3 comments about Identity Theft, Inc.: A Wild Ride with the World's #1 Identity Thief.

1. Great book for anyone to read. I knew nothing about identity theft, and through their stories I feel like I learned a lot. It was entertaining, informative and I couldn't put it down. I am a big fan of Richard Marcus, and now I am adding Glenn Hastings to my list. They have a great way of writing and the story just fills up in your mind. Great book for anyone to read...



2. I have read many Identity Theft related books including Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan by Frank W. Abagnale. Most ID Theft books are informative prevention based guides, some with additional insight from the authors actual experiences. However none comes close to Identity Theft Inc, as this book stands out in its description and detail of the real life charades and daring escapades of some low tech thieves who used a variety of original ideas and methods to help scam ultimately millions of dollars and goods by assuming and using the credit profiles of high networth individuals.
   
   Unlike other ID Theft books this one is not only very interesting but highly entertaining and reads more like a high tech crime novel that is hard to put down. There will be endless debate as to the character and or motives of the author(s) but I believe the book achieves it's goal in part of atoning for his past whilst at the same time providing a huge wake up call for the general public, bank and credit industries, various authorities (police, state and federal agencies). I liked that it was written with such candor and from a true personal experience, warts and all rather than from some publishers desire to sanitize the story. I highly recommend this book to readers everywhere.



3. This book is a blast ! a great ride with a pleasant finish.
   For once a book that i wanted to read to the end.

5 comments about Cannibal.

1. This is the true story of German native Armin Meiwes who was notorious as the 'internet cannibal'. The guy who met people with similiar interests through advertisments on the internet then made a pact to kill and eat them.
   
   This book tells his life story. Interprets how he became that way and the events that led to the gruesome murders which took place. The book also has pictures of his house, inside and out, including where the murders took place, his victim, and him in prison.
   
   I couldn't put this book down. It was so engrossing and the story was bizarre. Really scary good book.



2. Disturbing! So much so I had to have someone from my work read it so I could talk about the issues of the story and how well it was written. My husband would not touch the book. From there several of my co-workers have had to read it also to see what the deal is with this book!



3. This book is the most comprehensive telling of this true story that I could find, and I do feel that I know more now than I did before I read it. It is well-written and went down quickly. However, a couple of things did annoy me: 1) the lack of any type of bibliography or sources and 2), the practice the author had of quoting people's thoughts or words, when there was obviously no way she could have known what exactly was thought or said. I am not an avid reader of true crime, and perhaps those two faults that I found are accepted in the community. I just know it was a bit of a turn off for me.



4. I got this book for my sister, who has a weird fascination with true crime, and serial killers especially cannibals.
   
   From the excerpts she read to me, this is a very graphic and sometimes disturbing book. But even more than that, it's the fact that the cannibal found numerous WILLING victims to the ad he placed for someone to murder and then eat.
   
   If you've ever wondered if there really are such messed up people in the world, the answer is undoubtedly YES!



5. I bought this book for the simple reason that it's rare I find a true crime book about a crime I'd never heard of. This book was engrossing, I couldn't put it down, carried it in my purse everywhere I went until I finished it.
   
   I have to say the writing is what made the book. I was simultaneously disgusted and intrigued. Above all else, the author actually makes it possible to understand where these men are coming from. While it may be impossible to sympathize, I was amazed to find myself satisfied at the end with the sentance that was handed down.

5 comments about Frank Nitti: The True Story of Chicago's Notorious Enforcer.

1. Author Ronald Humble mentions a number of things I wasn't aware of prior to reading this book on Frank Nitti. Humble mentions that Nitti was likely responsible for the hit on Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in retaliation for Cermak's sending two men to eliminate Nitti. Giuseppe Zangara was chosen by the mob to assassinate Cermak because Zangara was in debt to the mob, and if he didn't carry out the hit he and his family would suffer torture and death. If Zangara did as the mob ordered, the mob would see that Zangara's family was taken care of in a positive way. Author Humble draws comparisons between the assassinations of Mayor Cermak and President John Kennedy. Zangara and Lee Oswald were both expendable. Zangara was quickly eliminated through execution, and didn't dare express what he knew due to concern for his family. Oswald was quickly eliminated by Jack Ruby. Author Humble also states Nitti was likely in on the rub out of despised enemy Machine Gun Jack McGurn, and north sider Hymie Weiss. The author wonders whether Nitti's death was a suicide or was he a victim of foul play. I would stick with a suicide due to his reluctance to return to prison. Finally the author spends quite a bit of time on Nitti as he was portrayed on television and in the movies showing how much coverage he was given in this area. When the author isn't sure about events in Nitti's life he makes sure to point that out. I found the book very worth while and one that should interest those who enjoy mob-related books.



2. Far too little research has previously been available about Frank Nitti, Capone's "Enforcer" and the public face of the Chicago Outfit after Capone was sent to prison, but anyone with an interest needs look no further than this book. Ron Humble, in what can only be described as an amazing researched book, has brought Frank Nitti back to life within these pages and has revealed the complex and contradictory gangster in a way that no other writer has ever been able to do. This is a highly readable (although filled with great detail) book that no one with a serious interest in the Chicago gangland era should be without. Don't miss this one!



3. Anyone with even just a passing interest in true crime in general or organized crime in particular will find this a worthy investment. It's the detailed and well-sourced account of Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, who was Al Capone's consigliere and underboss and who took control of the Chicago "Outfit" in 1931, when Capone was convicted and imprisoned for ten years for income-tax evasion.
   
   Just a couple of years before that, Nitti masterminded the St. Valentine's Day Massacre when members of the "Outfit" disguised as Chicago police and detectives mowed down seven members of George Moran's North Side Gang. When the killers emerged from the scene, two of them had their hands in the air and the other two followed with machine guns at their backs; they escaped in what looked like a police squad car. You might say it was a pretty well planned operation.
   
   Author Ronald Humble provides an alternative interpretation of the events underpinning the murder of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in Miami, Florida, which is usually viewed as a failed attempt on the life of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Humble lays out persuasive evidence that the mayor, not the future president, was the intended target, as payback for an unsuccessful attempt on Nitti's life--instigated by Cermak--just two months prior.
   
   Particularly interesting to this reviewer are the parallels drawn between Giuseppe Zangara, who was executed for the Cermak assassination, and Lee Oswald the accused assassin of President John Kennedy.
   
   Nitti eventually killed himself (or so it seems) in 1943, because he couldn't face returning to prison, along with other senior members of the Outfit, on racketeering and mail-fraud charges related to extortion in Hollywood. Whether suicide or homicide, Nitti met his maker as a direct or indirect result of over-reaching himself, despite his cunning and high intelligence, an interesting reflection of the human condition.
   
   Although "Frank Nitti" is a name well known in popular culture, chiefly as a result of inclusion of the character in "The Untouchables" television series and Hollywood movies, Humble provides the real scoop: little of what we've seen on the small or big screen accurately reflects the man, his motives or his deeds. If you think you already know Frank Nitti, probably you still need to read this book.
   
   Appendices provide a useful chronology of the main events in Nitti's life and a detailed organizational structure of the Outfit during the years it was controlled by the Enforcer. There's also a comprehensive index.
   
   Highly recommended.



4. It's too bad that I had to give this book one star because my choice would have been none. While author Ronald Humble appears to be a thorough researcher he clearly is not a writer. This book just rambles with no direction whatsoever. As an example the author spends an entire chapter on the JFK assassination even though Frank Nitti had nothing to do with it. Nitti had committed suicide or was murdered (Humble never makes the reason for Nitti's death clear although he does like to make guesses) a scant twenty years before the JFK Killing. Humble also likes to name names as he repeats names incessantly throughout the book. At one point Humble chooses to name every single person that he believes Nitti may have murdered (Or had murdered) rather than just telling the reader the number of possible victims. The reader is bludgeoned with an information overload that is not put into any sort of workable order. The book does have one good point: It is certainly a cure for insomnia.



5. "Frank Nitti" (The True Story of Chicago's Notorious "Enforcer") by Ronald D. Humble is a superb and clinically crafted literary trail in persuit of historical footsteps from the notorious and infamous "Frank Nitti." Nitti was the successor of Al Capone's Chicago apparatus, a position he subsequently held from about 1931 until his death in 1942.
   
   The author's research points to the fact that Nitti's illegal interests and cladestine ventures went far deeper into the dark abyss of the underworld than Capone ever dreamed of! No one was exempt from his vendeta...including the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. Nitti's influence even cast it's dark shadow into the 60's some 20 (+) years after his death in the name of one, Jack Ruby (et al).
   
   Despite the fact that the author is a Specialist on International Security and Intelligence, one begins to feel that he may even start to sympathize with this master criminal about whom he writes.
   
   Frank Nitti's complex personality is somewhere between Machiavelli, Joseph Stalin, and Heinirich Himmler...all rolled into one.
   
   Sometimes however, the reader feels that he/she may be reading exerts from some Government Agent's legal manual on Organized Crime yet...tactfully combined with extensive historical layering of the Cosa Nostra and "Gangsterism".
   
   A well formatted and informative biographical piece with more than enough resource material for anyone interested in contemporary American Social History. Well worth the price!

5 comments about A Perversion of Justice: A Southern Tragedy of Murder, Lies and Innocence Betrayed.

1. A Perversion of Justice hit the nail on the head. Great work Mollye and Kathryn! The book explains through a child's eye the horrors of today's juvenile injustice system. I hope the book is bought by every American family and read by every parent. The tough on juvenile crime political bandwagon parading in this country has been misinterpreted by parents who really have no concept of what they are voting for when they elect politicians with this stance.

   This book is a definite wake up call. Parents only find out the terrible reality when their own child gets caught up in the barbed web of the system, and they learn the hard way that their children really aren't under their protection. When prosecutors are given the right to prosecute any age child as an adult, as is the case in Florida, in essence, no child is safe and all children belong to the state instead of their parents.

   Ever since a "tough-on-juvenile-crime" political response to a media-hyped juvenile crime wave in the early 90s, the United States Juvenile Justice System has increasingly become a nightmare for America's children. Children caught up in the justice system are no longer recognized as children, yet aren't afforded the rights granted adults. Florida leads the nation in belief that children should be locked away for life.

   Society should never respond to children who have committed crimes as though they are somehow equal to adults, fully formed in conscience and fully aware of their actions. Placing children in adult jails is a sign of failure, not a solution. In many instances, such terrible behavior points to societies own negligence in raising children with a respect for life, providing a nurturing and loving environment, or addressing serious mental or emotional illnesses.

   Scientific studies have proven that the adolescent brain is not fully formed. Therefore, children should not be held equally culpable as adults. The Legislature needs to come out of the dark ages and listen to experts on child psychiatry and scientific data on human growth and development.

   The draconian laws of the past two decades need to be re-evaluated and changed. An easy first step to juvenile justice reform in Florida would be for the Legislature to remove juveniles tried as adults from mandatory sentencing schemes and restore to juvenile judges discretion of deciding whether a child is to be tried in juvenile or adult court, instead of letting prosecutors decide.

   There should be defined lines of age distinction drawn between child and adult. If visual difference isn't enough to convince, logic and common sense should recognize that children aren't allowed to drive, sign contracts or vote among other things, because society doesn't believe they are mentally mature enough to do these things competently. Therefore, why is it that if a child commits a crime they are suddenly classified by the courts as an adult?

   Any competent adult should know better.

   Children are this county's most precious commodity, because they are our future. If a society is judged by how well it treats its most vulnerable, the past two decades of America's juvenile justice system will be recorded as barbaric.

   Read this book and you will want to change the juvenile justice system. Laws can be changed, one vote at a time.




2. For three days every time I had a free moment i was reading this book trying to understand just how our justice sytem has sustained for so long when everything that is wrong with it is exposed through the Terry King murder trial. I remember hearing about this case on the news a few years ago and all I ever really got from the media was how distirubed these children must have been to have committed these crimes and what was wrong with the children in the world these days. Little did I know that all the faults in this case were do to people simply not doing their job and just trying to put this case to an end and get a convition the easiest way possible. But even though most of the media just portrayed these kids as uncaring terrible children, Mollye, a news reporter genuinely wanted to find the truth..........something my be our justice system should have been interested in as well. VERY VERY VERY good and thought-provoking book!



3. NO WAY WAS JUSTICE DONE! THEY KILLED THEIR OWN FATHER BECAUSE THEY WANTED TOO.. NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS ABOUT IT!SAD THING IS I WORK IN THE CORRECTIONS SYSTEM AND WITH THESE KIDS, AND ONE DAY THEY WILL BE SET FREE TO KILL AGAIN! THEY CAN NOT BE REFORMED!
   
   ENOUGH SAID....



4. This book was very interesting, it sucked me in from the beginning. After reading the book and watching the documentary on A&E about the King brothers I'd have to say that I still don't think they did it. I think it was all Rick Chaves. I don't think the kids were in the right state of mind either. They were brain washed into thinking they're father (terry) didn't love them and was abusing them. I also dont think it was fair that Rick got off as lightly as he did. I know that were his sentence he wont be getting out anyway, but still I think there was enough evidence to convict him for murder.



5. I have read the book twice and feel that anybody who reads this book will find that these two poor souls were wronged and used as an excape goat. There are many people with whom I have spoken about with this case and many feel that the truth will never be know. The story goes to heart and all but it is up the read themself. I believe this two young people did not do this crime I followed this trail and all from the beginning and was shocked when they were found guilty 9this believe I still have). In this book it does leave questions unanswered in some way. I enjoyed the book since it is a page turned and keeps you wanting more and one sees that juice has gone wrong somewhere along the line in this case.

No comments about Cartel de los Sapos/ Cartel of the Frogs.

1 comments about The Last Gangster.

1. Ex-cop Ron Previte gives you insight inside the Joey Merlino/Ralph Natale edition of the Philly mob. If you have read BLOOD AND HONOR or BLOOD OATH, then this book will come up waaaaaaay short. If you need to kill some time, read it. If not, try another book.

No comments about 50 Hikes in Maryland: Walks, Hikes & Backpacks from the Allegheny Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean, Second Edition (50 Hikes in Maryland).

5 comments about Frozen Assets Readers' Favorites.

1. Many of my happiest memories are of summer days spent at my grandmother's house. Removed from parental eyes I was pretty much free to do as I pleased, and eat the wonderful food that my grandmother prepared. In addition to the fun games and mornings of reading in a hammock I well remember the hours my grandmother spent in the kitchen preparing a full breakfast, lunch and dinner. Fortunately, she loved to cook. However, if she'd had a choice I'll bet she would have liked to have more time to enjoy the other activities she loved, whether it was quilting or her needlepoint.
   
   Cooking for a day to eat for a month would have been a concept she could not even imagine. How lucky we are! Many are already familiar with Deborah Taylor-Hough's Frozen Assets cookbooks, and enjoy the easy to follow as well as good tasting recipes. I especially like the free time it gives me. (Grandmother's love of cooking gene didn't come to me).
   
   "Frozen Assets: Readers' Favorites" is a very special one in this popular series as it contains just what the title states - a collection of readers' favorite recipes, all judged in a search for what the author and editor considered to be the best.
   
   The loose leaf pages in a plastic coated cover shows these folks know what cooks need. One of my pet peeves is a cookbook that won't lie flat when you're trying to following a recipe! There are tabs in the back for sections where you an add your personal recipes, worksheets, etc.
   
   Of course, what's most important? The recipes, and they're terrific. It's easy to see why they're favorites! Breakfast includes such yummies as Ham & Cheese Crepes and Perfectly Pleasing Pancakes. The chapter titled "Soups & Sides" offers an Apple Barley Soup that's incredible as well as superb cornbread muffins. Other chapters include vegetarian dishes and desserts. Over 170 pages of recipes and tips!
   
   Knowing the author she has, of course, included information on how to cook for freezing, creating a month long meal plan, and the supplies you'll need in your kitchen.
   
   "Frozen Assets: Readers' Favorites" is a prime resource for new brides as well as seasoned (pun intended) cooks.
   
   - Gail Cooke



2. There is nothing wrong with the cook book in general. The concept of cooking once for a month takes discipline, the only downside I saw to the book is that it has boring recipes. Also, it's geared to cook many dishes of the same meat or vegetable family. So if you cook beef, it will be beef dish's for a month.



3. I bought this book in high hopes of stocking the freezer with healthy recipes. I found the recipes in this book to be disapointing and fatty. The dishes that are to be frozen are dishes that don't take that much time to cook anyway. Therefore, by thawing and heating them you are not saving much time. I also did the 2 week meal plan and found that it took far more time that 1 1/2 days to prepare. I think that it is harder to prepare these meals in a day and a half than it would be to do them nightly.
   
   I would have prefered a book that had healthier and more creative recipes. I usually love to cook and was trying to do something that would make my life easier when my newborn arrives in a few months. This cookbook did not live up to what I expected. Sorry for the bad review.



4. The idea of cooking for a day and then freezing meals for a month worth of meals, seems to have evolved from leftovers being frozen. For the past few years, I've been freezing whatever is leftover after making a recipe for four and serving it to two people. This has worked out very well, because normally I cook 15 days or less a month instead of 30. This takes the idea quite a few steps further. If you want to only cook one day and have meals for 30, then this is your book.
   
   This book contains recipes for Breakfasts, Soups, Sides, Entrées, Vegetarian Dishes and Desserts.
   
   Recipes to enjoy:
   
   Perfectly Pleasing Pancakes
   Blueberry French Toast
   Meatball Soup
   Chicken Mushroom Rolls
   Sherried Beef
   Italian Garden Pasta
   Strawberry Yogurt Pie
   Fudge Sheet Cake (24 Servings)
   
   The best way to use this book might be to double recipes or to cook with friends. You can also just make the recipes and freeze the leftovers. Most of the recipes are for 6 servings, so if you are cooking for two, then that would be 4 frozen meals leftover. Some are for 24 and a few are for 12.
   
   The recipes are easy and the directions simple to follow. If you are looking for some fun recipes and a place to keep some of your own recipes, this book might interest you. The last section of this book is for your recipes. Four dividers are included.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review



5. I have a couple of freezer/once-a-month recipe books and I like this one the best. It's a good "starter" book. The best thing is that it's a 3-ring bound, and has tabs for quick reference. The recipes are clear and easy to read, with instructions on freezing and serving. Includes a variety of recipes from breakfast and soups, to desserts. Also includes helpful charts.
   
   I've learned that you can make a freezer meal out of just about any recipe--so buy this book if you'd like to learn how to do it --then when you have down the general idea, go out and get your favorite recipe books and adjust the recipe directions as needed.

5 comments about Exit the Rainmaker.

1. "Exit The Rainmaker" is a mystery that unravels one page at a time. Even more exciting: it's a true story, full of twists and turns and unexpected events. The human mind is a complex and compelling puzzel -- we think we know ourselves, we think we know others close to us. This book explodes the myth that we truly know anything about human behavior and the cycle of life. The plot of "Exit the Rainmaker" is thought-provoking: could any of us seriously plan our own disappearance so thoroughly and so meticiously without guilt, without thoughts for those who love us, and with such abandon? The "Rainmaker" in this story did, and we are taken in by the journey he undertakes, the decisions he made, and ultimately the consequences to everyone he knew. I found this book to be the ultimate horror story, but also fascinating and riveting. We are somehow made to care about the characters, even the Rainmaker himself, thanks to the writing of Mr. Coleman, the investigative reporter who chooses to delve into this story and find out the how, and more importantly, the WHY of planned disappearance. This book is for everyone, but especially for those who have ever fantacized about just "taking off" and leaving it all behind. I've recommended this book to many, many people and each one has thanked me profusely. I had to buy another copy because the last person I loaned it too kept loaning it out to his friends!



2. This is not quite a great book but it is a great story. It is the story of a man, Jay Carsey, who walked away from his life -- his job, his friends, his responsibilities, his wife. He didn't do it the way most people would, by quitting his job and getting a divorce. He just walked away, after months of planning, telling no one, and leaving no forwarding address. And he didn't do it for any of the obvious reasons you might first imagine. He and his wife had no children so he wasn't trying to avoid child support. He was the president of a local college but there was no embezzlement of funds, no crime he was running from. If that story appeals to you, or fascinates you, if you want to understand it, or if part of you thinks you already understand why someone would do this, then you will like this book.

   You learn early on (and so it's not giving anything away) that he was eventually found, and much of the book deals with where he went and the life he led. And, of course, why he left in the first place. The author, Jonathan Coleman, had almost complete access to the people involved in the story. Everyone had opinions and everyone talked. People who thought they'd been close to Carsey for years were shaken by the fact that he could leave so easily and so abruptly, and they struggled to make sense of it, giving one psychological piece of the puzzle after another.

   Coleman also interviewed a private detective who says that this sort of thing is more common than we like to believe. If that's the case, I think this would have been a stronger book if Coleman had taken a step back from this one story and devoted a chapter or so to other occurrences of people walking out on their lives. He could have interviewed experts who have some understanding of why a person might do this. Relying on just the people in Jay Carsey's life yielded little understanding, probably because Carsey himself didn't understand his own reasons and after a point this became exasperating. I found myself wishing the book had been written about someone with more insight into himself. But then again, in a way this is the truest kind of story: the guy is found but still there remains a mystery.




3. Loved the book. I can easily imagine the fate of this book could have been that of a dry and boring read. But, thanks to the writing style of the author the book is fantastic. It starts out slow and you wonder if all the intro info is really needed - but you later find out that it was all important background info. Once the book gets going it's hard to put it down.



4. 
   This book is multi-faceted with some wide-ranging appeal. At its core it is a suspense/mystery book or tru crime book (although tehre was no crime!).
   
   But at a deeper level, the story unfolds into a tale of a many who pulled off a feat that almost everyone has dreamed of - walking away and starting a new life. Unless you believe in reincarnation, it is possbly the only way we can have a second go at life.
   
   But finally, we realize Coleman's book is really a story about narcisism (sic). Because while we all might have a quick fantasy about starting over, normally balanced people do not act on such fantasies and as we see in the main charachter, those who do act are deeply troubled.



5. I had a personal interest in this book---I purchased his time share in Florida when he deserted his wife, friends and job. My question? Why does a man who seems to have it all flee everything and leave no clues as to "the whys". The author probes the reasons and the effects on those left behind.

5 comments about Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer.

1. I read CHASING THE DEVIL with great interest, after reading the book by Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen, the two reporters from the Seattle Times who spent many years covering the case for the newspaper. I wanted to read Reichert's book to get a law enforcement official's perspective on the search for this elusive madman who was killing young girls in Seattle, WA. Many of these girls were runaways with drug and alcohol problems, and many had probably suffered sexual abuse and had left home to escape a traumatic situation, only to encounter brutality on the streets.
   
   Reichert is the antithesis of the killer. He is a straightforward, law-abiding citizen with deep religious beliefs and roots. His grandfather was a minister and he himself had considered going into the ministry while he was a student at a Lutheran college. However, he chose law enforcement instead, and clearly it was a good choice. His belief that the killer had to be hunted down and found, regardless of cost or anything else, shows that Reichert is a man of strong conviction. Reichert's personality comes out clearly in the book. He has great respect for humanity and believed that the murders of these girls had to be avenged. His facial expression in the photo where Ridgway appears in court in 2001 shows that the murders greatly affected him.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about how law enforcement officials have to operate, in real-world scenarios, unlike on TV, where murder investigations cannot be wrapped up in just one hour. I felt CHASING THE DEVIL was an apt title for the book, as Ridgway clearly is one.



2. I am absolutely fascinated by the fact that so many people have been captivated by this book. This book was simply a campaign ploy for Reichert to elevate himself into congress. The timing of the book came as he was running for congress and allowed him to make tons of TV appearances that aided his campaign. The book is as much fiction as it is a true account. The purpose of the book was to portray an image of a man who was running for congress. Reichert was never the head of the task force, and he was only on the task force for nine years, not twenty! The man whom his peers call selfish and unable to give credit to others, exemplifies this in this incredible book. He did have a ghost writer and even fails to mention that as he once again takes all the credit himself. I wish he was at least honest and admit that he never believed Ridgeway was the killer because he passed a polygraph test and instead always pinned his hopes on an innocent man Melvyn Foster.... nice work Congressman Reichert



3. I really enjoyed this book. I found the writing easy to read and it flowed well. There were parts that did not needed to be included in the book. At times I think the author felt he had to explain his situation in times it was convenient for him. I felt it was an unnecessary addition to the true story.
   In the end, I would read this book again!



4. I've read a lot about the Green River case, and almost every recounting, aside from this one, paints Reichert as as much a part of the problem as the solution in this protracted case. His early mistakes, and his myopic fascination with suspect Melvyn Foster are often credited with confounding the search for the real killer. Reichert, while obviously passionate about the case, seems to get caught up in his own political aspirations at the expense of his objectivity about the case. And for him to take so much credit for apprehending Ridgway -- 14 years after he'd gone off the case -- seems like a calculated attempt to curry favor with potential voters. I guess it worked -- he got elected -- but to me he comes off as overly ambitious and more than a little closed minded.



5. This book reads like a crime novel. Unfortunately, it's a true story about the worst serial killer in American history.
   The Prologue was an almost "folksy" introduction to David Reichert,the man who would spend 20 years working on the Green River serial killings.
   
   Mr.Reichert details some of the problems with the investigation from media involvement to the class of the victims. He makes the distinction between Ted Bundy's victims who were college girls and the Green River victims who were prostititutes,some in their teens. He does a good job of emphasizing the fact these victims were no less human and were missed by loved ones. They were often dificult to trace and sometimes identification was not easy.
   Another problem the task force dealt with over time was financing. A long investigation was not cheap and there was the perception that the killer had stopped or moved when the discovery of corpses declined temporarily.
   This aided the decision to cut back on staffing.
   
   Another interesting factor was technology. Over the life of this investigation DNA testing and computer technology "came of age" and were instrumental in eventually solving the case.
   Where these tools helped,the polygraph didn't. Ridgway passed multiple polygraph tests.
   
   The tough decision for the County Prosecutor was his decision to ultimately abandon the pursuit of the death penalty in exchange for more details and locations of more victims.
   
   Some of the things that this book highlights are the dogged dedication of David Reichert to bring the killer to justice and the heavy toll it took on the team. The strain that the investigation put on Reichert and his family isn't something you would normally think about.
   If you want to read a book about the Green River killings,I highly recommend this book