3 comments about Poison Mind: The True Story of the Mensa Murderer-And the Policewoman Who Risked Her Life to Bring Him to Justice.

1. It was one of the best true crime books that I have ever read.



2. I could not put this book down; an unbelievable true crime tale that boggles the mind. to imagine a person would kill another person (by poison), because of something as petty as the music being too loud-it is absolutely frightening. It is to the detectives' credit who investigated this case that they were open enough in their investigation to go beyond the family members and look at other suspects, ultimately discovering the neighbor next door as the probable culprit. Susan Goreck was extremely courageous going undercover and she also reveals her humanity as she had feelings on various levels while trying to get this man to give his secrets to her; if they had not found the thallium in his old house, they would never have been able to prosecute him successfully.



3. The book unintentionally focuses more on the feelings of inadequacy abounding in the Polk County police department, leaving one to wonder whether the real issue wasn't so much that George Trepal was so clever but that the rest of the community so uncompromisingly dull. Much is made of the fact that George Trepal liked programming computers and was interested in science, as if these alone are sufficient to identify a murderer. We never really get to know him, and unfortunately, the more we do get to know the victims, the less sympathetic they become-- the opposite of most true crime books! There is good, solid sleuthing, but it is spoiled by the authors' eagerness in grasping at anything not straight-up down-home whitebread must be evidence of a murderous mind. A light summer read, and makes you wish for a better book about the case.

5 comments about Kids Who Kill.

1. I liked the stories because they were short and to the point, though some a bit depressing. But that's to be expected reading a true crime book about juveniles. Some I would have liked to know more about the outcome of the cases, but it was still a good book. I would recommend it to anyone that reads true crime books.



2. Fascinating look at the psychology of children and teenagers who kill.



3. This is a great little chilling book you cannot put down that, I categorize under "escapism" reading. I got my hands on it years ago, and I read some of the reviews where some complained that it was outdated. Well, it has to be somewhat outdated, because it takes time to do research on all these cases.
   I particularly like the way Dr. Ewing breaks down the categories of the killings that these children/teenagers commit:
   
   Family Killings
   Theft-Related Killings
   Sexual Killings
   Crazy Killings
   
   Just read the table of contents. Outdated or not, I do not believe motive or actions change much throughout the years. It is angering that some killings are purely senseless and stupid acts. Others are a result of neglect and years of sexual abuse, or physical torture, however they still have to pay the price. I recommend this book to anyone that has a troubled teenager or knows of anyone that has one, or is simply just interested in the subject matter.



4. This book spent volumes on statistics, and the stories of the children who kill were, in some cases, less detailed then the newspaper articles would have been. I wasn't looking for gore, and horror, but by the time I was finished with the book I didn;t understand what would drive a child to kill any better than I would have reading a psycology text book, or my local newspaper. I was very dissapointed.



5. My cousin frist recomended this book to me. The case studies intrested me greatly. The one disappointment with this book was that it mainly focused on child crimes in the U.S and not in other countries. A great book for anyone going into Crimnology.

No comments about Badge #1: True Stories from a Boston Cop.

4 comments about Bad Girls Do It! an Encyclopedia of Female Murderers.

1. This collection of macabre women is certainly a welcome addition to the vast sea of books on [primarily male] serial killers. Still, it's rather encyclopedic in nature, and if you read it straight through (as I did) you're likely to be overwhelmed, nauseated, and left wanting more. Newton covers a lot of ground, but I wish he would've been more in-depth on some cases. All in all, though, it's a striking book and well worth the cost. Plus the cover is snazzy and will upset your mother.



2. As one of only a few females i know who are interested in the serial killer, i found this book hard to quit reading, i was enthralled in many cases, only to find myself wanting to read a book several hundred pages long on the murderess. Some cases left me feeling like he was fluffing up his book. However, some other entries left me cringing and in awe. I have wondered where all the female murderers were kept.... Michael Newton unlocked that door for me can't wait to read Hunting Humans



3. Learn about Elizabeth Bathory, Carpathian countess who bathed in blood to stay young! Or about Mary Bell, 11 year old murderess! Read the unbelievable exploits of Martha Beck, who went from washing corpses to making them! If you're at all interested in this kind of stuff (my cotton candy) then this is surely the book for you. Very thorough and entertaining.



4. The cover art on this book is deceiving: a brightly colored cartoon panel of a 1950s-looking heavily made-up woman smoking. There is nothing cartoonish, sleazy, or sordid about this book. This is a serious, thorough reference work devoted to female mulitple murderers [mass and serial]. It deserves to be called encyclopedic; it contains case descriptions of all the major female serial killers [and more than a few minor ones] and a wide spectrum of female mass killers, known and unknown.
   
   Each woman's case is described decently--these aren't capsule descriptions [though some of them are quite short]. The writing is matter-of-fact and there are no illustrations in the text. Recently, I came across a reference to Martha Woods, one of the first women prosecuted for Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy in the US. Her case is obscure but I found an entry for her in this book. It is that kind of reference work.

5 comments about Washed in the Blood.

1. This book tells a story from the author's first-hand vantage point. It does not condemn the killer nor whitewash the victim. It reaches for a personal testimony that reflects on the events, the place, and the times that he experienced in the 1960s. That the story is incomplete and that the mystery surrounding the Kiss and Kill Murder is still unfathomable make the retelling all the more compelling. The current meaning of the victim's death is much more important than any debate about the events of 1962. Washed in the Blood shows how the girl's story inspires and cautions students to this very day. Betty Williams' life and her death, therefore, had meaning. I had to tell that story.
   Shelton Williams



2. I was hugely disappointed in this read. It was mostly a memoir, which is okay, it just shouldn't be advertised as a true crime story. There was a lot of useless information, espcially the chapter at the end by Ken Brodnax (who repeated himself too much for my taste). I wanted to know *more* about who Betty was and who Mack was. How they got to that point. Everything that happened between them was mostly speculation. I was hoping the trials would be a fascinating read, and that was a huge let down. I wouldn't recommend this book and I won't read it again.
   (BTW, I grew up in Odessa).



3. Shelly gets it right. I was Betty's best friend at Odessa High School in 1961--the one she planned to room with at Indiana University. Shelly captures her vivacious, funny, manipulative and melodramatic personality. Yes, Betty slept around. She traded sex for attention and the brief illusion that guys cared about her. And if she had lived, she would have been a flower child in the 60's, run off to Haight-Ashbury with Bob Dylan or taken off her clothes in "Hair" on Broadway, and we'd be bragging about "knowing her when"!
   
   There WAS a booster club around Mack--his "supporters", who turned Mack into their personal misunderstod celebrity. Shelly did a fine job presenting the enigma that was Mack Herring. To this day no one knows WHY Mack did it.
   
   My relationship with Enid Woodward was different from Betty's. Ms. Woodward was wonderful to me--one of the few encouraging, positive people after the murder. She gave me hope. Shelly didn't get it wrong for Betty, but in my opinion, she was also victim who was caught up in the whirlwind.
   
   Those of us who lived through this experience were never the same after. For a little while Shelly brought the Betty I knew back to life. The book captured those days in chilling detail and confirmed my experiences and conclusions about the murder. Thanks Shelly, for doing such a great job. Sorry you've taken so much heat for speaking out, but for what it's worth, I appreciate it. You got it right.
   Gayle Guffey Ross



4. This is a touching book. It's crafted, without the flash and dash of a tv-movie-of-the-week-novelization. You will remember this one. It conveys real human feelings, and the passage of time. How hard it must have been back then; what a shocking crime! It's wonderful that this book was written.



5. Sir Shelton Williams is a well-rounded expert in the fields of international relations, world politics and even nuclear proliferation, yet in "Washed in the Blood" he is a more of an honest teller of a first-hand, real story than anything else he is today. "Washed in the Blood" is a memoir of the renowned Odessa 'kiss and kill' incident where Sir Williams breaks the norms of hide-the-truth and make-it-sound-better life stories. He opens his heart so wide to tell us about his early life and his father Kink, his cousin Betty, and all of the social, cultural, religious, and political aspects of that era.
   When first I purchased the novel, I started reading through the pages, ummm, to tell the truth, I personally did not like it; however, after some time, in a boring day, I took the novel again and went on reading, and reading and reading. Truly, at the end I realized that I was missing a lot.
   In my view, it is not a simple novel. It is very complex. While reading, you can feel that Sir Shelton, with an immensely grand fist-person-narrator, novelistic style, takes his memories beyond the personal to sheer complexities of politics, history, and culture. Read between the lines!
   --Mohsine Bensaid

No comments about Missing Beauty: A True Story of Murder and Obsession.

1 comments about Compulsion to Kill (True Crime).

1. this is a oversize true crime book with good pictures. It covers Jeffrey Dahmer, Bianchi & Buono, & many other violent killers. It is worth the money. full of information.

1 comments about A Cry In The Wilderness: The Raw Confessions of Texas Seven's Joseph Garcia.

1. A Cry In The Wilderness is not, and was not meant to be a graphic crime scene account of the Texas Seven, but is more of a biographical account of the life of one man that was doomed to failure from the start. In his direct and conversational manner, Joseph will take you through his life, introducing you to the friends and family that molded him from his youngest years, until the time of his incarceration in the Connally Unit of TX. While a history of abuse is never an excuse for the commission of crime, it does demonstrate how some culpability should be borne by those who commit this abuse on children and leaves one to wonder what if things had been different. A great read for those interested in criminal psychology, child psychology, or non-sensational accounts of human behavior.

No comments about Jack el destripador y otros asesinos en serie.

No comments about Murder in the Heart of Dixie: A Collection of Capital Murder Cases.