5 comments about A Mother Gone Bad: The Hidden Confession of JonBenet's Killer.

1. This book paints one viewpoint and tries to make the puzzle pieces fit. Yes, Karr turned out to be a total nut but I still believe the Ramseys are 100% innocent..Let us bring up a few points the book neglects.
   
   The Ramseys were out of the house on the night of the murder for several hours..
   Is it possible the killer was waiting with a ransom note already and hid out??
   
   The Ramseys had a huge gathering out their house several DAYS prior to the murder. Many people were in and out of their house that night with posssible access to house keys, note pads etc. etc.
   
   DNA evidence was taken and NONE of it matched either Patsy or her husband...meaning ANOTHER party must have been involved
   So, I guess the parents are covering up for he/she too??
   
   Why are these obvious points never fully adressed
   Patsy Ramsey is innocent. Let her rest in peace...



2. I was very impressed with Andrew G. Hodges' book. I know many of you will consider it psychological "mumbo jumbo" but you might consider that Hodges is an expert in his field, with more than 25 years experience. I found the book fascinating. His line by line analysis of the ransom note intrigued me and the entire book read like a "who-dunit." None of us want to believe that parents could be capable of such a horrendous crime, but it happens; ask any social worker or experienced cop. Incidentally, consider this: The Ramseys sued Steve Thomas and several others, but they never touched Hodges. They did not even acknowledge the existence of this book!



3. Detailed analysis of the murder and psychological profiles for the mother and father. Analysis of letters, relationships, everything..He got it down pat. Engrossing, accurate, clever and believable explanations for almost every single incident that occured within this case. Different possibilites, outcomes, some things assumed but when you read it you know its dead on correct. This guy knows what hes talking about and is an expert at reading people and breaks down the likely motives for what actually occured. Realizing what people really mean when they write or say something and 'reading between the lines'.
   
   I read this book in one sitting, quite long, but i couldnt put it down. Every detail kept me interested due to the convincing and accurate truthfulness and frankness in the way he deals with the case and gives explanations for everything. Different possible scenarios, backgrounds of family, motives, lives , everything you can possibly want to know is in this book. Highly Recommended.



4. I found this book to be laughable. I believe that it's possible to decipher hidden meanings in what people say or write, but I don't believe this author has done so. As other reviewers have said, he gave no basis or back up for his methodology, and there was little to make me believe it was anything other than psychobabble. I even tried a few times to read the section of the ransom note first, then guess what he would say, and a few times I got it right. Whether she committed this crime or not, this book should not be seen as proof.



5. This book, written by a very learned and respected scholar and psychiatrist, is interesting and reaches a conclusion that has significant support - namely that Patsy Ramsey wrote the infamous 'ransom' note. However, it may not be the best introductory book on the Ramsey case since it is very lean on facts and very high in analysis that is (or was) fairly unorthodox. Students of the Ramsey case will inevitably come to read this book and will eventually enjoy it, but it isn't a primer on the case.

5 comments about Lethal Embrace.

1. My review rating is between Bryan mackay's - A TRUE CRIME MASTERPIECE - and K. Cantrell's - A CLICHE MURDER, AND THE BORING DETAILS THAT FOLLOW. I have read many, many true crime books and this book did not keep my interest as much as some others I have read. I think it was because of the repetiveness that K. Cantrell mentions. Peter Wood "WriterFighter" - FIRST-TIME CRIME READER - states that it was somewhat repetitive, but it was repetitive in a good way to him. It wasn't for K. Cantrell and me. It seemed like filler to me. It was very sad that an innocent man, who by all accounts was a great guy, was killed by mistaken identity. I had much empathy for his family. I felt that Lee Ann's mom, Pat Armanini, and her lesbian lover, Elizabeth "Liz" Budroni, should have been held more accountable. It was Liz who started asking around for someone to hurt Lee Ann's husband, Paul Riedel, and it was her who first introduced Lee Ann to the shooter. Liz and Pat were both in on the meetings to discuss doing something bad to Paul. Either one of them could have gone to the police with the information and maybe prevented the tragedy.



2. I have read and reviewed on this site FROM THE MOUTH OF THE MONSTER, an outstanding book by Robert Mladinich, and BETRAYAL IN BLOOD, by Michael Benson, which has to be one of the worst true crime books ever written.
   I decided to read LETHAL EMBRACE hoping that Mladinich's grace and intelligence would be in evidence. Well, it is not.
   For those reviewers who praise Mladinich's writing in this book, I am certain that he had almost nothing to do with the finished written product. As a former NYC detective who would have had access to other police officials, he was probably primarily responsible for the research, such as it is, which seems to have consisted mainly of the reading and copying of police and court documents. If you are looking for any in-depth study which would give some real insight into what created the psyches and personalities which led the book's main players to act as they did, don't bother. The concept here is shallow - totally different, unfortunately, than Mladinich's intelligent and careful work in FROM THE MOUTH OF THE MONSTER. Having read, as I stated, BETRAYAL IN BLOOD, which is credited to Benson alone, I can testify that the writing in LETHAL EMBRACE is identical. And, folks, that ain't a good thing.
   
   I am an avid and veteran reader of true crime, and I have never seen a writer who manages to combine numbing repetition and voluminous filler with just plain lazy and incompetent writing - along with a pinch of the absurd - as uniquely as Michael Benson. This shall henceforth be known as The Bensonian Method. What follows will be examples from LETHAL EMBRACE - possibly a few too many, but a fraction of those available:
   
   1.On page 17, Benson introduces us to Peter Casserly, a man who, other than giving CPR to shooting victim Alex Algeri, has no other role in the story and is never seen again. Nevertheless, Benson tells us that Casserly was "a member of the Village of Amityville's Board of Trustees, the body that met on the second and fourth Mondays of the month to govern the seaside community. Casserly was a member of the Board of Trustee's Fire Protection Committee." Why we should care about any of this, since it pertains to a totally peripheral character, is open to question, but it is a masterful example of Benson's use of filler, and the fact that he actually includes the Board's meeting schedule, provides a nice touch of Bensonian absurdity. He does exactly the same thing in BETRAYAL IN BLOOD.
   
   2. The murder of Alex Algeri takes place in Amityville, NY. Predictably, in what I hope is his quest to meet his required number of pages rather than his thinking that it is actually appropriate or interesting, Benson provides us with over 4 pages about THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. The fact that it has nothing at all to do with the story elevates it's inclusion to the level of Bensonian filler. See pages 32-34 in BETRAYAL IN BLOOD for a similarly bizarre example, about the TV show BEWITCHED, of this technique.
   
   3. Page 56 provides an interesting combination of absurdity and filler. Benson writes, "Through the miracle of today's computerized world with its sophisticated network of law enforcement information, it was only minutes before Detective Anderson learned a great deal about Scott Paget."
   "THE MIRACLE OF TODAY'S COMPUTERIZED WORLD"??? This sounds like a high school student trying to stretch one page worth of material into five pages of writing. And it also sounds ridiculous. "In minutes, Detective Anderson had obtained a great deal of computerized information about Scott Paget." would seem to have been adequate.
   
   4. Then there is the repetition. On page 106, Rocco and Scott "went to a chop shop in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. The chop shop was owned by a friend named Tony. It was there that they acquired the New York State license plates for the van." On page 112, Benson writes, "They went to the Hunts Point section of the Bronx, where they purchased a New York State license plate to be attached over the Florida plate. He knew a guy named Tony who provided this license plate service."
   
   On page 148, we find an almost perfect Bensonian illustration of the idea that no inclusion, no matter how absurd, is worth re-considering or removing: "On February 7, 2003, Michael Fiaccabrino gave a sworn statement to the Suffolk County police. He began by stating his name, Michael Fiaccabrino..." Presumably Benson saw fit to include this information to drive home the point that Fiaccabrino's name did not change between the first and second sentences.
   
   These examples actually show, in cameo form, the format of the whole book. This technique, when used over a large portion of a book, ceases to produce amused disbelief and morphs into complete and utter boredom. This book is 372 pages long. If it were competently and honestly written, there might be 150-200 pages of material. So what is a true crime writer with no real interest in writing a well thought out and researched book to do?
   Well, what Benson does is as follows: The lead Detective, Robert Anderson, on the Algeri murder case interviewed a lot of people. Benson records, word for word, the results of these verbal investigations. When the interviews were concluded, Anderson then had the interviewees record on paper the answers they had just given him. Benson then procedes to record, word for word, the information that has just been reduced to written form, WHICH IS THE EXACT SAME INFORMATION HE HAS JUST REPORTED FROM THE VERBAL INTERVIEWS.
   Page 107, from Rocco Salniero's verbal statement to Anderson: '"I drove past the front of the gym and then turned right. I drove past the rear parking lot, where we saw the black Yukon truck in the back of the building, so I made a U-turn and parked next to the building." "What time was it?" Detective Anderson asked. "About 7:30, 8 o'clock at night," Rocco replied.'
   Page 113, from Rocco's written statement, "He wrote that he drove past the front of the gym and made a right just after he had passed the building. He drove past the rear parking lot, saw that there was a black Yukon parked there.....He made a U-turn on the dark street which he remembered was lined with houses. He parked on the street where they could have a clear view of the gym's back door. By this time, he wrote, it was 7:30 or 8 at night."
   I neglected to mention earlier that shameless cynicism is also a component of the Bensonian Method.
   
   There is one difference though, from BETRAYAL IN BLOOD, in LETHAL EMBRACE.
   This is only supposition on my part, but while Benson is clearly not writing for literate adults, he may just be on the cutting edge of writers trying to expand the true crime experience to children. What leads me to this thought is that on page 16, early enough to grab the kiddies' attention, Benson writes, "Yeah, he wanted to get out of the business, but...KA-CHING! How could he unload a gold mine like this?"
   And, finally, on page 73 he writes, "The place they met -the "gentlemen's club" (wink, wink) was called the Carousel." Though presumably any moderately intelligent adult would have understood the meaning of the quotation marks, Benson may have included the (wink, wink) for his more innocent younger readers. Some of you may think that I've crossed the line and am now just viciously fabricating negatives. But folks, I'm not making that up! He actually wrote (wink, wink)!!!
   
   Shortly after I reviewed BETRAYAL IN BLOOD, in what was clearly an orchestrated campaign, four "reviewers", in the space of two days, wrote 2 or 3 sentence "reviews" of the book, which while not really dealing with the book itself, proclaimed it to be the apex of true crime writing and Michael Benson to be the best true crime writer ever. It was almost touching in that the orchestration of this event was as clumsy and inept as the book they were pretending to review. I can only hope that if this ploy is attempted again after this review, it will be accomplished with a
   little more sophistication. I would also hope that this time the reviews are written by people who have actually read the book.
   
   As a footnote for those who may be interested in further exploring the phenomenon which is the Bensonian Method, I wholeheartely recommend an outstanding review posted on Amazon by Elizabeth A. McCabe, which she has entitled "Horribly written, Repetitive" of another Benson-Mladinich collaboration called HOOKED UP FOR MURDER.
   
   LETHAL EMBRACE continues what Benson started in BETRAYAL IN BLOOD, in that it is an untalented, lazy and numbing telling of a story that would be unremarkable if it were told well. There is no reason to waste your time or money on this book. (Wink, wink).



3. this book brought me to tears numerous times. i have a personal connection with the family and know lee ann as a human being. the events were beyond tragic. however, the book tends to harp on things. there is plenty of useless information. not enough time was focused on lee ann and her family as human beings. i am, however, grateful that it does not outright portray her as a monster and it does focus on what a freak show her ex husband was. it is a good read, just remember to take everything with a grain of salt and all that you read is not factual.



4. I'm a fan of Bob Mladinich first true crime account of New York serial killer Joel Rifkin ("From the Mouth of the Monster") ... I've also had the pleasure of meeting the big guy (Mladinich) and he's the real thing. This is a very well research and written account of a fascinating crime.



5. I watched this case on the Oxygen Network show Snapped and was shocked by it. I mean being an innocent victim just getting some CD's from your car and then getting shot. The book dragged on at times and repeated the same thing over and over at times.
   
   I feel sorry for everyone involved from Alex's family who lost their beloved son and brother, to Lee Ann for not knowing that there were other alternatives than to plan the murder of her husband, Paul for having such a difficult past and having to live with his best friend being murdered instead of him. I saw him on Larry King 4 years ago being interviewed about the case and it does appear that he is a very loving father and realizes that he must set an example for his son. I went on the publishers website and he had written a review of the book and he stated that his son is doing great and he is happily remarried with a baby on the way. Most of all I feel sorry for Nicholas who will not know his biological mother and will find out the truth of this terrible crime.
   
   Like the title of my post. Fascinating story but not so great writing.

5 comments about The Stalking of Kristin: A Father Investigates the Murder of His Daughter.

1. With heart-rending honesty, Lardner recounts the tragedy that turned his picture-perfect life into a horrendous nightmare. Lardner's daughter, an art student in Boston, was murdered by a disgruntled boyfriend who first stalked her and then shot her dead. The beginning of the book is great. The dad speaks with candor about his love for and his frustrations with his daughter from the time she was a young girl through her college years. She grew up in Chevy Chase, a suburb of Washington, D.C., a setting very familiar to me. The author had me laughing out loud and crying real tears before I was barely into the book at all yet. He reported on the details of his daughter's tragic death as well as the sad state of affairs in the United States which allows hardened criminals back on the streets to quickly become repeat offenders. Lardner recalls the story of murderer Michael Cartier's youth and the criminal record he accumulated during his short but turbulent life.

   This is not a book for everyone due to it intense subject matter, but it was nonetheless quite engrossing to me. Good writing. Incredibly sad story. The story Lardner presents of Cartier, is quite frightening. It demonstrates the lengths to which a criminal's right's are protected by the United States criminal justice system versus the appalling lack of consideration given to a victim's right to safety and freedom from fear. What made the book all the more creepy was that, during the few weeks it took me to finish the book, a murder under similar circumstances occurred in a suburb of Washington, D.C. The March, 2000, Washington Post article which ran the news story ("Md. Man Gets Life Term in Girlfriend's Slaying" by Ruben Casteneda) ended by saying of the killer's girlfriend "A month before the shooting, she filed assault and kidnapping charges against him after he allegedly abducted her at knifepoint, but the arrest warrant was never served." Some things never change.




2. I found this book thought-provoking and very interesting. It must have been exceptionally painful for George Lardner to dig this deeply into his daughter's murder, but also somewhat theraputic when he finished writing the book. THE STALKING OF KRISTIN will hit home especially to parents, since the worst nightmare of any parent is to see their child hurt, or even worse, killed. It also will appeal to women, as it discusses the difficulty we sometimes face when all we desire is justice. It caused me to think about our legal system today and how it fails us AND protects us everyday. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I highly reccomend it...



3. 'The Stalking of Kristen" is the sad tale of the cold -blooded murder of a female college student in Boston in May, 1992. The author is none other than her distraught father, a Washington Post reporter. SOK is deeply disturbing on several levels. Readers know from the outset that Kristen never had a chance. Further, the perpetrator commits suicide, so there is no prosecution. SOK is one-quarter paean by a grieving father for his departed daughter and one-quarter portrait of the troubled, unloved loser who was the murderer. Another quarter is the indictment of the authorities in eastern Massachusetts who failed to protect women like Kristen from dangerous stalkers, to seriously enforce orders of protection or even crack down on parole violators.. A final portion of SOK is a quasi research paper into stalkers and the troubles and tragedies they cause. These elements dilute the impact of SOK. With all due respect to the grief stricken author, SOK is too long. Mr. Lardner had a powerful tale to tell but could have done so far more briefly. The epilogue, bibliography and notes stretch over 90 pages! SOK is a powerful and worthwhile 5 star work, with one star deducted for its' unfortunately excessive length. This reviewer is guessing that many females, especially those in eastern Massachusetts, will add back the 5th star.



4. THE STALKING OF KRISTIN is journalist George Lardner Jr.'s Pulitzer Prize winning expose of the murder of his 21 year old art student daughter at the hands of Michael Cartier, a lifelong offender, aged 22, who had a rap sheet three pages long and a history of extremely violent domestic abuse.
   
   Kristin and "Castleneck" Cartier first met in January 1992; they dated only a few short weeks before Cartier physically attacked her. In April, Kristin was granted a restraining order. In May, she was dead.
   
   Lardner is unsparing in his denunciation of the criminal justice system, a system which allowed Cartier to roam free despite his repetitious record of violence. At the time of the murder, Cartier was wanted for a parole violation; the law knew where he was, but did nothing to enforce its own strictures.
   
   Nothing in Kristin's upper-middle-class background indicated that her life would end at Cartier's hand. She was an educated feminist from a socially stable, financially secure background. Like many artists, she was attracted to the extreme: hence the relationship with Cartier, which was both brief and violent. Like most people of her background, she believed the law would protect her; tragically, she was wrong.
   
   Cartier was a troubled human being, who, despite numerous chances, either could not or would not conform his behavior. Shortly after killing Kristin he killed himself.
   
   The System is an overburdened behemoth, content to creak along, and showing almost no regard for the offenders it processes or their victims. This is particularly true with women. Kristin's death led to desperately-needed changes in Massachusetts law which made it harder for violators like Cartier to escape justice by the mere expedient of crossing the street into another jurisdiction.
   
   The reader has to wonder whether the fact that Kristin was a single white female with a journalist father impacted Massachusetts' decision to reform its' laws. The answer seems to be a loud yes. Still, necessary changes were made, too late for Kristin, and too late for many. Whether they have had an impact since then is an open question.
   
   THE STALKING OF KRISTIN is a tragic tale of the failure of our culture to protect its most valuable assets---its children.



5. What can I father do when his daughter has already perished from the hands of a brutal murderer? Fight the ghost of someone who's long gone? Fight the parents of this ghost? No. He must fight the system that failed him, that failed countless others and that if it isn't changed would continue to fail until one day you and I find ourselves in the same inescapable situation - loosing our children due to the negligence of those who are getting paid to protect us.
   
   This is a truly sad book. It recounts the story of a young college girl in Boston, who falls in love with a man only to find out that he is an abuser and a control freak. Over the course of the story, the reader finds out what it truly means to mess up a boy, as one follows the failure of his family to build a safe and loving atmosphere for him and as the justice system allows him, now an abuser, to go free again and again he commits his final crime, taking the life of another in particularly bone chilling matter.
   
   This book should be a reminder of what we can expect if we don't pay attention to the misfortunes we hear about on TV, or the stories we hear from our neighbors and family members. In my opinion, every father and mother should read this story and make up their minds on how to communicate openly with their children, how to foresee outcomes of deadly relationships well in advance. True, the system fails us often, but we, as parents, can fail our children more often when we make the mistake of distancing ourselves too much, when we assume that growing up is the same as getting old. This story should remind us of when our children need us the most.
   
   - by Simon Cleveland

4 comments about Privileged Information.

1. This is a case that has haunted me since I first read about it in Law School. Frank Armani and Francis Beige were Central New York attorneys appointed to represent serial killer/rapist Robert Garrow, who went on a crime spree in the Adirondacks in 1973. Their client was charged with one killing but revealed to them the location of two other bodies. After checking to be sure the bodies were there, the attorneys tried, unsuccessfully, to use this information as part of a plea bargain. Meanwhile, they were contacted by the distraught father of one of these victims, begging for information about the fate of his child. Believing that forensic evidence available from the remains might tend to further incriminate Garrow, they refused to acknowledge any information about other potential victims. Eventually, Garrow himself revealed the information at trial and the attorneys were charged with violating the code of professional conduct. Though the case and the surrounding publicity had devastating effects on the two men, they were ultimately exonerated, on the basis that they had acted within the scope of attorney-client privilege.

   Though I would have behaved differently, I do not particularly quarrel with the attorneys' actions. I do though find the ethical regime which requires such a result to be abhorrent. The basic theory underlying attorney-client privilege is that in order to guarantee the best possible defense, clients must fully disclose all information to their attorneys, and that the only way to insure that they feel comfortable doing so is to grant the privilege. This reasoning is simply not compelling. If full disclosure really is essential to a good defense, then the client has a vested interest in disclosure--they after all are the ones most interested in a good defense. It seems entirely fair to let them choose between holding back incriminating information at their own expense, or sharing that information at some peril.

   Moreover, to allow (arguably, to require) lawyers to withhold such information from the Court is to turn the legal system into more of a game than a search for truth and justice. I have no problem with a set of ethical rules, societal laws and constitutional rights, which seeks to protect the innocent from unfair prosecution and even to protect the guilty from abusive practices, but this must be balanced against society's interest in protecting its citizenry, enforcing the law and meting out justice. There has to be some difference between preventing law enforcement officers from beating information out of a suspect or illegally searching his premises, and officers of the Court actually withholding evidence that they are aware of, however obtained. I just don't see what interest was vindicated by concealing the existence and location of the two corpses. Were they revealed to law enforcement it would not negatively impact Garrow's access to a fair trial : if he did not kill them, he'd have nothing to fear. If he did, evidence from the bodies might well point towards him, but so what ? The essence of the legal process should be that impartial examination of the evidence reveal the culprit and that evidence be used to convince a jury of his guilt. The mere revelation of the bodies would not have sent Garrow to prison, he still would have been afforded all the legal protections of the trial system and his fate would have still depended on the judgment of a jury of his peers.

   As I say, I would have acted differently than did Armani and Beige--I would have told the father where the bodies were, informed the Court of my action and resigned from the practice of law, accepting whatever punishment this action entailed. Then again, I never practiced, so that's easy for me to say. Further, I understand that many attorneys believe in the necessity of rules such as this and feel that they serve noble purposes. For that reason, I too would have exonerated these men. It is the professional code itself that leads lawyers to make these kind of decisions and we can hardly punish them for behaving ethically. But it does seem that ethics and morality diverge at points like this : one would prefer to see morality triumph over ethics. Regardless of how you come down on the issues involved, this book offers a fascinating look at how such issues and decisions play out in the real world and how they impact the people who have to deal with them.

   GRADE : B+




2. 
   
   This true crime work is apparently the only published account of the deadly career of Robert Garrow, a serial killer/rapist who terrorized the upstate New York/Adirondaks area in the early 1970s. Following an extensive manhunt throughout the Adirondaks, Garrow's capture led to a precedent setting trial in rural Herkimer County. Defended by Syracuse attorneys Francis Belge and Frank Armani, his subsequent conviction and ensuing escape from state prison proved the adage that truth is stranger then fiction. Co-authored by Attorney Armani, the book provides fascinating insider insights into the bizarre Garrow, the clever trial strategies, and the toil the case took on all parties. A real page turner, Privileged Information should be on every true crime aficionado's book shelf.



3. This is a heartbreaking story for everyone involved, but while reading the book I understand more what attorneys must wrestle with when defending some criminals. It's easy for armchair quarterbacks to judge actions or non-actions of others, but at the time Armani felt he must do everything possible to represent Robert Garrow (as is Garrow's right and Armani's responsibility), no matter how despicable he is, in order to uphold professional code of conduct. Plea bargains for a lesser crime are very common, and it's not necessarily what those who seek retribution want, but it may be the way to ensure incarceration. The ethical and moral dilemma these lawyers came across is one that seems to me to be a matter of degree to what other lawyers must decide when defending a client. The book was well written and heartfelt to the families of the murdered girls, and I could feel his anguish.



4. PRIVILEGED INFORMATION is a book about upper New York State serial killer and rapist Robert Garrow. Written by Tom Alibrandi and Frank Armani, one of Garrow's attorneys, the book discusses in considerable detail Garrow's upbringing, his crimes, and the dilemma faced by Armani and co-counsel Francis Belge while defending him against charges that he had murdered a young man. During the course of interviewing Garrow, the lawyers learned the locations of the bodies of two young women whom Garrow admitted to having previously murdered. This information led to a soul-wrenching ethical problem for Armani and Belge - did they follow the prescribed code of conduct regarding the confidentiality of client-attorney information or did they release the information regarding the young women thereby bringing closure to the young women's parents and following another prescribed duty of lawyers, as officers of the court, to uphold the law? This conflict is presented clearly and concisely.
   
   The descriptions of Garrow's background, his crimes, and the lawyers' defense of Garrow are very well done and culminate in a uniquely fascinating courtroom scene. Alibrandi is an excellent writer, the book is fast paced and easy to read, and the research is solid and extensive.
   
   There are three reasons that I would not rate this book 5 stars. First, in my opinion, there is too much boilerplate "personalizing information" about some of the players. For example, I don't care what lawyers, judges, bartenders, etc. are wearing. And it is made abundently clear early in the book that Armani is a heavy smoker. As such it is really not necessary to regularly report that "Armani lit up a cigarette."
   Second there is no picture section in the book. I feel that one would have added to its enjoyment.
   And finally, the book describes in some detail how Garrow's parents brutalized him to the point where he became little more than a paranoid if cunning animal. The authors state that included in their research were interviews with the parents, yet there is nothing detailing the results of these interviews in the book. Including this information would have made for an even better book.
   
   Still, PRIVILEGED INFORMATION is very good true crime - well conceived, written, and researched and I highly recommend it to fans of the genre.

5 comments about The Architect of Desire: Beauty and Danger in the Stanford White Family.

1. I initially read this book on a library loan as a small part of research for a project I was doing. Now I'm back at Amazon to purchase it. It's one I want to read again in leisure time, to savor, not only for the wealth of history it provides, and the painfully honest look into family self-deceptions, but for the absolutely beautiful writing it offers. The courage she shows in telling this story, and the honest treatment of her family (which I expected her to protect and make excuses for) and painstaking fairness to other characters, sometimes at the expense of her own history, is breath taking. Many of Ms. Lessard's descriptive passages are almost musical in quality, without ever falling to sappiness, and they bleed a depth of insight that one sometimes grasps only at a second glance. Her metaphorical passages are the most beautiful - I will never forget many of them. A joy and a privilege to read. Again.



2. This book defies a brief explanation. I sensed deep passion in the author as I read her words, a passion for her family's weaknesses and strengths, a passion for knowing herself, a passion for the power of architecture, and a passion for her great-grandfather, the infuriatingly complex architect, Stanford White.

   Stanford was generous and careless, creative and self-destructive, maniacally disciplined and utterly irresponsible. While he selflessly gave his heart and soul to his massive stone buildings, he thoughtlessly shattered the hearts and lives of the people around him. Even while he was racked by ill health, he drove himself in his work life AND his recreational life as if he were immortal. He either believed he could never die, or knew he surely must and so didn't care.

   The sexual portrait of Stanford can be rather harrowing: The countless love nests he set up around New York; his systematic debauchery of young women (many of whom fell in love with him); the attorneys he hired to hush things up; the endless supply of cronies he found to join him in his nocturnal plundering--his appetites--and his ability to feed his appetites--knew no limits. As for Evelyn Nesbit, the celebrated beauty who arguably played a role in Stanford's murder, I'll just say she wasn't the first girl to ride in his red velvet swing.

   Finally, two notes. This author presents architecture, and its impact on the human psyche, in a beautiful, moving way; she breathes life into the bricks of Stanford's buildings. And her depiction of the Gilded Age is superb. It's the stuff of a great trashy Summer novel. Except it's real. And probably still goes on today.

   I should also warn future readers that there's a fair amount of incest in this book.




3. Powerful, lyrical writing builds the story of Stanford White one layer at a time. The writer, his granddaughter, is uniquely qualified to tell the tale of genius gone awry. You'll remember this story long after you finish it -- a sure sign that you've experienced not just a book, but true art.



4. What would it be like to be descended from one of America's most celebrated architects? For that matter, what would it be like to be descended from a man whose lurid, predatory sexual practices were once front-page news?

   Members of the Stanford White family have had to deal with those issues for almost 100 years now, since White was gunned down at Madison Square Garden in 1906. For the most part, the White family did not discuss their illustrious pater familias, but Stanford White is ever-present, in all respects, in their collective lives. How the family did (or did not) deal with this mixed legacy would manifest itself over the next four generations.

   Suzannah Lessard, a great-granddaughter of Stanford White, addresses this legacy squarely. She does not attempt to suger-coat White's personality, which combines breath-taking artistic genius with a self-indulgent predatory streak that ultimately led to his destruction. Through the book, she weaves multiple tales about her family, which includes stories of mental illness, sexual abuse, and emotional repression. She does this with remarkable candor.

   This is a Social Register family. They are related to the Astors, the Winthrops, the Chanlers, the Roosevelts, the Rockefellers, etc. They own a magnificent property, designed by Stanford White, on Long Island. On the surface, it would appear that this family has the world as its oyster. Suzannah Lessard shows that no amount of social prominence and privelage can protect a family from the problems that can face us all.




5. 
   Suzannah Lessard is to be complemented on this reflective and perceptive account. The family skeletons are unquestionably out of the closet, as she narrates the heartrending story of Evelyn Nesbitt, Harry K Thaw and her own ancestor's intertwined lives.
   
   If you have read "Ragtime", this is the non-fiction truth behind the tale.
   
   The murder of the brilliant architect - the "White" in McKim, Mead and White, whose clients included the Teddy Roosevelt White House -shocked New York's 400. This book deals not only with the events as they unfolded but also their repercussions in the author's family. Well written and poignant.

5 comments about The Broken Circle.

1. Set in Farmington, New Mexico during the early 1970's, this book tells the story of a brutal triple homicide committed by three white teenagers against local Navajo Indians. Almost as cruel as the crimes themselves, was the fact that the boys received extremely light sentences. This book sets forth the moral dillema of this tense period of Southwest history in light of the cultural differences which existed between the Navajo way and the non-Indian world. The book is fast-paced and hard to put down. Perhaps most interestingly, the book tells a true story. If you enjoyed the movie, Incident at Oglala, you will love this book



2. The book has been interesting since its inception.The author conjured it from a mass of interviews during a summer some years later. Granted, the book is haunting, tragic and disturbing. The text, failed to understand the horror and confusion of the Anglos. I am well aware of this. Ronny Haynie, 3601 Sunset Ave. 1974....Farmington, New Mexico



3. The book has been interesting since its inception.The author conjured it from a mass of interviews during a summer some years later. Granted, the book is haunting, tragic and disturbing. The text, failed to understand the horror and confusion of the Anglos. I am well aware of this. Ronny Haynie, 3601 Sunset Ave. 1974....Farmington, New Mexico



4. Very well written, gripping, and entertaining despite the gravity of the subject matter. Well worth reading.



5. I read a review of this book some years ago when it first came out. It sounded like a fascinating story so I made a mental note to keep an eye out for it at the book stores. Time went on and I still hadn't come across it so I ordered it off Amazon.com. When I got the book I was a little aprehensive at first. The subtitle, "A True Story of Murder and Magic in Indian Country" made me wonder if I was going to get the facts or the myth. When I started reading the first few pages, I was worried that I was going to get a skewered perspective of the events. As it turned out, none of my concerns were realized and, instead, I got an excellent review of a sordid event in recent history.

   The main events of this story take place in the early 1970's. Three Native Americans were brutally murdered by three White teenagers in Farmington, NM. The author introduces us to the story through his own eyes as he discovers the tense aftermath of the murders and the reaction to the light sentencing that the youthful murderers received. Although just passing through Farmington, Rodney Barker finds himself suddenly involved in the turmoil. The events are etched in his mind and, when he dicovers more about it some years later, he decides to investigate the whole story.

   Mr. Barker does a very good job in telling the story and trying to do so from all available perspectives. He is sensitive to the Navajo's point of view and goes to great lengths to bring that perspective to the reader. Yet, despite his partisan introduction to the story, he seems to have done a pretty good job of getting the "Anglo" perspective as well. There are times when there doesn't seem to be a reasonable response to some of what has happened. Yet the author often brings us just such a response. He follows the lives of the perpetrators and we find ourselves actually starting to care about them in their later lives. He leaves not with answers but with an awareness instead.

   People not familiar with the tension of communities that border Native American reservations will find these events hard to believe. For that matter, so will those who do live in such communities. I read a Native American columnist once who said that the worst racism against Native Americans can be found in those communities that border reservations. Mr. Barker's book is an example of that statement at its' worst. Unfortuanately, while it makes us aware of this problem, it leaves an emptiness as we look for a solution to the problem. Why was it that the teenage activity of "rolling" intoxicated Indians in Farmington was allowed to happen? Was the author's explantion of the problem overstated or was the community's response to it understated? I live near an Indian reservation and I can attest to stereo-typing and tension between the races. However, it is nothing like the description of the situation in Farmington. Thus I am wondering about many things as a result of reading this book. The success of this book is that it has made me thing about things that need to be thought about.

5 comments about Greentown: Murder and Mystery in Greenwich, America's Wealthiest Community.

1. This book had me up through the night reading! I literally could not put it down. But, even though the pace was like a fighter jet, it was the insights into the town and its people -- the wealth, greed, and circling-the-wagons mentality -- that made it special. The author gave us so much more than the case itself. By the time I was done I felt as though I had known the girl, as though I had visited many of the same places, had been snubbed by some of the very same people. The author made me see and feel everything! By contrast, afterwards I picked up Mark Fuhrman's book, and was astounded at the emptiness of the text -- that book was so embarrassingly bad and self-serving I could not finish. I would recommend A Wealth of Evil to anyone interested in a great read and a stirring social commentary.



2. Just read copy of Sunday Mirror (Copyright 2004 MGN Ltd), dated November 7, 2004, Sunday.
   
   Section: Eire Edition News Pg 23
   
   Length: 146 words
   
   Haedline: BOOK HITS AT SKAKEL
   
   BODY:
   KENNEDY cousin Michael Skakel confessed to being covered in blood on the night his pretty 15-year old neighbour was nurdered, a bombshell new book claims.
   
   Skakel who is currently appealing against his life sentence for the brutal slaying of Martha Moxely, is said to have made the comment to a counselor at a reform school in Poland, Maine.
   
   In the book "Conviction: Solving the Martha Moxely Murder" by Leonard Levitt, Skakel's priest, Rev Mark Connolly, says "The counsellor said Michael told him there was blood all over the place."
   
   Levitt's book could not come at a worse time for the 43-year old Skakel, whose appeal is due to be heard in Connecticut in the next few months.
   
   Skakel,the nephew of assassinated US Senator Robert F Kennedy, was convicted in 2002 of beating Martha to death with a golf club in Greenwich.
   
   Load-Date: Novemeber 7, 2004



3. This is my favorite book on the tragic Moxley case. Dumas writes about a sad case in an absolutely beautiful way, causing me to tear up many times. His story reminds me of an episode of "Cold Case". It is written with great sensitivity. Contrast that with the Furhman book, which is written in a very matter-of-fact style, without much emotion, and is more like an episode of "CSI," complete with gory details. Dumas leaves out the extreme gore, which is refreshing. However, Dumas also leaves out some of the horror of the crime, such as what Michael Skakel did while standing over Martha's body. You might not hate Skakel nearly as much after reading the Dumas book as you would after reading the Fuhrman book. Still, if you want to read a *story*, written in excellent prose, rather than reading a mere "lab report" (which is how I would describe the Fuhrman book), then I would heartily recommend Dumas's book. It also includes a number of touching photos of Martha's childhood and family life. I hope this book has not gone out of print-- it deserves to stay in print forever!



4. Not at all like the movie based on the true story written by Mark Fuhrman. I was expecting some familiar link and there was none. Tom Dumas is not a true crime writer, my friends.



5. I have read many, many books in my life, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, e.g., Stendhal to Sheldon (Sidney, that is), but I can't remember reading a book this bad in many years.
   
   The book has two major flaws, either one of which should have prevented it from being published:
   
   1. The writing is woefully bad. Ever hear the phrase "purple prose"? This writing goes well beyond the color spectrum into putridicity. (Not a word, I know!) Goodness, anyone who has taken Creative Writing in high school could make mincemeat out of this overblown stuff. I guess we shouldn't expect too much from a cub reporter for the silly Greenwich (CT) Times, but can't we be spared this stuff?
   
   2. Now that the trial and appeals have been concluded, it is well past the time for the author to start apologizing for all the people he defamed. Without any real evidence, a number of upstanding people are skewered and the only ones who escape the sword are the Moxleys. The book is so generous to them that it is difficult to believe that their money was not behind the publication of this book.
   
   All in all, a worthless piece of trash that should be consigned to the garbage heap. In fact, that is where I got my copy; a resident of my town left a box of unread books at the dump and being the book hound that I am, I picked up the box and threw it in my station wagon. I'm going to list it on Amazon and if anyone pays more than .10, they wuz robbed.

2 comments about Hello Charlie: Letters from a Serial Killer.

1. As far as true crime goes, this book was quite a disappointment. It wasn't particularly gripping, it doesn't draw particularly strong portraits of the victims, and even the three self-appointed cold case detectives seem a bit dull.
   
   Among other problems in the text, there is entirely too much background information given for each person working the case. I started skipping many pages of this material because it simply wasn't interesting. The writing style of the book just wasn't gripping, and a great deal of material could have been cut out. The narrative gets quite sidetracked more than once.
   
   And some words on the "serial killer" label on the title page: it's there to sell books. The detectives were unable to locate or identify many of the victims pointed out by Browne (the killer). In fact, the impression I got from this is that Browne, like some other killers before him, was playing with detectives, upping the number of so-called kills in order to get attention and privileges. Browne is an unreliable speaker, and you begin to feel that the narrator is unreliable just for telling you all of this without ever taking a long, long hard look at Browne's credibility.
   
   While it seems likely that Browne killed multiple times, the book makes little effort to apply psychology to why Browne claims all of these kills now. Most true crime readers are probably used to a bit of psychology in their reading, and they should be warned that it is quite absent here. This is much more of the old-fashioned-detective-work, gumshoe, knock-on-doors (no CSI) approach to crime-solving. Such a book could have made for a very intersting departure from the norm, but, again, for the reasons listed above, it does not. A little psychology would help shore up the book's crumbling foundations.
   
   Another warning to true crime fans: you're probably used to seeing pictures of the detectives, snapshots of the victims while alive, perhaps crime scenes. This book has no photos. I'm not trying to be ghoulish; I'm just pointing out a departure from the norm.
   
   All in all, this was not a satisfactory experience. A week after reading the book, I can recall only a few details about the central victim and can say very little about the killer. What I do remember is frustration with the text and annoyance with the detectives' seemingly endless credulity.



2. Books on serial killers are hardly rare, and most of them are written in a novelistic way that causes them to sensationalize the crime. This book is not your average true crime story, and rather than titillate the reader, it provides insights not usually found in most books of the genre.
   
   The book begins by detailing the disappearance of Heather Dawn Church from her home in the suburbs of Colorado Springs. It details the efforts to attempt to find her and the person responsible for her abduction. From that point, it shifts to the lives of the three men who would ultimately come together to work as volunteers on cold cases.
   
   After a relatively brief view into the apprehension and conviction of her killer, as well as his appeals, the book shifts focus again and begins to look at the aftermath of the crime. Robert Browne, who pled guilty to her murder, sent an interesting letter to the DA after he had lost all courtroom battles. The letter suggested that there were more bodies to be found, and that Browne was the responsible party.
   
   The book is a wonderful look at the way a crime is solved; not with bells and whistles, but with long, hard work. It is also a look, in depth, into the game of cat and mouse that is played by the hunted and the hunters. It offers an interesting look into the mind and psyche of a serial killer.
   
   There are no pictures, and this is not a "sensational" true crime story. Rather it is a methodical look at how police work is done in the real world. An excellent read, if you are not looking for the titillation factor.

No comments about The JFK Assassination Debate: Lone Gunman Versus Conspiracy.

1 comments about Greed, Rage, and Love Gone Wrong: Murder in Minnesota.

1. This book tells ten true tales of Greed, Rage and Love Gone Wrong in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and beyond. The eras are varied. But the jarring jumping back and forth in the time/space continuum within each recounting is enough to make even the head of Scott Bakula, seasoned Quantum Leaper, spin. There's even a Ride Along with Pancho Villa.
   
   There are pictures embedded in the text and Source Notes in the back. But weren't the LeRoy and Hagen children in *figure* skating - not *speed* skating together? For the reader whose interest is whetted by the saga of Marjorie Congdon LeRoy Caldwell Hagen, I suggest Will to Murder: The True Story Behind the Crimes & Trials Surrounding the Glensheen Killings by Feichtinger, Desanto, & Waller. And also, you might want to "Dial M" The Murder of Carol Thompson.
   
   Previously, this reviewer had commented in another review that there must be something in the water out there in Ann Rule's Pacific Northwest beat - what with all the macabre goings on run rampant out there. Well, Bruce Rubenstein's book on Murders in Minnesota demonstrates that it happens here in the Land of Sky Blue Waters, too. Will there be a "Part 2" regarding Dru Sjodin, Jodi Huisentruit, Erika Dahlquist and the recent tragedy on Red Lake Reservation? /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer