5 comments about The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder.

1. This was a well written book and would open anyone's eyes. BUT, I don't think anyone would have the guts to do anything about it.



2. I found this book riveting--but at times was so upset I had to put it down in an effort to calm down. I think Mr. Bugliosi pulls no punches, and I glory in him.



3. ... is someone willing to write a book like this. My hat goes off in respect to Mr. Bugliosi.
   
   I found this book to be very, very disturbing. We Americans have allowed the Bush administration to put a horrible black mark on the American nation.
   
   I highly recommend this book to everyone.
   
   Having said the above, I'd like to add a few comments about places I struggled with the book:
   
   1. I found the writing style to be a bit puzzling ... that is, until I imagined that I was sitting in a court room listening to Mr. Bugliosi present his case. The book flowed much more smoothly for me after this.
   
   2. Make make sure you read the End Notes. The copy of the book I had made no references to the End Notes, so I had read through several chapters before I discovered them.
   
   3. Respectfully, I had a problem with one of the arguments that Mr. Bugliosi presents. I may have misunderstood his argument, but (again respectfully) I think his logic is off.
   
   In his Chapter notes to Chapter 2, Mr. Bugliosi states that Saddam Hussein would never "do something [like attack America] that would only serve to assure his annihilation ..." and that such an idea as "... too ludicrous to even contemplate." (p. 260).
   
   My issue isn't with Saddam Hussein, but with Mr. Bugliosi's logic. My point is that this is not a valid argument. People consistently engage in behavior that can cause their annihilation. (Think about all the smokers around the world.)
   
   When I worked as a forensic counselor, I had the opportunity to work with several true sadists and sociopaths. Each one was very intelligent, and each one would consistently do incredibly stupid things that would get them in trouble.
   
   I imagine that as an accomplished attorney, Mr. Bugliosi has worked with many more sociopaths and people with personality disorders than I have. Which makes me even more surprised that he used this line of reasoning.
   
   Furthermore, although Saddam would not have had access to the information at the time, it is not a given that attacking the U.S. means annihilation. Consider Osama Bin Laden.
   
   In light of the overwhelming evidence that Mr. Bugliosi offers in this book, this argument is not critical to the conclusions he draws about President Bush (conclusions that I completely agree with).
   
   The danger I see in the line of reasoning Mr. Bugliosi uses here is that the exact same (again incorrect, in my view) argument could be used to defend President Bush. Mr. Bugliosi points out that there is no statute of limitations for murder. Therefore, anyone defending Bush can say, "President Bush would never violate as many laws as Mr. Bugliosi says he did, because (to paraphrase Mr. Bugliosi), "The notion that President Bush would do something that would only serve to ensure his annihilation is too ludicrous to even contemplate."
   
   4. There were several instances of Mr. Bugliosi using "he" to refer to both men and women. I struggled with this wording especially when he used "he" in reference to the U.S. troops who have died in Iraq. Women soldiers have died as well. (To be fair, as an author I also struggle with she, he, s/he limitations of our English language. But still ...)
   
   5. On page 68, Mr. Bugliosi writes, "FOr some reason, although the death of Iraqi civilians in the war is always distressing to me, I take the reports of American soldiers being killed in Iraq much harder.
   
   For me, it's exactly the opposite.
   
   I am always more horrified by civilian deaths for, as tragic as the U.S. soldiers deaths are/were, the soldiers at least chose to be there. Civilians have no choice, which makes their deaths even more tragic.
   
   To be clear, I'm not saying Mr. Bugliosi is wrong (or evil or bad or ...) to hold his opinion. Nor do I hold these words up as a criticism of his book. I just see things differently.
   
   6. Finally, I disagree with Mr. Bugliosi's opinion that President Bush should receive the death penalty. As horrific as the things that President Bush did, I, unlike President Bush, oppose the death penalty. Mr. Bush should be sentenced to life in prison in the general prison system.
   
   I did very much appreciate Mr. Bugliosi's explanation of complex legal issues in a way that I as a lay person could understand them. As I read the book, I found myself curious to know what strategy Mr. Bugliosi would suggest in order to avoid a future president from pardoning Mr. Bush (should he indeed be brought to trial). I would hate to see a replay of President Ford's pardoning of Richard Nixon.
   
   
   Again, these 6 points are where I struggled with Mr. Bugliosi's book. Overall, I agreed with this premise, was shocked at his compilation of facts, and outraged at the acts of the current administration.
   
   I would highly recommend this book to any interested reader ... which should be every voter in America.
   
   Thank you again, Mr. Bugliosi, for standing up for American values.
   
   You are a true patriot.



4. The Prosecution of George W. Bush for MurderTypical Bugliosi, Fabulous! Vincent nails it. Let's hope someone acts.



5. While I agree with the premise and was looking forward to great book, I was very disappointed in the author's presentation.
   
   He was very repetitive and treated the readers condescendingly. He made each point satisfactorally and then proceded to explain what he meant ad ifinitum.
   
   He should have known that readers of this book didn't need to be led or convinced.

3 comments about Case of a Lifetime: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Story.

1. Case of a Lifetime is the story, or fable, of a lawyer who develops deep feelings for a guilty client and because of those feelings she obsessed for more than 20 years trying to have her client exonerated. To the casual reader who is capable of using logic and reason, the subject of the book, Patsy Kelly Jarrett, comes across as likely guilty, despite her repeated claim of being innocent. To a reader with some direct insight into the murders and robberies that are part of this book, the subject, Patsy Kelly Jarrett, is definitely guilty.
   The author went to great lengths to find people who would accept her version of the client's story and after 20 plus years, those people were still few and far between. What the author did not do was pursue people who would have information that contradicts the claims of innocence.
   The author will use both sides of the "one witness" debate. She is against it when it contradicts her client's story, but she is in favor of it when it can be used to add credence to her client's fable. She can't have it both ways.
   The book is a blend of fact and fiction. The facts the author detailing her efforts on behalf of the client. The fiction is the story that the client tells. Patsy Kelly Jarrett is a convicted murderer. That was affirmed at her trial and reaffirmed through the many appeals, clemency hearings, and parole hearings. Thankfully the American justice system worked.



2. This is an incredible book which shows the real problems with the criminal justice system. The reviewer who criticizes Ms. Smith for believing in her client's innocence has clearly missed the point. Most criminal defense attorneys would find it much easier to defend a guilty client, and in fact some of the most skeptical people I have ever met are public defenders. The most important thing about this book is that Ms. Smith constantly reexamines her point of view and potential emotional conflicts, and is incredibly honest with the reader.



3. I really am enjoying reading this book, which is clear, compelling and poignant...and sheds light on a much-ignored fact about our court system, the numbers of innocent people who get convicted by dubious eye-witness testimony..

5 comments about And the Sea Will Tell.

1. Vincent Bugliosi is not only a top-notch prosecutor & attorney, he's also a top-notch writer! This is one of THE best books I've ever read....you talk about not being able to stop reading a book. This is one of the strangest "True Crime" stories ever, and it will just blow your mind. Some nights it gave me such chills, I was afraid to get off the couch & go to bed! I was frozen with fear almost. Spooky....This crime is freaky & scary. Get this book! You won't regret it. Promise. If you love True Crime, get this book!



2. This book had me enthralled from the opening page. Mr. Bugliosi weaves an amazing story with so much detail that it seems like he is narrating something as it happens! A sad tale of two customers looking to be alone in a remote island (I wonder if the same island was used for the Tom Hanks movie survivor?) who get miffed that they are not alone. One of the couples ends up murdered and it is obvious who their killers are but through lack of physical evidence, the killers were not brought to trial to many years later. Note: spoilers below:
   
   It made my blood boil at what Buck Walker and Jennifer Jenkins did to the Grahams. The photos in the book show them as a beautiful couple with a boat that anyone would be proud to own.
   
   The only issue with the book that I had was how Mr. Bugliosi could defend Jennifer Jenkins (note: I looked at newspaper articles and her name is different. I wonder if she changed it for the publicity), insisting he was sure of her inocence when the prosecutor's closing arguments of the trial left no doubt that she had to be involved in the murders.
   
   I was also upset to read that Buck Walker was paroled in 2007.



3. Forgettable title, but what a fantastic true crime book. Sometimes the mini-series based on this excellent narrative by (former prosecutor turned defense attorney) Vincent Bugliosi, shows up on television (starring Rachel Ward, James Brolin, Richard Crenna) and it's also a real stunner.
   
   What really happened on the remote South Seas island of Palmyra? How did a young hippie couple who ditched their leaky boat end up sailing majestically back to Oahu on a fabulous yacht? And what happened to the yacht's owners, Matt and Muffie Graham?
   
   Bones wash up on the island six years after the couple's disappearance--and two young people are arrested for murder.



4. As a fan of mystery stories, both real and fictional, I was drawn to the premise of "And The See Will Tell" by Vincent Bugliosi. It is the tale of two couples living on a supposedly deserted South Pacific atoll that ends with two people losing their lives with very little evidence as to how it happened. Bugliosi not only serves as the author, but also the defense attorney in a case that sought to bring justice to one of the accused killers over a decade after the grisly murders took place in 1974.
   
   Jennifer Jenkins and Buck Walker couldn't have been a better example of opposites attract: Buck was a convicted felon while Jennifer, not exactly spotless in her record, was certainly peaceful and nonviolent. Yet she fell in love with Buck and would do anything for him, even aid him in his flight from the law. It was Buck's idea to sail to Palmyra Island, a deserted atoll in the South Seas, where they could live off the land and no one would be the wiser. Jennifer went along with Buck, never dreaming of the nightmare they would encounter there. For Palmyra, far from deserted, was a place of interest and stopping point of many travelers, including Malcolm and Eleanor Graham, experienced sea travelers who planned to spend at least a year at Palmyra, having sailed form Hawaii on their beautiful boat the Sea Wind.
   
   The two couples who found themselves living upon Palmyra couldn't have been more opposite: the Grahams were conservative and extremely prepared for their voyage, while Buck and Jennifer were certified hippies, inexperienced at sea and surprisingly unprepared to deal with life on the atoll, which gave almost every visitor a discomforting vibe. When Buck and Jennifer return to Hawaii aboard the Sea Wind, the reader knows that something horrible has happened to the Grahams, but Bugliosi chooses to keep those details for the second part of the book. The first part is told through third-person narrative, recounting the events that unfolded on the island, and Buck and Jennifer's subsequent arrest when they return to Hawaii: with the Grahams no where in sight, murder is the immediate conclusion.
   
   The second part of the book is told through Bugliosi's first-person narration, a recounting of how he became acquainted with the case and served as a defense lawyer in the murder trial, evidence existing in the bones of Eleanor Graham being divugled by the sea several years after that fateful trip. "And The Sea Will Tell" is a riveting case and a very thorough examination of the murder trial, perhaps almost too thorough at times. There are numerous footnotes to expound upon testimony and court procedures, which can slow down the narrative. Vincent Bugliosi certainly knows that he is a good lawyer and lets this be known, which can read as rather pompous at times, but his attitude only enhances the story in the end rather than distract from it. And while justice may have been served in this trial, the truth as to what actually happend on Palmyra with these two couples is still shrouded in mystery, for no one, not even the sea, is telling.



5. I thought the first part of the book was a page-turner. But less that halfway through, I had to force myself to read it. I thought it was a self-serving book for Mr. Bugliosi. How he says "I just can't defend a client unless I know they are innocent" and I love how when the judge tells him he can only have a certian amount of time for his closing statement, he is sure to tell the judge (and us) how another judge thought his 13 hour closing statement was the best one he has ever heard. I'm not in the mood for an author who beefs himself up in a book. I couldn't even force myself to finish it-it was that boring! Perhaps lawyers will enjoy it since it's 99% courtroom & 1% true crime

5 comments about Journey Into Darkness.

1. This book explains his career as a criminal profiler for the FBI. John Douglas solved unusual kinds of crimes done by those who kill or rape or torture because they enjoy it. Profiling requires "creative-type thinkers", not accounting or engineering types. They must work well both alone and in groups. They need good judgment based on instinct, which can't be defined in an objective nature. Douglas says serial killers are mostly made, not born. Most come from broken or dysfunctional homes, and are victims of some type of abuse. Real-life killers were used as models for "The Silence of the Lambs", "Red Dragon", and "Psycho". The modus operandi is what the offender does, the signature is why he does it (that doesn't change). Virtually all multiple killers are male. Chapter 2 gives an example of solving murders where there was only a vague eyewitness description.
   
   Chapter 3 shows many examples where profiling was used to describe the habits of killers. Chapter 4 tells of more cases, some of which will never be dramatized for TV as they are too horrible. Chapter 5 deals with pedophiles. One warning sign would be a man whose house has games and amusements that appeal to children. Chapter 6 tells of the possible dangers to young children. One example is the murder of Megan Kanka. It doesn't tell you that her murderer was released from prison against all advice because a new governor wanted to cut costs. Fast footwork by propagandists made it appear to be the fault of the parents since "they didn't know". I wonder if this law affected the crime rate? Chapter 7 tells of the Collins family; its too long. Chapter 8 tells of the murder of Suzanne Collins, a sad tragedy. Chapter 9 tells of the after-effects on Suzanne's parents, and their support group. Chapter 10 is about the savage murder of a wife and her two girls. It established the use of criminal profiling at trials. Chapter 11 tells about the crimes of a rapist-murderer near Arlington Va. [Was this the inspiration for Patricia Cornwell's "Post Mortem"?] When they noted a 3-year gap in the crimes, they looked for someone who had been in prison for burglary; they found a likely suspect. This suspect was convicted, the first person in the world to be executed on the basis of DNA evidence.
   
   Chapter 12 is about the unsolved murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. John Douglas was not called in by the police and the prosecutors, but has formed a strong opinion of the case. [Ever notice how many people's opinions are set by the first news and can never consider the facts in the case?] Note that his discussion of the attack omits the fact that two different knives were used (autopsy report). Douglas talked of the "widespread conspiracy" argument, but didn't read Steven Singular's "Legacy of Deception" which tells how a journalist in Denver got news about the LAPD! The timeline says O. J. Simpson is innocent. The limo driver arrived at 10:22 and saw no one enter or leave until the 11pm trip to the airport. Any evidence like a glove or blood drops had to be planted the next day. Ron Goldman was 5'9" and 175 lbs. His unexpected visit to Nicole's place put him in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nicole had been involved with another man who was 5'9", 175 lbs, but a few years older. In the dark the killers attacked the wrong man, then the witness who came out of the house. If her boyfriend then went into hiding, then that would confirm this theory.
   
   Chapter 13 gives the authors views on crime and punishment. Rehabilitation which makes a good guy out of a bad guy is best. But some offenders can never be rehabilitated and must be isolated from society. Capital punishment prevents the worst from recommitting their crimes. But the problem is to be sure those convicted are truly guilty. Criminals are manufactured from a poor home life. [But isn't this the result of poverty in many cases?] The problem is apparently without a practical solution.



2. I won't go much further. John E. Douglas is an excellent expert on true crime particularly the gruesome serial killings. I got the book before the Green River Killer was identified as Gary Leon Ridgway. Anyway, he analyzes cases and gives his opinions but he is pro-law enforcement most of the time. He doesn't like to give the benefit of the doubt towards the law enforcement community. Sadly, his dedication in the beginning of the book mentions only a portion of the victims in the book which some are well-known like Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson and the victims of Bernardo-Homolka crimes in Canada, as well as a few others. There were others who were murdered, brutalized, and their names are bearly mentioned in the book. Unless he changed their names to protect their true identity which I doubt because most of the murdered victims are identified. Since he is pro-law enforcement, he may not have a total open view of the criminals themselves. Granted, he knows how to identify the criminal whether a child molester or serial killer from his actions. He aids in their capture, prosecution, and their sentence whether death penalty or life in prison. He doesn't suggest ways to prevent such disasters such as a pedophile or serial killer from becoming such a creature because they aren't really human.



3. This book was a great reading experience. Douglas is an experienced storyteller, and being that these are not just stories, but actual accounts of reality make is a bonus! This book was a satisfing buy for my evil sweettooth. I loved it. It was worth adding to my collection of true crime interests.



4. Very informative, though some of the cases are repeated in the series of books that have been released by the authors.



5. As with all John Douglas books this was a completely fascinating read with so much insight. Marred only by a certain arrogance but then doing the work he does, who wouldn't be arrogant?

5 comments about If You Really Loved Me.

1. I read this book about 7 or 8 years ago and i recently made an account on Amazon and i can tell you this book was one of the best books i have ever read about. I remember this entire book like i read it yesterday! What Cinnamon Brown went through as a pre-teen...the manipulation, the pressure she had on her and then to have to go to jail for this man, David Brown was just absoultly sick. I couldn't believe with the pressure she was put under by Brown that she would have to do any time at all and was repulsed when i read on and found out what they gave her. She is free now but still. It must have been hell on a kid that was practicaly forced to do something like that to someone she had to secretely love, and we know as a child she secretely loved her step mother.
   
   Shocking, sad and unfortunatly...so true...



2. I can't believe that David Brown really did this to his daughter, his own flesh and blood!! He manipulated his 14 year old daughter into killing his wife so he could collect the insurance money!! There are no words to describe how demented this "man" really is. Then he tried to have his daughter killed from prison! Unbelievable! This "man" deserves to rot in hell for all eternity~



3. Every now and then I pick up one of Ann Rule's true crime accounts. I like figuring out puzzles, and mystery novels are especially tempting as they let me try to figure things out on my own end of things. But true crime books have an additional factor to them -- I enjoy seeing the monsters that inhabit the world around us get justice, and sometimes it helps to know that I am not alone in my own little pocket of misery.
   
   If You Really Loved Me dips into the psychology of a family, and the man who was the head of it. To all appearances, David Brown was an ordinary looking fellow, overweight, acne-scarred, but very successful. He had developed a means of rescuing lost data from computer disks right at the start of the big computer boom of the eighties, and had made quite a bundle of money. His home was in an prosperous part of Orange County, California, and his marriage to Linda Bailey was a happy one on the surface. They had a newborn daughter named Krystal, and he had invited not just his daughter from a previous marriage, Cinnamon, but also Linda's sister, Patti, to live with him. The home was tidy and well-furnished, and the two teenage girls were average, high-spirited girls, especially Cinnamon.
   
   But on a March night in 1985, Linda died from two gunblasts in her chest. David Brown had gone out for a drive, and had come home to Patti crying and holding the baby, and Cinnamon was nowhere to be found. EMTs and the police came, and Linda's life could not be saved. And a search revealed Cinnamon huddled in a doghouse in the backyard, covered in vomit, and clutching a note scrawled on a piece of cardboard.
   
   Dear God, please forgive me, I didn't mean to hurt her.
   
   To everyone involved, the solution appeared very clear -- Cinnamon was tried for the murder and sentenced to twenty-five years to life, and only fourteen years old, was sent to prison. Life returned to normal for the Browns, and Patti stayed with David Brown, raising Krystal, and eventually giving birth to a child of her own, Heather.
   
   But to the police and prosecutors involved in the case, there was something a little too smooth about the murder. And there was something about Brown that bothered everyone -- but the only way to reopen the case would be if Cinnamon spoke, and for nearly four long years she remained silent. Then one of the original investigators, Jay Newell, recieved a phone call, and the truth began to be slowly uncovered...
   
   It's a chilling tale of mental and emotional abuse, murder for hire, manipulation and the man who was at the center of it all. Using interviews, photographs, and transcripts of the case, Rule gives a glimpse into a family that was deceptive, and with David Brown as the man who ran it all. He was charming, and would marry no less than six times, usually to very young women, and each marriage would fail in some respect. What was most disturbing was just how close David Brown came to getting away with everything -- investigators discovered that he would run insurance scams, make grandiose claims, and always seemed to find someone else to blame for everything that was questionable in his life.
   
   For me, the hardest thing to read what Brown did to his own daughter, and the abuse he put Patti through. Out of all of his women, it was these two teenagers that went through the most trauma. Brown viewed women as things, put on the earth to gratify him sexually, and it didn't matter if they were preteens or not -- it was these sections of the book that made me physically ill, and helped me to recognize that predators lack the moral integrity that stop most of us from acts of terrible horror.
   
   While Rule does get a bit repetitive in her account, the story is compelling enough to continue reading through to the end. She delves into the psychology of a sociopath, the hell that survivors of abuse go through, and the lives of the lawmen who worked to bring justice, finally to Linda Bailey and Cinnamon Brown.
   
   This is not a book for children of any age to read, and that would go to most adults that I know. The violence in this is particularly disturbing, made all the more so in that it actually happened. For me, the hardest part was to read about the words and actions that Brown used to control the women in his life -- my own mother and grandfather would use very close to the same phrases to twist my own thinking into believing that what they were doing was my fault, not theirs, and there were times when I had to set the book down and walk away for a while to get my own equilibrium back. Despite this, it helped me to understand more of what I had gone through personally, and so, that made the book worth reading.
   
   Rule is able to stay detached from her subject in this, and lets the reader decide guilt or innocence on their own. One thing that I appreciated was that she included several afterwords to update the readers on what happened to the Bailey-Brown families and the others in the story after the trials were over. There is also an insert of black and white photos of the people and places in the story as well.
   
   If you have a strong enough stomach to deal with the crimes that Rule brings to life here, go on ahead and read. But I would not let this book be read by a child, or anyone who is emotionally sensitive to this sort of thing. Handle with care, and it still gets five stars from me for the writing and the skill that Rule uses to bring this story of evil to life.
   
   Recommended.



4. This is a tremendous book by Ann Rule-- a complete true story. I am from Garden Grove, and my father's parents were the first owners of that home on Ocean Breeze where Linda Brown was shot. My family had owned it from the mid-50s and had moved out in the early 70s-- but many of the same neighbors remained through 1985. Some of which are mentioned in the book.
   
   This is a must-read. There was a "made for television" move about these events, called "Love, Lies & Murder," but it is NOT based upon Ann's book.
   
   If there's ever "just one" of Ann's book I would recommend, it would be this one, "If You Really Loved Me."



5. This is an older true crime story from the mistress of the genre, Ann Rule. I read it at the time it came out, and found it fascinating and tragic. Recently, my mother was cleaning out her collection of books and setting overflow aside for donation, and I rescued this from the donation pile because I wanted to read it again.
   
   One night in 1985, police were called to the California home of a self-made millionaire named David Brown, who shared the house with his wife Linda, their baby Krystal, Linda's younger sister Patti, and David's daughter from a previous marriage, Cinnamon. In the master bedroom, police found Linda Brown shot to death, and 14-year old Cinnamon curled up shivering and vomiting up mountains of pills in a doghouse out back. The story that emerged was that an allegedly contentious relationship between Cinnamon, David's daughter, and Linda, David's wife, had finally escalated into a tragic confrontation. Cinnamon immediately confessed to shooting Linda Brown, and after a quick trial was sent to a juvenile prison facility.
   
   Another murder in another dysfunctional family - nothing unusual, right? For some reason, however, the whole incident bothered the chief investigator, Jay Newell, and he couldn't get it out of his mind. Something wasn't right about it. Cinnamon was a sweet, confused girl who had no record of any serious rebellion, and the investigator couldn't shake the feeling that she was holding something back. David Brown also left a bad taste in Newell's mouth, and the presence of Linda's younger sister in the home seemed strange. What was really going on in this odd household? Long after the case was dead and buried, Newell kept watching and listening and asking questions.
   
   Almost four years later, Cinnamon broke her long silence and the true story of what happened in the Brown house that night was finally revealed, piece by appalling piece. It's a shocking insight into just how much power a parent has over a child, and how smoothly a cunning adult can manipulate so many others to do his or her bidding. It's Ann Rule at her best, pulling every detail together to present a full picture of a terrible crime and more importantly, all its underlying elements - not an easy task given the complexity of familial emotion and the ultimately deadly addition of a sociopathic mind.
   
   I have the old hardcover, but it's still in print as a mass market paperback, available on Amazon or any other bookseller site. I recommend it if you're interested in true crime and all the psychological factors that play into a crime like this.

5 comments about The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon.

1. I took this book with me when I headed down to Brazil to explore the Amazon Basin. Caveat: reading this book before heading down to Brazil to explore the Amazon is like going to see the movie "Jaws" before you go on your first scuba dive. Disturbing.
   
   Whitaker's description of Isabel Godin-Grameson's horrific ordeal of being lost in the Amazon is mind-boggling, to say the least. It was not the poisonous snakes, the crushing boa constrictors, jaguars, caimans, electric eels or the fierce head shrinking Jabaros that were the worst. It was the thousands of insect bites (giant ants, fire ants, wasps, bees, chiggers, assassin bug, mosquitoes, botflies and their eggs) which turned into open, oozing, festering sores, hundreds of sores on their faces, arms, legs or any exposed flesh. Whitaker's writes. "They had no mosquito nets, no tents - only the clothes they were wearing. It was futile. The insects feasted on them. They would huddle together in the blackness (of night) and hoards of ants would begin their onslaught, crawling over them, under their pants and over every inch of exposed skin. During these awful days, they were plagued with botfly eggs. When the mosquitoes, laden with botfly eggs, feed on the body, the heat from the host causes the eggs to hatch. Immediately, the larvae burrow beneath the skin. The botfly maggot has two anal hooks that anchor firmly in the flesh and there it grows for more than a month . . . They were taking their turn as food for the botflies, even as they were slowly starving to death." Whitaker captures the horror of their situation.
   
   There is much more than Isabel's gripping journey that makes this a great read: the scientific expedition to determine the size and shape of the earth, the descriptions of the culture of 18th century Europe and South America, the tragic treatment of the slaves (African and Indigenous Americans), the dedication, the love and the will to survive. This is a must read for any student of South America, Cartography or Life. Highly recommended.



2. Combine the quest for scientific advancement with exploration, adventure, human empathy, a gutsy survival storyline and you have a captivating read. The author has done just that.
   
   Along with the accomplished scientist Charles-Marie de La Condamine, Jean Godin was a member of the mid-1730's French expedition to Ecuador for evaluating earth's physical attributes. Their mission was to put an end to the century's old debate on earth's circumference, gravity pulls and longitudinal measurements. Little did they know that these scientific observations were to occupy ten years of their lives. For Godin, many more years of frustration were to be had in South America.
   
   Early in the expedition Godin met and ten years later married Isabel Grameson. Due to the political bureaucratic strife of the day, the two were separated for twenty years. He in French Guiana, her in Ecuador. Isabel's risky venture from the Andes into the unforgiving jungles of the Amazon to rejoin Godin is an unbelievable story of survival and human fortitude.
   
   I have come across references of this somewhat mythical and legendary narrative in other South American exploration literature. Mr. Whitaker's account is a page turner of what occurred two and a half centuries ago.



3. I enjoyed The Mapmaker's Wife, but felt that it was more a history book about the region than the romantic story it claimed to be. Therefore I was disappointed with it. I hoped to read it for recreation, but ended up feeling I was back in school.
   Diana Banat



4. "The Mapmaker's Wife" by Robert Whitaker lives up to its intriguing subtitle, "A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon."
   
   Covering a span of four decades in the middle of the eighteenth century and based on documents and letters written at the time and a wealth of secondary sources, the book tells the story of a decade-long expedition to South America launched in 1735 by a team of French scientists hoping to measure accurately a degree of latitude at the equator. Their aim was to calculate the circumference of the earth and resolve the continuing debate over its shape. Was it flattened at the poles as followers of Isaac Newton believed, or was it prolonged at the poles, like a double-ended pear, as those who subscribed to the theories of René Descartes believed?
   
   Thus the team of ten Frenchmen, three noted scientists and their seven assistants traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to Cartagena in the Vice-royalty of Peru. There they were joined by two young Spanish military officers - at the insistence of the Spanish king - and together, and sometimes individually, they traveled along tropical rivers and the crests of the Andes, reaching Quito, just over a year after setting out, to begin their task on June 4, 1736.
   
   Whitaker provides useful digressions on the nature of science, on Spanish and colonial history and attitudes, and introduces the reader to Isabel Gramesón, "A Daughter of Peru," and her family. Isabel provides the love interest and adds a final incredible tale of adventure to this wide-ranging story.
   
   The sheer magnitude of their task, the dangers of travel in wild uncharted terrain, the tangles of international politics, and the murder of one of their team by an angry mob keep the reader glued to the pages. A marriage, a separation of twenty years, and a final incredible journey along the wild and hostile Amazon River bring the book to its conclusion as most of the adventurers return to their places of origin, the last of them in 1773, thirty-eight years after setting out.
   
   "The Mapmaker's Wife" is a breathtaking adventure, a gripping human drama, and an enlightening glimpse into the history, the science, the culture and customs of a fascinating bygone age.



5. This is my favorite book that I've read this year, inspiring and fascinating. Others have summarized it well, so I simply want to say that it's a wonderful adventure.

5 comments about Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice.

1. Extremely one-sided, extremely biased and not well written. I was expecting much more from this. Keep your hands off this book, it's absolutely not worth the money. If I had the option of giving this book 0 stars I would have chosen 0.



2. Although I tend to agree with Jane Jervis, that Danny's Widow has "made a career of her husband's death"(P.262;6), Maureen Faulkner's ability to explain the propensity of her position, is phenominal. And the ending is just chilling.



3. I am a firm believer that Cook murdered a policeman, and I would support any cause against Cook. I thought the book was a hard read, but am glad I read it for the perspective from a very courageous woman and wife of a hero.



4. It had to be done. I read a reviewer state that "Maureen has made a career of Danny's death". If it wasn't for the psychos on the left, she wouldn't have had to write the book in the first place.The whole circus just turns your stomach. The one positive of this whole fiasco, is that 25 years after Dannny's murder we are still talking about him. I highly reccommend this book.



5. Finally! The truth known to a majority of Pennsylvanians about Mumia now sees the light of day! This is in thanks to a courageous woman, her family, and of course Michael Smerconish.
   I remember this trial, as well as the whole Mumia and Move saga, and I can tell you that there is no conspiracy! Mumia killed Officer Faulkner on that cold December night, and was fairly tried in a court of law, despite the deliberate disruptions by Mumia himself! The lawyer he wanted, one Joe Africa of Move, is not a lawyer, and therefore cannot represent Mumia in a court of law. The lawyer he ended up with was one that was recommended to him by his family! This fact, and the other facts of the case can be found in this book, as well as the justice4danielfaulkner site, and in the trial transcripts, that his often ignorant supporters refuse to acknowledge!Yes, I called his supporters ignorant, because they are ignorant! This was proven by a local Philly radio station that went undercover at a Mumia rally a few years ago, and found that many of the participants had no idea who they were supporting! They compiled many of the responses of not only of the Mumia supporters at the rally, but also the rally speakers, who acknowledged the ignorance of the crowd. The station not only aired these tapes, but they had a website outlining the case for all to read.
   As a Philadelphian, and daughter of a former police lieutenant, I am outraged that this murderer, (who has never offered any other explainations about what happened that night), is still alive, and has garnered support from the many gulliable and ignorant celebrities, politicians, and college students out there! It must be really frustrating for Mrs. Faulkner to constantly have to defend her husband, and the facts against Mumia's supporters. If you want the truth, don't look to Mumia, Weinglass, Pacifico radio, Pam Africa, or Partisan, because they are LIARS!!!
   I highly recommend this book to both sides of this Mumia debacle, because I think it is not only an accurate account of the facts of Daniel Faulkner's murder, but also a loving tribute to the man who has been eclipsed by his murderer! Officer Daniel Faulkner and his family are not only the TRUE VICTIMS of this story, but are also the TRUE HEROES! If there are still any Mumia supporters after this book, I will be astonished!
   If you guys want a real hero to worship, look towards the courageous men and women of the police, fire, and military! They are the ones who fight for our rights! They even fight for the right to be a moron, which is a characterization that we Philadelphians give to the Mumia supporters!
   Jennifer Hoey

5 comments about Worth More Dead: And Other True Cases (Ann Rule's Crime Files, Vol. 10).

1. I am a big fan of Ann Rule. I buy every book she writes, just because her name is on it. And I've never been disappointed until now. I thought her main crime story, "Worth More Dead", was lacking in the usual excitement and juicy details she always weaves her stories with. Ms. Rule has seemed to stop writing at length about the police officers' lives, and that is a big plus. I've noticed it in her last few books. It seems like "Worth More Dead" is a long story that doesn't have enough oomph for the main case story. This might have been better off used as one of her other, shorter case files in this or another book. The other, briefer cases she writes of in this book are excellent. Good old Ann Rule tightness, page-turning excitement with incredible cases - hard to put down. Rule fans should not overlook this book.



2. Ann Rule is fabulous. This book is no different then her others, it captures you in the beggining and keeps you turning the pages amazed at what goes on in the world around you.



3. This is volume ten in the series of true crime cases. It contains five stories, the first and longest gave the title to this book. Ann Rule has written 23 books that were `NY Times' bestsellers. Rule lives near Seattle and her stories document crimes in that area. Rule has testified before the US Senate Judiciary Sub-committee and advised the US Justice Dept. on a program to track and trap serial killers.
   
   "Worth More Dead" refers to a series of cases that were linked by the involvement of one person. If someone with life insurance is killed they are "worth more dead" to someone. But insurance companies will investigate suspicious deaths. [Read "Double Indemnity" by James M. Cain.] Did Roland arrange the murder of a husband to please the wife? Did he arrange the murder of his wife for the insurance money? Did he plan to murder his daughter? Read how his careful plans miscarried and lead to his conviction. Can the conversation on a remote phone be overheard by a neighbor (p.191)? The development of DNA evidence led to a break in the unsolved murder of Roland's first wife.
   
   "It's Really Weird Looking at My Own Grave" tells of a serial rapist who killed his victims so they couldn't identify him. One quick thinking teenage girl escaped with her life. Detectives searched their files to find a possible match. They did, and the victims identified him.
   
   "Old Man's Darling" is a story about a young woman who sought an older rich married man after unsuccessful marriages. Beauty alone does not make up for an ugly personality. The older man's decision to end the affair angered the younger woman. She shot and killed the older man, and the police shot and killed her. A pocket tape recorder revealed the drama of their last conversation.
   
   "All for Nothing" is the story of Larry Sturholm, a TV reporter on humorous subjects. He wrote a book about "the last great train robbery" in Oregon. His charmed life ended with two murders and an attempted suicide. Larry's secret girlfriend had an insanely jealous former boyfriend. Was the killer legally insane at the time?
   
   "A Desperate Housewife" tells about a couple who were married for years with children. But a mismatch in personalities developed over a dozen years. After the wife decided to ask for a divorce she disappeared after leaving for work, her husband said. None of her personal belongings were gone. A police search of the house found signs of foul play. You know the rest of this story.



4. Ann Rule at her best is undoubtedly one of the outstanding true crime writers of her generation. This book, by comparison, verges on the tedious.
   
   The five stories are all written in her usual workmanlike style but somehow lack the spark of some of her earlier books. The cases she presents deal with the murderous conclusion of relationship breaddowns, and all reflect her deep empathy with victims and their families, but overall they lack those twists of circumstance, fate and analysis that we have come to expect from an Ann Rule book.
   
   The first and longest story, 'Worth More Dead', deals with a man who slips almost inexplicably from youthful Romeo to aging wife killer, always able to keep his distance from his crimes by manipulating others to carry out his dirty work. Rule herself says about him at the beginning 'I don't even know where to start explaining this killer'; and at the end of her story we have much the same problem.
   
   Of the remaining cases, one deals with the ability of two teenage girls to survive a murderous attack and the way police were able to use the information they provided to capture an otherwise fairly ordinary killer. The next story, 'Old Man's Darling' describes a gripping situation in which an attractive woman murders her sugar daddy, a man twice her age, when he tries to leave her, but as with most of the other stories leaves the reader feeling that the story needed fleshing out. 'All For Nothing', the story of an otherwise reputable man who viciously kills the woman he loves and her suspected lover, and the last, 'A Desperate Housewife', also address the themes of jealousy, possessiveness and revenge.
   
   As Rule notes, the trauma that can flow from relationship breakdowns, even where they do not end in murder, is common to many lives and for that reason if for no other this book has a grim appeal.



5. Although I am an Ann Rule fan and she is one of the top true crime writers, this book is not one of my favorites by this author. Perhaps it the mix of five stories covering events from 1923 through 1998 or the apparent lack of in-depth coverage of each case. Whatever the cause, the result is a conglomeration of disjointed partial stories that appeared to be used as "fillers" to create a single book. In my opinion this book is not worthy of Rule's talent.

No comments about Mom Said Kill (Pinnacle True Crime).

5 comments about The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. This book starts out like it is going to be interestin and then after the first chapter it starts getting really boring. It tells the same thing over and over. First he takes home the boy and then drugs him and then cuts up the body. That is all it says everytime, it doesn't go into detail. The ending is really boring i could barley finish it. He gets caught durin the middle of the book and the rest is just trial crap that is really not intersting.



2. If you know nothing about Jeffrey Dahmer and want to know which crimes he commited and how he did it, this is the book for you. But if you have read other books about him, don't bother.
   
   The facts presented in this book are accurate, but it's such a shame that you don't get to know who Jeffrey Dahmer really was, nothing new about why he did it, his psychology. Okay, maybe nobody knew who he really was, but the author could have at least tried to give us something new.
   
   Although I believe that Milwaukee is interesting doesn't mean that I want to know its complete history! It just went on and on! After a while you know more about Milwaukee and Bath than Jeffrey Dahmer ever did.
   
   I guess that books like this one are written because of the fascination for serial killers. Although nothing new is said, the author knows that people will buy his book. And that's a shame.



3. This book gives great detail into the life of Jeffrey Dahmer's life and the sick crimes that he committed. The thing I did not care for in the book is that it would go off on history of a town or an area and continue for the entire chapter and it left you feeling what does the towns history have to do with Jeffrey and his killings?



4. My review isn't going to be much different from the others.
   
   I have become quite fond of true crime books, and this was the second that I have read. I knew very little about Dahmer before reading this book, and I found much of it to be very interesting.
   
   Unfortunately, the author has prioritized quantity over quality. It seemed to be loaded with all of the bare bones of the crimes, but contains very little meat. It also seems he relied on geography and the history of the regions where Dahmer did his deeds as filler. Believe me, there's plenty of it. I could almost swear that entire paragraphs were duplicated throughout the book just to take up page space.
   
   I'm not a great author myself, which is why I haven't made an attempt at getting paid for it. The fact of the matter is that most of the book could have been written using tourist brochures and local newspaper coverage of the crimes as the only resources.



5. I finished reading this book in about a week and thought that it was not as bad as some of the reviews claim. The author does tend to ramble on at the begining of a few early chapters about the history of Milwaukee or Jeff's hometown, but it's not as bad as one might think. Buying this book along with 'Massacre in Milwaukee' is the best way to go, as both books contain detail that the other doesn't. And with the low price of both, you can't go wrong.