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 Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder.

1. I really enjoyed this book. It validates everything else that I have researched about mind control, the government, and the purpose of this type of evil control our government exercises to obtain complete power and control. The theme of societies thoughts are being kept in constant fear as this fear makes us look to the powers in control for "The Answer". This is being used by the press and media very successfully as each of these brutal actions results in our giving up more of our rights for protection. As it was once said," if you give up freedom for security, you have neither." We as americans must wake up to the real agenda of our government and the world governments which are all working together for the one goal of new world order, one world government, one world control.



2. Before reading this book, I thought I knew. I would say (about politics, govt, military, law enforcement, etc.), "Oh yeah well the whole thing is corrupt obviously, nothing I can do about it." And I thought that because I said that, I understood same. Um, no. If the concept of the govt and media lying to you, is new, then you would definetely benefit from reading this book. If you're a seasoned Initiate, and words like: MK-ULTRA, Cathy O'Brien, Michael Hoffmann, Gurudas, James Shelby Downard, Cryptocracy, Pedephocracy, Twilight Language, the Franklin Cover-Up, None Dare Call It Conspiracy, Alex Jones, Project Paperclip/Project 63, Rex-84 & Operation Garden Plot, etc. etc. etc. then you would also benefit greatly from reading this book. That said, for those of you out there that can't stomach strange "conpiracy theories" then this is definetely the book for you. This book has roughly 500 references and is all facts, no speculation necessary when you have court transcripts, etc.
   As another reviewer said in reviewing Trance: Formation of America by Cathy O'Brien, "This book is capable of changing even an atheist such as myself, I was left asking an unanswerable question, where did all this evil come from ?" In my perspective, there is only so much that a human being is capable of, swiftly and quickly killing one's enemies in the event of war is perhaps the worst. Anything beyond that ( underground torture chambers where victims are starved and ritually raped and murdered while being recorded, the tapes sold for approx. $5,000/copy to ultra-rich demons in gated communities, happening all over the planet by people who seem to be remote-contolled by people who themselves seem to be remote-controlled also, etc. ) and I can' be convinced that what is happening in such a "inhumane" way can truly be all human in nature. Some share that opinion with me, others don't, period. But to expand any further on that would be a different book entirely, Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin definetely comes to mind ( another amazing read ). In this book you are taken directly into the belly of the beast as it attempts to digest a jalapeno & habanero shake, no joke about it, but what we have in Programmed to Kill is the human facts behind those involved in a sort of corruption on such a mass scale, that it is undreampt of.
   Ask yourself a question right quick-like: Do I want to know the truth, or do I want to be comfortable in my ignorance? With regards to current events, this book has opened my eyes more so than any other I can think of, and there are perhaps 300 books on my shelf, 295 of which are non-fiction. This book will change your life, no joke, don't read any further if you wish to stay in the comfort zone state of mind of thinking one knows it all. In reality this book will transform, and possibly give you the knowledge necessary to create the tools which can be used hopefully hands-on to save another's life.



3. An absolutely awful book. "Some say..." is used on almost every page. Who says? You can make a case for anything by saying "according to some". Here, let me try...According to some, Godzilla is a real creature that is responsible for many earthquakes throughout the world. See how easy it is?
   Also, many easy verifiable facts are gotten wrong and the author also manages to make everything connect. How? To paraphrase-"The murder was committed the day before Summer Soltice-a significant day for satanists". Really? The day before? Oh my God! Or the week before some supposed satantic holiday or 3 days after and so on and so on. After reading this, I'm convinced EVERY day is some sort of special day for all the supposed satanists running around.
   And many of the cases covered in this book had mistakes made by law enforcement, which can only mean one thing...THEY WERE IN ON IT!
   Read SATANIC PANIC if you want to see how people like this author have perpetuated the myth that hundreds of thousands of people are being killed every year by a vast conspiracy of robed, politically-connected, satanic meanies.
   Seriously, this book is utter crap.



4. After reading the review by the person billing himself as "True Patriot," I felt compelled to run a search on the manuscript that was submitted for publication. And what I found, contrary to the reviewer's completely bogus claim, is that the phrase "some say" appears in the book exactly once - and then only as part of a quote lifted from the New York Post. The author, which would be me, not only does not use that phrase "on almost every page," but in fact doesn't use it at all throughout the entire 400+ page book! And that, dear readers, should tell you all you need to know about the veracity of Mr. Patriot's so-called review.



5. This book is an excellent read. Programed to Kill is well documented, and easily read, a real page turner. I'd like everyone I know to read this book. I learned so much about the inter-connected evil across our world, and you will too. It is an eye opener and complements several other areas of study about the people behind the power on this world. One warning about this book I will add is that it is not for "Pod People" who refuse open their eyes to reality, go back to dancing with an American Idol instead.

5 comments about Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer (Onyx).

1. Blood Lust centers around the story of Dayton Leroy Rogers, respected businessman and father from Portland Oregon who had a 2nd life as a serial killer at night. The things he did to these girls you wouldnt beleive and the story tells what he did and how he eventually got caught and the horrific things they found. Overall , great read - i read whole book in less than a day. Great for crime lovers.



2. 
   
   
   "Blood Lust" represents good no nonsense true crime about a serial killer in Oregon. That seemingly peaceful and scenic State certainly has had more than its' share of sickos, as TC aficionados (and no doubt the natives) are well aware. In BL, the protagonist is one Dayton Leroy Rogers who killed and mutilated eight young Portland area women in the mid 1980s. There is little suspense here. The killer is identified from the outset. The reader's interest will revolve around the portrayal of the gruesome manners of the young ladies' deaths and how the local authorities find the corpses and compile their case against Rogers. Author Gary King strikes a solid balance between crime reporting and the human suffering of the victims. Since the perpetrator is known, readers may ignore the "Ann Rule rule" and peruse the centerfold where pictures of the demised humanize them. It's chilling to think that most likely there are more female of Rogers' victims somewhere in this vast area. This reviewer visited Oregon recently and appreciates how rural the state is once one leaves the Portland/Seattle metroplex and the I5 corridor. 12 reprintings since 1992 are a testimony to the obvious and well-deserved popularity of "Blood Lust".



3. Well Gary... What about this? "The author sometimes stretches the narrative, offering interior monologue from Rogers even though the killer, who is now on death row, hasn't spoken to him or investigators". Do you not think that maybe just maybe there is an entirely different story to this case? I assure you that there is. It is going to be coming out soon.............. :-)
   By the way.... I am Kathy and I DO know what REALLY happened up there in that forest. ;)



4. This book is horrible, and that is only talking of the first few chapeters. The writer talks of the victims as trash, and does not honor their memory or the fact that they were living people, with families that loved them. A true waste of paper, ink, and time.



5. Gary C. King is truly a well-known crime author. This book is probably one of the first that I have read and it's an easy read. He does explain how a man emerged from respected citizen to a serial killer with a deadly lust for blood, torture, and terror of innocent women who didn't deserve the horror. Granted, all of his victims were prostitutes which happen to be the top victims in serial killer cases like Ridgway and Dayton Rogers. He made a mistake and it caught up with him with many victims such as prostitutes who came forward with their tales of torture to frighten the most harden of criminals. King writes the story to explain the discovery and that the first victim that wasn't laid in his unofficial burial ground. Unlike Bundy and Ridgway who returned to visit their victims after their murder, Dayton left them to rot away and not be discovered. These women were mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and yet they had their share of problems such as drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, and poverty.

5 comments about Murder at the Brown Palace: A True Story of Seduction & Betrayal.

1. i found this book intresting. it shows a side of denver that is not seen sometimes. this book gives a look at a man who believe he was innocent and tries with two trials to prove it and recieves a unthinkable twist when he recieves a worse sentence. this book is wonderful for anyone intrested in colorado and murders.



2. Senior columnist Dick Kreck is a journalist with the Denver Post. He has also worked with the San Francisco Examiner and the Los Angeles Times. He has two previous books to his credit, Colorado's Scenic Railroads and Denver in Flames.

   Murder at the Brown Palace chronicles one of the most famous high society murders of the twentieth century. The Brown Palace is one of Denver's grand old hotels, and the principals of the case were all of a free-wheeling social set. In the middle, and probably the cause of the murder was Isabelle Springer, who was married to would-be politician and wealthy Denver businessman John W. Springer. Not content to be a proper social wife, the narcissistic Isabelle enticed two men, and then set up a showdown which ended in two tragic deaths. Unfortunately for Frank Henwood, the killer, Denver was trying to gain a dignified reputation and had no sympathy for the cause of the shooting:

   "That the said Sylvester L. von Phul came to his death by gunshot wounds having been fired by Frank H. Henwood in the City and Country of Denver in the state of Colorado about 11:35 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24, 1911, in the barroom of the Brown Palace Hotel at Seventeenth and Broadway; and we further find the said Sylvester L. von Phul died at St. Luke's Hospital about 11:30 a.m. May 25, 1911, and we further find that said shots were fired with felonious intent."

   Dick Kreck, no doubt, went to great lengths to reenact the events leading up to the shooting. Although he presents the facts in an impartial vein, Frank Henwood was obviously led on by Isabelle Springer, as was Sylvester L. von Phul. The irony of the situation is that neither man really wanted to murder the other...but both men acted and reacted passionately to create a chain of events from which both of their lives, and two innocent bystanders' would be ruined. Kreck gives a wonderful historical overview of the politics at that time which would prove to be rigid and unforgiving towards Henwood. Another twist to the story is that John W. Springer really did not blame Henwood for what happened, although the public was not as forgiving. Kreck not only is a dogged historian, but he is faithful to the attitudes and trends of the time, giving the reader a unique perspective on this woeful tale. An excellent read!

   Shelley Glodowski
   Reviewer




3. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
   
   With the seemingly disproportionate amount of salacious news stemming from Colorado over the past few years (see CU, JonBenet, Columbine, AFA, Kobe...), each with their corresponding legal and journalistic blunders, it's perhaps equal parts refreshing and frustrating to know that this isn't new. Denver Post columnist Dick Kreck paints a rich and detailed picture of the `scene' in Denver and the West during the otts and teens of the last century. That scene included media obsession with scandal, a rouge legal system, DA improprieties, criminal celebrity, right wing 'values' politics, adultery, murder, money.... Sound like that could be the otts of this century in Colorado?
   
   This is a great read, and Kreck has left no stone unturned in his quest for accuracy and detail. Anyone interested in knowing what Denver was like 100 years ago, and in many ways how we got to where we are today, should read this book- or just anyone who loves good murder mystery or courtroom drama!



4. As I read Murder in the Brown Palace, I found myself muttering again and again, "What were they thinking?" This ill-starred love quadrangle: Isabel and John Springer, Frank Henwood, and "Tony" von Phul - through incredible naiveté or lack of common sense - could only have ended in tragedy. The author sticks to the meticulously researched facts and resists "filling in" or extrapolating when the historical record is silent or lost. The attorneys, the judges and the old Brown Palace herself have riveting roles that might seem outrageous today, but maybe not when compared to the shenanigans of the O.J. Simpson trial. And to think all of this happened in Denver at a time when she thought she had outgrown her wild frontier reputation. Not so!



5. Attention Book Clubs: This book is very interesting, and if your are able.... travel to Denver, have a guided tour of the Brown Palace Hotel, and meet with the local author for dinner and a discussion of the book. You can see the rooms where the murder took place and where the main characters lived in the hotel. It brings the book to life. It was a wonderful adventure for our book club.

5 comments about Dangerous Attraction.

1. This is an unusual true crime story -- it takes the reader inside of gangs, including prison gangs. This story is about a young woman who was raised in a decent home with a good family, but for some reason decided to get involved with a guy in prison who was also a gang member. After he got out, she tried to cut ties with him. She wound up dead, and the killing was so senseless. The loser who killed her still lived with his mother, who covered up the crime and wound up going to jail herself as a result. This book is very easy to read, it's not that long, and it is a good story that I wish every high school kid would read. It does not put "the wild side" in a very good light.



2. How far will a mother go to protect her adult son from a murder charge? Sometimes, pretty far, as is revealed in the book Dangerous Attraction, by Robert Scott.
   
   Twenty year old Katrina Montgomery was a lovely and warm young woman who was also a very beloved member of her family. None of her family is sure why she began to hang out with the lethal street gang in Ventura, CA. called the Skin Head Dogs. It appears that Katrina felt some sort of thrill involved with "taking a walk on the wild side."
   
   Katrina befriended a member of the gang, the tattooed and drug abusing Justin Merriman, who himself was also twenty years of age and was doing time for the assault of a correction's officer. Katrina and Justin spent much time writing letters back and forth to each other until the day that Justin's time had been served and he was released.
   
   Justin came out of prison with the impression that Katrina was his girlfriend, but that is not the way that she saw it. At a gang party on Thanksgiving of 1992, Katrina proceeded to get herself quite intoxicated and ended up at Justin's family home along with two other of the gang members. In Justin's bedroom, she was taken and raped by Justin right in front of his buddies. He then stabbed her in the neck with a knife, beat her over the head with a heavy wrench, then finally cut her throat. Her body was never found.
   
   It was not until six years later, when he was stopped for a bike riding violation by police and ran, that he was caught.....and even that was after a wild chase and a harrowing seven hour standoff.
   
   So, where does Justin's mother fit in?
   
   Beverlee Sue Merriman had her own ways. She did everything within her powers to protect her son, no matter what the consequences were to her. She made sure to keep in close contact with Justin's other skinhead gang buddies, to ensure that no one would "talk." She ended up doing her son more harm than she would ever imagine.
   
   This case had grown cold by the time the police had finally gathered enough evidence to bring Justin to trial, where the jury concluded that he was to die by lethal injection at San Quentin Prison in California.
   
   This is a very well written true crime book. Robert Scott, also the author of Rope Burns and Like Father, Like Son, has done an excellent job of laying out this story which occurs over an eight year time span. Fans of true crime will find this story of murder, along with all of the terrorizing used to keep the gang members silent, to be a very interesting read.



3. I thought this book was great so good that I will be looking up more books from this author.I have read alot of these kinds of books and at a certain point in the story they start saying the same thing over and over but in different words,not this author.I found it so interesting and was pulled in that I re-read some pages over a couple of times because I found this guy to be a true monster, it's also the way this guy Robert Scott writes,I'm scared to know that there are people out there in the world like this ,your put in the story into the pages with these people into there life.How sad for this girl's family,if you like books like true crime & murder than you will really like this one.I have never been interested in the neo nazi gangs before, if not for the writing being so good I would of put it down on the first page, instead I stayed up and read it and couldn't put it down until I new the ending, if justice was going to be served or not.I recommend this book and will be getting more books by Robert Scott and hope they are just as good.



4. This was written more like a newspaper article than a book. Didn't get to know the victims very well-just here they are - they killed them. I can't believe these girls had such low self esteem to let these immature losers treat them like they did. And the mother! Such a loser- hanging on to these weirdos as if she had no life of her own.



5. Hi, this is my first review on amazon. I enjoyed the book and found troubles putting it down. As others have pointed out, its about skinheads, rape, murder, and some seriously whacked out people. This mother of Justin Merriman shows absolutely the worst parenting skills possible. She enabled her son to live a life of crime. It seemed like ANYTHING her son wanted she did it for him. I don't believe the young Merriman fellow ever knew of the consequences of any bad decisions he had ever made. There really were not many "likeable" characters in this story. There were a lot of "interesting" characters though. I felt bad for the Montgomery family. They seemed like a typical suburban family, who's daughter made bad decisions as to the friends she made.
   
   I picked this book up in the local used bookstore. I knew nothing about any of the characters in this book prior to reading it. If you enjoyed the movie American History X, you would probably enjoy this movie.

5 comments about Trauma Room One: The JFK Medical Coverup Exposed.

1. The frontal wound was one of an EXIT not entry. No support for Dr Crenshaw from me.



2. People who were actually inside or near Trauma Room One that day confirm that Crenshaw was never in position to see what he claims that he witnessed. There is doubt that Crenshaw even entered TR-1. One Parkland doctor I've talked to says Crenshaw simply made it up. The surgeons who attended JFK, Drs. Malcolm Perry and Robert McClelland, had to enlarge the president's throat exit wound for the tracheotomy, and Crenshaw's fabricated account obscures such facts--about events both at Parkland and at Bethesda. See When the News Went Live: Dallas 1963, and JFK: Breaking the News.



3. Dr. Crenshaw was a resident in the Parkland Hospital Emergency Room on the day in 1963 when President Kennedy was brought in mortally wounded. Dr. Crenshaw assisted in providing emergency care to Kennedy and was present when Kennedy was pronounced dead. Crenshaw saw the wounds on Kennedy's body in Dallas and makes a significant contribution to the Kennedy Assassination lore by describing them. Crenshaw saw a bullet entry wound on the front of Kennedy's neck (that was later obliterated by a tracheotomy incision) and also saw a large gaping exit wound on the occipital skull. Those are 'fighting words' to Oswald fans because they were inflicted by shots from the front, and Oswald could have only shot from the rear. Dr. Crenshaw generally provides an excellent first-person account of the goings-on at Parkland Hospital on that terrible day, including the confrontation at gunpoint between the Secret Service Agents who were attempting to leave with the body and the coroner who was attempting to retain possession of the body long enough to perform an autopsy. Needless to say, the Secret Service agents with their drawn weapons won the day and the body was whisked away to Air Force One where new-President Johnson could keep tabs on it on the way back to Washington DC. Crenshaw's account of the confrontation is highly-entertaining readings. This book is a groundbreaking book that is required reading for anyone interested in the historical aspects of the Kennedy Assassination.



4. There is no way Dr. Crenshaw is going to risk his reputation and credibility by lying to make a couple of bucks.his observations have been confirmed by other doctors who were in the trauma room that day!!an exit wound in the back of the head and an entrance wound in the front of the neck!!the only entity that has lost thier credibilty is the WC who lied to the american people



5. 
   This book is a revision of the book by Dr Crenshaw with Jens Hanson and J. Gary Davis;with the title "JFK Conspiracy of Silence".After that book was published in 1992,the authors were slandered both personally and professionally by the Journal of American Medical Association.The authors filed a suit for slander and malice and the court ordered a monetary settlement by JAMA. The revision,"Trauma Room One" covers this suit and the results.
   There have been thousands of books,articles,documentaries, films,investigations,commissions,etc about the killing of President Kennedy. There are countless motives,connections,theories,and conclusions about who did the killing,why,and who was behind it. No murder in the US has received more coverage and few even today believe the whole story has been revealed.
   Many conspiracies have been generated around motives ,but the most important conspiracy of all, is whether or not JFK was hit in the front or both front and back of the head. If he received hits in both the front and back;then there had to be a conspiracy.
   Dr.Crenshaw attended to JFK when he was brought to Parkland Hospital. He ,as well as other attending Doctors,were silent for several reasons about the President's wounds.There was no autopsy done at Parkland Hospital because the body was taken away by Feds and taken back to Washington,where an autopsy was carried out many,many hours later.The whys and wherefores of this is covered in the book and in many other books,etc.
   What is different here is that Dr.Crenshaw,felt he could no longer remain silent about what he saw as wounds as they tried to save his life and what was reported and accepted by the Warren Commission.
   Dr.Crenshaw unequivocally maintains there was one or more bullet entries in the front of the skull and a large section of the right rear of the skull had been destroyed by an exit of the bullet.
   If the skull and other evidence is still available it should still be possible to determine if the Doctor was right. Much has been said about the autopsy in Washington and the state of the evidence.Furthermore ,there has been a 75 year freeze put on access to the evidence and investigations.Dr.Crenshaw died in 2001 .At least he is on record for what wounds he saw to the President.
   One day,it may be resolved,and if Dr.Crenshaws assertations are confirmed to be true;that being there was a frontal bullet entry,then the murder of JFK was a conspiracy;and at the highest level of power in the US Government.
   A very interesting read.

5 comments about Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call.

1. The new evidence that former FBI agent-turned-author uncovers is captivating. Don't miss this book! You can't go wrong--whether you like a great read or are fascinated by true crime. I'm not a crime buff by any means, but once I started Tailspin I could not put it down. Major Call is one of the most amazing characters that I have ever encountered. The author weaves meticulous research with a narrative that keeps the book moving at breakneck speed. He also cracks the 50-year-old case that inspired "The Fugitive." Spectacular!



2. To fully appreciate "Tailspin", one should probably be familiar with the Sam/Marilyn Sheppard murder case. That would be the same one that spawned "The Fugitive" TV series. The main character here is an AWOL Air Force Major, Jim Call. Confused? Keep reading! Major Call has a fine military record and a bright military future, with decorations from aerial combat in Korea. When his wife dies, he simply "loses it", throws away his career and virtually overnight, pursues a life of crime. The author offers a gambling problem as an unsatisfactory explanation for this bizarre decision. Call's life continues it's downward spiral via a series of petty robberies and burglaries in Ohio (!), Massachusetts and in the Adirondack region of upstate New York. It was in Lake Placid, NY that Call shoots 3 local cops, killing one. He uses his military escape and evasion skills to elude a NY State Police dragnet. He slides all the way to Reno, NV where he finally is busted by an alert local cop for possessing stolen property. All of this action transpires in just 7 months of the year 1954! This brief time span is the heart of "Tailspin". This reviewer is ignoring Call's combat experience since this is not in the least a military tale. What happens next? One will just have to read "Tailspin" to find out! A good review doesn't divulge the ending. What makes "Tailspin" so unique is that there is MORE to the plot! Very briefly Author Conners, a former FBI Agent, proposes that the perpetrator of the Sheppard murder was none other than the AWOL Major Call! The murder supposedly took place during the Ohio portion of the crime spree mentioned above! An exhausting amount of circumstantial evidence is offered in a lengthy addendum to buttress this view. The problem here is that these considerations are in weighty addition to the obviously recreated dialog, restaged scenes and liberally reinterpreted events of the first part of "Tailspin". Exactly what-and whom- is the reader to believe? Is this True Crime or fiction? As stated above, there is a definite credibility gap here. Were it not for the author's former status as A G-Man, the gap would be wider still. "Tailspin" is still recommended as long as the reader is not overly concerned with facts. Those who view "Tailspin" as a fascinating alchemy of fact and fiction should not be disappointed. A final note: The "Ann Rule" rule is in effect: Some of the photos give away clues. They -and the entire addendum- should be ignored until the reader is done with the main text.



3. This book is aweful. Horrible writing and an unbelievable stretch of barely circumstantial evidence. Any serious student of this case should look elsewhere.



4. Tailspin is a compelling story of an aviator gone wrong but more important it provides compelling evidence which goes a long way toward solving the mystery of the infamous Marilyn Shephard murder of July 1954. As a "LEO" I was very much interested in the manhunt for the person who shot 3 police officers, but the evidence implicating Call in the Shephard case looks to be fairly overwhelming. Anyone with an interest in legal/whodunit thrillers or just an interest in the Shephard case should "DEFINITELY" get this book it is a page turner. Patrick Hogan Wynantskill, NY



5. Major Call was my grandfather. I never knew him and know very little about him due to the fact that no one in my family has ever been willing to speak of him. I tried to read this book objectively. I was aware of the fact that my grandfather was a murderer growing up so it wouldn't have been difficult for me to accept the premise of this book.However, I don't think there is any solid evidence to implicate my grandfather in this case. I also think the book is poorly written (the made-up conversations are overly dramatic, the scant evidence poorly presented) and I think the author is basically trying to use lightning to illuminate a match, as it were.

2 comments about Women Who Kill.

1. This book is a fascinating study of female killers. While the author makes several empirically false statements about female crime (for example, "women get heavier sentences than men", p. 9) she does provide us with an entertaining selection of crime and punishment involving women murderers. From brutal serial killers like Belle Gunness, whose crimes "speak powerfully to the vengeful, man-hating part of every woman" (p.138) to the stories of battered women who kill, Jones offers up a feast of delciously detailed murder in all its glory. Jones illustrates how race and class as well as gender affect how we view crime. This book shows how society's view of women has affected both the prosecution and sentencing of women who kill.



2. Usually, when people write about the crimes that women commit, it's a complicated dance of omission and deception. A recent article in Newsweek magazine illustrated this approach: arrests of violent girls were up 125%, it said. The article never gave the raw number for arrests, however, nor did it define the circumstanes of those arrests, or place them in context. Most critically, it did not place those arrests up against the figures for male violence. Women commit approximately ten to fifteen percent of all violent crimes, yet in fact they are subject to an almost all-male law enforcement and judicial system which is inhabited by conservative males who judge them harshly. Jones explores the context for these judgements, and points out that women are routinely judged twice: as criminals, and then as that mythical creature, Woman, who's sugar and spice if s he knows what's good for her. Thus, while men kill their children to get revenge on escaped spouses, women tend to kill in self defense or because of mental illness. The merciless response to Andrea Yates---rendered psychotic by too much childbearing, too much stress, and the indifference of her breeder-mad fundie hubbbie, is prefigured in this book by the case of the Irish epilectic maid who killed her mistress clumsily while in the midst of an attack and received no mercy whatsoever.
   
   Similarly, in the chapter dealing with despoiled maidens, the author makes the critical point that by letting some women get away with murdering men who had 'seduced' and abandoned them, society was upholding the status quo. Women did not have the vote and yet were punished by the very people who held them powerless and wanted to keep them that way. By letting a few appropriately remorseful women off the hook, society could solve one woman's problem and ignore all the rest.
   
   Jones analyzes society's views of women and crime and weaves the analysis through a fascinating string of historical cases. Amongst the startling facts she reveals are that infanticide cases have remained more or less constant, as a percentage, since the 1700s, when draconian laws essentially removed women's right agaisnt self incrimination. If a woman bore a bastard child, she could be fined and whipped. However, if she was an indentured servant and bore a bastard child, her owner could recieve another SEVEN years of servitude from her and sell the child as well. So many employers profited by raping and impregnating their female servants that the law was changed, but nothing really stopped men from raping women. With heavy penalties for bearing bastards, women resorted to concealing pregnancies, delivering in secret, and then killing the babies. Then a law was passed, making it a capital crime to conceal the birth of such a child. She was dmaned if she did, and damned if she didn't---and it didn't matter if she was a rape victim or not. In some cases, girls were so ignorant of the facts of reproduction that they were effectively defenseless. So much for abstinence only. (There was a case, for example, of a grand daughter of Queen Victoria who was kept so ignorant about her own body that she was impregnated by a foot man who tricked her into having sex. Then, hypocritcally, her family threw her out into the street.)
   
   In any event, the book takes apart the standard cliches that dominate the writing about women's crime, and leaves one with the important realization that one should be exceedingly cautious when confronted with a book that uses percentages in the case of raw numbers. As an example of this, consider this: my hometown had one murder one year, then two the next. What percentage increase is that?

4 comments about The Lynchings in Duluth (Borealis Books).

1. I visited Duluth for the first time last year and liked the town so much, I went back three days ago. The title of this book was enough to shock me into buying it and reading it from cover to cover within a few hours of leaving the shop. The subject is depressing, yet fascinating; the book overturned my outsider's assumptions about the town and the state. Fedo does not get sidetracked by excessive detail or the urge to be judgmental; he tells a horrible, simple story in a way that is both easy to read and deeply disturbing. He tries to understand the motivations of most of the key players, the heroes and the villains, and conveys the difficult choices faced by some of those present. For the police and bystanders in Superior Street that day there was a very thin dividing line between complicity and innocence. As William Green asks in the introduction, "at what point is one's guilt by association manifest?".

   This tragedy could have happened in any state in the country and it would be harsh to say the events of June 1920 suggest that Duluth folk were uniquely bad amongst the people of the North. A set of chance occurrences came together at that moment in that place with consequences that reflect badly on the entire nation in that era. If Duluth is stained by the murders it is as much for the shameful cover-up (the collective amnesia that allowed three victims to lie forgotten for so many decades) as for the events of eighty years ago. Fedo deserves a lot of credit for excavating this episode from his town's past.




2. I stumbled upon this while doing research on my family--imagine my shock to discover my great-grandfather's name mentioned several times in this book. My mother and I read it apprehensively, unsure of what we would discover. My mother worried that her "pa" would be portrayed as a monster, but Mr. Fedo's writing is factual, fair and honoring of the era's perspective. Disturbing and horrifying, I appreciate this valuable document as a lesson in humanity and a testament to how even the most upstanding, warm people can be capable of abhorrent things.



3. When I was growing up in the Duluth area, I had heard references to this event in the city's past, but no one seemed to know much of anything about it. Finally, I see and understand more clearly what happened that night in June 1920.

   I also feel now that I understand the city of Duluth better than I did before I read this book. I always thought that there was a black cloud over the city, but only those who have lived in the city all their lives seemed to be in tune with it. I now see that intense skepticism, lack of passion, and a touch of guilt had been passed down to future generations without those persons even realizing it. I hope that with a memorial on the spot where this tragic event occured that the healing can begin.




4. Much like the public hanging of 38 Dakota in Mankato, MN, the 1920 lynchings that took place in Duluth were part of a dark piece of the state's history that were tacitly buried--almost to the point of being forgotten. Fortunately, Michael Fedo wrote this somewhat comprehensive account of the events and social conditions that culminated in this abhorrent outburst. Unfortunately, the citation is minimal and a couple of key names were changed to protect the people involved; Fedo, a Duluth native himself, originally wrote this book in 1979 (to a lukewarm reception) and seems to have been a bit wary of upsetting people who were involved in the incident and still alive at the time. However, despite these shortcomings, this is one of the only books that documents the lynchings of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie on June 15, 1920, and the trials that followed. (The only other book that I could find that gives a detailed account of the lynchings is John Bessler's LEGACY OF VIOLENCE--much of his material is cited from Fedo's book).

2 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spies and Espionage (The Complete Idiot's Guide).

1. A pretty good brief history with a good lesson in terms and trade craft.
   Has some good event history.



2. The "Idiot's Guide" books have the worst name ever. If anyone spots you reading one of these bright orange tomes, they more than likely think you are an idiot.
   That's really not the case with this book. The guide to Spies and Espionage is an amazing intro to the field of espionage and international spying. Everything is presented clearly and with proper writing style (not too playful, not too stiff). For those looking for tons of gadgets and movie-like action, you may be disappointed, as the book focuses more on the history of spying rather than the procedures and rules of the game. Thrilling missions and incidents are retold with detail, yet also they are very brief. The book seems to strike a perfect balance without getting bogged down at all. You can breeze through a few chapters in an hour and still learn a great deal.
   Again, as I said, a great jumping off point for anyone interested in the field