5 comments about Hijacked: The Real Story of the Heroes of Flight 705.

1. As a commercial pilot myself, I found this book impossible to put down. I first learned of the story on a television documentary, and had to read the book for more details. While pilots routinely train for all sorts of emergencies (fires, engine failures, electrical failures, etc.), a brutal hijacking like this is something that you don't train for, much less even think about. I found the author spent a little too much time on human elements (families, backgrounds, etc.), but the book still makes excellent reading for pilots and non-pilots alike. After reading this book, those with any sort of flying phobia should feel very satisfied with the capabilities of cockpit crews and aircraft.



2. I first read about this story in Reader's Digest and was so engrossed in it that I went to my local Bookstore and ordered it shipped "RUSH". I was raised at an airport and have been an avid follower of aviation. I found this book to have a GREAT balance of technical and lay details of aviation. Furthermore, I had a long talk with a FedEx 727 Captain who was "Non-Reving" on our airline about this incident, he knows this crew personally and was there at the Memphis airport when this happened. He also thought that the book was well written and quite accurate and realistic. I LOVE true stories of courage and strength. I was not disappointed in the purchase of this book. GOOD LUCK to David, Jim, and Andy and their families. Our prayers are with you all. Dave ... Thanx for a GREAT Book. God Bless ... mike



3. This book really reads fast, the only thing that slowed me down was that I kept telling my wife bits from the pages. When the attack took place the author does a great job of making you see the full event? I do not even remember hearing much about this in the past but here are all the facts. It really makes the hardened cockpit doors look like a long overdue idea. Sometimes with airline books you get a lot of pilot speak that is hard to understand but not here - the author does a great job of explaining everything, almost like if he were with you in the living room while you read. You also really get to feel for the victims of this madman. You do not have to be interested in airlines to get a lot out of this book; it is just an overall great read.



4. Very good read for the details on this incident. More photos and diagrams would have been nice and the plane on the cover sure doesn't look like a FedEx DC-10!



5. Great book. Plenty of detail and insightful analysis of the hijackers psyche leading up to the hijacking of the FedEx flight. The author takes time to describe and link all the major participants in this inflight drama so that the reader has a clear and fluid picture of why this event occurred; of how it occurred and and the efforts of the crew to survive once it became clear that the hijacker was out kill the flight crew and possibily many more on the ground. The book is reveting. I started it, the book oneday intending to read a few pages and put it down. I read a fourth of the book on the first day, approximately a three quarters by the second day and finished the book on the third day. Could only put it down when something pressing like work got in the way. I highly recommend this book.

1 comments about Kings of Cocaine.

1. This book is really good, It talks in great detail about all the powerfull "cocaine" drug cartels. Other great books are "killing Pablo",and "Blow"

2 comments about Without Mercy: The Shocking True Story of a Doctor Who Murdered.

1. The style of this book was quite a change from the way Keith Ablow has previously written. Instead of writing fiction, he has chosen to write a bio about Dr. John Kappler. In 1975, Dr. Kappler, an anesthesiologist, secretly attempted to kill a pregnant patient by giving her the wrong anesthetic, deliberately sent a patient into cardiac arrest and with his car, ran down two innocent people. His fellow doctors not only rescued him from jail, but also allowed him to continue practicing medicine. At his trial, Kappler pleaded insanity, claiming he had heard voices telling him to kill people. This is the story of a doctor who became a killer and the medical establishment that looked the other way.



2. Dr. John Kappler was an anesthesiologist who had a nice family, lots of work, and seemed to live the good life. Unfortunately, he got it into his head every now and then that he had to kill one of his patients.
   
   This urge of his was in definite violation of the Hippocratic Oath, not to mention the law of the land, but his wife and colleagues managed to protect him up until the day the voice in his head commanded him to run over two people on a jogging path.
   
   The title of this book "Without Mercy" holds true for almost all of its characters, including the murderous Dr. John Kappler, and for the author himself who showed no mercy on Dr. Kappler's family when he wrote this true crime book. Nor did the jury show mercy on Dr. Kappler, who secretly attempted to kill three of his patients--including a pregnant woman who suffered permanent brain damage from his ministrations. The jurors did not believe Dr. Kappler was insane when he drove up onto the jogging path and killed a promising young psychiatrist, then permanently maimed a young mother.
   
   The author is a psychiatrist and a friend of the young doctor who was killed on the jogging path, and wrote this book in spite of the opposition from Dr. Kappler's family. In fact, Dr. Kappler's wife is portrayed as one of the chief villains for her role in covering up her husband's tendency to murder. I thought this was a bit unfair, since her response to his bouts of madness was to hospitalize him and make sure he took his medications until he seemed normal again. I think she was hoping that her husband would regain his sanity, and their family life could go on as before. I can see my own mother putting on blinders and doing and hoping just what Mrs. Kappler did.
   
   On the other hand, the young psychiatrist might still be alive if Mrs. Kappler had been completely honest about her husband's condition. Judge for yourself, and read the testimony of the psychiatrists who testified at Dr. Kappler's trial.
   
   "Without Mercy" is more of a psychological portrait than most true crime books, and suffers from a languid second half when the psychiatrists are testifying. However it also gives the reader a detailed look at how our judicial system treats an obviously mental ill physician. Perhaps the most frightening part of "Without Mercy" is the long-term cover-up of Dr. Kappler's homicidal treatment of certain patients--by his own medical colleagues.

5 comments about Desire Street: A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans.

1. Dolores Dye, a feisty, attractive, white, middle class grandmother, 60 years old and an ex-rodeo rider, lies dying in a supermarket parking lot, blood and brain fluid pooling beneath her, while her assailant, a young, dark-black man from one of the darkest city underbellies in America, a professional criminal by birth, brazenly maneuvers her red Ford into the line of cars exiting the lot before casually pulling out and vanishing into the thickening traffic: a murder in broad daylight, with eye-witnesses; a purse-snatching gone bad; a brutal, stupid, cowardly crime about to fan the racist flames in cops and prosecutors alike in a city already ablaze with white-flight and its attendant fear and loathing.
   
   So begins Jed Horne's "Desire Street," subtitled "A True Story of Death and Deliverance in New Orleans," a 14-year saga of a dark crime brought slowly and painfully into light and focus. Not really a whodunit, but with the rolling thunder feel of one, its plot unfolding ever more surprisingly, and not a "private-eye" subterranean journey, but with more windows into worlds forbidden or otherwise inaccessible than that genre ever afforded, "Desire Street" draws us into the ghostly half-life of slum-warren junkies' somnolent predation, perverse symbiotic relationships of detectives and snitches, Death house despair, the layered world all the way up, finally, to the pristine and delicate machinations of Federal Supreme Court maneuverings.
   
   We generally read non-fiction to learn stuff: how the world connects and works. But we tend to turn to fiction, with its comforting circles of clarity and closure, to story us through lives too often apparently just one damned thing after another. And if we're told non-fiction is the art of the age, we may darkly suspect that this may be related to the death of the American imagination, our curious confusion of fact with truth. How startling then to discover such a pure work of non-fiction, the reportage so thorough and seamless as to be nearly invisible, that also has the reverb and mythical splendor of a Faulkner tale.
   
   I am tempted to call "Desire Street" hardboiled non-fiction, but it is too scrupulously written for that, too elegant, with almost a poet's sense of efficiency, rhythm and the mot juste: not a syllable sensationalized or self-indulgent; no conjecture or surmise; just facts and deeply understood characters marshaled with the almost invisible touch of a masterful storyteller possessed of a great journalist's eye and penchant for legwork. In this last regard, this is also clearly a work of great courage, at many levels. And it begets characters that get up and walk around in your head on your way to the drugstore or supermarket, haunting characters that "cast long shadows" as Faulkner liked to say.
   
   It is a story that has found its perfect teller in a veteran journalist, long-time resident of the French Quarter, and City Editor of New Orleans' great old newspaper, The Times-Picayune, for whom truth has been a long-time, habitual pursuit. It is the story of twisted, old, cruel, beautiful New Orleans, a tale of bad men, bad cops, bad prosecutors; but then it is a story of good men, even those who have done bad things, good women, good, even brilliant lawyers and jurists, and of a Supreme Court ruling that truly brought greater justice to American courts. So finally it is a story of America, where justice, however fuzzy and far off, is still a dream for the few who still dare dream it.



2. Jed Horne's DESIRE STREET is that book: the one we want to curl up with, the one that can take us away, the one that remains in our minds for a very long time. In rich nuanced prose, Horne tells the mind-boggling story of Curtis Kyles, a black man accused of murdering a white woman in racially charged New Orleans. Incredibly, Kyles goes to trial five times for this one murder because juries just can't seem to agree whether or not he is guilty. Horne puts us right into Kyles's New Orleans, mean streets filled with love and family as much as with crime and poverty. And by brilliantly weaving together details about the police investigations and trials of Curtis Kyles, Horne reveals that in the New Orleans criminal justice system that old saying is truer than ever: "In the halls of justice, the justice is in the halls." DESIRE STREET is true crime, real life, and a book that once read will not be forgotten.



3. It is a sad comment on society that when you cruise through Amazon books there seems to be a growing list of books about the wrongly convicted/freed from death row.
   
   Well this book is more than just the latest addition. It is a well reported and straightforwardly written story that should freighten us all. Jed Horme does a nice job of setting the stage in New Orleans by a well written background about the role of poverty and wealth in this racially diverse but also racially divided city.
   
   The author's writing is not overly suspenseful, nor does it overwhelm the story that is being told. it is straight forward and to the point allowing the story to move itself along through the many unusual turns of the case.
   
   Overall a good read and I also recommend "A promise of Justice" and "Bloodsworth" for those who enjoy this book.



4. The book's about Curtis Kyles, who was freed from Death Row in Angola after the Supreme Court reviewed his trial and decided that if all the evidence had been presented he wouldn't have been convicted. The police and the DA's office are supposed to give the defense lawyers all the evidence they uncover, but in this case they kept silent any info that didn't help prove the railroaded defendent was guilty. He was set up by a rival criminal in the neighborhood who was a police informant. The police actually gave him a regular paycheck in exchange for info on crimes. The book is interesting because it doesn't paint the exonerated man, Curtis Kyles, as an innocent man. It goes into all his criminal activity, selling drugs, selling stolen goods, and robbing people on the street. I think that he had planned to sell the gun and other items from the crime, the shooting death of an older lady out shopping at a discount grocery store in broad daylight. The police informant was found driving around in the dead lady's car, and soon pinned the killing on Curtis. After 4 trials with hung juries, the DA in New Orleans, Henry Connick, Jr's dad, conceded defeat and Curtis was allowed to go free. The book is written by a local newspaper reporter and does a good job describing the racism in the city. The book describes in detail life inside the Orleans Parish Prison, the local New Orleans jail full of violence and rapes, and on death row in Angola.



5. I had read this book one week prior to Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the canals. Desire Street, covers the New Orleans judicial and police systems in regard to a murder of a white woman in a supermarket parking lot by a black who framed an innocent black for the murder. The journalist put forth a fairly objective story line which took the reader deep into the 9th ward and the lives of the people we saw portrayed on our TV screens this week. Though I read it because we have Sister Prejean coming to town next week and I wanted to expand my opinions. Having read it prior to Hurricane Katrina made what was portrayed by the newscasts even more poignant and heart wrenching. If you want to better understand the pulse of what once was, New Orleans you'd be wise to put this book in your cart.

5 comments about When Corruption Was King: How I Helped the Mob Rule Chicago, Then Brought the Outfit Down.

1. This book brings you through the life of lawyor Bob Cooley and how he got involved in the Chicago 'Outfit'. Coming from Chicago myself I was engulfed in the stories he told of his childhood and even his adult life partying and living the dream life in downtown Chicago. Coming from a working class family Cooley still managed to attend Catholic high school and college. Working his way through law school as a cop he learned a lot of the ways the police worked. It was when he became a lawyor that he really got involved in fixing cases for the mob and gambling heavily. Soon enough he was in too deep to find any other way out but the feds. The stories Cooley experienced in his adult life were truly remarkable and definitely worth reading. From martial arts experts to hanging out with Sinatra at famous clubs, Cooley really lived an amazing life during most of his adulthood.



2. This is a great story of the past.We would like to know what the current situation is in Chicago? Who's in charge? Who is the new Pat Marcy? Will There be a Sequel?



3. This is a poorly wriiten account of one turncoat in the world of Chicago crime. Nothing new here and for the most part it is a boring story that I could not finish.



4. Robert Cooley was a former cop who studied law and became one of the top hustlers in the Criminal Courts Building. After years of fixing cases for the mob dominated First Ward Democratic Organization, Cooley turned informant and helped the United States Attorney for the Northeastern District of Illinois indict and convict a variety of political hoodlums.
   
   
   The negative publicity from the resulting scandal was so great that when the City Council proposed a redistricting map the former First Ward was eliminated and renumbered out of existence. The newly drawn First Ward no longer includes the downtown business district.
   
   Sadly, the book documents how the leading members of the city's legal profession and political establishment have tolerated widespread corruption and facilitated its longevity through bribing members of the local judiciary. Even murder cases could be fixed for a price.
   
   Cooley is not a hero or a saint and at times his claimed contrition seems somewhat false and selfserving. It does seem that he discovered some dregs of conscience about the same time he was about to be dropped by the leaders of the Outfit. Whether or not he was to be frozen out of the action or found dead in the trunk of an abandoned car is for the reader to decide. Cooley is now in the Federal Witness Protection Program.
   
   Local law enforcement and a series of elected Cook County State's Attorneys abandoned any pretense of prosecuting organized crime and political corruption decades ago. No meaningful prosecutions have occurred without the participation of the US Attorney. On many occasions, the power elite have succeeded in placing players in the Federal Prosecutor's office as well.
   
   What is particularly disturbing to many Chicagoans, even after repeated Federal prosecutions over the past quarter of a century, is the knowledge that many crooked political officeholders and judges remain in office having escaped the net. Some of the former Federal prosecutors who worked on the Operation Gambat (short for "gambling attorney" a code name that recognized Cooley's habitual gambling) cases are now in private practice defending the criminal suspects who are the successors to those that they formerly indicted and convicted.



5. Having lived in Chicago for years I relished this book. Reading it was like sitting in a dive bar and listening to the outrageous, hilarious, and probably sociopathic Sout' Side guy next to you tell tales of Windy City corruption so depraved you know they've got to be true.

5 comments about Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations That Helped Win the Cold War.

1. I totally enjoyed this book. If you like stories about clandestine operations, you will love this one. Just enough background description, a small amount of romance and good descriptions of undercover ops.
   
   I only wish they would have been able to tell some of the things that are still classified. Sometimes I had to 'read between the lines' in order to figure out what was REALLY going on.
   
   Read it. You will like it!



2. While reality is sometimes said to be stranger than fiction, leave it to CIA veterans Tony and Jonna Mendez to create a memoir of their overseas adventures that truly boggles the mind. Whether breaking into a Soviet installation to steal a code machine, exfiltrating a pair of agents out of Moscow with the help of a CIA "ninja," or inventing new methods of throwing off KGB surveillance, this dynamic duo still found time for love while performing their duties in a demanding career that leaves little personal time. It couldn't have happened to two better people.
   
   With so many autobiographies out there by ex-CIA operations officers, "Spy Dust" offers a distinct perspective on Cold War espionage history in that it was written by a husband-and-wife team of disguise artists, thus giving it that playful, creative flavor that makes this book all the more appealing. Even the title of the book is a play on words, if you think about it.



3. I have always been interested and very intrigued with our CIA and really learned a lot about the Agency by reading this book. Tony really has a gift of putting words together to really make you keep reading. I found both their lives very interesting and wish I could have did what they did. It certainly takes a lot of courage. And of course the job of a CIA agent is also very exciting. The bottom line being, keeping our country safe and free. God bless all the men and women risking their lives for our blessed country. And God bless America



4. This book, by Antonio Mendez and his wife Jonna, is an intriguing memoir of two CIA employees at work during the closing years of the Cold War. Like most Cold War memoirs and histories, Spy Dust offers an insight into a small portion of the overall struggle between the USA and the USSR. As loyal CIA retirees, they don't really allow us to see all that much, but by pulling the curtain back just a little, the insight is fascinating.
   
   The book reads more like a spy novel than a non fiction book, and the parallels made me wonder how much in current spy fiction is actually fact. I have heard others say that the truth would actually be stranger than fiction, and this book makes me believe that that statement is actually true.
   
   One statement that I found particularly telling was at a conference after the end of the Cold War where the current and past CIA Directors shared the podium with the former KGB Director of Foreign Counterintelligence, General Oleg Kalugin. In scoring the success of American vs. Soviet Human Intelligence efforts, he rated the U.S. successes as five times that of the Soviets, an amazing admission from a former enemy.
   
   I think any reader will find this book very interesting and easy to follow and enjoy.



5. I love this book! When I was a sophomore in college I took a class called Strategic Intelligence in American Democracy. I found it so fascinating that I asked my teacher to suggest some outside reading I could do, and the first book he mentioned was this one. After reading the whole book in less than a week I realized that this was definately something I would like to study further and perhaps even be a part of some day. I'm now about to finish my masters in National Security and Intelligence -- something I very well may not have done if my teacher hadn't suggested this book to me!

5 comments about Confessions of a Spy.

1. Ames was unduly lucky to have not been "netted" much sooner. Mr. Earley gives us a very well written piece of work.Ames was certainly not Kim Philby or 007;but He did get away with His betrayal for some years,and that alone makes it worthy for any 20th Century Historian. The little tidbit of a quite 'hot potato'betrayal story on Henry Kissenger is worth the cost of the book alone.Earley is also fair to Ames'American employers at CIA who finally pinch "the mole".



2. Step by step we are moving to the truth.
   The fiction is banal. Hence - one star for the book. The reality is amazing. Hence - 5 stars for the next book on the Ames-Colby case. The next book will be based on Dekov's memoirs.



3. I was reading "See No Evil" by Robert Baer and he briefly mentioned Aldrich Ames and decided to read a book on him. While looking for books, I was pleasantly surprised to find one written by Pete Earley. I had read "The Hot House" a couple of years ago and found Earley to be a very clear and detailed writer. I really could not wait to receive the book. My expectations were high and they were met and exceeded. The book details Ames' life from birth, it details his parents, his entry into the CIA, and ultimately his betrayal of the country. The thing I love about Earley is that he leaves no loose ends. You're never left saying, "but what ever happened to..." or "I wonder who that is...". He's a very clear writer who introduces every subject in the book. He explains the facts sharply and thoroughly, and the pacing is perfect. Earley not only gives you the details, but draws you in with a story line that adds suspense. Earley is similar to other great non-fiction writers such as Stephen Ambrose, Jon Krakauer, Simon Winchester, Mark Bowden, or Kurt Eichenwald in that he takes a real event and tells it gripping way.
   
   On the negatives, there was not an index in my book which made it difficult at times. Also, Earley was not able to get interviews with everyone involved, in particular Ames' first wife, but at the time I'm sure not everyone wanted to participate with the media.
   
   The most important aspect of the book is that Aldrich Ames cooperated with Earley with face to face interviews while awaiting trial and later through letters. But Earley did not take everything Ames told him at face value, he is not lazy or sloppy, he fact checked and questioned everything. He even fact checked with Russian KGB which demonstrates how dedicated he was to the subject. Is it definitive? Definitely not because it came out so quickly after Ames arrest (before revelations of Robert Hanssen) but it is an excellent book.



4. This is the only text I have read that provides a compelling and nuanced explanation of why Ames betrayed his country. The short answer is that he needed the money because he was living beyond his means. As a result of his work recruiting and handling spies he no longer believed it was wrong for a person to betray their country. Earley's well-written book explains how he arrived at that point. It also provides the reader with a credible look at what it is like to work for the CIA, and what it is like to work as a spy.



5. This gives the best account of Ames' CIA career, particularly prior to the time he began to work for the Soviet Union, and corrects errors in several earlier books such as Wise's.

5 comments about Kill Zone: A Sniper Looks at Dealey Plaza.

1. This book is a sniper's look at the assassination and the scene.
   Mr.Roberts theory of "crossfire" or "triangulation of fire" is excellent,especially considering his military experience.
   I think he may be correct about the location of the hit teams.
   Were the hit teams made up of a Corsican assassin and a member of ZR/Rifle? The author isn't the only writer that has offered that theory.
   Craig Roberts theory about what happened to the President's body aboard Air Force 1 is intriguing! His investigation into the aircraft and strange activity related to the flight was good also.
   
   What is debatable is the identity of those responsible for the murder.
   It seems most likely that the mafia was working with the CIA to committ the crime with J.Edgar Hoover working for the mafia to cover it up.
   
   This book is worth reading for the insight offered by the author considering his experience and knowledge.



2. This book is definitely for the Kennedy addict. It is riveting and spellbinding. I could not put it down. Craig Roberts gives a historical background that expands more than 230 years. His explanations are clear, concise and very believable. He spells out exactly who orchestrated John Kennedy's assassination and the reasons behind it, both of which most people have never heard before. Every American should read this book because the entity responsible for Kennedy's death is alive and well and still operating without impunity within the U.S. government. You will not be disappointed.



3. I have been researching the JFK assassination since it happened and I have to tell you that if I were to compile a book of information pertaining to the assassination this would have been the book I would have written.
   It is absolutely packed with info that we basically knew and then some that we really didn't know.
   It is very well written and answers a multitude of questions that needed to be answered, no wonder the world will never know the truth about this and other things in world history that for the most part just gets brushed aside.
   If you really want or need to know the truth then this is the book for you!



4. I will just quote from the book itself:
   ""How in the world could anyone look at that {Zapruder} film and say that the fatal head strike had come from the rear? The so-called experts who stated that the rearward jerk of Kennedy's head was due to 'muscle reaction,' 'jet force from an erupting bullet' or some other violation of the laws of physics, had obviously never served in combat, where witnessing high-velocity bullet strikes was commonplace..."
   
   "Some of the supporters of the Warren Commission...stated that the bullet came from the rear because the eruption of brain matter and blood came out of the front of the president's skull. I saw something else. In a head shot, the exit wound, due to the buildup of hydrostatic pressure, explodes in a conical formation in the down-range direction of the bullet. Yet in the Zapruder film, I could plainly see that the eruption was not a conical shape to the front of the limo, but instead was an explosion that cast fragments both up and down in a vertical plane, and side to side in a horizontal plane. There was only one explanation for this: an exploding or 'frangible' bullet. Such a round explodes on impact--in exactly the manner depicted in the film."
   
   A seasoned veteran (sniper) of the Vietnam war stood at the `snipers-nest' and released it was all a lie; nuff said.



5. Immediately upon reading this book I knew in my heart that the author had hit upon a highly probable answer to the question that has been lurking in the minds of millions since that dreadful day in Dallas. Now I am not going to go into specifics in this review, rather I am going to relate in my own way why I think the author is right and I would encourage you to get a copy of this book and read it and form your own opinion.
   
   If you look at a magician, his primary purpose is not to entertain you with feats of magic, but more along the lines of deceiving you into believing that which he (the magician) presents to you as the truth and in doing so, makes you believe that which he wants you to believe. Actually I guess a better way of saying it is that the magician presents his deception to you in such a way that your subconscious convinces your consciousness to believe wholeheartedly in that which was presented to you by the magician. Now I know that this seems to be way of course with the subject matter of this review, but trust me, it is actually dead on.
   
   Now we all know that a certain group, or collection, of individuals was responsible for the death of Kennedy. Now do we know for certain who they were and their names? No, but we do know that they did exist and I am sure that some of them may still be alive to this day, although the longer that time passes the greater the probability that they will expire from old age without every being tried for their crimes, at least as we know it.
   
   Now if your ultimate goal is the eradication of a certain person, it really doesn't matter to you how that eradication takes place, or who does it, as long as the goal is accomplished. Of course you wouldn't want any of it traced back to you, which is why you want to have someone else do it. Or better yet, have someone else do it with a motive so far removed from your own that the odds of anyone even remotely suspecting you would be likened to the proverbial needle in a haystack and someone that will kill the person for you without even knowing that they did. All the time thinking that they were killing that person for their own reasons. Now to better enhance your chances of never being suspected, let's multiply that by several times and you now have a smokescreen of epic proportions with the finger pointing at several different organizations or persons with each one having a slightly different motive. None of which are even close to your own. See the beauty of it already?
   
   In law enforcement there is an old saying that goes something like this, "If you want to find out who did it, follow the money." And that is exactly what the author does.
   
   Let's look at the most common theories on who was responsible for killing Kennedy. Please take note that I did not say who killed Kennedy, but who was responsible for killing Kennedy. Remember what I said earlier about getting someone else to do it for you.
   
   1. Lee Harvey Oswald - acting alone RIDICULOUS
   2. The Mafia - NOPE
   3. The CIA - NOPE
   4. The Cubans - NOPE
   5. The Russians - NOPE
   6. Aliens from outer space - I KNOW REALLY RIDICULOUS, BUT AREN'T THE OTHERS JUST AS BAD!
   
   Now I am not implying that some of these didn't have a role in it, I am just saying that they are not responsible for it. Who is? Well purchase this book and read it. I believe that if you do that, this book will more than answer that question.
   
   All of those people and/or groups listed are merely the smoke, and you all know that where there's smoke there's fire, and this book shows you the fire.

5 comments about Undying Love: The True Story Of A Passion That Defied Death (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. This is a quick read but not fulfilling for those of you who saw the story on HBO's "Autopsy 6" and were looking for more. A large majority of the book is excerpts from news articles and Tanzler von Cosel's diary, so the author did little in depth writing. I would have liked to have known more about the childhood of Carl von Cosel and there was just NO real investigation into it. St. Martin's churns out fast true crime stories and doesn't require much investigative reporting in my opinion. I am 32 and have been reading true crime since I was 11, and this publisher turns out some real cheese, including this one.



2. What intrigued me the most on getting this book was his life with her. The story is very good but the writing is ok. The author jumps into the important parts like they are nothing. For an example (nothing to do with the book) "I bought very nice mattress, very well made and comfortable. I slept in it." In one part he explains his lover for her and literally the next page he dug her up; there's no build up at all. I would say about 80% of the book are his memoirs. You don't know if he's telling the truth or not because he does lie quite a bit. He has a very vivid imagination. It's really not a memorable book. The story is a fantastic and should be made into a movie but the writing just wasn't very well done.



3. The story is not so much about murder but a man's obsession with the memory and preservation of her remains afterwards. It's criminal and insane that a man was so in love with this woman who didn't return the affection that he managed to steal her body and bring her to his home and kept prisoner after her own death for years. Even though she was well preserved, it is a bizarre story that makes you think of Ed Gein, the original psycho. The man, Carl Tanzler, had a wife and daughter but yet his dark obsession with this deceased woman ruled his heart even if she didn't love him.



4. This has to be one of the sweetest "morbid" stories ever told - the perfect Morbid Valentine for your beloved. Carl von Cosel was a German x-ray technician living in Florida who fell in love with one of his Tuberculosis patients - a beautiful young woman named Elena. Carl believed that Elena was destined to be his wife and he was overcome with despair when she finally succumbed to her illness. He decided that even death could not keep them apart, and he exhumed his bride and brought her body back to his home, where he cleaned it up and used an elaborate embalming process to preserve her remains. He kept her there with him for 8 years, during which time she naturally began to fall apart a bit, but Carl kept her looking as good as possible by filling in her sunken features with wax. He even inserted a tube in her vaginal canal so they could consummate their love. Yes, it doesn't get much sicker than this! But strangely enough, when Carl was eventually arrested, most women of the time (1920's-30's) thought it was a very romantic story and did not think poorly of the old man at all. Isn't that sweet?



5. AMAZING. I am not a big reader, and I was done with this book in a few days. You are not going to put this down very easily. I could not wait to read more every day!
   
   
   LOVE IT

5 comments about Forty Whacks: New Evidence in the Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden.

1. Borden fans should check out this wonderful book which presents "just the facts" of the murder case. As many people know, "Fall River Tragedy" by Porter is considered THE BIBLE as far as Lizzie lore goes...but Kent points out that Porter was a yellow journalist whose book was a re-hashing of his numerous, sensationalized newspaper articles of the day. Furthermore, Porter was one-sided against Lizzie. Let's stop looking to Porter as the definitive text on the case, and give Kent a try...he doesn't offer any solution, but at least he doesn't offer any biases and nonsense either.



2. The MOST important new evidence is the fact that a fairly new hatchet was used (the shred of gilt paint in Abby's skull) - not reported in the past; the old hatchet found in the basement could NOT have been the murder weapon! The "Harvard Perjury" was the testimony preceded by "I believe that ..." the old hatchet was the murder weapon. The common sense jury knew that the hatchet head was SAWN off, not broken off.

   The chapter on rumors carries the full text of the anonymous letter from Albany (most likely Joseph Carpenter?) sent to both the Prosecutor and the Marshall. The misspelled "Bordon" name is just a sample of "plausible denial", in case somebody (with a hatchet) came to talk to him. The letter that was later found on a Rome NY street pointing to J. Carpenter was a way to get even; somebody connected with the case wasn't fooled.

   This book is a very good complementary to Arnold R. Brown's "final chapter" on the case - as good a solution as you can find after a century.

   Edward Radin's 1961 book re-investigated the case, and talked to some contemporaries who knew Lizzie. He was the first to show Pearson's biased reporting, and had his own solution (based on his own experiences as a crime reporter).

   The 1973 book by Robert Sullivan, lawyer and judge, provides another point of view. His opinion that "there was enough evidence to convict" shows prejudgment of the case. His book quotes Judge Justin Dewey's charge to the jury, as true and important today as a century ago. He interviewed Abby Borden Whitehead Potter, Abby's niece (and Godchild?).

   The most important thing about this case was the condition of the blood of the victims. Red and liquid for freshly-killed Andrew, black and clotted for Abby (predeceased for over an hour). Think about that in a more recent case!




3. Kent is very biased in favor of Lizzies innocence...was he serious when he wrote early in the book that Lizzies accusers cast her as intelligent and cunning...if so extremely lucky, or manical and crazy walking through a minefield and again being lucky...WE CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! OK, so an intruder is supposed to be even luckier with TWO possible witnesses!!! Let us be for real! Victoria Lincolns book is far superior...and I don't even buy her claim of epilipsy. (Victoria Lincoln can be forgiven for trying to give Lizzie an excuss...) Kent stated early on that he would let the facts lay where they may and let the reader decide...as long as they don't decide that Lizzie was the one...we are constantly reminded...Read Lincoln's account, it's facinating!



4. This very readable book provided new evidence on the life and legend of Lizzie Borden, who was found 'not guilty' of a double murder. The book lists the people involved, and a Bibliography of books, short stories, plays, an opera, a ballet, and articles and essays. It lacks an index. David Kent provides "the essence of historical truth" in this one best book on this topic. DK simply laid out the facts to let the reader come to his own conclusion, unlike other writers. Many are fascinated by that brutal slaying that remains an unsolved crime. The Preface provides a summary of previous books with his evaluations; he omits the books of Robert Sullivan and Arnold R. Brown. E.H. Porter was biased against Lizzie.

   Andrew Jackson Borden was the president of a Fall River bank and on the board of directors of three others. He owned substantial properties and was a director of three major textile mills. Fall River was famous for its cotton industry since the Civil War. DK quotes the 'Daily Herald' for the first news of the murders. There was a farm hand who wanted money from Mr. Borden (see Bertha Manchester?). There were imprints of two men in the hay (when?). The Medical Examiner said Mrs. Borden was killed by a tall man who struck from behind. A suspicious man was seen in the morning. The police searched high and low for any suspicious strangers. Lizzie said she had dressed to go shopping; after the murders she changed out of her morning dress. The 'Daily Herald' of August 5 sums up the problems for a concealed murderer (pp.25-30). Only two people were left alive that morning. Bridget was not a suspect after the first day. The jury said Lizzie wasn't guilty. Who was left?

   Chapter 4 tells of the problem in timing from 10:45 to 11:15. DK suggests falsified testimony from Bridget and Lizzie (p.36). That Friday evening Morse sneaked out of the house, unseen by the crowd in front or the police guarding the property. Could another have done this Thursday morning? What was the motive? Was the survivor the real killer (p.56)? Knowlton admitted he expected a not guilty verdict (p.78)! Chapter 8 tells of the crank letters and confessions, mostly anonymous (note the one from Albany NY). Reporter Henry Trickey was set up with a hoax story. Chapter 9 tells of the media circus and the beginning of the trial. Lizzie could not have done it unless she were insane, but there was not evidence of insanity or that she committed the murders. The house was searched room-by-room, each garment was examined on the outside, then turned inside out. ME Dolan said the killer was left-handed; Lizzie was right-handed.

   Chapter 12 mentions the cover-up by the Harvard Doctors who were prosecution witnesses; they withheld exculpatory evidence. There was no weapon, no bloodstained clothing, no hard motive, no eyewitnesses. Chapter 15 had the defense summation, still valid and valuable. In Chapter 16 Knowlton says there was a skeleton in the Borden household! At the end of the trial Justice Dewey addressed the jury that quickly acquitted Lizzie (Chapter 17). After the verdict a crowd of 2,000 gathered at the murder scene, but Lizzie and Emma stayed away (Chapter 18). The Epilogue tells us that a 'not guilty' verdict was not accepted by the masses; the stigma of the indictment and trial remained. "Verdict first, then the trial" is not just from 'Alice in Wonderland'. Can this happen again?

   Lizzie Borden took a hike,
   After Mother got nineteen strikes,
   While she was out of doors,
   Her Father took eleven more.




5. I've read most, though not all, of the books on Lizzie Borden and I think that this is easily the best. This is the most complete and unbiased presentation of the facts. Kent looks very carefully at a variety of evidence, including the contradictory. I think that Kent would like to believe her innocent, but this remains very even-handed and presents evidence for guilt as well as innocence. In the end, he concludes, correctly I believe, that this is no way to resolve the matter one way or the other, and he doesn't indulge in wild speculation.
   
   I don't have strong opinions on whether Lizzie Borden was guilty or not, but I agree with Kent that the evidence for a verdict "beyond reasonable doubt" simply wasn't there. This is not to be confused with concluding that she was innocent.
   
   After this book, I would recommend Edward Radin's Lizzie Borden: The untold story (A Dell book), which shares with this book the virtue of an author who actually weighed the evidence before coming to a conclusion. Whether or not one agrees with Radin that she was innocent, he did a lot of valuable research. I would also recommend Robert Sullivan's Goodbye Lizzie Borden, with some reservations. Sullivan apparently never considered the possiblity that she didn't do it. He presents a convincing case that she might have gotten away with it even if she was guilty, but this isn't the same thing as proving guilt.