No comments about Surviving the Death Penalty.

5 comments about The Newhall Incident: America's Worst Uniformed Cop Massacre.

1. This was a very interesting book that looks at the deaths of four California Highway Patrol officers in 1970. The story is told in an engaging fashion that draws the reader in, in the style of The Onion Field. The background information is good, and paints a strong image. When describing the actual event and its aftermath, I was left wanting more detail. While I realize that it was not designed to be a true after-action report, I was still left wanting for some of the details. I would like to have seen a large section on the lessons learned from the event. All in all a good book, but there is more to be told.



2. "The Newhall Incident" interested me because the crime occurred in my hometown and I personally witnessed the police action in attempting to capture one of the perpetrators. But the book read too much like fiction in that the author constantly expressed thoughts and ideas on behalf of the people involved in the incident. Since those people lost their lives that day, we can never know what they were really thinking. The book would have been more valuable if the author had stuck to the facts. He also went way overboard on the use of profanity which made for difficult reading and detracted from his attempt to draw a psychological profile of the perpetrators.



3. I read this book while I was an explorer with the CHP. It has good background information and the stories of both sides of this conflict prior to the incident. It seems that it focuses more on the criminals, and what drove them to do it, but it lacks many of the officer safety innovations that the CHP developed after this incident. Everything from basic PMA to felony stops were revised because of this. While I was at the explorer academy, they stressed this incident to us over and over, and why we needed to be alert, in shape, and knowledgeable in out tactics as an individual, and as a team. Now I know why, after reading about the darkest day in the history of the California Highway Patrol. But the book is lacking, and could have been a bit better. A CHP PT instructor could probably give you an as good or better account of what happened.



4. Excellent service and turnaround time! Would definitely deal with this seller again!



5. I was looking for a factual acount of the Newhall Incident. The author's attempt at clairvoyance was of no interest to me. A more prophylactic discussion of the aftermath of the shootings, and the measures instituted by the CHP to prevent this type of tragedy from ever happening again would have been far more interesting. The book borders on more fiction than fact. From my standpoint the book was disapointing.

5 comments about True Crime.

1. Frank Beachum, a former small time troublemaker, now peaceful family man, is convicted of murder and sentenced to die. Despite always protesting his innocence and waiting through 6 years of appeals, he is now on death row, due to recieve the lethal injection within hours. A reporter who was due to interview Beachum for the last time, is killed in a car accident, forcing the newspaper to send Steven Everett in her place. Everett, a hopeless womaniser whose marriage is about to fall apart, is caught with his editors' wife and knows that this is his final chance to keep his job. Some facts about the case don't seem right to him so, in an almost last minute effort, he solves the puzzles. This was made into a movie with Clint Eastwood and, although I haven't seen it, can well imagine that the crazy, last minute solution must have been very exciting. The final procedures which accompany an execution are chilling enough to freeze the blood in your veins!



2. *NO SPOILERS*
   
   This was the first book in a long time in which I wanted desperately to jump ahead to read the last few pages to see what happens. As it was, I whipped through the last twenty or thirty pages, skimming and skipping details to get to the end (as soon as I finished, I did go back and re-read more carefully to fill in details).
   
   Interestingly, I didn't at all like the main character - he was obnoxious - a definite anti-hero. I did feel deeply for the condemned man and his family - having to leave his daughter behind hit home strongly; I wondered what I would say to my daughter in similar circumstances.
   
   On the down side (and in retrospect), a couple of the sub-plots, while great in revealing character, didn't really need to be there, but, of course, they did help immensely develop the tension and roller-coaster ride.
   
   Overall, one of the best reads for me in a long time. The suspense kept me turning the pages.



3. This is a very intense read. One of the best suspense novels I have ever read. The book, like in most cases, is better than the movie. *** Recommended reading- "Body Of Evidence" by Patricia D Cornwell. ***



4. Why isn't Andrew Klavan better known? He's written a large number of superb crime novels, many of which have put me on the edge of my seat. TRUE CRIME is no exception. This is a truly first-rate suspense novel.
   
   The story is simple: a man seats on death row, with only 18 hours before his execution. But Steve Everett, a newspaper reporter, finds reason to believe the man is innocent, and races against the clock to find evidence that will support a last-minute reprieve from the governor.
   
   Klavan does a superb job of describing the death-watch scenes, which I felt were both chillingly realistic and emotionally compelling. All the characters are superbly drawn, and none of them are straight heroes or villains. The reporter character, for example, is not a very nice guy. But that doesn't stop him from trying to do the right thing.
   
   I plowed through TRUE CRIME in one sitting, and the last 200 pages just flew by. This novel is extremely tense, but it's a real blast to read. I enjoyed it enormously. I know Klavan is taking a break from novels to write for movies; I hope he returns to book-writing in the near future. I want more novels like this.
   
   Highly recommended.



5. I read a lot of crime fiction, and frankly most of it is unremarkable. The few five star novels I read stand out in a sea of mediocrity. It usually doesn't take long (sometimes within a few pages) to know that a novel isn't like all the others; that it's exceptional. Such is the case with True Crime, the most flat out entertaining novel I've read in a while.
   
   This high praise is not because of the novel's groundbreaking plot (the race to save a man on death row has been done before and the race against the clock conclusion is admittedly contrived and melodramatic). No, what sets this novel apart is the writing.
   
   Klavan has created a cast of characters who are vividly compelling, flawed human beings. His dialogue is sharp, insightful, and convincingly authentic. His observations about human nature are remarkably perceptive. He gets inside his character's heads in a way that few authors of crime fiction ever try to. Klavan puts you on death row, with all its rituals, and makes you feel the same heartbreaking desperation that Frank Beachum feels in the hours before he has been condemned to die.
   
   If I'm giving you the impression that this is a slow paced character study, with a depressing story line to boot, this couldn't be more wrong. This is as pure an adrenaline rush as you are likely to find in a novel. True Crime is pure entertainment. The suspense is relentless and the narrative, from the perspective of a reporter assigned to the execution on short notice, is cynical and darkly funny. The reporter, Steve Everett, is an unconventional leading man, an absolute (and there's no other word for it) sh**heel. He's also one of the most entertaining characters I've come across in a long time (right up there with Clete Purcel from the Dave Robicheaux novels).
   
   True Crime could have been another run-of-the-mill thriller, but it isn't. Yes, it's thrilling, but more than that, it's perceptive, and thoughtful, and at times quite moving.
   
   PS: I added a comment to discuss the ending that is a ***SPOILER***. Don't read the comments if you haven't read the novel.

1 comments about A Question of Innocence.

1. This book should have never had to be written. Luckily, Brandilyn Collins does a fine job of reporting the facts and making it into an easy to read form. Mallory Moore was only four years old when her half sister found her dead in her bed. All the evidence says Serena (a known compulsive liar) DOES love her sister, yet four months after her death, the evidence also says Serena smothered her little sister.

   In her own words--in her diary--Serena admits to killing her sister. Serena's mother, Sharri, turns the diary over to authorities when Serena leaves the home, hoping to find her daughter (she figures they will take her seriously, as she does, Serena needs to be found and needs help NOW). Knowing the police personally know Serena's past history of false police reports and fantastical lies, she never believed for a moment she might have incriminated her own daughter. She honestly believed they would see it as she did: another lie coming from Serena in the midst of her mourning her sister.

   Now wait a minute. I know what you are thinking. I was, too. Maybe she did do it. I mean, Mallory died from asphixiation. Serena wrote that she did smother Mallory. Serena is not exactly a "good" girl. She leaves the house when she is forbidden, she says horrible things to her mother and step-father. She tells people she has leukemia or that Mallory is really her daughter... the list goes on and on.

   As I mention, the police do take the confession seriously, but that's where it stops. They ignore her OTHER diary, in which she writes what happened the day she found her sister. They ignore what the doctors say about Mallory in the autopsies (if there's no homicide... you get the picture). They ignore the fact that she lies about serious things daily.

   Still, I admit that I still sometimes wondered if maybe she really did do it. In the end, though, the prosecutor secures the state's main witness and it is HE who helps me decide that Serena is indeed innocent and is being held captive to save face.

   Is that all there is? No, Serena's defense is a circus act of idiots playing a role for TV cameras. You just have to read the book to believe it.

   I wish the book moved at a bit faster pace, was a tad more exciting, but it does its job and tells a tragically fascinating tale that could happen to anyone's family.

1 comments about Ability to Kill.

1. I have liked all the Ambler books I have read, but this one seems rather, er, miscellaneous. It's not BAD, just not up to his usual standard.

5 comments about Reckless: Millionaire Record Producer Phil Spector and the Violent Death of Lana Clarkson (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. Instead, Mr. Smith delivers a one-sided slam against Phil Spector who according to the author hasn't done one nice thing during his whole life. It's amazing that St. Martin's Press would publish such a biased book while a court case is going on.



2. In Reckless, the author masquerades as a true crime story. Writer Carlton Smith, becomes a chronic fabricator who writes with oblivious abandon and apathy about the feelings and good names of others. In Reckless he makes Kitty Kelly seem like Mother Teresa. His book has attempted to sully the reputation and good name of the murdered actress Lana Clarkson. Reckless does this by regurgitating a rumor about her in an article written by Robert Anson in Vanity Fair, knowing that there was no substance whatsoever to this rumor, and then lying about the source. He didn't have to do what he did to make his book sellable. But he went for the sleaze factor about Lana possibly being a call girl after promising Edward Lozzi,her former publicist and long time friend,and a person he interviewed for this book, that he would not. This book is dangerous and shoddy tabloid journalism. Smith's book is a valentine to accused murderer Phil Spector and his former lawyer Leslie Abramson.Cartlon Smith jumped at the chance to sully the reputation of Lana Clarkson to sell this book. His non-sourced, post deceased, reputation ruining heresay, shows through and makes for a terrible read. Beside this book trashing the victim Lana Clarkson, it also reads as though Phil Spector edited this book himself.



3. I learned a lot about the early music publishing years. The book is mostly about Phil Spector's life, from early years to adulthood. I really enjoyed this book because it was a look into a world I hadn't know too much about beforehand. Recommended !



4. Phil Spector may not be one of the nicest men around the music industry but regardless he is a musical genius in the production sense. The music industry as the film and television industry is filled morons. Spector was producing at only 18 years old. His first hit was with the Teddy Bears entitled To Know Him is To Love Him which is the epithat on his father's grave. I was surprised to learn other interesting facts about Spector's life. Of course, he can be cruel to his girlfriends but he's in a business where women will do anything to get to the top. Spector might be a musical genius but his ego needs to be deflated as well. His behavior might be explained by his own bipolar personality disorder which he readily admits to having. The book is short on the last few months of the trial and omitting the wonderful Linda Kinny Baden who was his defense attorney, confidante, friend, and wife of Dr. Michael Baden. There was a lot more to this case that gets omitted. There are typical grammatical errors such as misspelling Gary, one of his sons. Of course, the Spector's background and history is quite interesting if you never read a book about him. Spector was one of the giants of the music industry. His devotion and obsession with the Motown sound and developing the wall of sound has made him a legend but sadly, he has become reclusive, private, and almost sad at times. When you get to the top, it gets lonely. He was devoted father to his twins, one of whom died around CHristmas day. Regardless of his Jewish upbringing, the loss of CHristmas especially a child from illness is devastating. Also, the book fails to mention key players like Sara Caplan and Phil's new wife, Rachel, who is no trophy wife or dumb blonde. She takes him as he is and has been at trial every day during those long months. I have to say that the book also has interesting background history on the victim, Lana Clarkson. Sadly, Lana never became as famous as she should. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, she had to settle for $9.00 per hour job as a hostess at the House of Blues owned by Dan Ackroyd. Of course, she deserved more. She was funny, beautiful, and brilliant. The videotape shown at the trial is a brilliant example of what was lost. Of course, the business can be cruel and detrimental to anybody's health. Just look at Phil for example. I was interested to know about her friendship with Oscar Nominee Sally Kirkland who was a mentor and good friend who defended her. I don't believe that her death was intentional but probably a terrible accident. Who knows what happened is Phil and Lana? Sadly, the trial ended in a hung jury which is worse than a conviction because the trial has to happen all over again. Lana may not have been suicidal and the gun might have gone off as an accident. I don't believe it was anything but an American tragedy as Carol COnnors who was a member of the teddy bears and sang "To know him is to love him" on his premiere album. I wished they kissed and make up.



5. Reckless is NOT a true crime book. It's a biography of Phil Spector - and not a very inspired one. There is no indication that Carlton Smith spoke to anyone involved with this case, and it's not an ancient case with all the key players dead.
   
   If you like student research papers where the author simply looks at the other books and articles written about something and then checks in with personal observations, then that's what you get here. An overview of the literature. Some unqualified personal observations. And, he says the same thing over and over and over again.
   
   Very boring. And it could have been a great story.

5 comments about Blood Stain.

1. Barb & Ken Knight's baby girl Kathy grew up to be a gramma and one mean piece of work. Having honed the art of killing, knifing, slicing, and dicing to a fine art prior to the closing of the abattoir in Aberdeen, Australia, she turned her vocational training to the man she thought done her wrong - making a meal of which Hannibal Lector himself would have been happy to partake. The scariest part is that Kathy's real.
   
   Peter Lalor, local journalist, has done a fine work of writing about the lives and times of the Knights, the crimes, the victims, and the Aussie Law and Order folk. Of Kathy's piece de resistance, he aptly sums: "it was a crime that would have appalled Edgar Allan Poe and humbled the imaginings of Stephen King."
   
   As should be with all books in the True Crime genre, there are orientating photos in the center. For the non-local reader, a map of New South Wales would have been welcome, as would a glossary in the back: tip = dump? Chooks = chickens? And what to make of this sentence: "Bob Price has an esky in a car in the carpark and is topping up constantly." Nonetheless, an excellent account of a terrible true tale. /TundraVision, Amazon US reviewer.



2. This book was really hard to put down. If you love true crime, then this is the book for you! It's so rare to read about a female serial killer. This book did both Katherine Knight and her victims justice. It's hard to believe that Lalor was able to take all the police reports and interviews and turn them into a very readable book, but he did. And did it exceptionally well!



3. A spine tingling true crime story. This is a book you will not forget. It is a sad, but true account of womans grizzly revenge on her lover. Very well written. Beautiful color photos in the book.



4. Peter Lalor tells a compelling story of mental illness, domestic violence, family dysfunction, and a murder so gruesome the lead detective developed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder following a walk-through of the crime scene. With descriptions that paint a disturbing picture, and extensive research about the murderess and her family, this story is unforgettable. Following is an introduction to the author and his unique style. Lalor writes:
   
   "Something hangs in the archway between the kitchen and the living room, contorted and shapeless. Some sort of drape. It's the first thing you notice. It takes a moment, then you realize. It's him. John Price. At least it's his skin hanging like a wetsuit on a nail. A man melted like a Dali clock. A human curtain. The face is a sick rubber mask without a skull to give it shape. The eye holes vacant under an exaggerated eyebrow arch.... The rest is slashed and punctured, hanging in porcine strips right down to his flanged feet. A patch of pubic hair offers some orientation."
   
   With a long history of mental illness, sexual abuse, and family dysfunction extending back several generations, Katherine Knight, at the age of 20, left her newborn on the railroad tracks and held a mother and her children hostage in a service station... brandishing one of her prized abbatoir knives. The following morning, when the terrified mother visited the police station to file charges against Knight, she was told it was pointless. Similarly, following other rages and psychiatric hospitalizations, Knight was often discharged within days, hospital administrators stating there was really very little they could do.
   
   I am not familiar with Australian law or the mental health assistance available there; however, Knight was clearly disturbed and a danger to herself and others. I cannot accept that in 1976, the year of her first serious run-in with the law, Knight could not have been charged with a felony and disciplined accordingly. The mental health system also shirked responsibility and failed miserably. Despite numerous suicide attempts and violence toward others, Katherine Knight was regarded with a mixture of pity and fear, but offered no significant help of any kind.
   
   With few consequences for her outrageous behavior, and deteriorating under the strain of untreated mental illness for another 25 years, Katherine Knight finally did what she had threatened to do to so many others. She murdered her male partner. Fueled by fantasy and revenge, she then skinned him with a skillful hand, later severing his head and boiling it in a pot with vegetables.
   
   Dinner is served.
   
   Alternately horrifying and gruesome, BLOOD STAIN is a gripping account of a woman gone mad. The author writes like no one else and weaves together the details of a tragic and terrifying descent into the dark corners of human desire and emotional instability. Highly recommended, True Crime fans will cheer!



5. 20 pages of story and 284 pages of filler. Save your money and pass on this one.

1 comments about Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre, Case Files, vol. III (Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre, Case Files).

1. What?! You haven't read WOLFF AND BYRD yet? You've got to be kidding! Don't you realize that this is one of the formost funny books of the age? Okay, let me tell you, it's funny, it's punny, it's clever and the art is entertaining. And it's soon to be a summer blockbuster movie from Universal Pictures! How completely cool is that?

   So, of course you want to get in onthe ground floor, be the first on your block to be captivated by Alanna Wolff , Jeff Byrd, their secretary Mavis and the ebb and flow (sometimes literally) of their bizarre clients.

No comments about Double Jeopardy: Obsession, Murder, and Justice Denied.

2 comments about Bad Guys.

1. It is a wonderful book! The words from the criminals is what we call "Right from the horse's mouth! Their words make your skin crawl!" A must read for crime story fans.



2. I realize that this collection of interviews wasn't designed as a whole that transcends the sum of its parts; however, more guidance of any kind was needed here. I'm not asking for a beautiful puzzle whose pieces fit together perfectly, but don't just give me a pile of pieces dumped on the floor carelessly. There was no flow to Bad Guys, and even the chapters don't do much to sort things out- everything is sort of clumped together under the heading of "CRIME," which is too huge a theme not to be subdivided. Creatively, very little was required of this author, and he could have spiced up what little original writing he actually added to this compilation.

   Some of the tales are interesting, but the book plays like a series of quotes instead of a tapestry that tells something (incidentally, many of the quotes are quite funny or insightful). It was hard to sort out who was saying what, with almost no details provided about the speakers, who blended in seamlessly in absence of distinguishing characteristics. Not to mention that most of these career criminals had no shortage of offenses to talk about, to the point where there was no use in parsing out their stories into chapters organized by crime. As a result, you gain no more insight into the psychological profile of the murderer than you do of the card sharks.

   It is galling how the (criminal) narrators feel they are resigned to their fates, and powerless to stop their lives of crime. Most often than not, it was boredom that drove them to their crimes. There is not a lot of enablement here, which is nice, but nor is there any penitence. There is a lot of self-righteousness on the part of the criminals, many of whom immersed themselves in their seedy worlds because it was easier than securing a lower-paying real job. Many spoiled rich kids got involved in crime to fuel drug habits, and because they weren't used to having to work for things. Many criminals felt that rich folks had it coming when they got robbed- as if possessing money through hard work were more of a crime than beating people to acquire financial gain. Many felt that society in general deserved to get plundered because the system was so vulnerable, and made it so easy for them to get away with their despicable acts.

   In general, the only sorrow expressed was precisely due to the fact that these guys and gals got caught and are being interviewed from prison- instead of due to any moral clarity- and it is quite maddening to read.