No comments about Ultimate Evil: The Truth About the Cult Murders Son of Sam & Beyond.

No comments about Horoscope of murder: A study of David Berkowitz "Son of Sam".

2 comments about Confessions of Son of Sam.

1. First off, I did not pay this outrageous price. I ordered one off of a rare-book site for eight bucks. I have another half to read, but I have been so engrossed. It is a must have for any true crime buff or student of psychology. It isn't the same narrative about David Berkowitz; rather; it tries to explain what caused him to become the famed serial killer that stalked New Yorkers in the late 70's. It explains the rough childhood, his learning he was adopted, the crushing blow of learning his true parents didn't want him and, without a doubt, the most fascinating part: STALKING. It is terrifying. He tells of other people he wounded in attempted murders, people who escaped being murderd, and the crimes that placed him behind bars. I strongly reccomend this book (I ALSO RECCOMEND THAT YOU TRY TO GET TIM CAHILL'S BURIED DREAMS, ABOUT GACY. IT IS JUST AS FASCINATING).



2. I've read sections of this book during the past 2.5 years at a library in northern Jersey. Dr. Abrahamsen's psychoanalytic dissection of Berkowitz is intriguing. I highly recommend this volume to anyone who has been following the Son of Sam story. Interestingly, there is no reference to the existence of an occult conspiratorial group in this book. In "The Ultimate Evil", this theory is postulated and the supporting evidence is outlined. As a result, I would advise the serious investigator of the Son of Sam story to read both books; one tome deals with the development of a psychopathic personality while the other deals with Berkowitz's involvement with an underground occult group exhibiting violent tendencies.

1 comments about My Search for "the Son of Sam".

1. I think that I can sum up my advice for someone wanting to read this book in four words... Read the bible instead. I think that George Calohan wanted to be a preacher rather than a cop because he spent the entire book quoting scripture and describing his own spiritual growth and trials rather than discussing the actual hunt for the Son of Sam. I purchased the book in hopes of understanding the ins and outs of a police investigation or learning about the ways in which the police caught this famous serial killer, but instead got a sunday school lesson. I would highly recommend buying any book other than this one. Something by Dr. Seuss would be more relevant to the subject...

5 comments about A Serial Killer: David Berkowitz Son of Sam/Son of Hope.

1. I wont buy your book! Are you floating in money now? He didnt fool anyone. The Christian grows over time. Good Try though. :)



2. quote: berkowitz is so smart he can MAKE people believe what he wants them to believe

   David Berkabum still doesn't understand WHY he SLAUGHTERED HIS VICTIMS.

   You're saying this guy's reformed and yet he still doesn't know why he slaughered his victims. You're saying the space shuttle's safe to fly but you can't understand why the Columbia broke apart? Doesn't repentance involve taking the time to examine your conscience? Taking the time to understand why you made mistakes?

   There are also many lies and inconsistances in his testimony.For example, did any of you born agains know that he was a born again christian long before he slaughtered? Yeah that's right, he was baptized in a baptist church in 1974. Attended church services regularly. Was an active member.

   I hope not all born again christians consider this slaughter boy their hero...To do so is to advocate what he's done.




3. There is only one way for anyone to crawl up inside the mind of another, and that MUST come from the horses mouth, so to speak, and that's all we've tried to do here. .. in his own words and thougts.
   The book has not been written yet (!) that knows or understands the mind of David Berkowitz. Like all he does NOW is to project a new image that has respectable Ministries vying his attention> He is frighteing!!! aside from being a great actor. I have sixteen years of him in my mind, and don't know ow to get it out???



4. I believe that Berkwoitz is really a born again christian. He may have been baptized before the killings but he was not born again. Being born again is something that happens in your heart. If he really was pretending im sure he would have taken parole but he said he deserves to be in jail for what he has done, isnt that proof enought that he he is sincere?



5. the poems written by david berkowitz in prison show a warmth and sensitivity that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that david has had a deep change of heart. they could not have been written by that raving maniac who called himself "son of sam". Jesus said out of the heart the mouth speaks. the writer of these poems is a tender hearted, sensitive man. "son of sam" is dead.

3 comments about Son of Sam: The .44-Caliber Killer.

1. The best account of another brutal chapter in urban Amerikan history.Carpozi captures the nagging nausea of fear which tugged at the entrails of the residents who found themselves potential prey in a predator's hunting ground. A must-have for any true-crime voyeur's library of dementia!



2. Anyone that has picked up a newspaper in the last 10 years can see through the massive misinformation, and half truths in this book. Written almost immediately after Berkowitz's arrest this book does nothing but spout out the fabricated tale that Berkowitz told to keep the truth covered up.

   If you want to get a feel for the 'real' Son of Sam reign of terror pick up a copy of Maury Terry's Ultimate Evil.




3. Bah! This is perhaps the worst book I have ever read in full. Written before David Berkowitz's trial, it is a cheap cash-in work that you must never read. I hope what I write here will make you sure of this.
   
   For the first 240 pages you have an account of each crime, the letters received and a limited view of the police investigations. The shootings are detailed with the depth of a small town newspaper, only the basic facts are given. To great irritation each page is littered with author George Carpozi Jr's laughable remarks about how the police could've captured the killer here and there, or how this or that should have been done, or how this connection should have been made at this time, etc. The most amusing of these is where Carpozi says that the killer would have been identified sooner if the police had released their witness sketches quicker. It is widely aknowledged that the six sketches look absolutely nothing like Berkowitz or even like each other. Yet Carpozi, comparing the sketches to the captured Berkowitz, says, "Leonardo da Vinci would have been hard-pressed to come up with a more accurate likeness."
   
   Another point of annoyance are in Carpozi's repeated snide remarks about Jimmy Breslin. When it comes time for Carpozi to tell us about a letter Berkowitz sent to Breslin, a reporter at the New York Daily News (a rival paper of the New York Post, where Carpozi worked at the time), we are treated to ten or fifteen pages about why Breslin is "the last person in the world the .44-caliber killer should have written." In the pages that follow we are told of Breslin working for two papers that folded early in his carreer, of how he was a "guy who hadn't given [New York City] a minute of service in his whole life" when he made an unsuccessful run for Council President and so on. All of this seems based on a personal dislike of Breslin, but Carpozi goes on to justify it as a "forewarning" to those considering buying Breslin's own book on Berkowitz, which at the time he was reported as receiving either $150,000 or $350,000 to write. Jealousy may have been a greater motivation for this ridiculous chapter and the many other cracks that feature from here on. At the end of Carpozi's book we are shown another letter from Berkowitz to Breslin, this one after his capture. In his letter, Berkowitz seems to be agreeing to participate in a book about his life, this is in reply to a request from Breslin. It can be imagined that Carpozi himself wrote Berkowitz a similar request but did not receive the same positive reply.
   
   It is worth noting that while a Google search for Breslin returns various articles by and about him, and shows that he continues to work with notice (including a Pulitzer Prize), a search for Carpozi reveals only an obscure career.
   
   The first section ends with Berkowitz's capture. After this there is "Book Two: Son of Sam's Own Story," 50 pages detailing the life of Berkowitz, with numerous reports from childhood friends, neighbours and teachers, as well as the girlfriend he had in his mid-teens. During his time in the Army, Berkowitz frequently wrote home to her. The letters she kept and later sold. Many of them are re-printed here. This section of the book is readable and almost without Carpozi's irritating injections. What follows, "Book Three: After The Fact," a brief (30-page) detail of Berkowitz's confession and stay in hospital as he was being evaluated for trial, is similarly interesting.
   
   Near the center of the book there can be found 16 pages of black and white photos. None are of note.
   
   I cannot say enough bad things about this book. Reading it was often infuriating, similar to reading the worst of the tabloids. You will drop your head into the book many times because you wont be able to carry on. You must trust me and not pay the $9.95 and upwards the Amazon Marketplace store are currently asking.

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

1. This has got to be the absolute most frightening thing Ive ever read in my life . It is especially reccomended to those who have an interest in Son of Sam or true crime afficianados. It will scare the bejesus out of you once Terry pieces a cult's involvement in Son of Sam to the Manson family and several other murders. Also chilling is the thought of a snuff film of the shooting of final victim Stacy Moskowitz...and where it has gone...



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



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



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



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

5 comments about Son of Sam: Based on the Authorized Transcription of the Tapes, Official Documents and Diaries of David Berkowitz.

1. This book gives you an incredible view into the mind of a killer. It also is very detailed in the description of the investigation. Many details of the case that the book includes have recently been proved false, but they were unknown when it was written.



2. Maybe you, dear reader, can remember 1977 and all the things that happenned. Perhaps, like some, you get all the info you need from books and film.

   Let me say this and I'll leave you to your lattes and precious consumer goods: 1. If Berkowitz did not act alone, why the widely varying descriptions given of "the killer" ? 2. There was a fellow running from the park on one occaision, what of him?? The tall, thin guy, remember??

   3. Berkowitz DID belong to an organization(a satanic cult no less) whose members started mysterously dying in the year after Sam was caught. 3 in all.

   4. The charter arms .44 special that was used was part of a shipment stolen in 1976 (over 100 just like it). Does this explain the ever-so-subtle differences in ballistics between bullets the F.B.I. pointed out??

   People, i won't bore you with forensics, but my last statement is the most important of all because while it does not exonerate Berkowitz, it raises the question of why more than one of the same gun??

   These people are things that you and I will never see in the light of day. Killers who don't necessarily stick to one M.O. and call it quits or stop if they get caught. This is something thats been going on since the Manson days and possibly before, the major players move on when the heat comes down and pop up someplace else a few years later.

   I highly recommend reading up on the Zodiac killer as well as Manson's "family", I think the similarities speak for themselves.

   On that note, I will leave you all to your own devices to educate and enlighten yourselves. Adios!! :-) zipper




3. You want to learn the real NON-exploitative story of the Summer of 1977 and how David Berkowitz terrorized us here in NYC?

   Then read this book: It's straightforward, painstakingly researched, fast-paced, and provides extremely sympathetic portraits of the police, the politicians, the victims, and even the killer himself.

   As the True Crime genre goes, this book is up there with the best of them: Helter-Skelter and Fatal Vision.

   My only quibble: I wanted to know more about the legal process after Sam's arrest...Mr Klausner is there an unedited version of the book?

   NOTE TO CONSPIRACY THEORISTS: I tried reading the updated version of "The Ultimate Evil." After a terrific opening about the Arlis Perry murder and summarizing the earlier events of the "Sam" terror, the author goes into some far-out detail about the Stacey Moskowitz murder...the story lost me there it was so convoluted and complicated. I felt as if alternate events were "fitted" into the real time-frame to make the event more interesting.




4. Did David act alone? After hearing a number of different things about the Son of Sam crimes, I decided to do my own research. I read many articles and accounts of "what really happened", including this book.

   Now, after all this research...I'm more confused than ever.

   The author of 'Son of Sam' is obviously bent on the fact that David was, as the theory says, another "angry lone nut". I have a hard time believing this theory in any case, so of course I had a hard time believing it here.

   Was David really part of a Satanic cult? (Namely the Process - Church of the Final Judgement, a name that, curiously, has come up in a few criminal investigations, including the Manson murders. Though generally described as "non-violent", a number of newspaper and internet articles have associated David Berkowitz and the Son of Sam murders with this cult.) If so, why doesn't Klausner mention this? Surely he seemed to focus on David's spirituality, but even in the exerpts from the diaries at the back of the book, I'm pretty sure I read something about a "church group". If it wasn't there, I'm sure I read comments David made in a number of other articles.

   In defense of the book, David's psychosis definately suggests that he was capable of committing these crimes alone. He did know the specific details, and nothing directly implies that anyone else was involved.

   Yes, David is given to exagerration, childish bragging and self-empowering lies. He reminds you of a confused child in a man's body. In other words, he's a paranoid schizophrenic. He has often blamed unseen forces, specifically demons and the devil, for his actions. He thought he was a victim of demonic possession, that he and the "Son of Sam" were different people. As anyone who has read the book will remember, David considered himself to be a "good" person. Could he have lied about the church group, consciously of unconsciously, to shift blame from himself? It's definately possible. But did he?

   Also, was there new evidence, after the book written, that Klausner didn't know about? I've heard a bit about this, though I don't know the specifics.

   After what I've read, I'm not sure what to believe, except that Berkowitz committed the actual crimes alone. However, all we get from that conclusion is that he deserves life imprisonment. (365 years, whatever.) It doesn't offer us any guidance as to the actual motive, which, in my opinion, is the most important part of any crime, so we can ensure that something this horrible wouldn't happen again. There are no reasons for crimes like this, just contributing factors. Like I said, I'm still confused.

   As for the book itself, it's quite good, though at times it reminded me of a novel based on a movie, adding melodramatic little touches and outstanding, supposedly "shocking" statements. Recently having read Helter Skelter, I probably would have appreciated Klausner to include more facts and make this less "entertaining". Entertainment is good, but to see a story that carefully introduces characters, charts their progress with small yet memorable details, and ends in emotional payoff...well, that's why I go to the movies. The reason I read true crime is to know the little things: the details of the crimes, the investigation, lie detector tests, complete interviews... I greatly appreciated the pages from David's diary at the back, though I wonder about the author's intent on including it.

   I realize that I'm the first person to give this book any less than five stars, but I'm not going to lie; that's simply how I feel about it.

   Anyone with any comments about David Berkowitz, his involvement in this crime, any theories (however outlandish they may be, I keep an open mind)...any comments about my review, or anything related to this book can e-mail me at

   guelph@canada.com

   Thank you to anyone who actually read all of this. Lisa.




5. This is an excellent account of the Son of Sam murders. The author writes from the point of view of the detectives, victim and Berkowitz. The reader will feel at times as if they are part of the investigation. Very well written and factual account. Please don't believe the garbage in Maury Terrys' book. Berkowitz acted alone and was not part of a world wide cult. He was, in reality, just an anti-social, fat, loser who held a city in fear for a few months in the late 1970s.

5 comments about The Ultimate Evil: The Truth about the Cult Murders: Son of Sam and Beyond.

1. If people knew the truth about the Son Of Sam killings most would probably refuse to believe. This book is eye-opening and truly terrifying. The police just wanted this case to go away and the amount of evidence they ignored is staggering. I was a kid in The Bronx at the time and I remember how scared my parents were. We couldn't even play outside. The first victim, Donna Lauria, was killed in The Bronx, but not until I read this book did I know she was killed 2 blocks from my house. READ THIS BOOK!!!!!



2. This book is powerful. Delves into just how evil the human mind can sink. Manson, Son of Sam, The Process Church. Dark forces are at play in controlling the minds of misfits and delinquents. Maury Terry has written a real eye-opener into the world of Satanic criminal behavior.



3. We lived in Bismarck, ND at that time and I remember the "goings on" with the cult activities. The cult frequented a park a couple miles from our house where young people gathered at night. My children saw them across the street at the top of the hill in a ritutal around a bonfire. They were scared and came running home. I remember the dead dogs and cattle with no blood in them but otherwise the bodies were healthy. The place they met south of town and close to a Univerity (more young people). You saw them walking with red vests with their Priestly garb and upside down crosses. We also know the young lady killed in Stanford University chapel and her husband (now a Dr in Child Paycology). Maurey covered it well and I can not imagine all the time and energy he has put into the update. Wonderful!! A must read!!



4. I read this book several years ago. The first thing I must say is that "facts" as depicted, if this book is by any means true, should get support from specific, traceable external documentation and copious notes. Though it does make a few references to New York Times articles from the 1980s (which I admit I have not verified), those are all Terry uses to directly substantiate his claims. A book of this scope having not so much as an index leaves too much for this critically thinking mind to question. TUE is a fantastic read, but that alone offers no credibility. Detectives who investigated the Son of Sam case have debunked any grand link between Berkowitz and alleged occult affiliations, but of course, I hear people saying, "The cops want to prevent panic!" Is Terry's account true? I do not know. I am, however, very skeptical.



5. This book really blew my mind on many different levels. The ties to Manson are fascinating and really make sense. The main thing that really blew my mind though was that the police were so eager to make an arrest that they just pinned everything on Berkowitz, even though the facts did not add up whatsoever. I highly recommend this book to any true crime reader.