5 comments about A Rush to Injustice: How Power, Prejudice, Racism, and Political Correctness Overshadowed Truth and Justice in the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case.

1. I read this book in less than two days, it was so compelling - as, indeed, was It's Not about the Truth, a particularly accurate and damning title and book itself.
   
   Mr. Baydour's account draws strength from his stance as a very loyal alumnus and a lawyer. He and Ms. Good have provided us many details in this well-written book that I had not digested heretofore. They have also zeroed in upon the overriding problems at Duke University and many other institutions as well: political correctness, the power of such groups, the silence of most others in the presence of political correctness (a national phenomenon), and the ideological and impenetrable fervor of its perpetrators, fundamentalist in style (The far right and the far left meet here in their intransigence).
   
   To this picture I would add a long-time, widespread view that the University's hiring record for presidents has somehow not been as successful as one would want. For many of us there have been two really superb presidents: Dr. William Preston Few at the beginning and recently Governor Terry Sanford. The latter's operation in a tricky personnel/work situation I personally witnessed. He was a man of great breadth and savoir faire.
   
   This view of the University's administration is not unique to this case. Again, it is widely bruited within and without that the managers, high and low, never make mistakes, never apologize, personnel need to be yes/persons or else no matter how expert they are, and, judging from the experience of the Lacrosse Team, expert groups are also expendable. Again, it is a national problem. Mr. Baydoun and Ms. Good have exposed some of these phenomena at Duke as have none other except the authors of It's Not about the Truth, and even more forcefully.
   
   These problems have gradually worsened in the second half of my fifty years of observation from within and without. Mr. James B. Duke was quoted to a former boss by one of Mr. Duke's associates as saying that, "If I do not hire people who know more about it than I do, I have not done my job." Many institutions and businesses do not want to hear from such personnel and are likely to crush them. The Lacrosse Case contained some of that style.



2. This book lacks the immediacy of parts of Don Yaeger and Mike Pressler's IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TRUTH and lacks the comprehensiveness of Stuart Taylor's and KC Johnson's UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT, which stands as the definitive book on the Duke case, supported as it is by Johnson's absolutely heroic record of events in his Durham-in-Wonderland blog and by Taylor's early advocacy. You need Yaeger-Pressler for what it contains about the Pressler family which is not in UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT. Do you need the Baydoun-Good A RUSH TO INJUSTICE? The word opportunistic is probably unduly harsh for A RUSH TO INJUSTICE, but the book is too anecdotal, too personal, and the Index is unreliable. As much as the magnificent Robert Ekstrand is quoted here, he does not come to life as he does in Taylor and Johnson's book. Ekstrand should probably write his own book, for the record, as Mike Pressler should have done (rather than turning his diary over to Yeager). Yet you will find some information in A RUSH TO INJUSTICE not in Taylor and Johnson, who left out some of what they knew (imagine the magnitude of evidence in their hands) when they felt it would be distracting. Baydoun and Good have the time to point the reader to Brodhead's rush to judgment (surely the wrong judgment) in the James Van de Velde case at Yale, which resulted in a lawsuit naming Brodhead and others. One wonders if the higher administration at Yale held its breath during the wooing of Brodhead by Duke, afraid he might refuse. Would Yale hire him back, now? This is not a case in which one book says it all, even the splendid UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT. But the Baydoun and Good book is not absolutely essential, unless you are trying to amass a small library of early books on the case. Still, the case is so horrific that there is satisfaction at watching it dissolve, once again--after experiencing the terror, once again, on reviewing the way the ravening rogue prosecutor Nifong seized on the lacrosse players as they were thrown to him by the faculty Gang of 88 and the President of Duke University, Richard Brodhead.



3. This book was the first of three to bring us an account of the Duke LaCrosse Rape Scandal Hoax of 2006. The authors do a good job of describing how a terrible lie by a mentally disturbed black stripper nearly sent three innocent white Duke students into prison for life. Even more than the lie, we're shown how a gallery of villians conspired to railroad the three innocents because of their various agendas. As the authors point out, on nearly every university campus, students are forced to take diversity classes where they're taught that white males are the source of all problems. This is part of the fanatical politically correct obsessions of white male treachery, black victomhood and feminist radical theory. You're presented with an amazing gallery of lynch mob members, determined to over-ride the truth in their goal of incacerating for life the young trio. You've got a very disturbed female black stripper who had made the same charges three years before against a group of men but didn't pursue her complaint. There's the psychopathic district attorney, Mike Nifong who knew early on that the rape charges were a lie but nevertheless pursued the suspects because he wanted to be re-elected as DA. Duke University's gutless president, Richard Brodhead and his treacherous cronies never wavered in their support of the demented Nifong and consistently refused to look at the pile of documentation by the defense attorneys that proved the innocence of the accused. You had a group of 88 Duke professors (or a gallery of 88 bigots) who signed a newspaper ad that encouraged protestors to "turn up the volume" against the LaCrosse players, even though many of these professors had LaCrosse players in their classes. There were the violently anti-white New Panther Party who came to Duke to demonstrate and urged violence against the players. The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP comes across as a morally derelict group that demanded Nifong imprison the boys.
   
   The Durham Police and judges were also derelict in trying to uncover the truth The authors show us how the media outrageously distorted the truth and crucified the accused, led by the New York Times and CNN's disgrace, Nancy Grace who constantly referred to the accused as "rapists". The Times articles were so pro-Mike Nifong you would think he was personally writing the articles. Even Duke Hospital helped ignite the inferno when one of its emegency nurses, Tara Livecy distorted her examination of the stripper to show that she had been raped. The nurse was proud of being a feminist and said she never ever doubted any woman who cried rape. Many student protestors were equally guilty, especially one student/faculty led group, The Potbangers, that held countless protests in front of the residences of the LaCrosse players and threatened them with bodily harm. Throughout this book, you may be reminded of an identical case in New York State in 1987 when black teenager Tawana Brawley accused a group of white men, including a young district attorney, of gang rape. For a year, her false charges were fanned by racial arsonists like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. In a horrifying example of deja vu, both Sharpton and Jackson flew into Durham to scream for justice while demanding imprisonment against the accused trio. Like Tawana Brawley, the stripper was never charged with anything. While Nifong was eventually disbarred, none of the lynch mob has ever apologized for its actions. In fact, President Brodhead was just recently praised by his board of trustees for his outstanding efforts in handling the false rape case--which would suggest the board supported the president's unwavering support of Mike Nifong.
   
   My one complaint is that there are no photographs in this book. A true life drama this big demands pictorial enhancement to give us images of both the villians and the heroes. One of the heroes, in addition to the defense attorneys, was the feisty, heroic Duke campus newspaper, The Chronicle, which never wavered in urging for people to hold their judgements until all the facts were in The paper stood up to the administration and to the arrogant faculty members who demanded that they were the only ones who knew the truth. In the end, they were proven to be just as guilty as Mike Nifong in trying to perpetuate a horrendous miscarriage of judgement upon three of its own students.



4. This is best and most succinct of the three books currently available on the Duke Lacrosse case. As someone who knows some of the characters in this story, I think this book provides a very good account of the thought processes and actions of everyone involved.



5. "A Rush To Injustice" isn't a bad book or an awful book: it simply isn't anywhere as good or comprehensive or well-written as Until Proven Innocent: Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case.
   
   Where Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson engaged in extensive first-hand research, interviewing many of the participants directly and drilling down to an almost microscopic level, the authors of "Rush" were content to rely primarily on newspaper and magazine articles. Ironically, "Until Proven Innocent" points out the bias and inaccuracy of many of these articles.
   
   The primary author appears to be Nader Baydoun, a Nashville lawyer who graduated from Duke University. The viewpoint is very much first-person. Badoun took it upon himself to "investigate" the situation. He claims he heard "tales of crooked prosecutors, selfserving faculty members, turncoat administrators, irate revenge-seeking neighbors, and even, possibly dirty cops who were out to pursue their own personal agendas." Well, anyone who followed in KC Johnson's blog Durham-In-Wonderland or the Liestoppers blog knew about these things as soon as they came to light.
   
   The book is not well-written. The word "I" appears far too frequently because Baydoun is telling the story of his reactions to the case with the case itself being secondary. Events that were of critical importance have to wait for Baydoun to wade his way through preliminaries with chapter titles like "The Plot Thickens" and "Duked". He doesn't reach one of the most truly outrageous episodes, the infamous and reprehensible Group of 88, until page 93.
   
   Comments such as "Much to my chagrin, it has become all too apparent to me that hypocrisy has been allowed to reign in the halls of Duke, overshadowed and underscored by the arrogance of some seemingly highly educated faculty members and students." This and many other comments sound like apologia from rightfully concerned and embarassed Duke alumni, but do nothing to tell the story of the three falsely accused Duke lacrosse players.
   
   Overall, as I said, this is not an awful book, but "Until Proven Innocent" is far superior for anyone who is interested in the actual story of the case and not Baydoun's subjective shame over the goings on at his alma mater.
   
   Jerry

5 comments about A Mind for Murder: The Real-Life Files of a Psychic Investigator.

1. You are in for a special treat. This book is full of great stories and lots of details of Noreen's psychic adventures. She is the real deal. How many psychics could pass a 43 page report by the FBI and be called credible? Noreen explains how she goes into a trance and then actually becomes the victims and the murderers to help get clues when she is solving a case. That's just plain scary. She deserves a metal of courage! But wait, just when you think you can't take the gory details of the case any more, she makes you laugh with her humor and wit. 2 thumbs WAY up! Her life and adventures would make a great movie. I predict a TV series!
   
   Diana C. Meier, Teacher/Actor/Psychic



2. Calling all Hollywood producers, Noreen Renier's new
   book, "A Mind for Murder," is a success as a
   fascinating autobiography of her real-life psychic
   detective case files and experiences. After reading
   the cases ya gotta wonder why the police didn't add
   her to the payroll of a big city like Los Angeles or
   New York. For 20 plus years, Noreen has assisted the
   police and individuals with cases related to
   poltergeists, missing people and even murder. I was
   surprised to read that her talents include levitation
   and healing through her hands. The high integrity of
   Noreen's character, her willingness to try new psychic
   methods and her comedic and light-hearted personality
   rings throughout each case. Her credibility record is
   spotless as the FBI has verified her psychic
   abilities, she's worked several times with the real
   FBI agent that the movie,"Silence of the Lambs," and
   the TV show "The X-Files," was based on. She even won
   a legal case against a skeptic. I would recommend
   this book to anyone that wants a fast ride in the
   world of psychic detectives.
   
   Dawn C. Meier, Sr. Air Quality Specialist,
   Prescott Valley, AZ



3. As Renier's "principal nemesis and major skeptic critic" the book A Mind For Murder is one I would never stop anyone from buying! Buyers who purchase the book will be supporting book royalties which are paying off Noreen Renier's creditors, including her principal creditor owed approximately 56% of her bankruptcy debt --- myself!
   
   Toss in unpaid debts of her previous attorney and these book royalties could pay off more than 94% of her debts as of mid 2008.
   
   Indeed the more who buy the latest edition of A Mind For Murder, the more the creditors in her bankruptcy get paid! William S. Lyon's book review also shown here incorrectly states that I stopped the first edition of the book. In fact it was a decision of Renier's own initial publisher and no one else --- a fact their attorneys stated before a judge. Lyon also fails to mention that Renier breached a 1992 Florida legal settlement agreement and the 2005 cause of action was only about her own breach, not hindering public disclosure about a highly disputed libel case in a small county court more than two decades ago! Mr. Lyon has stated "shamans can easily locate lost bodies, lost items, etc., via their shamanic powers, and I have seen this myself many times during my fieldwork." So Mr. Lyon's review of A Mind For Murder doesn't appear to be neutral or open to critically examining the claims within this new edition. Indeed he should first be checking his own book review posted here and on Renier's web site for accuracy.
   
   In reviewing the new 2008 edition of A Mind For Murder it fails to mention that after a two year legal battle beginning in 2005 a Washington federal court ordered judgments against Noreen Renier in 2006 and 2007. This was not a ruling or decision by any skeptic, but a federal judge. It's unfortunate that author Renier felt that kind of information wasn't something readers would find interesting as these multiple court failures are completely absent, and were failures she had predicted she would win.
   
   While the new edition offers better cover art and an enlarged size, it remains disappointing in my opinion. Fantasized fluff is sometimes appealing, but many of the claims are beyond exaggeration.
   
   Those who might believe that comments such as a "high performance tested psychic" and "scientifically proven psychic" and "FBI examined and proven psychic" had better think again. Exaggeration again comes to mind.
   
   Indeed the new edition unfortunately repeats a variety of claims and visions that were disputed in 2006 and 2007 by eye witnesses. Multiple witnesses now in 2008 are very harsh in their criticisms of events portrayed inaccurately in A Mind For Murder. Nonetheless readers should consider purchasing A Mind For Murder and then comparing for themselves with web sites that examine the real facts and events as they happened. Actually it might be best to actually purchase both the first 2005 edition and the new 2008 edition of A Mind For Murder as various claims and events have even been changed throughout the books. Readers will likely find such flip flopping claims and changes of further interest.
   
   And the claim that skeptics don't want you to read this book?! That's simply more hog wash! PLEASE buy these books! And buy lots of copies for friends! But for a comparison of the real facts and events please examine the commercial free web site which takes its name from same title as the book, but with no spaces between A Mind For Murder. Just add the dot com and you can compare psychic facts versus psychic fantasies. And it's a win-win scenario when the web site is free. Good book reading! -John Merrell



4. Noreen Renier's book was particularly helpful for me in that she outlined a structure that she uses with law enforcement. That structure helped to guide my own work in remote viewing in that it provides a structure that enables the remote viewer and the guide to get the most out of the session. I found her book, "Mind for Murder", to be professional, humorous, insightful and educational,especially if one is in this area of service.
   I enjoyed her book immensely and recommend it to others.



5. I have seen Ms Renier on T.V., along with other psychic detectives and enjoy watching these kinds of shows. And I found her book to be spell binding. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. I especially liked the chapter on the Lacy Peterson disappearance & murder since it all played out in my local area. If you are at the very least remotely interested in how using a psychic can help solve crimes, you will enjoy this book.

5 comments about The Guv'nor.

1. What an amazing book. The story of a kid, horribly beaten by his step father, who grows into the hardest bare knuckle boxer in the world. But what makes the story so great is McLean's ethic's and moral's. He clearly draws a line in the sand and if crossed there's trouble. Not just a hard man but a real character. This is a great read.



2. one of the best books i have ever read
   
   a must buy



3. If you ever saw the movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels , you probably noticed the mob enforcer character, "Barry the Baptist", who "baptized" his victims in trash-bins filled with water. While reading an article about the movie, a mention was made of the real mobsters and hard-edged sorts that were used in bit parts. One such role was played by Lenny McLean, who portrayed Barry, and was called out as "in real life, the hardest man in England".
   
   As an American fight fan, I'd never heard of Lenny McLean. So I did a bit of Internet research and happened upon his autobiography -- this book -- over at Amazon.co.uk. I bundled it with a few other UK-only purchases (at the time, certain AJ Quinnell books were only available there, too) and received it days later. It was a captivating, compelling read -- the working-class, Cockney nomenclature notwithstanding -- that details McLean's rise from an abused child to the top of England's unlicensed fight game.
   
   An unlicensed fight can take place anywhere: a warehouse, tavern, gym... wherever there's enough room for two willing fighters and a plethora of bettors. The rules? Let's just say there aren't many. Head butts, hair-pulling, elbows, knees, and the like are all part of the game. One might consider UK's unlicensed fights as the logical ancestor to today's UFC or mixed martial arts.
   
   Over time, McLean proved himself the most dangerous man in the fight game. He participated in thousands of these no-holds-barred bouts, and it can be argued he lost only once. And in a rematch of that fight, he handily won. McLean doesn't shy away from describing his experiences on the seamy side of things. He details his role as a real-life mob enforcer willing to do anything -- except kill -- to collect or intimidate. Even his tangles with the law -- including a murder charge for which he was found innocent -- are fully described in colloquial, yet entirely satisfying, prose.
   
   The book's ending is filled with promise for a new life as an actor: McLean appeared in several TV and film roles. But during the filming of LS&2SB, McLean was stricken by a bout with the flu. Subsequent testing showed that he was suffering from advanced lung and brain cancer and he passed away in July 1998, just days before the release of the film. The book is a fascinating testament to a hard man who lived a hard life, but was equally dedicated to his family and destined for great things no matter the odds.



4. I always wondered who played the role of "John the Baptist" in the movie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The name Lenny Mclean kept popping up in books on British gangsters. He is Lenny McLean. A man who grew up tough under hard circumstances. Showing a talent for fighting, he starts doing enforcer and door man work for the local mobs. Later, he fights for money. Totally fearless, he takes on all comers "I'll even fight King Kong," he states. "And I'll beat the hairy b....ard!" Some of his exploits and boldness had me laughing. Like when a group of tough guys approached him at a bar that he was managing and asked for his job. After soundly beating the lot, he tosses them out of the club. There is another incident where he beats up an opponent before getting into the ring.
   
   There is no bragging or nonsense in this well-written biography. It is an honest, straight-forward story about one hard guy.
   
   Doug Setter, author of Stomach Flattening



5. A Walk Through LifeThe Guv'nor is a great autobiography about a tough man who comes from the East end of London and gives you some good insight into the underworld of unlicensed boxing. One of the stories inside is how Lenny Mclean was flown to new york to fight the mafias top man, he beat him in the less than three minutes! if you like your tough men like Kimbo Slice, Mike Tyson and many others this book is for you to read!.

3 comments about Prince Of The City: The True Story Of A Cop Who Knew Too Much.

1. Prince Of The City: The True Story Of A Cop Who Knew Too Much is the dramatic true story of Detective Robert Leuci, a deep cover sleuth who assembled corruption cases against lawyers, bail bondsmen, mob figures, and even some of his own, putting his own life in peril for the sake of law and justice. Written in the style of a novel, Prince Of The City offers an unflinchingly honest portrait of the rigors of policework, the toll it can take, and the horrors it encounters all too often. An introduction by Rudolph Giuliani rounds out this mesmerizing chronicle of courage and duty.



2. The true story of a cop who knew too much.
   1978 hardcover. 311 page published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
   Author's note: All of the events depicted in this book are a matter of factual record, and the people are real. No names have been chenged. The dialogue has either been taken from concealed tape recordings made at the time the events took place or been carefully reconstructed through interviews with the participants.



3. This is a dazzling work of nonfiction that traces the story of Robert Leuci, a young detective with the New York City Police Department who came to a crossroads in his life and found himself confronted with whom he had become and, apparently, did not like what he saw. As a team leader in the elite and now defunct Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Narcotics division during the late nineteen sixties and early seventies, Leuci was involved in many large narcotics takedowns and, consequently, the corruption that then often ensued.
   
   In early 1971, Leuci was called to appear before the Commission to investigate Alleged Police Corruption, which was known as the Knapp Commission. Although the commission had no evidence of wrongdoing by Leuci, it had called him in to ask about some of the detectives that he had worked with in SIU. Leuci, at the time, refused to give up his fellow officers, claiming that the whole criminal justice arena, including the lawyers and the courts, were corrupt. Leuci was interviewed by Nicholas Scoppetta, a former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney with the Knapp Commission (and now the current New York City Fire Department Commissioner). After interviewing him, Scoppetta decided to leave the Knapp Commission and persuaded the federal government to undertake a probe into the entire criminal justice system of New York City with Detective Robert Leuci as its linchpin, an investigation that the federal government agreed to undertake.
   
   The book details Detective's Leuci's personal exploits, as he fearlessly helped the federal government make its cases against lawyers, bail bondsmen, and other cops. For years, Leuci walked a fine line, continuing his work as a NYPD detective while working as a confidential informant for the feds, often at great risk to his life. The details of his exploits are riveting, as they expose the seamy side of a criminal justice system that, at the time, was truly corrupt at so many levels. Moreover, Leuci's personal angst in trying to keep his detective friends from becoming embroiled in the investigation is palpable throughout the book, as is Leuci's innate sense of fair play.
   
   Leuci himself had previously been on the take, a fact of which the feds were aware. It was the extent to which Leuci had been on the take that the Feds were unaware. Leuci's perfidy was not revealed in its entirety until the government had made many arrests, grand juries had handed down indictments, and defendants had been tried and convicted. Leuci had worked with Rudolf Giuliani, who was then a young Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of the State of New York. It was to Giuliani that Leuci eventually unburdened himself. I have to commend Giuliani for the compassion that he extended to Leuci, a man who was clearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown after leading a double life for years and who, for so long, had internalized his anxiety over his own and his friends' involvement in the corruption that was at the heart of the investigation.
   
   This is a well-written and moving true story of a cop who knew too much and was eventually made to sing. This is a great book upon which the wonderful, gritty film, "Prince of the City", starring Treat Williams, was based. Those who are interested in the criminal justice arena or are cop buffs will especially enjoy this book, as well as the film. Bravo!

5 comments about The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America's Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement.

1. Flynn and Gerhardt provide decent narrative and expository from both personal interviews (although they both failed to interview the broadest members of the Silent Brotherhood) and personal eyewittness accounts to bring you, the reader, at least a 15% portrayal of the actual story, while being 85% accurate in the telling.
   Let the reader bear the burden of distilling the facts and lies of the parties involved; but none will come away from this book without feeling deep inside, a genuine appreciation of the nobility and courage of the men who comprise the modern day 'true believers' of racial tribalism, family, national survival, and the mystical interpolation of Blood. Read this to your children.



2. "The Silent Brotherhood" is a well-researched and in-depth look at one of the most infamous domestic terrorist groups, The Order. It illustrates how alarmingly normal people can harbor deep and unrelenting passions against society.

   You come a way with a sense of respect for both the FBI agents, who put a tremendous amount of effort into the case, and another strange sense of respect for Robert Jay Matthews, who becomes a sort of modern-day tragic hero. In the background, you have the other personalities of the far-right, who do provide quite the tapestry of characters.

   I do fault the book on several fronts. One, I noticed a large number of typing errors into the end of the text. Two, since this was a second release, there should have been some updates on the other players. Third, the authors smear the entire militia movement with a broad brush. Most militias are nothing like the Order




3. This is a "true crime" style account of Bob Matthews and The Order. It was a lot more fair and impartial than I expected. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (and neither was The Order themselves) but even members of The Order have said it is more or less accurate except for minor details and the dialogue that the authors threw in. This is still a must read book if for no other reason its the best book about Bob Matthews and The Order that has been put out and is written in a way that keeps you interested the whole way through. Whether you consider them terrorists or freedom fighters you will probably get something out of this book.



4. If you are a skinhead and think you know what it means to be one,or what this "movement" is all about. You must have read this book, if you haven't I suggest you do so you can get an idea about what it means to be a soldier in this war against ZOG!! This book tells the story of how Bob Matthews and the the rest of the Order took it straight to the Jew. A MUST READ FOR ANY WHITE RACIALIST



5. If you saw Talk Radio (the movie) you will like this book
   I like the way they stooped the armored truck with a cardboard tube made to look like a bazooka
   I never new the whole story until I read this book
   Never new about how they twist bible passages to brainwash people.............

5 comments about Deadly Seduction (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. I knew Susan as a teen. Her sister Symbolene and I were friends. She attended my church with her family. I think she, Susan, killed Jimmy. But I also think there was more to the story that the book neglects to tell. Having grown up in Peru I know what kind of town it is and it is not all good. Jimmy did not need to be killed by his wife. But I think he was not an innocent man. I wish we knew the true story and as Paul Harvey would say the rest of the story. My niece was actually in the same prison as Susan or Sue as we knew her.



2. I was disappointed with this book. In my opinion it was poorly written. I usually re-read my books after a few years but I won't be re-reading this one.



3. This is another book that you can't put down. Susan Grund should have felt very blessed by the men who came in to her life. Without them she had nothing. They kissed the floor and bowed for her and that was not good enough for the evil Susan Grund. I will say no more to avoid spoilers but will say this book was well written it kept me up to late it was that hard to put down. The author did extensive research on this. It was so well written that it was even made in to A Movie.



4. I really enjoyed this book. This woman is actually at the prison that I work at (Indiana) so it is getting passed around quite quickly for all of the Officers to read.



5. I found this book to be highly informative. I usually don't read true crime books involving child abuse because they upset me so much but the brutality of susan grund needs to be exposed. It is so hard to believe a human being could inflict so much pain on a helpless child. The thing that bothers me the most is no charges were brought against Tom Whited. Hopefully punishment has come to him some other way since I don't believe he has a conscience. I highly recommend this book.

5 comments about The BTK Murders: Inside the "Bind Torture Kill" Case that Terrified America's Heartland.

1. I eagerly awaited thia book and what a dissapointment it is. Obviously it was written for those who know little or nothing abt the case, but want to read a true crime book on the throne or on the subway. There was no new data and the descriptions of the crimes were like reading fiction, especially since the author obviously did not check the details, even though they are on the internet. At one point he says that after the first crimes, Rader went home to his wife and kids, when at that time he had no kids. There are countless others, but out of respect for those involved, I will not specify. Was not worth the wait or the money.



2. The book was so-so. I was disappointed that it told me absolutely nothing about Dennis Rader as a person. There was nothing in the book about his background from childhood and nothing about his marriage and relationship with his wife. I'm glad I didn't spend a lot of money for the book.



3. I thought this book was very detailed, but I don't know how accurate the provided details were. It was interesting how the author wrote his book in hopes of getting BTK mad - if BTK thought the author was getting all the glory by publishing a book about BTK, maybe BTK would try and communicate again.
   
   The author's ploy worked, and it helped lead to the capture of BTK.
   
   For people who know nothing about the BTK case, this book would be very good. It may be kind of boring to those who know much about the case, however. It's an interesting true crime story, a quick read, and even if it wasn't the most factual BTK book, I enjoyed it.



4. I lived in the area these murders took place and still have a home in Wichita. It is very interesting to me to learn more about the murders and the investigation. I also had friends on the police department that were very involved, but could not know this at the time.



5. I, like many other people had never heard of the "BTK" serial killer who terrorized Wichita in the 1970's and 80's until news clips started talking about him resurfacing. One of the first things I found amazing in Carlton Smith's book is the fact that an entire generation of people in the town it happened in had not heard of him either.
   
   It was part of this unknowing that helped fuel one of the people the book centers on, which is lawyer Robert Beattie. Beattie's psychological outlook into the case from the clues that had already been collected helped him concoct a plan to bring the BTK killer back out of hiding. Like many serial killers, the BTK had been known for wanting attention, and when Beattie announced he was writing a book about the BTK, the killer quickly resurfaced, taunting police with mailed evidence and letters till the error made with a computer floppy disk led to his capture. From then on, the world knew the BTK as Dennis Rader; a pillar in the community and the last person many thought would be capable of such a thing.
   
   Carlton's novel can be broken down into three sections. One is the start of Beattie's involvement with the case. As the book rolls on, we later go through each grisly murder as Dennis Rader performed it. We are not shown so much the mind of the killer, but we really don't need to be. His actions of murder coupled with his strange fantasy world of bondage through collections of homemade playing cards and his over the top ego all come together to paint a picture of an extremely disturbed individual. We cry for the victims, and we gasp in disbelief at how many times he was almost caught. This leads to the third part of the book, which is the area that dances around the initial shock of the murders that started with the Otero family. It is during this part that shows how many in the law enforcement community were trying so hard to bring justice to the table, but also showed how mishandled evidence and an almost state of denial by some helped hinder the investigations. I was amazed to find that so many mistakes were made, but the biggest perhaps was the continual reluctance to release anything to the public. At the time, they did not want to create a "panic" in Wichita, while at the same time some of the details of the consecutive patterns that were being seen could have helped some residents identify the suspect sooner as well as be more careful about who they opened their door to.
   
   Sad, Frustrating and scary, the trip Carlton takes us on serves up the right justice in the end. The book really takes off when BTK communicates with law enforcement when he resurfaces and although stirring up scary memories in the town of Wichita, renews an aggressive interest by dusting off the case and taking it on to finally capture the BTK killer once and for all.
   
   My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of all of the BTK victims at this time. The dark side of human nature is always around us, and I just hope that in the days ahead, there are fewer Dennis Raders in the world to ruin the lives of others.

5 comments about Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It.

1. This book was painful to read. It is poorly written drivel. If you are truly interested in the topic, there are much better books written on Mitnick, Hacking/Phreaking, and/or computer security issues. With every paragraph that Shimomura writes about his love life (and there are plenty of them,) the book, (although calling it that is insulting to other books) continues on a long downward spiral into the absolute load of poop that it is. I feel sorry that paper was wasted to create this mess. I cannot believe I wasted several hours of my life reading this.



2. Fans of the Kevin Mitnick mythos will have a ball with this book dissecting everything that's wrong here. In the process of tracking Mitnick, Shimomura (and another important name, Markoff, whose relationship with Mitnick would be laughable if it didn't violate every concievable rule of morality) basically took free leave of both the law and personal decency. Mitnick became a "thing", and the two of them pushed that image of Mitnick to cover up the legal mess they would have been in if they'd been tracking some average Joe instead of Kevin Mitnick: The Man, The Myth, The Legend (again, an image which these two men essentially created).
   
   It's amazing to see how egotistical Shimomura is willing to be on the issue, and as noted by others, he shows this off in spades in this book. Shimomura and Markoff boh essentially believe that they are the lone men responsible for the takedown and capture of Mitnick, and that not even the dozens (hundreds?) of security firms and companies who spent millions of their own money tracking Mitnick deserve any credit at all. And in a sense, they are mostly correct- we wouldn't be talking about Mitnick today if Markoff and Shimomura weren't working so desperately hard to make money off of this story.
   
   If you're a fan of Mitnick, skip this book just because you don't want to give this man any royalties. If you're a fan of reading, skip this book because it's core is a mess of egotism. The only real reason to pick this up is if you have an insatiable urge to know every detail of this story that you can possibly get your hands on- in which case, it is another piece to the puzzle.
   
   I reccomend that interested parties check out Mitnick's own books: "Deception..." and "Intrusion...", as well as the fan favorite Jonathan Littman's "Fugitive Game".



3. I have The Fugitive and Takedown (this book) sitting in my room now. I borrowed both of them simultaneously. I had only heard of Mitnick before in anecdotes, and I thought it would be interesting to get both viewpoints.
   
   I started reading the Fugitive, but found it to read like a cheap B novel. The story jumped around in some sort of "stylistic" way that made it a bit incomprehensible and not very entertaining. There was a lack of coherence that made you wonder where it wwas going. The author also seemed to think that mentioning a lot of sex and drugs was the only way to keep the reader's attention.
   
   So about 80 pages through, I switched to Takedown, and finished it. I found it to be much better written and very engaging.
   
   All the negative reviews here are due to the fact that a lot of online people worship Mitnick, for some reason. I find him an interesting character, and definitely a skilled con-man. But he's no hero, no invincible genius.
   
   Shimomura can definitely be egotistical depending on your viewpoint, but it didn't bother me. It doesn't get in the way of the story, which was told beautifully and naturally.
   
   The story is engaging enough without having to dress it up in sensationalism. I'll have to go finish the Fugitive now to see if it can redeem itself.



4. Tedious, self-indulgent subplots. I dont care about Julia. No one cares about Julia. No one cares about where you eat or where you rent a car. These subplots REALLY screw-up the read. But the computer stuff is interesting enough. But somebody, please, toss Julia overboard.



5. Shimomura teamed up to write the most trivial, and boring details in this book about himself, and when he wasn't doing that, he was making up things about Kevin Mitnick. He never met Kevin Mitnick, he never knew Kevin Mitnick, he never had anything to do with Kevin Mitnick other than helping track him down because he was starved for attention and wanted to look like some super computer hero. Almost nothing in this book actually happened, I say almost because the only stuff that did actually happen were the trivial mundane details about Shumomura himself. Don't waste your time reading this sensationalist, tabloidian, garbage.

5 comments about On the Run: A Mafia Childhood.

1. The glamorous side of the mafia life is portrayed in movies life "Goodfellas". Yet little is said about the background characters that are affected by the mafia life. Henry Hill, the main character of the movie Goodfellas, had a wife and two children. This is the story of Gregg and Gina Hill, Henry Hill's two children. It is a disturbing look at the effects of mob life on a family.
   
   This book begins where the movie "Goodfellas" left off. The Hills are forcibly relocated when a price is placed on Henry's head. Forced into the witness protection program to save his life, the family moves three different times. At each location, Henry compromises the family's security and safety by contacting his former associates. This also meant that the family had to grow new roots at each location, which is arduous for an awkward teenager.
   
   Henry Hill never abandoned the mafia lifestyle. He continued to abuse drugs and alcohol throughout his life and was violent to his wife and children. Violence begets violence, so his children each returned the violence before they left home. Even Henry's wife tired of his antics and left him.
   
   This is a staggering portrait of the after-effects of mafia life. It is written in a format that allows Gina and Gregg to take turns writing about their experiences in a given time frame. With the glamorous life of the mob that is often portrayed in the media, we forget about those that are left in the wake of the violence. It was a traumatic and turbulent childhood for Gina and Gregg Hill, yet they survived to tell their remarkable story. This is a credit to them.



2. Gregg & Gina Hill tell their side of life on the run with notorious mobster Henry Hill. I was surprised at how much actually collaborated with the movie "Goodfellas", but not surprised at how much was left out. Their stint in the Witness Protection Program brought them to way more places than I thought, and Henry seemed to blow it every single time because he just couldn't seem to give up the life. Despite a very dysfunctional upbringing, they seem to have grown up into respectable adults.
   
   Henry was abusive to his family, both physically and mentally. The number of times he put them in grave danger is astounding. I highly recommend this book.



3. I really enjoyed this book and it's a shame when it came to the end. It was interesting hearing how Greg and Gina tell there side of what went on while in the witness protection program, and how both Henry and often Karen did everything but keep a low profile , especially when the mob received tips where they were and had to pick up and move to several different states which was hard on the kids once they finally were settled in and had made friends. I believe Greg and Gina were being honest describing what it was like to drive hours to see Henry in prison as many times as he was sent to , and wait there for hours on end, and the fact that Henry was as dysfunctional as he was being an alcoholic, drug addict, strung out all the time fighting with Karen a lot and bringing all his drug addict loser friends home and never making an effort to sober up or find a legitimate job. You get the feeling that Gina being the daddy's girl accepted her father more for who he was , while Greg came across as being very bitter towards his fathers ways especially as he reached adulthood and the many fights he had with Henry where he'd move in with whoever he could to get away from his dad. I beleive both Greg and Gina went their separate ways and haven't had much contact with their dad.



4. I'm a huge fan of Goodfellas and I'm in the process of reading the book based on the movie, Wise Guys. In the book and movie, Henry Hill is glorified as a smooth, highly respected mobster. After reading this book by his children, I have a whole new perspective on the live of Henry Hill.
   His children, although their two perspectives are VERY different, are the real victims here and they are telling the world who their father really is. I could not put this book down! It really is well written and very REAL! Henry Hill is trying to make money any way he can off his mob stories, but his children and wife are the ones who deserve every penny of what he makes because of what he put them through.
   
   Overall, I would highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading non-fiction and/or autobiographical accounts. This book is not just about the mob and their activities, as I originally thought when I purchased the book; rather, this is the account of children who are caught in the shuffle their entire lives and how they overcome the family problems they are confronted with everyday.



5. A gripping, terrific read. The Wiseguy/Goodfella is portrayed as a narcisstic, hedonistic rat. Karen comes across as completely different than portrayed by Lorraine Bracco. Karen is close to a Saint. And Henry is close to the Devil. The children produce a sensitive, thoughtful account of "Life on the Run". They both displayed maturity FAR beyond their years.

5 comments about The Girl with the Crooked Nose: A Tale of Murder, Obsession, and Forensic Artistry.

1. this story is up there with Kathy Reichs novels for forensic suspense but even better it's a true story. The information about Frank Bender's life & how he self-taught himself is incredible, his concentration & sixth sense is very remarkable. I have personnally known Frank (and Jan, his wife) for over thirty years & can truly tell you that every word is true!! These two people have an amazing bond that has stood the test of time & personnel trials for thirty or more years. May I suggest that you feature this book for your readers who are interested in anthropology and/or forensic stories. It's a terrific read & again all true.



2. 
   Ted Botha's book -- "The Girl With the Crooked Nose" -- is a thrilling account of the remarkable real-life adventures -- and remarkable life -- of forensic artist Frank Bender. The publication of this work fills a void that, for a long time, had been waiting to be filled.
   
   The book succeeds on several levels. First, there is the "frame story," which concerns the mysterious disappearance and murder of hundreds of women in and around Juarez, Mexico. Bender is called in on the case and encounters a language which, after a while, becomes far more difficult for him to understand than Spanish: something mysterious, deceptive, altogether unnerving -- and dangerous. Ultimately the symbol of this convoluted and heartbreaking exploit is the Girl With the Cooked Nose, whose skull -- like those of the other murdered girls -- needs a face and a name.
   
   On another level the book is about Frank Bender himself; and in moving back and forth between the present-day Juarez story and his biography, the fascination does not let up. This subject is in itself a valuable account on its own: his first exposure to forensics (a word he did not even know), his first (and incredibly successful) attempt to bring face to a skull and each elaborately different case thereafter, always working (like Sherlock Holmes) as a uncannily gifted "amateur" or bohemian "outsider"; the development of his approaches and all the interesting professional connections he makes as well as the macabre, touching scenarios that develop -- all these elements form an engaging catalog of one person's personal quest. To Botha's credit, the writer never depicts gore gratuitously but only as need to understand a case or the emotional reaction to a discovery.
   
   In addition, students of forensic science will relish this book not only for the subject matter itself, of course, but for the insights into Bender's actual technique and his thought process -- his early uncertainties, his triumphs, his nightmares and his relationship with the nameless victim whose identity he must help uncover.
   
   All in all, this is a fascinating and important work, not only because it deals with the tragic Juarez murders and with forensics but because it gives insight into the singular personality of Frank Bender. Not an easy person to profile, he is genuinely worth this kind of detailed treament.
   
   



3. I knew I had to read this book as soon as I saw it advertised. I've had the pleasure of meeting Frank Bender and the opportunity to see him work.
   
   Bender is a self-taught forensic artist whose work has helped identify murder victims and apprehend numerous fugitives. He sacrificed a career in commercial photography to work with law enforcement agencies around the world, a choice that has often put him in danger, jeopardized his marriage and brought him near bankruptcy at one point.
   
   Though Bender and his work have had publicity over the years, Botha does a good job of introducing him and his fascinating technique to a wider audience. In chapters fluctuating back and forth in time he intersperses Bender's history with details of the perplexing unsolved case in which some 400 young women were murdered in Mexico.
   
   Along the way, the author provides information on the development of facial reconstruction techniques, detailing both the American system pioneered by Wilton Krogman and the European perfected by Mikhail Gerasimov.
   
   Another intriguing aspect of the book is how Bender, along with William Fleischer, a customs agent and polygraph expert, and Richard Walter, a criminal profiler, founded the Vidocq Society. Named for the founder of the French Surete, the organization of amateurs and professionals focuses on unsolved deaths and disappearances.



4. I bought this book because I like true crime stories; "In Cold Blood", "The Executioners Song", "The Innocent Man" etc. But this book opens with a speculative account of a murder victims last hours which left me thinking "How does the author know this". And early on in the book there is a significant factual error; a man is mentioned who has spoken with numerous serial killers, this book states that this man was the last to speak with John Wayne Gacy "before he went to the electric chair". Wait a minute, Gacy was executed by lethal injection. Not that I'm a groupie of serial killers but I remember this one because his execution was botched; the tubes inserted into Gacys arms had to be replaced and the execution tried a second time before succceeding. I verified this on-line. I feel little pity for Gacy but wow I wouldn't want to resolve myself emotionally to dying then have to do it a second time.
   
   Anyway, what other facts are mis-stated in this book?



5. THE GIRL WITH THE CROOKED NOSE: A Tale of Murder, Obsession, and Forensic Artistry tells the true story of forensic sculptor Frank Bender's harrowing exploits south of the border as he works to put faces on five of the skulls of the feminicidios, nearly 400 young women who were murdered around Juarez in the early 1990s. Frank's ability to reconstruct faces and give them personalities is legendary in law enforcement, but in addition to being an investigative superstar, Frank is a real character. At times the outrageous details of his personal life threaten to overshadow his brilliant sleuthing. Trust me--he's one of a kind. (He identifies himself on his voice-mail message as the "recomposer of the decomposed.") Read the book and you'll see what I mean.