5 comments about Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. The book was fascinating. It gave a good insight into the origins of criminal profiling and leads the reader through a number of cases from Robert's career. A must read for people interested in abnormal psychology, forensics and profiling.



2. This is a great book for understanding how criminal profiling works and the depth of depravity of compassion in a psychopath!



3. Although written in 1992 this work outlines the evolution of the VICAP program from concept through to implementation. It provides a hands-on insight into law enforcement's commitment to track and categorise violent criminal behavior. An interesting read.



4. In response to Michael J. Tresca's review, wherein he states:
   
   "Alas, truth is stranger than fiction, and the tales Ressler tells are positively awful. There' just one problem: we've heard all of this before.
   
   Where? That'd be "Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit," by John E. Douglas, a man I can only assume was Ressler's protégé. It's a bit murky as to their relationship (the two reference each other, but not often)."
   
   ...it should be noted that Mindhunter came out AFTER Ressler's book, not before.
   
   Otherwise, much of his review is fine. I would note, though, that Ressler's book is far superior, and he is far more modest and measured than Douglas. Douglas makes himself the center of every story, often quite lovingly, and does an unsettling amount of grandstanding about his contributions. Ressler lets the stories speak for themselves and doesn't try to outshine his subjects in importance. I've also read that one of the killers Douglas claims to have interviewed angrily denied he ever spoke to him. Douglas's vanity makes him almost unbearable at times, and with the subject at hand, that can smack of being a bit mercenary and out of touch.
   
   The stories Ressler tells about himself tend to be more interesting, too. For instance, he speaks of people mysteriously losing weight while working on cases, without seeming to change their diets or other habits. Frankly, the stories in this book are so distressing that I, too, experienced a sudden inexplicable weight loss after reading it. This is the kind of thing that is very hard to take.
   
   Ressler dispenses this disturbing material very well. I've read more than a dozen books of this type, and Ressler's towers over the rest. I'd recommend anyone interested in the fascinating subjects of abnormal psychology and psychological profiling read this book first if they'd like a skeleton key to understanding aspects of human behavior so dark they can seem all but forever unfathomable.



5. "Whoever Fights Monsters" by Robert Ressler can be summed up with a quote from page 125.
   "Every ounce of information we can extract from a killer about his mind and methods gives us more ammunition to track the next one."
   
   Mr. Ressler chronicles his career with the military and eventually the FBI.
   
   He is credited with coining the term "serial killer" and he gives the meaning and origin of the term.
   
   In the book the author documents the start of profiling and his unsanctioned venture into prison interviews with violent criminals.
   It was risky, but over time has paid off with some candid interviews and useful information for future investigations.
   Some of the interview highlights that Mr. Ressler shares in the book come from Edmund Kemper, Charles Manson, Tex Watson, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, and Richard Speck.
   He also gives examples of agent-interviewers who got too close emotionally to their subject.
   
   He wrote about the compulsive confessor Henry Lee Lucas who never saw a murder that he wouldn't claim as his work much to the embarrassment of law enforcement agencies throughout the country.
   
   Mr. Ressler's personal view of "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon" from his experience in the field was educational.
   
   I was impressed with this author's writing style. Profilers have a reputation for being arrogant (whether that's just an impression or valid I wouldn't know) but Mr. Ressler humbly explains mistakes he has made over his career. He is efficient at detailing the psychology of the different types of violent criminals. A good book about criminal profiling!

5 comments about Beyond the Body Farm: A Legendary Bone Detective Explores Murders, Mysteries, and the Revolution in Forensic Science.

1. I found the book fascinating. Once started, I read it all the way through. I normally don't read non-fiction, but this was as good as a mystery.Beyond the Body Farm: A Legendary Bone Detective Explores Murders, Mysteries, and the Revolution in Forensic Science



2. Dr. William Blass has written an entertaining and informative book about real forensic science. While he discusses the differences between television forensic science, such as show like "CSI", and the less flashy day to day life of a real CSI, he still makes real life forensics seem exciting and interesting.
   
   Dr. Blass has written novels based on his experiences at the Body Farm, but I haven't read any of them. This real life look at crime scene investigation is as interesting and compelling as any screenplay or novel.
   
   Although some of the cases were very touching, and all of them tragic in one way or another, this book still offered entertainment, information, and built a true respect for real forensic scientists.



3. This is a quickie review for a quickie book. Dr. Bill Bass, the man who revolutionized forensics by examining the corruption of the flesh with scientific exactitude, follows up his memoir "Death's Acre" with a collection of stories of the cases he's worked on.
   
   With the help of writer Jon Jefferson, Bass is an avuncular storyteller, exhibiting a pleasure in his work that readers who are uncomfortable with the thought of spending one's life hanging around the dead might find offensive. Of course, one should have a means of protection, a detachment that is vital when dealing with someone so elemental as witnessing for the dead.
   
   Over 16 chapters, Bass and Jefferson recount 13 cases, some of which were solved or advanced due to research performed at the Body Farm. There's the case of the body found in the burnt-out car, whose time of death was determined by the age of the maggots breeding on him. There was the assistant DA, found trussed and stabbed inside his home, whose time of death helped convict the man who did it.
   
   The high point of the book was a guest appearance by The Big Bopper, who died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and Richard Valens. The rumored presence of a gun on board the plane, and the possibility of it going off and killing the pilot, led the family to request an exhumation. The Bopper's son, who was born after the singer's death, was present, and the tale acquires a thin sheen of fiction as he, surprisingly to all, finds a bit of closure with his tragically absent father, due in a large part to very, very good embalming.
   
   True crime finds will probably treat "Beyond the Body Farm" like a treat, gobbled quickly and mostly forgotten -- apart from the Bopper's tale and that poor man's intestines -- but it also serves as a tonic against the "CSI effect". Solving mysteries in real life takes money, time, human effort, and is never interrupted by commercials. And in some of the cases, we're still left with questions.



4. I found this book to be as engrossing as Death's Acre. Dr Bill Bass is truly a pioneer in forensic science. I found that I couldn't put this book down!



5. Great!! Loved the part on the Big Bopper. The whole book is wonderful just like the original!

5 comments about Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer.

1. I've been an off-and-on Ann Rule fan -- completely hooked by the earlier "Small Sacrifices" and "The Stranger Beside Me," and less enamored by some of her later work. Here, she tackles a huge, decades-long story that, like "TSBM," touches on her own personal life. It's a daunting undertaking that must have required hundreds upon hundreds of hours of interviews and the endless mining of information. So I wish there was more "fact" on the page -- and less of the unfortunate over-sentimentalizing of victims and general authorial melodramatics. I wish Rule didn't feel she owed every victim (and their families) adjectives like "pretty" or passages meant to manipulate our sympathies. Show us real people captured through clear-headed reporting, and we'll naturally care about them; we don't need to be told, page after page, what to feel. I came to this after reading Truman Capote's exhaustively researched and skillfully written "In Cold Blood," so most contemporary true-crime writing is going to pale by comparison. Still, I wish the reporting could have been more thoroughly presented and objective, and the storytelling less manipulative. There's more than enough real drama inherent in this story, but I feel the details sometimes get shortchanged in favor of melodrama. (Based on reading the Kindle version of this book.)
   
   One final note: While many details may be 100% accurately reported, I was shocked to see Rule make two howling errors with regard to popular music. "Heart of Glass" was not a song by Heart (it's by Blondie). And Heart's 1970s song wasn't "Tugboat Annie"; it was "Dreamboat Annie." Small mistakes, to be sure. But when you're talking about a multi-platinum Seattle-based band -- in a Seattle-based story from a Seattle-based writer -- it made me stop and wonder just how many other oversights had slipped through.



2. What a great book! Couldn't put it down! Ann Rule is one of the best authors in this genre. I felt like I was in the case myself



3. This is the very first book by Ann Rule I've ever read, and will definitely be the very last book I'll ever read by her. I don't want to spend lots of time on something I found so inferior, so I'll try to make it concise. First, the title: very sensational, exploitative and UNTRUE. This killer was not a "butcher" as the title strongly suggests. Second, the book is extremely overwritten in many places and terribly underwritten in others. Rule claims to have cared about each and every victim, but it's obvious that she had her favorite ones (some women get mentioned in LONG detail, repeatedly to boot, while others get 3 sentences maximum. And believe me, information has always been out there about them, as well). This bothered and disappointed me. Hardly NOTHING about Marcia Chapman :( a mother of three whose murder was the one that broke the case 2 decades later. Where was her sad, but proud declaration "I need this money for my kids"? The drastic differences in attention from one victim to the next made for an uneven reading experience. Furthermore, lots and lots of pages are wasted on false suspects and assaults that apparently weren't encounters with the GRK. The last section of the book, devoted to the retarded loser who was in fact the killer, and his confessions and hearing, is thin and very rushed in comparison to the drawn-out, oftentimes boring first half. If Rule hated to write about him & his actions that much, she shouldn't have tried to tackle this difficult subject.
   
   Perhaps the worst part is her need to constantly interject herself into things. There are even two pictures of HER (very bloated and quite UN-photogenic I might add) in the photo section amongst the victims and cops. I was quite offended by her unwarranted ego. Her personal experiences are relevant about three times, yet she stops the story on dozens of occasions to brag about how she was receiving worthless tips, writing other potboilers, casually covering the same ground as the killer, and arriving at the crime scenes or choosing to stay away. Who cares?! She wasn't a police officer or even a journalist assigned to the case. She was obviously so desperate to be a part of things, either as a cop, a reporter, or perhaps...??? It was pathetic and left a bad taste in my mouth. Some details were mentioned but not even attempted to be followed up on- like why the rocks were left in the two young women in the river, and just how much of the letter he wrote was (in)accurate. She could've fit all this in and more if she had removed herself from the book. That would've cut the word count down by a third.
   
   If you're unfamiliar with this case and want to learn more, I'd definitely recommend researching on the internet instead. There's only a little that you'll find in this book that isn't on reputable websites, plus there's a lot more that she didn't bother to put in, especially regarding the confessions. If you're very familiar with this case, pass on it unless you're an obsessed loser. I'll give it one star for the half-a**ed effort and another for the readability (junior high school level). Absolutely NOT the definitive book on this case.



4. I have read quite a few true crime books by Mrs. Ann Rule,such titles as "The Lust Killer"-The story of Jerome Brudos, "The Stranger Beside Me"-The Ted Bundy Murders,"The I-5 Freeway Killer"-The story of serial murderer and rapist,Randy Woodfield and "Small Sacrifices"-The story of Diane Downs. "Small Sacrifices was a particularily emotional and very heartwrenching true story of a young mother of three who shot her three small children, one died and the other two have permanent physical and emotional damages, because her lover did not want to be a "daddy", Now ,Rule's latest book to date "Green River,Running Red" in my own opinion is the most accurate, horrific,shocking and most of all, very emotional. Rule brings back life to the dead young women and gives them dignity that very few people of Seattle, except for their grieving families and even the poor women themselves, felt they did not deserve to be treated with respect and dignity simply because they were trapped in a hellish life of prostitution. Ann Rule's book literally sucked me into the story. I felt I was right there in the middle of it all. I felt I had known the victims myself because Rule gives such a clear, comphrensive account of their short lives that were over before they really even begun. I give this book 5 stars because of the accuracy,the story of how The Green River Task Force worked endlessly for over twenty years,the easy to understand literature and most of all ,the compelling emotional truth of the Green River cases and the victims and their families. A must read for all Ann Rule fans!



5. I decided to read this book after seeing the TV movie based on Ann Rule's book. However, I believe another book written in the late 80s/early 90s, The Search For the Green River Killer, was better.
   
   Rule's book goes a bit overboard in giving backgrounds to the many women who disappeared. After reading 40+ mini bio's on each of the girls, the book starts to become a bit boring. However, she does give the reader enough information to know that these girls were real people and that they all had mothers, boyfriends, and family. However, these bios continue for at least 250 pages (paperback). Once the bios are finished, the book begins to take off.
   
   One irritating factor is how Rule stops the flow of narration to interject comments about herself, or what she was doing during the course of the killings, or how she passed on certain information to the police, blah blah blah. I believe one should write objectively about the subject without personal interjection.
   
   Another facet of the book I found unusual was how the book skipped from circa 1988/89 to 2001. Rule gives basically no information as to what was happening on the case during the 90s. She starts section III with 2001 and the capture of Ridgway. Well...what happened during the 90s? How did the police slowly hone in on Ridgway?
   
   The last section of the book starts with "We've caught the GRK" and then goes into his capture, his trial and so on.
   
   I've read other Ann Rule books. I know she writes well but this book was a bit self-serving.

5 comments about The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?.

1. I'm surprised by David Stoll's review of Goldman's book. I had a very different reaction when I read it. Like both Stoll and Goldman, I have lived in Guatemala and written about the history and impact of political violence in the country. In addition, as a human rights lawyer, I have worked with prosecutors, rights advocates, and victims in countries throughout the region as they've struggled to ensure that cases like the Gerardi assassination do not end in impunity.
   
   Knowing first-hand the complexities of such cases, I found that Goldman did a masterful job of sifting through the evidence in the Gerardi case and reaching conclusions that were entirely judicious, sober, and convincing. Part of what makes the book so fascinating, in fact, is Goldman's very careful exploration of the limits and strengths of the case put together by the prosecutors and the Archbishop's Office--the contradictory testimonies, the dubious witnesses, etc. And what makes the book such a gripping read is how Goldman, a phenomenal storyteller, narrates the inevitably imperfect but remarkably audacious effort by a group of young lawyers to do something that most of their countrymen thought entirely impossible at the time--bring high level military officers to justice.
   
   This is easily one of the best books written about political violence in Latin America in the past several decades.



2. I got the book expecting to find insightful and unbiased investigation through the point of view of ODHA. Nevertheless, the author views are totally biased in favor of the ODHA lawyers and the Public Ministry. This feature of the book helped me to confirm that the arguments used by them to sentence the two military officers, and the catholic father to 20 years in jail are based on untrustful witnesses and false declarations, which are still supported by the author. The only good thing about this book is that it motivated me to read once again the book "Quien mató al obispo?" written by Maite Rico and Bertrand de Lagrange, which I think that contains much more trustful data, and that I wish it gets translated into English to broader its difussion. I hope that the inocent military people who are now in jail, as a result of an undeserved and unfair sentence could, sometime soon, be free.



3. Frankly, I wasn't at all sure about this book when I picked it up but I'm so glad I did. It's filled with much detailed and historically fascinating information, including personalities, and written exceptionally well. I simply could not put it down. If you're remotely interested in the topic, READ THIS BOOK.



4. The reviews here seem to fall into 3 camps: the "it's a perfect masterpiece"" camp, the "he was duped by ODHA - 'who killed biship' got it right" camp, and the "he is a lefist fool" camp. I belong to none of these, so let me throw my two cents in here....
   
   I spent a brief time in Guatemala doing human rights work in the mid 80's (a shout out to any PBI alums in the house :)), and so was interested in the subject matter, and had at least a glancing acquaintance with the horrid murderous travesty that was the Guatemalan government, as well as the impenetrable fog of denials, mis-statements, forgeries, violence, hidden agendas, disappearances and murk that hid virtually any attempt to get at any truth.
   
   I found the first half of the book (which focuses on the "who-done-it") outstanding. Here Goldman relates the story of the investigation - the false leads, the disappearing witnesses, the hopelessly (and deliberately) contanimated crime scene, the (deliberately) conflicting evidence, the overlapping areas (and agendas) of the investigators, etc. That the investigators were able to finally pierce it (not completely, but most crimes never are) is just amazing, especially given the very real threat to themselves and their families.
   
   I think the other reviewers who criticize this book for not analyzing the case for/against Monsenor Mario, or for not analyzing the case made by 'who killed the bishop' are being unfair - goldman spends a _lot_ of time on each of these, especially the latter, to the point that you could almost criticize the book for over-focusing on it. Similarly, I think criticizing the book for not telling more of the story of the defendants is ludicrous - when your primary interactions with a defendant consist of their giving you death threats, it's hard to go much further!
   
   The problem with the book lies in the second half, what is called the "second crime" - the multi-year "war of attrition" against the verdict, year after year of judicial games, wars in the press, maneuver after maneuver. Here, while I appreciate the author's work in showing us just how deeply broken the justice system and press were (and are), I just felt the book became a less interesting read - we know who done it, we know why, now we read chapter after chapter of frustration (although it sure made me glad I've never been a guest of the Guatemalan Penal system!). One last cavil - another reviewer says that Goldman never walks us through the final 'best guess' of the final crime, minute by minute - oh yes he does, it's near the end.
   
   So in summary - a good book, an important book, a book alternately deeply depressing and deeply inspring, but not a great _read_, the only reason I am marking it down a little.



5. I've been to Guatemala many times before and since Bishop Juan Gerardi's murder, and Francisco Goldman electrifies readers of "The Art of Political Murder" about one famous Guatemalan murder among thousands of others. His title using "the art" is so well chosen, since that word expresses so well the clever yet insidious minds who designed his murder. Despite those clever designers and their plots to hide their crime, and at the same time because of the courage of many Guatemalans in pursuing those murderers, some element of justice has been meted out to them.
   I found Goldman's chronicle of the assassination of Bishop Gerardi to be so engaging that it encourages a reading almost without stopping.

5 comments about Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O. J. Simpson Got Away with Murder.

1. This is a must-read! Insightful analysis and a page-turner to boot. This is the story of the "perfect storm" of bad lawyering and bad judging. Bugliosi hits it out of the park!



2. despite the fact that i think vincent bugliosi is the most brilliant and capable prosecutor of our lifetime, i found this book to be an unending tirade that just went on and on for hundreds of pages. there was nothing new about the case, probably because it all played out on tv. i would not recommend this book unless you were stuck in an igloo for 1100 years.



3. Even if you're among the many who, like the author, is convinced that O.J. "did it", this is not the book to read. Bugliosi comes across as so obviously biased against Simpson, his book, if anything, adds fuel to the fire for arguments by those who are convinced of Simpson's innocence. Bugliosi's arguments are contradictory, hypocritical and contemptuous of our legal traditions. For instance, after paying rich lip service to the legal principle that the burden of proof in a criminal case is entirely on the prosecution, he states openly that Simpson should have been convicted because he didn't have a convincing alibi. Also, after stating that ethical rules prohibit attorneys from "playing the race card" and criticizing O.J.'s defense team for doing so, he openly criticizes the prosecution for not trying to keep the trial in Santa Monica where Bugliosi asserts they would have been assured of a virtually all-white jury that would certainly have convicted Simpson. This book adds nothing of value to the long record of what is probably the world's most publicized case. Plenty of books have been written about this case. You'll get a lot more from them than you will from Outrage.



4. Bugliosi is in high dudgeon here, but not without considerable justification. A book urged on him by his Norton editor, the tone is that of a conversation between author and reader, with copious asides and personal reflections. Bugliosi is outraged by the incompetence of the prosecution, the mendacity of the defense, the palpable guilt of the defendant, the many flagrant mistakes of the judge and the flawed and fawning reportage of the media. He is angry and he displays his anger with a rush of charges, examples, and--in bold type--examples of how he himself would have argued the case.
   
   The book is not an unrelieved phillipic and Bugliosi takes the time to weigh, e.g., the degree of guilt that should be assigned and the degree of victimhood which should be appreciated in the case of a subsidiary figure such as Mark Fuhrman. Ultimately this is a book about our system of justice, which Bugliosi admires, but also the pathetic level of minimal competence (or maximum incompetence) with which those who are part of that system turn and grind its wheels.
   
   Though not a point-by-point history of the Simpson case and trial, the book reviews the individuals and the evidence which were at its core. If you have ever been nonplussed by our system of justice, read this book for confirmation of your own feelings. If you want a pointed and reasonably comprehensive review of the case and trial, read this book. Expect some fresh insight, but do not expect a vast amount of new evidence. And yes, O.J. did it. The evidence is indisputable.



5. Vincent Bugliosi does a terrific job explaining how and why O.J. Simpson was found not guilty. From the prosecution's inability to present the evidence to convict Simpson, to the defense's misleading the jury. Some main points that point to Simpson's guilt: 1) His blood and DNA found at the scene of the crime.2)His suicide note.3)Having alot of cash,a disquise and passport on his person after the chase.4)History of violence towards his wife.5)His statement to police.6)Having the same type shoes and gloves that was found at the crime scene.7) Just happens to a have a cut on his hand at the same time as the murders and not remembering how it happened.8)Claimed he was chipping golf balls around the time of the murders..yea right.9)Was not upset when told of his wife's murder. All just a coincidence?? No, just the facts that lead to one outcome...GUILTY!!!

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

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



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



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



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



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

5 comments about The Execution of Willie Francis: Race, Murder, and the Search for Justice in the American South.

1. Willie Francis was a sixteen-year-old black boy with a third grade education who was convicted of the murder of a white man in St. Martinsville, Louisiana in 1946. After being strapped into the electric chair--dubbed "Gruesome Gertie" by prisoners--a strange thing happened. Although cranked up to its full voltage, the switch thrown, and his body twitching horribly, Willie Francis did not die.
   
   Many people believed that God had intervened to save Willie Francis's life and that therefore he should not be electrocuted a second time. A local white attorney named Bertrand DeBlanc believed that to put Francis in the electric chair a second time would constitute cruel and unusual punishment and place him in double jeopardy. So, against the wishes of most of the Cajun parish in which he lived, and at some considerable danger to his life and career, DeBlanc took the case and tried to save Francis's life.
   
   Gilbert King makes it clear that it was highly unlikely that Willie Francis could have committed this crime, even if he had wanted to, and further that his appointed defense lawyers presented no defense at all to the charges. King shows how the "confession" was probably coerced from Willie Francis by Sheriff Gilbert Ozenne and his colleagues who had spent a considerable part of their lives terrifying and brutalizing black people and others who would stick up for them. As has been documented in innumerable books, people like Ozenne and his sidekick Gus "Killer" Walker believed that their job was to "keep the nigras down" by whatever means, and especially to deny them their civil rights, in particular the right to vote.
   
   The larger horrific drama, of which the Willie Francis case is just one sorry example, played prominently throughout the South after the Civil War (and continues in more muted tones today), but was most obvious in places like St. Martinsville where people were mostly poor and uneducated. The savage brutality was first of all a way of effectively maintaining something close to slavery, and second a revenge upon the North for winning the war and attempting to deprive the South of its cheap source of labor. In another sense this sordid record of murder and something close to genocide or ethnic cleansing (before such terms were much used), stemmed from an attempt by beaten southern white males, in most particular the semi-educated and ignorant ones, to reestablish their deluded notion of manhood.
   
   But this is also a chapter in the story of how gradually the South changed; how Afro-Americans with incredible patience and Sisyphean labors over many decades, while suffering enormous pain and loss of life, managed to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and achieve something close to equality with whites. It is a story of great courage and determination.
   
   Gilbert King's account is a vivid and compelling chapter in this uniquely American tale. The book is meticulously researched, amply documented with numerous endnotes, beautifully written, and powerfully engaged. In short, The Execution of Willie Francis is a outstanding work of journalism and a much welcome addition to an important literature. We have to face what we have done so that it might be a bit more difficult for others to do the same; and there, by increments, we might become more human.



2. over 60 years ago..this took place..and this author..who has written..what?.. his credentials?..
   
   is pushing this! NOW...as for what?.. possibly..an agenda, eh?.. besides his profit?.. (oh, is the profits of this book going to something else?.. like legit anti-capital punishment organizations, like ones that have existed longer than the history of this case?..
   
   this author..IMHO..is pandering!..
   
   GOD..this is SICK..: an author pushing his agenda for his profit, at the expense of first--trully guilty criminal individuals--and most horrific--the victims of the trully guilty criminal individuals-who most likely did not scream, "I AM N-N-NOT DYING!"...
   
   BUT!: "dont dont dont please dont kill me..please dont dont dont please dont kill me ..dont dont dont please dont kill me!!.. why are you doing this?.." (that is if the victims had the chance)..
   
   PANDERING FOR PROFITS!



3. Everytime I read a book like "The Execution of Willie Francis" I wonder aloud why I had never come across anything about this incident before. American history is replete with long forgotten and fascinating tales like this one and author Gilbert King has come up with a real winner here. "The Execution of Willie Francis" is a riveting book that paints a vivid portrait of life in the Louisiana bayou in the 1940's. And for the most part the picture is not a very pretty one. Willie Francis was just 16 years old when he was charged with the murder of popular St. Martinville druggist Andrew Thomas. Willie did not deny that he had killed Thomas. The preponderance of evidence would seem to confirm it. But were there extenuating circumstances here? Willie had worked for Andrew Thomas at the drugstore doing odd jobs. In his written confession Willie Francis makes an extremely curious statement recalling that "it was a secret about him and me." Yet at his trial, which most objective observers would consider to be an absolute travesty of justice, his court appointed attorneys failed to mount any sort of defense at all on behalf of their client. Young Willie Francis was sentenced to die in the electric chair. On May 3, 1946 Willie Francis was strapped into the portable electric chair known as Gruesome Gertie and the switch was thrown. Remarkably, Willie Francis did not die! The execution had been badly botched and Willie Francis would live to see another day. At this point a young Cajun attorney named Bertrand LeBlanc would get involved in this case. LeBlanc's ancestors had been heavily involved in the white supremacy movement in Louisiana but young Bertrand rejected this way of thinking. Like so many other young men who had served alongside Negroes in World War II the war had changed his thinking on the subject of race. Much like Aticus Finch in Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "To Kill A Mockingbird", Bertrand LeBlanc would incur the wrath of his community to defend this young black man. Over the next year this story would take numerous twists and turns as the state of Louisiana sought to return Willie Francis to the chair a second time. In fact, Bertrand LeBlanc would succeed in taking this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and the fate of Willie Francis would become a national story.
   While Gilbert King certainly does a workmanlike job of presenting the facts surrounding the trial and subsequent execution of Willie Francis "The Execution of Willie Francis" turns out to be about so much more. This book examines the sad state of race relations in the South during this period. At the same time King presents in clear and concise language the complex legal issues that surrounded this most unusual situation. Finally, readers catch a somewhat unflattering glimpse of how the U.S. Supreme Court handled this particular case. I must tell you that "The Execution of Willie Francis" had this reader mesmorized throughout. I simply could not put this one down. It is a story that you will never forget. Very highly recommended!



4. This is a well-written account of a crime committed in the forties by a young black man against a white man. It takes the reader into the unfair conditions of race in the forties. One feels a bit uncomfortable with the truth of it.
   
   The death penalty is at the center. It's always been hard to know if the death penalty is fair or not. It's easy to see the reason on both sides. At any rate, this book offers a look into a story in history that most of us haven't known about and it's well worth the read.
   
   Highly recommended.
   
   -Susanna K. Hutcheson



5. This is simply a great book. Gilbert King's gripping account of injustice, racial prejudice, and the brutality of capital punishment is at times poignant, at times harrowing, but always sure-footed in holding the reader's interest and propelling a tightly constructed narrative such as movies are made of. Indeed the cast of characters to be found here, from the tragic Francis--railroaded by the law--to his fearless Louisiana attorney, Betrand DeBlanc, who risks his standing in the Cajun community by working so zealously on Willie's behalf, make one think immediately in cinematic terms. A profound, powerful, magnificent book. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Murder Machine (Onyx).

1. Everyone has their own opinion on this book and I respect that,...I didn't find it that interesting. In fact, I thought it was downright boring. I love a good scary read, and this was not one. It was obvious that some of the reviews were by friends and family members of the author, as is typical of most books reviewed on here, but still I would love to have my money back for this one. Amazon needs to add a half star or "no star" to their ratings.



2. Very well written and well done. This book offers an inside peek into the activities of the Mafia, particularly the Roy Demeo crew within the Gambino family. The author does a good job of corroborating information from informants with law enforcement. The book starts out more from a "wiseguy's" point of view and evolves into more of the law enforcement side as the story goes and more information of cases are revealed law enforcement. I like autobiographies best, however this is an accurate and interesting account from many perspectives, creating a good overview of the whole story. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys non-fictional drama and true crime stories.



3. Murder Inc., The Westies, Bath Avenue crew, The Purple Gang, Mad Sam DeStefano in Chicago, Nicky Scarfo, Vito Genovese, and of course Carmine Galante and his crew. All were extremely scary groups of people, but they don't hold a light to the Gemini crew. Roy Demeo was insane.After reading this book I don't think I'll look at organized crime the same. A lot of innocent people got in the way of these guys and paid for it with their lives. The whole time I was reading this book I kept thinking I was in a nightmare but I coud not put it down. THIS IS THE BEST MOB BOOK.............EVER!!!!!! But not for the weak.



4. This turgid, way-too-long and ponderous book proved to be a major dissapointment. I had just finished reading the fascinating ICE MAN, a true-life study of a monsterous mafia killer. I was hoping for more of the same. Instead, this book goes into tedious, endless detail about the killers, their family ties, their interactions--but there's almost nothing about the actual killings. ICE MAN took specific cases and went into gory detail about how they were accomplished. in MURDER MACHINE, the authors throw us an occasional murder but give almost zero descriptive accounts of how these killings were done. So many characters are introduced that I had to finally start jotting them down to keep them apart. We're given unnecessary geographical descriptions that are a waste of time. The authors obviously spent a great deal of time writing this tome and I admire them for it. But after 300 pages, I simply had to call it quits. I found myself watching cable TV, with this book in hand, more than becoming engrossed with the pages of this book.



5. The police attribute officially 75 murders to the Demeo crew but the total could be as high as 200.Far from being just killings as a result of mob "housecleanings"alot of them are represented in the book as sport by DeMeo and his associates.Some of the victims had nothing to do with the mob.
   The book revolves around the life of Ex-Green Beret Vietnam Veteran Dominic Montiglio and his association with the DeMeo crew and how he turned "states evidence" on the murderous crew. Montiglio claimed to have never killed a person,"on the streets"and as the tale is told I believe his testimony. Montiglio was literally born into the Mafia,through family connections,and the tale revolves his complete break with his family. He says in the end that,"family is not blood,but trust and respect".Since he had applied for PTSD counseling and was turned down by the VA on numerous occasions,his story has the ring of an American hero.The book has a great ending.
   For those who just can't get enough of those true crime books this is truly a great one with lots of action and twisted horrific stories of the DeMeo sadists which are only too believable.The DeMeo crew was just one of the numerous car stealing/loan shark/murder enterprises of the Gambino crime family.This crew was even too hot for the mob boss Paul Castellano.

5 comments about Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer.

1. I was in junior high school when the Green River Killer was making his rounds. I remember watching about it on the TV news. While books have been written about the case, I was waiting until it had been solved to read about it. When I saw this book, I knew this was the one I would finally purchase because it was written by someone who actually had worked the case, not an outsider.
   
   This book is excellent--it is very well written, concise, and full of factual evidence. It also shows that we in law enforcement are humans and have feelings, too. We just often have to set them aside while we deal with horrible incidents.
   
   I am a dispatcher at a sheriff's office in a western state. I was almost finished with the book when I brought it to work with me. Within minutes of its discovery, co-workers were calling out dibs on who got to read it next. One deputy even called me on the radio to ask if I was finished reading it yet!
   
   So, this book is making the rounds at our office. And, everyone agrees with me that it is a VERY GOOD book.



2. Gary Ridgway is a pretty unremarkable man, but he inspired a remarkable story. This is one of the few serial killer cases where the investigative team is more interesting than the actual killer. At no point has Gary Ridgway crossed over from being a heartless murderer to pop culture antihero like, say, Charles Manson has. Being prostitutes, Ridgway's victims were almost too vulnerable, practically laid out on a buffet for him to prey upon. David Reichert struggles with this fact and many others throughout this story. You'll get a good sense of the intense pressure he and his team felt during their experience. The community was outraged at the task force's seeming lack of progress; the media fueled the fire by pointing out mistakes and missed opportunities. Later, budget cuts and over-involvement by the FBI were enough to drive many task force members to seek other assignments. Reichert's views on all of these are made clear, and the politics of a major city's police force are on display for all to see. Incredibly, at one point, the case had become so fruitless that only one man (not Reichert) was assigned to it for the duration. The task force's tireless work and evidence-collecting paid off in the end, and the prolific killing spree was finally ended. Others reviewing this book have called Reichert an egomaniac but I don't think he comes off like that at all. He gives a lot of credit where it's due, admits his errors, and is respectful to the victims at all times. His obsession is the reason the case got as far as it ever did. If David Reichert wanted to look like a big shot, I'd say he sacrificed a lot to get there.



3. Sheriff David G. Reichert might have written his autobiography here. After all, he was one in charge in regards to the Green River case. Reichert got involved from the first victim until the killer, Gary Leon Ridgway, finally confessed to killing over 50 victims and finding locations for the remains of some of them. For his confession, he was given life in prison without the possibility of parole. I'm sure some people felt that he deserved the death penalty and probably so. He murdered almost all women mostly prostitutes and drug addicts and runaways. Hardly the population that needed publicity. In Ted Bundy's day, he went after well-respected daughters, college students. Bundy referred to the Green River Killer's victims as bottom feeders because most families and friends wouldn't report them missing so soon. Reichert writes about the frustration and aggravation in almost every turn in trying to chase the devil who was the Green River Killer. I think we forget that law enforcement can be human and make mistakes. There were those that covered. The girls on the strip were in danger and they even knew it too. The Green River Killer took 20 years to find and he was a regular employee at Kenworth company as a truck driver. He was interviewed at times but nothing added up until the technology and DNA evidence. He finally confessed to his hideous crimes which included necrophilia something that Ted Bundy also did but was ashamed of. Ridgway comes clean and confesses to over 50 murders. It probably relieved the families that there would never be a trial which can be more painful in bringing up the past. Some victims were never found but I admired Reichert's way of memorializing them on the end pages of this book as well as writing about the many people, men and women who brought justice to the Green River victims.



4. as far as biases go, this book takes the cake. mr. reichert explains how he was the absolute pivot point around which the entire investigation rotated. i wasn't there, nor do i know what actually happened - but to think that one person solved the entire case is mind-boggling. i know forensic science is all encompassing and a community of scientists, police, etc. working together to come to the conclusion. mr. reichert makes it seem as though he did not utilize anyone else's help. interesting perspective.



5. This book was awful! The only reason why I read it all the way through is because I paid money for it. It has very little to do with the Green River Killer and everything to do with the investigator. I bought this book wanting to know about the investigation not about what Reichert had for breakfast! AWFUL.

5 comments about Gone Forever: A True Story of Marriage, Betrayal, and Murder (True Crime (St. Martin's Paperbacks)).

1. The Good: The author obviously did her homework on this case. It is clear that she obtained in-depth information from all of those closely involved in the case and those that knew and loved Susan McFarland. The story is told in a comprehensive manner, leaving no questions as to what happened in the before, during, and after of the crime.
   
   The Bad: The actual writing is a bit amateurish. The author attempts to end most chapters with a "shocking" cliff-hanger type statement, however, the story is compelling enough on its own to keep the readers turning pages. This use of techique is not warrented and slightly annoying.
   
   The author's use of detailed descriptions of certain buildings, events, people, etc. is somewhat inconsistent and again unnecessary. They happen spottily and are mostly a distraction from the larger story.
   
   The author makes grandiose statements regarding acquaintance's thoughts and feelings, which are rather over-stated and dramatic for drama's sake. They come across as cheesy and really do nothing to enhance an already dramatic story.
   
   Finally, some of the conversations between characters could have been paraphrased for clarity, as they were slightly confusing and hard to understand at times. There are other inconsistencies, grammatical errors, and minor holes that a good editor should have caught before this book went to press.
   
   The Ugly: I was shocked and angered that no one in Rick's or Susan's families took their children in after their horrible experience. This, to me, is almost as bad as the crime itself. Those children will be forever marred by this experience, and I only hope that their adoptive families can somehow help them salvage a somewhat normal life in adulthood.



2. I felt the book was lacking in depth of background information regarding aspects of the numerous relationships discussed. Many unnecessary tidbits of info are given for no apparent reason. As written, the story could have been streamlined. I would have liked more insight to the reasons why this woman stayed with her husband for so long and why none of her devoted family or friends were willing to help her children in their time of need. The 'stayed for the kids' sake' type of explanations are hollow. That man was doing nothing good for the kids as everyone knew, he wasn't supporting the family financially-quite the opposite, and everyone watched the horrible tragedy play out in slow motion.
   And why give fictitous names for the children of the deceased woman only to show a picture of her headstone with their real names on it?
   Disappointing read...



3. Gone Forever is the first book I read by Diane Fanning. In my opinion, the first paragraph of a book makes you want to read more and the last paragraph makes you want to read the next book written by the author. This certainly was the case for me with this book. I have read all of Diane's books and look forward to more. As to why women stay in abusive marriages, I have done a lot of research on this and I always hear the same answer, "I don't know." I honestly believe abused women do not know and until a person is in that situation, they don't have the right to judge. A well written book Diane. Wish you could write books as fast as we read them.



4. THIS BOOK DEFINATELY HELD MY INTEREST. SUE'S HUSBAND WAS REALLY BIZARRE! IF YOU LIKE TRUE CRIME BOOKS, THIS ONE IS WORTH THE READ.



5. There is true crime for people who only want "entertainment" and then there's true crime for people who think. Diane Fanning delivers both the strong read, the "sizzle" and the "steak." (OK, I'm a big meat eater.) She doesn't duck the tough issues in an ugly crime and in Gone Forever, she delves into the real questions of "why" this kind of crime could happen. It's great to see a writer work harder with each successive book and rise to the top. This is true crime worth reading because of what you learn about the "dark side" of human behavior.