5 comments about The Girl with the Crooked Nose: A Tale of Murder, Obsession, and Forensic Artistry.

1. this story is up there with Kathy Reichs novels for forensic suspense but even better it's a true story. The information about Frank Bender's life & how he self-taught himself is incredible, his concentration & sixth sense is very remarkable. I have personnally known Frank (and Jan, his wife) for over thirty years & can truly tell you that every word is true!! These two people have an amazing bond that has stood the test of time & personnel trials for thirty or more years. May I suggest that you feature this book for your readers who are interested in anthropology and/or forensic stories. It's a terrific read & again all true.



2. 
   Ted Botha's book -- "The Girl With the Crooked Nose" -- is a thrilling account of the remarkable real-life adventures -- and remarkable life -- of forensic artist Frank Bender. The publication of this work fills a void that, for a long time, had been waiting to be filled.
   
   The book succeeds on several levels. First, there is the "frame story," which concerns the mysterious disappearance and murder of hundreds of women in and around Juarez, Mexico. Bender is called in on the case and encounters a language which, after a while, becomes far more difficult for him to understand than Spanish: something mysterious, deceptive, altogether unnerving -- and dangerous. Ultimately the symbol of this convoluted and heartbreaking exploit is the Girl With the Cooked Nose, whose skull -- like those of the other murdered girls -- needs a face and a name.
   
   On another level the book is about Frank Bender himself; and in moving back and forth between the present-day Juarez story and his biography, the fascination does not let up. This subject is in itself a valuable account on its own: his first exposure to forensics (a word he did not even know), his first (and incredibly successful) attempt to bring face to a skull and each elaborately different case thereafter, always working (like Sherlock Holmes) as a uncannily gifted "amateur" or bohemian "outsider"; the development of his approaches and all the interesting professional connections he makes as well as the macabre, touching scenarios that develop -- all these elements form an engaging catalog of one person's personal quest. To Botha's credit, the writer never depicts gore gratuitously but only as need to understand a case or the emotional reaction to a discovery.
   
   In addition, students of forensic science will relish this book not only for the subject matter itself, of course, but for the insights into Bender's actual technique and his thought process -- his early uncertainties, his triumphs, his nightmares and his relationship with the nameless victim whose identity he must help uncover.
   
   All in all, this is a fascinating and important work, not only because it deals with the tragic Juarez murders and with forensics but because it gives insight into the singular personality of Frank Bender. Not an easy person to profile, he is genuinely worth this kind of detailed treament.
   
   



3. I knew I had to read this book as soon as I saw it advertised. I've had the pleasure of meeting Frank Bender and the opportunity to see him work.
   
   Bender is a self-taught forensic artist whose work has helped identify murder victims and apprehend numerous fugitives. He sacrificed a career in commercial photography to work with law enforcement agencies around the world, a choice that has often put him in danger, jeopardized his marriage and brought him near bankruptcy at one point.
   
   Though Bender and his work have had publicity over the years, Botha does a good job of introducing him and his fascinating technique to a wider audience. In chapters fluctuating back and forth in time he intersperses Bender's history with details of the perplexing unsolved case in which some 400 young women were murdered in Mexico.
   
   Along the way, the author provides information on the development of facial reconstruction techniques, detailing both the American system pioneered by Wilton Krogman and the European perfected by Mikhail Gerasimov.
   
   Another intriguing aspect of the book is how Bender, along with William Fleischer, a customs agent and polygraph expert, and Richard Walter, a criminal profiler, founded the Vidocq Society. Named for the founder of the French Surete, the organization of amateurs and professionals focuses on unsolved deaths and disappearances.



4. I bought this book because I like true crime stories; "In Cold Blood", "The Executioners Song", "The Innocent Man" etc. But this book opens with a speculative account of a murder victims last hours which left me thinking "How does the author know this". And early on in the book there is a significant factual error; a man is mentioned who has spoken with numerous serial killers, this book states that this man was the last to speak with John Wayne Gacy "before he went to the electric chair". Wait a minute, Gacy was executed by lethal injection. Not that I'm a groupie of serial killers but I remember this one because his execution was botched; the tubes inserted into Gacys arms had to be replaced and the execution tried a second time before succceeding. I verified this on-line. I feel little pity for Gacy but wow I wouldn't want to resolve myself emotionally to dying then have to do it a second time.
   
   Anyway, what other facts are mis-stated in this book?



5. THE GIRL WITH THE CROOKED NOSE: A Tale of Murder, Obsession, and Forensic Artistry tells the true story of forensic sculptor Frank Bender's harrowing exploits south of the border as he works to put faces on five of the skulls of the feminicidios, nearly 400 young women who were murdered around Juarez in the early 1990s. Frank's ability to reconstruct faces and give them personalities is legendary in law enforcement, but in addition to being an investigative superstar, Frank is a real character. At times the outrageous details of his personal life threaten to overshadow his brilliant sleuthing. Trust me--he's one of a kind. (He identifies himself on his voice-mail message as the "recomposer of the decomposed.") Read the book and you'll see what I mean.

5 comments about Scene of the Crime: Photographs from the LAPD Archive.

1. Just a note on other reviews in regard to the lack of captions. The LAPD negatives are not kept with the case files. There are very few case files even available, as they have been destroyed due to lack of space. There is a normal descruction process within the LAPD for paper files. The cases researched in this book were taken from old homicide log books. Also newspaper databases were used. If you would like more details on the LAPD Archive please visit fototeka.com



2. Scene of the Crime was a bit disapointing due to the fact that the readr must go back and forth from the photos, to the captions, which are compiled at the end. Quite a few of the cases have no information available at all, as the other reviewers have mentioned, and although the LAPD has done a great job maintaining paper on most of these cases, some details are bound to slip through the cracks.
   
   A few of the cases depicted in "Scene of the Crime" are also depicted in Huddleston's "Death Scenes", though nowhere near as graphic. Many of the locations found in the book are still standing, as a matter of fact, I often pass by the building shown on pgs 52-53 (traffic collision at 1st and Boyle) though now its an apartment building but still featuring the unique parapet up top.
   
   Overall a pretty good read.



3. I am sure everyone is aware that Scene of the Crime is not the first collection of police archive photos to be released. The past few years have seen the release of many collections of such photos; the most well known being New York Noir, Evidence and Death Scenes. New York Noir and Death Scenes have a common thread in their use of well-known writers in their introductions. Luc Sante the noted New York historian collected the photographs for Evidence and penned the introduction for New York Noir. Katherine Dunne, the author of Geek Love is responsible for the intro to Death Scenes. Scene of the Crime follows that tradition; drafting the modern master of Los Angeles noir, James Ellroy, to pen the introduction to this collection of archival Los Angeles crime photos. Much as Luc Sante was the ideal choice for New York Noir, Ellroy is perfect for this collection of photographs from the city that has been his muse.
   
   Some may be inclined to compare collected archival crime scene and police photos to the work of Weegee, but to do so would be a mistake. In his time Weegee photographed to satisfy tabloid papers and their readers. Don't get me wrong, I love the photographs he took, but the police photographer is not in it for the same thing. The crime scene photographer is there for documentation. It's his job, no different than taking portrait shots of unruly and unkempt children in a corner alcove at the local mall. However, there is art to be found in crime scene photos, it is not just point and shoot. The angles, the shadows, the composition of the photos, why some have the faces of the victims shown and why some do not, these are all aspects of the art behind the documentation of the crime scene.
   
   After the introductions and essays the photograph collection is shown with no documentation other than the notes of the photographer written on the image. This technique forces the viewer to look at the photos and imagine the stories behind them. How and why did all the subjects living and dead end up facing the lens of the Los Angeles Police Photographer? The two suited men shot over dinner. The man shot dead in an open doorway. An empty room with an open door. Bloodstains on the floor. Cheesecake photos pushpinned to a panel wall. Cigarrette cartons and bottles strewn across a wood floor. Heads resting in puddles of blood. Knife and razor cuts. Bodies laying in doorways, on steps, in cars, on streets, face down, on their backs, partially dressed, fully suited, naked and cut into pieces. Bodies lying in tubs, lying in shallow graves, shot, beaten. Dead and beaten women who would be beautiful if it were not for the blood that has run from their mouths, noses, and ears. Sharp dressed men, with their suits covered in their own blood. Ah, the good old days...
   
   After the collection an index tells as much of the story behind each picture as possible. It is interesting to look at the index and see how close your imagination was to the reality. How close were you to deciphering the scenes? Did you nail the stories behind the SLA note, the suicides, the lovelorn, the rejected, the beaten, the famous, the unknown, the riots, the drunks, the mobsters, the stars, the starlets, the starry eyed, or the Manson family?
   
   At first I did not appreciate the layout of the book, photos with no captions. Without the background you are forced to study the scene more intently than you would if all the details were given to you. What happened? What time did the crime take place? Why did the crime take place? Who would commit such a crime? Who's body are you looking at? In effect, you become a detective, arriving at the scene of a crime, knowing absolutely nothing other than what you are staring at. In the end, this is a perfect layout for a collection of crime scene photographs. A book that becomes more revealing and more interesting every time it is opened.



4. Scene of the Crime is the latest in a recent influx of collections of crime scene photography, and it has added appeal in that some of the images are of famous cases, such as the Black Dahlia murder and the Manson Family slaughterhouse. The book is laid out in the same manner as most of these books, with black and white images presented in the first half of the book, and information for each photograph at the back. Unfortunately, many of the photographs piqued my curiosity, only to find a sad, unsatisfying, "case information unavailable" comment awaiting me in the back of the book. Still, many of the images are so well-composed and interesting that they could be seen in art museums rather than cold case files, so this is a minor quibble.
   
   However, there are also quite a few lesser and uninteresting images as well, which left me feeling a bit cheated given my suspicion that the LAPD coffers are overflowing with many more graphic, historic, and fascinating images. Comparing this book to the classic LA crime gallery Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook serves to further point out this collection's shortcomings. There is nothing in here as punch-in-the-gut brutal as the image of the decapitated baby on the cutting board or as surreal as the peaceful head sitting in the middle of a road after a traffic accident, both from Death Scenes. Taken on its own merits, I might have given the book a five skull rating, but in comparison with its more amazing brethren I'd have to rate it a four.



5. I saw a story about the authors on a local PBS show in Los Angeles, they are preserving the LAPD photo archives and have picked some of their favorites for this book. It's a bit gruesome in parts (of course, they are crime scene photos!) but it is an interesting glance into L.A.'s past, and I'm glad these folks are doing what they can to preserve our heritage. The photo presentation is great - this is a nice, large format book that gives you good sized images. Recommended for fans of photo and/or the macabre.

5 comments about The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe.

1. I love history and all the details. I also love riddles and mysteries. So, when someone combines both into a tale, as Charles Nicholl did, it's bound to please me. This book is the Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography and the Crime Writers' Gold Dagger Awards for non-fiction thriller - both well earned!!

   Marlowe was a very controversial poet and playwright. In 1593, he was stabbed to death in a lodging house in Deptford. To say the least, the manner and circumstances of death was up to question. There was a violent quarrel concerning Marlowe's bill and the official finding has been called dubious at best.

   Nicholl brings to life this historical riddle with style and ingenuity weaving facts, supposition and fiction into one wonderful mix. He presents a very complex study of Marlowe's death, but it is also a marvellous study of the seedier side of Elizabethan society.

   Nicholl walks the masterful tightrope between historical study on Marlowe's murder, a well-written 'who dun it' and portrays with rich detail the period that leaves one wondering if he is not reincarnated!!

   So buy it for the history, writers need to read it if they write about the period for it is also a scholarly work, but most of all sit back and enjoy a real British Who do it.




2. For assiduous research into Marlowe's life and times, THE RECKONING deserves five stars. For pure entertainment value, I would give it only three. So I've split the difference.

   It's impossible to deny the hard work and exhaustive research that went into this densely argued book. Nicholl discovered previously unknown tidbits of fact about Marlowe and other Elizabethan figures (and he is not shy about announcing his role in these discoveries). Unfortunately, the sheer number of digressions into the minutiae of Elizabethan spycraft began to wear on me after a while. At one point Nicholl himself admits that a certain story he is recounting is "wearyingly familiar," as indeed it is - we've read it all before, again and again, in the lives of various minor poets and sometime spies reconstructed throughout the book. Some of these folks are directly connected with Marlowe, some have only the most tangential relationship, and others are dragged in just for atmosphere. An examination of the events in Deptford that left Marlowe dead occupies the first and last sections of THE RECKONING, but the long middle portion is devoted to establishing the background of the killing - a background that seemingly incorporates every single fact Nicholl was able to dig up during months or years of poring through archival documents. It can be "wearying" indeed, not to mention mind-numbing. Still, there is important information here for those interested in the period. Just don't expect a quick or easy read.




3. Many of the other reviews have nailed it. Nicholl has done an extraordinary job of gathering the available evidence to present a seemingly strong case for Marlowe's espionage work and murder. What he hasn't really done is write a gripping story about Christopher Marlowe. The Marlowe chapters are good, and there are several other chapters that aren't about Marlowe but are still good, though I wonder what they're doing in here. It's like he didn't have quite enough material for a book-length manuscript on Marlowe's murder, so he threw in lots of other (admittedly very interesting) stuff. For instance, there's a lot about the Babington conspiracy, which does give one a good insight into the intelligence world of the times, but oops, sorry, has nothing to do with Marlowe per se. Still, I'm glad Nicholl got it published as a book rather than a scholarly article (which is more what it reads like), since this way there's a much greater chance more people will find it and read it.



4. There are only three reasons to read this prize-winning reconstruction of the events surrounding the death of Elizabethan playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe: (1) if you have some particular previous interest in Marlowe; (2) if you have a particular interest in Elizabethan politics, international relations, and espionage circa 1580-1600; (3) if you are interested in the use of archival materials to tell a story. I came to this book for none of these reasons, and so found it sporadically interesting, but overall rather tedious and agonizing to read. Nicholl's strategy is to examine the biographies of the other people in Marlowe's life (including those present at his killing/murder), and to try and connect them to the larger political context. It was a time of deep intrigue, with Elizabeth's court deeply concerned about a Franco-Spanish Catholic invasion and a Catholic fifth column inside England. Plots abounded and there was a correspondingly extensive murky world of informants, semi-official spies, dirty tricks, and many agents provocateur.
   
   Nicholl attempts to position Marlowe within this world as a sometime government spy on the Catholics, and tries to demonstrate how many writers turned to such intelligence work in order to make a more comfortable living. As educated men with skills in foreign languages, writers were often forced to supplement their meager writing income by whatever means they could, and spycraft offered a fairly lucrative, if somewhat dangerous option. The problem was that it was all to easy to get caught up in some complex double- or triple-cross, and secure patronage was very hard to maintain. Nicholl provides examples of various agents who were arrested based on flimsy denunciations and paid for it with their lives. His ultimate, unprovable hypothesis is that Marlowe was a small fish who got in the way of court jockeying for position in relation to all this, and that the Earl of Essex ordered that he be dealt with. The book is full of speculation and leaps of conjecture that will have history buffs gnashing their teeth in annoyance, but he does establish some things rather persuasively. If nothing else, it should put to bed the notion that Marlowe died in some brawl over a tavern bar tab. The setting was actually the home of a respectable widow with high court connections, it was a private meeting between Marlowe and three others which started in the morning and lasted all day, and the three other men involved were all part of the demimonde of Elizabethan espionage.
   
   While I admire Nicholl's extensive archival work in piecing together events from some 400 years ago from so many different obscure sources, the prose is so laden with extraneous details and tangents that it's hard to keep track of what is truly relevant. No figure is too trivial to merit inclusion -- for example, consider that a quick survey of the index shows some 364 different names listed, which works out to the reader having to absorb slightly more than one new person per page. This is especially irksome given that a little more than half of these individuals appear only once in the narrative! Moreover, spot checking ten pages turned up another seven names not in the index-so perhaps the book has a cast of some 500 people! A good example of how this plays out of the prose can be found on page 179: "Like Ingram Frizer at Deptford, Watson and Marlowe stood their ground. They were arrested by the constable of the precinct, Stephen Wyld, a tailor, and marched off to the nearest Justice. This was Sir Owen Hopton, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, whose home was at Norton Folgate. Later that day they were led to Newgate prison..." If one rewrote the above omitting the extraneous detail, it would read as follows: "Watson and Marlowe stood their ground and were arrested and taken to Newgate prison." This is just one example of how Nicholl's account would have benefited from a tighter focus and control over the material, as he appears overeager to share every last archival finding with the reader, at the expense of lucid prose. Ultimately, it's a book whose value depends largely on the reader's interest in the three areas mentioned above.



5. Other reviewers indicate this is a tedious book. I can't agree. It was a terribly complex time, and Charles Nicholl admirably puts that point across. We think of today as being an espionage era, but the Elizabethan times were even worse. Curiously the Queen is no where near the center of the puzzle. I found the unraveling of the puzzle to be of almost operatic proportions, and the difficulties in reading only made me pursue the read with more tenacity. I've read the book twice and find that, if I had trouble keeping the good people straight, I have to think those actually living and eking out a living back then did so, too.

5 comments about Monster: My True Story.

1. I had a great time reading this book. Having seen the movie a few months back I decided to purchase 'Monster' to see what else went on with this story. What a tale! So much more to be known about Wournos and written by a man who has clearly had a lot of experience talking with this woman. Using his extensive interview experience with other serial killers he has created the definitive portrait Aileen Wournos. Those who enjoy reading about this kind of crime should check out 'Talking With Serial Killers' by the same author. Again, using masses of interview material Christopher Berry-Dee has produced an absolutely chilling document. And whats more, this guy can write!



2. It seems that the author (and I'm not talking about Aileen here, since she didn't write this book, no matter what Berry-Dee is trying to convince you) has taken lots of newspaper clippings and put this book together in a quick way to make money. Although it's not badly written there is something missing. There is hardly any references to her childhood and very much about her being interviewed. Lots of stuff I believe is taken from Nick Broomfield's Aileen documentaries. It's an ok read and I'm glad I got this one from the library and didn't buy it!



3. i purchased this book written by christopher berry dee,i was very very disappointed as it said on the cover aileen in her own words,there were the odd one or two quotes,as ive read sue russells book lethal intent,i could see alot of similarities in berry dee's book.as for the one of the main topics being corky reid,maybe he should have studied the case more,and not blamed aileen for his disapperance/murder,as he went into hiding to avoid large debts he had incurred.if you want a book given both sides of aileen i would not go for this book,i would purchase sue russells book



4. I actually met Corky Reid, who thought it strange, that Aileen Wuornos should take the rap for his death, when he was very much alive. Corky turned himself into the police and back to his family, very much alive and NOT THE EIGHTH VICTIM BY WUORNOS!
   How could THIS so called WRITER state he is writing a TRUE STORY, plus from the mouth of Aileen Wuornos (who obviously knew she did not kill Corky Reid!) and have such a BLUNDER as this?! The book should be taken off the shelf, or retitled, in my opinion, as it is not truthful! PLUS, I have read all the BOOKS written about Aileen Wuornos and the only one that makes any REAL STATEMENTS is LETHAL INTENT by Sue Russell, who actually met the people she writes about and QUOTES THEM!



5. I APPEAR IN THIS BOOK, BUT WHAT IS STATED ABOUT ME IS NOT TRUE; NOR DID THIS WRITER TRY TO VERIFY ANY TRUTH WITH ME.
   
   AT FIRST BLUSH, IT ALSO APPEARS THIS WRITER SIMPLY COPIED "QUOTES" FROM COURT DOCUMENTS, AND PARROTED "THOSE" AS "AILEEN WUORNOS' WORDS"; AS I SEE STATEMENTS (SUPPOSEDLY OUT OF MS. WURONOS' MOUTH) THAT WERE TAKEN (OUT OF MY MOUTH) FROM MY LEGAL DEPOSITIONS!
   
   TOO BAD THERE IS NO LEGAL RAMIFICATION FOR PLAGERISM FROM DEPOSITIONS, OR THIS WRITER WOULD BE OUT OF A JOB. AND, IN MY OPINION, DESERVINGLY SO, AS THE ONLY TRUTH IN THIS BOOK IS THE SPELLING OF THE AILEEN WUORNOS NAME.
   
   JACKELYN GIROUX

4 comments about Outlaw: The True Story of Claude Dallas.

1. I thought that this book was a pretty good adventure. The characters were interesting, the plot was cool, and all in all it was a pretty cool novel. His later book "The Descent" was far, far better, of course, but this one was pretty good.



2. I thought that this book was a pretty good adventure. The characters were interesting, the plot was cool, and all in all it was a pretty cool novel. His later book "The Descent" was far, far better, of course, but this one was pretty good. Learning a little bit about Claude Dallas was an interesting moment of history.



3. Jeff Long has written a most interesting story of the last old west type shootout that may ever occur in this country. It is true. Dallas was a guy who came from Virginia and wanted to be a cowboy. He went west and became what he had always wanted to be, and he was good at it. He had a superb work ethic. Along the way, he acquired some of the trappings of a real cowboy. He had a Winchester rifle with an octagonal barrel. He was a good shot, both with the rifle and pistols. Over time, when he was living in Nevada, he spent his winters trapping coyotes and cats, with an occasional mountain lion thrown in. His last winter season he was trapping right along the Nevada/Idaho line and ran into a couple of Fish and Game officers from Idaho. One of them, Bill Pogue, the senior of the two, had a bit of an attitude problem, according to Jim Stevens, a friend of Dallas's who had brought him supplies. Pogue and Dallas were like kitchen matches and gasoline. Pogue was most likely playing it hard and Dallas most likely was stubborn. The confrontation erupted in gunfire and Dallas, deadly quick, dropped both Pogue and his backup, Conley Elms. He finished them off, trapper style, with a gunshot behind the ear with a .22 rifle. I know Claude Dallas. The book pretty much portrays Dallas in a true light. Crowded, like he was that day, he would not back down. Later, when he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, he was captured without a fight and without any firearms. I've liked this book well enough to own it and to read it several times. Jeff Long's work is first rate all the way through. Though this book is no longer in print, it is a book to own.



4. To read a 20 year old book written about events that happened 25 years ago is an adventure that begins with one big question -"Will the content still be fresh?"
   
   In the case of The True Story of Claude Dallas you will not be disappointed in any way.
   
   The more I read the more I appreciated the depths to which the Dallas story taps natural instincts of survival, independance and drama that are indeed timeless.
   
   But more than the Dallas story the author succeeds in painting a beautiful picture of the land, customs, and people who inhabit what remained of "the west" in the 70s and 80s. And this again has a magical timelessness to it - man against the elements, man on his own, man against the encroachment of government and other men.
   
   If you have ever driven thru Northern Nevada you have most certainly passed thru Winnemucca - and can remember the romantic bleakness of the landscape. And as you drove thru and stared out from the comfort of your car you probably wondered "who the heck lives out here?"
   
   This book answers that question - not just in terms of the people of the land, but of the spirit of the place and its link to men everywhere.

5 comments about The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs & Murder.

1. Though some people might find this book to be exciting and sexy and intriguing, please don't consider it as truth. This book should have been labelled as Fictional, which is what it is. Sally should have interviewed people who really knew the details- maybe spoken to members of the families involved, instead of spouting lies and touting them as truths. As a member of one of the families in the book, I know what I am talking about, and it hurts me deeply the lies that were told, which I can verify, matter of factly, were false.



2. For those who are intriqued by this tangled tale and wish to keep up with the central characters, here is an update on John Bizzack, former Lexington Police Officer.
   
   In 1996, Dr. Bizzack was appointed Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice in the Department of Political Science at the Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to graduate course instruction, he served as consultant on the development of criminal justice programs and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Command College.
   
   On a more personal note, recently Bizzack's wife, Carol Bizzack, was one of the victims of the Comair Crash of flight #5191 in Lexington.
   
   About the book itself; it is an interesting tale of cover-up, murder, and dedicated police work that could have been stronger if written by an author with a less muddled writing style; it remains interesting none the less because of the scope of the story and the level of deception. A former next-door neighbor of Ralph Ross' a sister of a Lexington Police officer during the time of these events, and a former employee of the Lexington-Fayette Urban Country Government, this book was of great interest to me. It should be interesting as well to any fan of the true-crime genre.



3. I absoultely loved this book...This book will keep you awake for sure wondering what will happen next...I highly recommend and don't want to give you too many details to spoil it...Excellent author!



4. A wonderful story. Sometimes the writing is not great, with run-on sentances and gramitical errors; however, the story is compelling enough to bypass the small mishaps. At times a little confusing because numerous characters are introduced in short periods of time. Overall a pretty good book, one I will read again.



5. In a southern rural region,a town of culture and money finds corruption in its midst. The police,the politicians and local bluebloods are involved in drugs and murder. A true story that is still talkled about in Lexington, KY. Interesting reading.

5 comments about Fatal Justice: Reinvestigating the Macdonald Murders.

1. If anything is good about this book,it is that it reopens debate on an interesting criminal case.On the surface,Jeffery MacDonald appears guilty.Yet,when you dissect every aspect of the case,his motive for murder doesn't make sense.I read that Inez Folger,at the age of 100,passed away some days ago.She was the mother of Abigail Folger,who was the coffee heiress and a Helter Skelter victim.Inez donated her time at the Haight-Ashbury free medical clinic,during the mid 60s.She worked along side of Dr.George Hodel,who is suspected by his own son,for being the Black Dahlia killer and Zodiac master-mind. This info is not in joe McGuiness' book or in Potter's book either.Dr.Jeffery MacDonald also worked with troubled veterans of the Vietnam war and various teenagers at Fort Bragg,who became drug addicts for one reason or another.One Gregory Mitchell was a former Vietnam vet,who was suffering some the horrors of heroin addiction.Helena (Stucklein)Stoekley was the daughter of an advanced military officier,who also had troubles with psychodeliac drugs.Both Mitchell and Stoekley confessed to people they were involved in the Manson-like slayings and regretted their involvement.The Esquire magazine found in MacDonald's duplex apartment,had a smudged bloody fingerprint,on the upper right corner.Fingerprint was never confirmed as belonging to MacDonald.And no smudges were found along the pages of Manson article or throughout the interior of the magazine.Military lawyers contend that MacDonald killed his family after being influenced by the Manson article reported in the Esqire magazine,with wild one Lee Marvin,on the cover.Stoekley mentioned about the rocking-horse spring,being disconnected.Stoekley claimed to have reconnected the spring and tried to ride the hobby-horse.The hobby-horse spring was reconnected in the police photos.How could Helena Stoekley describe such detailed info about the interior of MacDonald's residence? The only way that MacDonald could be completely found guilty is if it can be proven that he collaborated with the LSD-junkies.For example,Jeff MacDonald wanted to start a new life and plotted a scheme to have the LSD-junkies kill his family and rough him up.They received free drugs from him and he received a new avenue to the West coast.Two things that struck me as strange were one his unwillingness to search for the killers and two his willingness to set-up his practice in the Los Angeles area with a new wife.Was he so shaken by the tragic event that he wanted just to forget about the whole thing? Both Greg Mitchell and Helena Stoekley were dead by the Spring of 1982 of liver disease.Was Mitchell cut-off from the medical clinic where Dr.MacDonald worked?Was Mitchell then searching for revenge by killing Dr.MacDonld's family?Or was Mitchell coexed into a murderous scheme hatched by Dr.MacDonald to kill his wife and daughters,because MacDonald wanted out of a young marriage and start a new life? The mystery continues.



2. I think the authors of this book took a lesson from Michael Moore in propaganda. Or perhaps Oliver Stone.
   
   This book pretends to be a "re-investigation," but is nothing of the sort. It is a one-sided money-grab that was written with the help of the MacDonald defense team. In fact, Jeff MacDonanld himself assisted with the final editing. The book is not only factually inaccurate, but it omits much valuable information. Such as: 1) Gunderson & Beasely (the books' primary sources) were trying to shop a movie deal in which they "solved" the case; 2) Gunderson (a first class wack job) later reported that the so-called cult was trying to kill him, causing him to live life on the run; 3) Gunderson & Beasely posted bail for Stoekly's husband & promised them they would be provided with jobs & new identities in California in exchange for their "testimonies," which they later recanted anyway.
   
   The authors' also try to convince the reader that Stoekley was a reliable source, but the truth is she would say anything to anyone, and recanted her so-called "confessions" many times. At other times, she reported that she saw MacDonald kill his family. Nothing she said can be taken seriously.
   
   Further, the authors make large use of FOIA documents, but are deceitful in their use of them. For example, they report one note in which an investigator describes the failure of a match on a hair found at the crime scene, and says "this won't be reported by me." What the authors don't show you is the complete note, in which it becomes clear that the analyst is simply reporting that she is not going to label the hair, because another analyst will catalog and write the final report.
   
   Additionally, the book fails to address the major points of the prosecution's case: 1) there was no forced entry; 2) not one single hair, fiber, foot or finger print linked to intruders 3) Jeff MacDonald, a well-trained & conditioned Green Beret, had no significant injuries, while his family was absolutely slaughtered; 4) MacDonald's story doesn't fit the crime scene - no fibers were found where supposedly a horrible fight took place; lots of fibers where there shouldn't be; 5) despite that fact that at least 6 "hippies" were wreaking all of that carnage, and the victims were screaming for help, no neighbors heard anything; 6) MacDonald cheated on his wife constantly, was spending every possible minute away from home, and lied about a trip to Russia during which time his son would be born, and never visited the graves even once (he even sold the contents of the family home, though he kept the stereo); 7) MacDonald lied about taking a polygraph, but in actuality failed two separate exams by defense friendly experts; 8) even the defense forensics expert acknowledged the fabric impression evidence was accurate & quite damning (in fact, Segal was advised by another defense expert who was quite shaken by this presentation to get as much into the record for appeal as he could).
   
   To believe MacDonald, is to believe the impossible, such as 1) at least 6 hippies strung out on multiple drugs such as LSD found the back door unlocked; 2) carried candles (even though it was raining); 3) brought no weapons; 4) left no finger or footprints behind 5) killed a woman & two children, even though they were supposedly after him 6) did this quietly enough not to wake the neighbors; 7) knocked him unconsious with a couple of superficial blows, then left him alive as the only possible witness; 8) carefully cleaned the fibers from where they attacked him, then spread them out in the other rooms to fool the police; 9) inexplicably staged the crime scend by putting each of the children back in their beds & tucking them in, and carrying Mrs. MacDonald back to her bedroom; 10) escaped without anyone noticing them, and letting Helena walk home.
   
   I could go on and on. But at the end of the day, though the crime scene was badly managed, it still all points to him.
   
   One final note - my challenge to anyone who thinks MacDonald innocent is for you to view the crime scene & autopsy photos, which are easily found on-line from several websites. They are gruesome, but it shows the true disparity between the horrible injuries his family received, and the absolute lack of injuries MacDonald received. In fact, you have to look really hard to see any scratches on him at all. Viewing those photos, it made me wish for the death penalty (though I'm opposed to it).
   
   The so-called "new" evidence has been reviewed by appeals' courts dozens of times, and the Supreme Court multiple times. To believe MacDonald, and the 10 or so people in the world who still think he was framed, is to believe the ultimate conspiracy, which of course involves hundreds of law enforcement personnel, judges, FBI agents, criminologists, DNA analysts, family members (which have turned against him), former friends & supporters, etc.
   
   It requires believing in the impossible. Don't waste your time with this book.
   
   My final recommendation for the authors' of this piece of trash is to write a follow-up on how O.J. Simpson is really innocent, the victim of a conspiracy.



3. When I read Fatal Justice I was hoping for a work of investigative journalism that slugged it out over the evidence (I understand that it's supposed to be an answer to Fatal Vision by Joe McGinniss), but FJ puts anything that supports it's central thesis - no matter how minor - under a spotlight and happily glides over anything that doesn't, even the most persuasive physical evidence. There's also an annoying reliance on retrospective testimony and dark hints that a massive conspiracy had taken place (and possibly continues) to silence witnesses.
   
   FJ presents a mix of conspiracy, misinterpretation and selective use of facts to stitch together a very contentious case for the innocence of the book's subject - who was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters. It's dull and repetitive and a lot of the "killer" facts can eaily be disputed, if not proven incorrect by a basic google search.
   
   "Reinterpreting the Jeffrey MacDonald" case would be a more accurate sub-title as everything is put though a filter so that there can only be one conclusion. Like all conspiracies FJ is self referential and self fulfilling. The authors simply assign sinister motives to anyone that challenges their logic - the Army was out for revenge, the Justice Department wanted glory, the victim's father in law supposedly tuned on the subject because he moved to California! He then launched a life long quest to have him charged and convicted (anyone planning a move beware).
   
   I think the authors mention that no one from the presecution side would take part. This may well be the case, but isn't an excuse to then throw out all the evidence, except that which supports your particular point of view.
   
   The authors also seem to be fixated on Fatal Vision by Joe McGinnis which they spend and awful amount of time trying to discredit (unsuccessfully). This is strange, and distracting, as the book came out years after the trial and clearly had nothing to do with MacDonald being found guilty.
   
   This book will only interest hardcore MacDonald junkies, and only those on the "He's innocent, crazed hippies did it" side. There's nothing here for anyone else. The book is dense, slow and not really persuasive. You kind of have to believe the central idea already - it doesn't take you with it. This is it's greatest weakness - it fails as a book.
   
   There's no need to buy FJ, you can read it all quoted as gospel by the MacDonald supporters on their websites.
   
   I kept thinking that FJ is what the trial would have been like if the prosecution weren't allowed to take part.



4. On its face, this book appears to be an accurate accounting of the case. However, one only needs to begin comparing the footnotes to the actual CID reports to see that the authors have misrepresented evidence. Stombaugh's trial testimony is also falsely reported, and in general the book is so filled with errors and misrepresentations and inaccuracies that it's a worthless purchase.



5. Joe McGinnis was originally convinced of MacDonald's innocence, but came to believe in his guilt during the 1979 murder trial. His book, Fatal Vision, is the one book to read, not this. Fatal Justice appears to be nothing more than a sad commentary from people MacDonald has commissioned to write for him. It's merely his side, without any objective perspective. The authors were not there in the courtroom for weeks as McGinnis had been, nor had access to the amount of evidence McGinnis saw. What person in their right mind would believe a 26 yr old man could fend off 4 ice pick wielding attackers(Hell bent on killing him specifically)in his home---fighting for his life and that of his entire family---and suffer only a bruise and a small cut to the chest,while his entire family is slaughtered like animals? Remember, all this takes place in a small apartment, but almost no mess is made. Need more convincing? Just take a look at the autopsy and crime scene photos that are on-line, and judge for yourself. MacDonald, stressed out over feeling trapped in a marriage with his family (and longing to go far away as possible with his girlfriend) freaked out over the issue of his daughter's bedwetting (a sign of deep stress for any child who is already toilet trained) late one night. What probably started out as a slap or push turned into a fight to the death between a husband and wife protecting herself and her family. He is an animal and he belongs behind bars.

5 comments about Finding Amy: A True Story of Murder in Maine.

1. Amy St. Laurent had everything including a loving family, friends, a job that she loved, and a community behind her. One night while entertaining a male friend, Rubright, from Florida which she tried to explain that she wasn't interested in him as more than a friend at a bar where it all when went wrong. She chose the Jeffrey Russell Gorman, a ticking time bomb who was known to drug and rape his female victims. While the people concluded that Rubright's story that night was a bit preposterous but true, they came across Gorman who was truly the threat to poor sweet Amy. Her death was brutal and horrifying enough and she fought back. While I admire the police's detective work including driving down to Alabama from Maine when they could have flown and got there quicker, Amy's disappearance and murder occurred only weeks after the events of September 11, 2001 where flying airplanes became a common fear even for veteran police officers here. I recall the events of September 11, 2001 like everybody else and how that might have overshadowed the horrible crimes that occurred elsewhere than ground zero and pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I had trouble with this book because I felt that two people writing about the same thing at the same time made me rush through it. I felt a lot of stuff was rehashed repeatedly. In the end, I read that a portion of the book's proceeds benefits a foundation in Amy's memory and if you ever travel to Cape Elizabeth, Maine, check out the lighthouse and the granite bench with her name on it.



2. This book has no depth, no characters , and is poorly written. I was so tired of reading about the "whinning" police officers. We are tired, we have not slept, our families miss us, ect. We know that, we appreciate you and this book is about Amy St. Laurent. When writing a true crime novel stick with the facts it makes a much better read.



3. FINDING AMY, written by Deputy Chief Joseph Laughlin and mystery writer Kate Clark Flora, is the absorbing true-life story of the disappearance of Amy St. Laurent, a 25-year-old Pratt and Whitney employee who vanished while at a bar, The Pavilion, in the Old Port area of Portland. She accepted a ride home from another customer at the bar, and then disappeared, never to be seen again, until she was found buried in a shallow grave in the woods over six weeks later.
   
   The book tells the story of the investigation, and it is especially effective because it intersperses journal entries by Chief Loughlin (then Lieutenant), in which he describes police procedure and how the detectives are focusing their search and why. The character development of these hard-working law-enforcement personnel is absorbing, because it shows how seriously they do take their work, and how personally it affects them.
   
   This book should be read by all young women who think they "know it all". Frequently, they don't, and take chances which can be deadly. This was certainly the case for Amy St. Laurent. The book is a cautionary tale about how someone who looks perfectly innocent and seems to want to be helpful can have very deadly hidden qualities that emerge later on. It is well written and the organization is excellent as well.
   
   You will definitely enjoy FINDING AMY if you are interested in the effects of true crime on both the family members and friends and the law-enforcement personnel who work these cases.



4. I work in law enforcment in a western state. I read a lot of true crime and am always intrigued by a book written about a case by its investigators. I was quite impressed with Finding Amy. Not only was the book well-written, but the case was truly an investigative miracle. I wish more investigations were run like this one was. It is so obvious that a higher authority had a hand in things and I found it refreshing that those involved recognized that. Where I am, we don't have a big problem with territorial agencies, thankfully. But, it is great that where it would it normally was a problem, those involved with the investigation were able to overcome that.
   
   One question I was left with was what happened to Amy's stepfather? He stops being mentioned toward the end of the book and wasn't listed as one of the relatives at the trial or sentencing.



5. I am a fan of true crime and pretty much won't read anything but. This book was one of the best I've ever read. And I have read tons by some of the best authors. Extremely well written and very easy to follow. You can feel the sincerity, passion and pain of the police, prosecutors, friends and family. Great insite into how police really do their job.

5 comments about The Good-bye Door: The Incredible True Story of America's First Female Serial Killer to Die in the Chair (True Crime Series (Kent, Ohio).).

1. If you like a great read, this book will give it to you. Hope this author writes another!



2. To those of us who are naïve enough to think that serial killers are a product of our generation, one only needs to remember the oft quoted philosophy of George Santayana: "Those who can not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." The words were penned prior to 1906.
   
   In "The Good-bye Door," author Diana Britt Franklin reweaves the story of Anna Marie Hahn, a prolific killer in Cincinnati. Though the terminology had yet to be coined -- the term used in her day was "mass murderer" -- surely Anna fits the bill of "serial killer". As Franklin transports us back to the 1930's, we are mesmerized by a tale of avarice, lies, and murder.
   
   Except that the verdict is revealed in the prologue, we follow Anna's life as silent onlookers, wondering what the outcome of her actions will bring. As death follows upon death, then arrest and trial arrive, we still are unsure whether she is capable and guilty as charged. Lies are ever present, but part of us wants to believe her.
   
   Just as we accept the evil that has been done and the verdict, we are confronted by Anna Hahn's time spent on death row and our own conflict between justice and mercy.
   
   If this were fiction it would be remarkable, but as a true story it is sensational, thanks to the exhaustive research Ms. Franklin has done to bring alive this disturbing tale.



3. The Good Bye Door by former journalist Diana Britt Franklin is an unusual--to me--true crime story inasmuch as it deals with the relatively rare female serial killer, and the first in the US to die in the electric chair.
   It reads like a novel. It is sharply written, yet successfully portrays each character's humanity, including that of the murderous woman.
   I loved the sense and texture of the time in which these events happened. It was easy to picture the places and lives of the people who lived in the book. Also easy to understand why it has won several awards.
   Even though the outcome is known, The Good Bye Door is stil an exciting read.



4. A very interesting subject. Was very surprised I had never heard of this killer before. The only problem I had was towards the middle and end the story really started to drag for me. The author tried her best and wrote in an entertaining way, but just failed to keep my interest.I think a lot of the reason it dragged was the author mainly wrote the book by going by newspaper stories from that period,and just couldn't maintain my interest in a book this length. I did finish the book, and still think it was an interesting subject and fairly entertaining book. Anna ( the killer) was one of the worst sociopaths I have read about in some time. Even used her small son as a defense and co-hort in her crimes.



5. It's been more than a month since I devoured The Goodbye-Door but I can't stop thinking about it! The true story of this serial murderer is interwoven with the familiar threads of the yin rejection by family and friends counterbalanced with the yang of revenge in the form of seduction: charisma is used as the tool of killing. Diana Franklin's masterful research and brilliant reporting traces the short, tragic life of Anna Marie Hahn, a pretty young German woman who arrives penniless in the U.S. Somewhere along the way she must have heard "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." She cooks familiar comfort foods for her victims and cunningly provides a digestive in the form of fast-acting poison. The author unravels a tale of consequences as one financial crisis for Anna Marie leads to the death of one unsuspecting old gentleman, and then another and another and yet more. With heartless lack of remorse, the "heroine" leaves her victims to suffer, never believing for a moment that the tables will turn. In the end the reader is forced to confront and analyze every side of the debate about capital punishment as the author forces us to witness the horror of the execution chamber. You may read a thousand true crime thrillers. You'll never forget this one! *****five stars.

5 comments about The Stranger In My Bed (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. I read this book after seeing a crime show about it on TV. I didn't realize I knew Janice Hartman's mother until the very end. It is heartbreaking to know this lovely, spiritual woman as the mother of this murdered girl. This woman has been to hell and back throughout her lifetime, yet she remains a wonderful person. My heart breaks for the trouble she's seen!



2. It bothers me that the author took 276 pages to tell the same story over and over again. A man is accused of killing two wives. The bodies haven't been found. Still, a trial is held and the defendant is found guilty.
   This could have been written in 50-75 pages, instead of rehashing the same events to the point of boredom.
   The book does have one redeeming line on page 270, "There really are monsters out there." Monsters is the key word. They can be any sex, any race, any age, any occupation, any religion. This is the author's greatest message to the readers of this book.



3. Michael Fleeman is a well-known true crime writer. This case involves two wives who go missing and both women were married to John David Smith. The first wife was Janice Hartman who went missing after they divorced. His secon wife was a twice divorced older woman, Betty Fran Gladden-Smith whose remains have never been recovered. She was living in West Windsor (near Princeton, New Jersey). The truth about John David Smith was that he was a brutal murderer who could not let the women or his wives leave him despite the constant lies, manipulation, and pathological nature of his crimes. His brother, Michael Smith, would unearth the discovery of Janice Hartman's legs below the knees that were cut off by her beloved husband. She was buried in a box and left aside the road in Indiana. It would be years before she was identified and was named Jane Doe at the Oakwood Cemetery in Morocco, Indiana until then. Her family knew that her beloved Janice was probably murdered by John David Smith. THe story is typical of most murders written about today. The spouse kills the other.



4. Because this book has been out of print people have resold it for $25 - $60 dollars. First it is very short and other than no plot the romance and sex is bad. Go buy a $5.00 Harliquin book instead. I spent $30 for my copy and would gladly give it away...could not have been more unhappy with a book.



5. and not in a bad way! I love true crime and while some might say that they all read the same, which to some extent they do, I can't seem to get enough of them! This was especially good because *SPOILER* it was a puzzle - they find the body, then the crime! I saw this on Forensic Files but for some reason, this story haunts me - I just love getting goosebumps in the middle of the night!!!