity and determination to stick with something so daunting (especially since Read apparently is not only a writer, but a school teacher and a father to three growing boys).
   
   For those of us who come from family violence, it's a wonderful lesson in coming to terms with the humanness of those ugly parts of our family that we too often like to pretend are buried and forgotten. A beautifully written book, highly recommended.

5 comments about How To Make $100,000 A Year As A Private Investigator.

1. ... As an experienced private investigator with many years in the field and having survived the years of "growing" to become successful, I have to say that Mr. Pankau's book, together with his seminars, have been a great help. In our small PI community Mr. Pankau is an icon. He is in the top 5% of all private investigators in the world. This book was not written for someone who has been in the field for years and years but for the many new starters who hopefully can learn from the introductory texts Mr. Pankau has published. For the amateurs who love to watch Dan Tanner reruns and after reading a book on private investigation want to make it big in the profession, it is not a book to read. Gazza and some of the others may need to give it a little time to grow as investigators to understand the broad guidance that is actually represented in the book.



2. I have read Mr. Pankua's book, "How To Make A $100,000 A Year As A Private Investigator". I have found it to be an excellent resource of information on marketing, promoting, and operating an investigative agency. Mr. Pankua has been there and done it. He speaks from experience and I for one am grateful that he has chosen to share his wealth of knowledge and experience on this subject. I would highly recommend this book to anyone starting up or operating a private investigative business.



3. This book has it all and it has it simple.
   It even allows you to contact the writer for help and that is necessary for me since i am working in this field here in iceland.
   In the back it has forms and contracts wich no other book i have seen has



4. As a licensed private investigator and college instructor of private investigation courses, I have the utmost respect for the late Mr. Edmund J. Pankau, CLI, CPP, DABFE and his contributions to the private investigation profession, and was saddened to learn of his recent passing. Mr. Pankau has written some books of value regarding private investigation, and this one is of some (emphasis added) value.
   
   If you are new to the profession and looking to explore the different investigative services (specialties) offered within the profession... If you are looking for general information to assist in founding a private investigation firm... If you are looking for some general ideas about marketing private investigation services... Then this book should be helpful.
   
   If you are expecting to read this book and make "$100,000 A Year As A Private Investigator", you're going to be very disappointed. If you are experienced in this profession or experienced at running a business (including general marketing strategies), then this book might not suit your needs. For the price however, if this book gives you just one new effective marketing strategy (as it did for me), then the small price of this book could prove to be a great investment.
   
   If you are looking for details regarding private investigation techniques/procedures, you will not find them here. If you are looking to enter the profession and are desperately seeking a title to quench your thirst for knowledge, then I would highly recommend (emphasis added) "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Private Investigation" by Steven Kerry Brown (ISBN: 0028643992). Brown's work is a must-have for anyone entering or attempting to enter the private investigation profession.
   
   As always, check with your local library or bookstore to see if you can read/review this or any title before deciding to make a purchase. This method has effectively allowed me to make the most of my investigative library budget.
   
   I hope you found this review helpful. If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me via email at (...)



5. This book is extremely outdated. It was outdated in 1993 when it was printed. The forms in the back of the book look like Genealogy forms. If you need a contract for service hire a attorney don't use his contract for service.
   
   I have been a private detective for the last 20 years.
   
   Building your library section of this book was a just paper use. Outdated phone books? Why? Microfilm? I am not looking for my family history.
   
   Some of the stories are funny. They seem like big fish stories.
   
   He did not touch on the fact that in some states you need to be licensed by the state. You also need experience with working for a private detective agency to obtain the licensing. Some states even require you to take a test.
   
   It seems that Mr. Pankau made most of his money writing books.