No comments about The Silent Courtroom.

No comments about Girls on City Streets; A Study of 1400 Cases of Rape: A Study of 1400 Cases of Rape (Women in America: from Colonial Times to the 20th Century).

No comments about Contemporary Issues Companion - Rape (hardcover edition) (Contemporary Issues Companion).

2 comments about White Lies: Rape, Murder & Justice Texas Style.

1. White Lies by Nick Davies should be required reading for all Texas high school students. This is a well chronicled story of Clarence Brandley, a school janitor in Conroe, Texas. When a high school cheerleader is brutally assaulted and murdered during a Saturday practice at school, the local police are called to the scene. They quickly identify the perpetrator of the heinous crime: Clarence Brandley. The only evidence to support their conclusion? Brandley is the only black custodian. Tried and convicted of capital murder, Brandley receives the death penalty and languishes on death row for years. Is there justice in Texas? If you're white and wealthy. No white person has ever been executed in Texas for killing a black. Former Texas Governor George Bush proudly claims that no innocent person was ever executed on his "shift". Little would he know. Proponents of the death penalty need to read this chilling account. Perhaps something would have been learned from history, instead of being forced to repeat previous mistakes - or injustice. Napoleon Beasley, a black man who as a teenager killed the father of a federal court judge, was convicted by a racist jury and sentenced to death. Recently he received a stay of execution. When will this insanity end? Incidentally, the book is very difficult to find - especially in Texas!



2. I live in Montgomery County Texas and unfortunately this book is as accurate as it is frightening. The book does a wonderful job of exposing the racism which exists just below the surface in Conroe and throughout Texas.

   Recommended for anyone who wants to be shocked and disgusted at what can happen in Small Town USA today.

No comments about Sexual Aggression: Issues In Etiology, Assessment And Treatment (Series in Applied Psychology : Social Issues and Questions).

5 comments about Venom in the Blood.

1. What I can say is that the author did alot better job than Lt. Ray Biondi. I introduced Charlene to her second husband, and I know her well. Eric Hoffman captured Charlene so well, it's eerie. This book is the best portrayal of Charlene and Gerald that I have found. This is the first time I have even admitted in public that I know her, and it's not easy for me. She continues to live near my family home and I want nothing to do with her. But as a reader, this book is very factual. Eric Hoffman did a great job.



2. Gerald Armond Gallego and his young wife Charlene shocked the world with the sexual serial murders of many young women. This book captured the grizzly details of the murders and makes you wish they would've gotten more of a punishment than they did. Truly a well thought out book.



3. A VENOM IN THE BLOOD by Eric van Hoffmann is a shocking and gruesome true story about Gerald and Charlene Gallego, the husband and wife serial killer team who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered teenage girls throughout the American Southwest. A well-written true story that had me spellbound throughout!

   John Savoy
   Savoy International
   Motion Pictures Inc.
   California




4. Gerald and Charlene showed no remorse during the tial and Charlene only gets 16 years for killing 11 people. she needs to still be locked up. What about Kippi Vaught, Rhonda Scheffler and the rest of the victims. one of my friends was Kippi's cousin and was supposed to go shopping with her that day. why would they let Charlene out? Gerald had no remorse about killing the victims as Charlene did. So she needs to go back to prison.



5. I have never read a book in this particular genre, i.e. true crime, so I have absolutely nothing to compare it to. I must say though, I did enjoy it at a certain level. The language is vivid and, to be quite frank, crude, but that was part of the appeal. The author's style was much like that of the old dime novel and tabloid type and I rather enjoyed that. This is the story of a (the only one the book tells us) husband and wife serial killing/raping/kidnapping team in California. As I said, the language is graphic and the story rather sickening, but it does hold your interest and is rather fascinating at a certain level. The book is a rather quick read, and even if you do not like it, not much time is lost. The work did seem to be quite well researched, as far as I could tell and the author certainly did not pull any punches in his vivid descriptions. I suspect that if you are into this particular genre of literature, this would be an excellent read and I do recommend it. I doubt if I will be seeking out further examples of this type of literature, but that is due purely to personal taste...I simply am not all that interested. On the other hand, I am glad I read it.

2 comments about Visible Man: A True Story of Post-Racist America.

1. Though the book is non-fiction, it at time reads like a quirky novel, with memorable charactors like Buddy the overweight lesbian.

   Now that the nation's welfare system is in its final years, its interesting to see the effects of New York State's extreamly generous welfare benefits had on a low-income neighborhood and its residents in the first few years, which is the background of the story, which concerns a black man falsly accused of raping a white woman.

   The books is very well-written and engrossing. I read it in only two sittings.




2. Gilder wanted to title this book "Sam Beau" but the editors, he said, wouldn't let him. It is doubtful to me that Gilder has any genuine interest in the welfare of the nation's underclass, but he does have a strange fascination with delinquency and depravity. Gilder is attracted by Sam as some derelict version of genuine masculinity, and takes delight in enumerating all of his failures and pinning the blame on the well-intentioned liberals who put him there. More specifically, welfare reverses the relation between men and women: the woman, as the welfare breadwinner, supports the man, who lives off her income and becomes dependent on the "welfare queens," moving from one to other when they turn him out, impregnating each so that they will remain tied to him, and avoiding work so that his wages won't be garnished. For the liberals, he is a father so far as he earns money, and for the woman and her children he is a father only in the biological sense. For the unemployed father watching tv in the afternoon, masculinity can seem restricted to nonconjugal sex (perhaps there is another word for that) and set-to's on the street or in the bar. Again, this fascinates Gilder (or else he wouldn't have written such a quickly forgotten book), and perhaps part of the attraction is being a white man interloping in a largely black world.

5 comments about Body Hunter.

1. The author did a tremendous job of bringing the facts on several Texas murders together into an easy to read format. A need to be read story.



2. Between December 12, 1984 and May 6, 1986, there was a string of murders in Wichita Falls and Houston, Texas. Because these murders fell in various jurisdictions, there were not linked to a serial killer but were investigated as individual cases. The story of these murders illustrates one of the worst mistakes of law enforcement in our country. If not for two detectives that refused to give up, these cases would still remain unsolved except for one. This is the story of these crimes and the man who committed them.

   On May 6, 1986, Faryion Edward Wardrip murdered Tina Kimbrew. A week later, he telephoned 911 and stated that he was going to kill himself. When officers responded, he told them that he had killed Kimbrew but it had been an accident. She had been his friend. He was traumatized over the loss.
   
   On the way to the jail, the officers asked if he had known Ellen Blau, who was killed on September 20, 1985. He admitted knowing her. Fearing that further questioning before he had a lawyer would jeopardize the case, the cops did not discuss Blau any further. Instead, they noted in their report that he knew Blau and sent a message to the investigators. They failed to act on it.

   Four days after his arrest was made public, one of his friends, Thomas Eugene Granger, telephoned the police to explain that Wardrip had a connection to four of the dead women. He had worked at the hospital with Toni Gibbs, murdered on January 19, 1985, and Terry Sims, murdered on December 21, 1984. He lived across the street from where Ellen Blau worked. Then, he moved near where Debra Taylor, murdered on March 24, 1985, was abducted. Her car was abandoned just around the corner from his house. When police did not take action, Granger called them a second time. Still, they maintained that the murders were the work of multiple killers. They ignored the tip.
   
   This book is an excellent read. It seems more like a work of fiction that truth. The writing is lively and moving. You will have trouble putting this one down. Get it and read how a serial killer managed to walk away with parole and begin a new life, even though police had plenty of tips to connect him to a series of murders.




3. I am originally from Wichita Falls, Texas, where this book takes place and remember well not only the actual murders but the shock when Wardrip was actually caught. It was interesting to read this book to see inside information. And since I'm already pretty familiar with the case, I was pleased to find out some things I hadn't already heard. However, and I guess most people wouldn't notice this kind of stuff, the lack of attention to detail irritated me to no end. Unless you're from the Wichita Falls area, you probably don't know that the funeral home is called Aulds Funeral home and not All's Funeral Home. Or you might not notice some of the geographical errors or misnamed streets. Someone not familiar with this area would probably gloss right over them. But being familiar with the area, it peeved me to no end that Springer couldn't take a little time to get her spellings straight and her roads right. It made me feel as if the book was sloppy and left me wondering what else may be wrong in it.



4. ALTHOUGH I ENJOYED THIS BOOK AND FOUND IT VERY INTERESTING, SEVERAL THINGS BOTHERED ME. FIRST OF ALL, ON THE COVER IT STATES: "BEFORE THERE WAS BTK, THERE WAS THE BODY HUNTER". THIS IS INACCURANT SICE BTK STARTED KILLING IN THE 70'S AND THE BODY HUNTER DID NOT START UNTIL THE 1980'S. SECOND OF ALL, I FOUND THE PICTURES IN THE BOOK SHOCKING AND UNNECESSARY. I AGREE WITH THE PREVIOUS GENTLEMAN'S REVIEW. I FOUND THE PICTURES TO BE DISRESPECTIVE OF THOSE KILLED AND THEIR FAMILIES. THE AUTHOR SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR INCLUDING THOSE IN HER BOOK. I AM NO TRUE CRIME NOVICE, I HAVE OVER A HUNDRED TRUE CRIME BOOKS AND HAVE NEVER SEEN PICTURES LIKE THOSE IN A BOOK. ALSO THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MURDER WAS A BIT TO DETAILED. I PREFER ANN RULES METHOD OF FOCUSING MORE ON THE VICTIMS LIFE RATHER THAN ON ALL THE GRUESOME DETAILS OF THEIR DEATH. OVERALL THIS BOOK MADE ME VERY SAD FOR THE MANY PEOPLE AFFECTED. I GAVE THIS BOOK 3 STARS SINCE IT DID HOLD MY ATTENTION. HAD IT NOT INCLUDED THE HORRIFIC PICTURES, I MAY HAVE GIVEN A 4 OR A 5.
   
   SHAME ON THE AUTHOR AND SHAME ON THE PUBLISHER FOR BEING SO DISREPECTFUL!!!



5. Patricia Springer writes a very well-detailed and maybe too detailed with unforgettable pictures of the victims. There were five murdered women, Toni Gibbs, Terry Sims, Ellen Blau, Debra Taylor, and Tina Kimbrew who were all murdered between 1984-1986. The killer, Faryion Edward Wardrip only confessed to the Kimbrew murder. Unfortunately, Texas doesn't have a life without the possibility of parole which might make more juries choose the death penalty. Wardrip served 11 years in prison and 2 on parole with an ankle belt detector knowing where he was 24 hours per day. Faryion was obviously deeply troubled by his depression and his drug induced rages which consumed him. In 1996, DNA technology would be advanced enough to either exonerate or indict him on four more murders. Sadly, there were other victims besides their families. In Taylor's case, the suspicion fell on her husband, Kenneth for years. In the Gibbs case, there was a hung jury after a trial trying to convict Danny Laughlin (he died in 1993 in a car accident). Even until Danny's death, he was seen as involved in her brutal murder. The author shows the brutality of such crimes that none of the victims deserved. They were not only brutally murdered but raped and left for dead in fields where their remains were ravaged by maggots, insects, and other animals finding food. For Taylor's remains, they had to identify her through dental records and the jewelry left on her. His second victim tried to crawl out of an abandoned trolley car where she met her death from the bleeding and exposure. It was January 1985 in Wichita Falls, Texas. The first victim's murder occurred at a friend's house on December 21, 1984. Both victims were nurses. Ellen Blau had moved from Connecticut to Texas for her boyfriend. The relationship didn't last but she was unlike other victims. Blau attended private boarding schools but she managed to maintain a working class lifestyle trying to be independent with the help of her friend, Janie Bell. She also had a job working at a subshop. Wardrip's family also suffered from his crimes as well. He awaits execution in his jail cell. The book is very detailed regarding his crimes which is not for the faint at heart.

5 comments about Whispers of Romance, Threats of Death.

1. My wife chose this book and I read it aloud to her. This would be considered true crime, however, any suspense is non-existant as the author only talks about one suspect and no others so you know from page 5 who the culprit is. If others were mentioned as to rape suspects and a little bit of history given to others, then it might have been more interesting.

   The interesting part of the whole story is how the culprit leads two different and distinct lives for a period of time and then how his personality begins disintegrating toward the end and the ruse used to get a confession out. The major victim is given a roller coaster ride that is heartbreaking.




2. Collaboratively written by Carol Bryan Cook (artist, poet, and spokesperson for Victims Outreach, an organization providing grief and trauma counseling to crime victims) and true crime expert and author Ted Schwarz, Whispers Of Romance, Threats Of Death is the true and personal story of Carol Cook who moved to Dallas, Texas in order to be near her three daughters when she was attacked and raped and threatened with being killed by a stranger in a ski mask who broke into her luxury condominium. Not long after this horrific event, Carol met Gilbert Escobedo, who befriended her, helped her regain control of her life, and then went on to become her business partner and lover. Self-made business success, generous with his money, giving thanks to God every week in church, friendly with members of the Dallas Police Force, Gilbert Escobedo even rode along with law enforcement personnel in pursuit of Dallas' most dangerous serial rapist. No one knew that loyal, friendly, gallant, religious, helpful, kind, and tender Gilbert Escobedo was also the wily, elusive, brutal Ski Mask rapist. Whispers Of Romance, Threats Of Death is a compelling story and highly recommended reading.



3. While no reader could possibly doubt the strength and courage of Carol Cook, this book seemed to go into more detail about the history of the city of Dallas then about either Cook or the crimes. I was excited to read this because Cook herself had a hand in writing it and I thought it only served to show what an indomitable woman Cook is that she had the strength to write of her ordeal, but there is really very little about it at all in the entire book. My heart goes out to Cook and all of the other victims but this is the book to read if there's anything you ever wanted to know about the city of Dallas. Except of course the crimes and criminal who terrorized it for so long.



4. The premise of this true-crime book is so interesting, I find it hard to believe what an unreadable book it turned out to be. The writing was very stiff. Carol came across as a vain and unsympathetic character. The reader only needs to be told one time what a successful, beautiful, talented, slender blonde she is. Reading over and over and over about her tasteful and expensive knick-nacks was also extremely tiresome. There was also way too much information on Dallas history. I can't help but compare this book (and its heroine) with the book "Citizen Jane", also about a woman who had to deal with being the victim of a horrible crime. Jane Alexander, the hero of "Citizen Jane" comes across as being a great person, an intelligent woman, and a real hero and fighter. Her book is really well written and engaging. Too bad she didn't help Carol Cook write this book.



5. I wanted to read this as I am interested in the way Dallas residents thinks of themselves as somehow special and a bit above others, especially the wealthy...but this book is just terrible. How many times does the author tell the reader how beautiful, blond, intelligent, slim and cultured she is? And could she possible refer to Dallas as the Big D less than a dozen times per page? I am sorry she was attacked, but she is not at all a sympathetic person in this book and her sheer lack of "getting it" when the police were telling her over and over that the rapist was her "dear" friend and sometimes lover was just too much...she insisted she suspected him yet continued to see him, meet with him, forgive him again and again for her suspicions? Come on! I applaud her for trying to help other victims but this book does not help her cause at all. She comes off as no less shallow than the material girls of "Big D" she claims to be so unlike...and when her apartment is later robbed, she mentioned her jewels and furs and her items of exquisite taste were taken...give me a break! Not much to sympathize with here...move on to the next book on the true crime shelf...

5 comments about Dead Women Tell No Tales : Who Planned the Murder of the Witness in the Kobe Bryant Rape Case - an Expose.

1. This was somewhat a surprise and at the same time it doesn't shock me at all. Kobe is human and the only differece is he has a lot of money. Hell, give me some (smile). Even though he has been seen as this well balance young man who has handled his success very well he was and is still young. And that type of wealth so early in life has to have an impact on what he thinks, how he carries himself along with what he think he can do to those he like and dislike in his life. And he does both because he is a human being. Now that doesn't make him a bad person it makes him human. As for the book it simply tells what some may have figured out already and at the same time simply makes some people question who Kobe really is. It is funny how people what to tell everything they may know about someone when times are bad. Yet as long as they are good and they are getting their share of the pie, like they what to, everything is ok. It is clear the author is upset with Kobe and maybe Kobe could have handled the situation better, if true. We all have made the mistake of handling situations badly when we could have handled them in a better manner. What is clear is something happen between Kobe and the author or he would have his lips close. Funny how people claim to be so trust worthy until they get ticked off. Whatever happen to a man's word being good. Kobe hopefully has learned that "True friends are far and between" and the only real people in life you can truly trust is yourself and God. But from reading the book I don't think Kobe considered the author a friend. In Kobe's eyes he was an employee and at most an associate. Peace to Kobe and goodluck to the author. Move on with living. The book at most was enlighten and makes you think. Everyone in the book wanted and some got money which was the prize everyone wanted to win. To Kobe - "The making of friends who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life - Edward E. Hale". Kobe be aware of everyone around you. Men, women, boys, girls, employees and associates. Things are always ok as long as you give them what they want. Kobe go back to your roots and re-evaluate your friends, if not already. Growing up my grandmother always told me "I'm not telling you to do anything wrong but if you do anything do it in such a way no one knows but you and the person you do it with. That way if it get outs you know you didn't tell anyone. God surely didn't tell it (smile). So the only one who could tell is the person you do it with". There were, according to the book, too many people who knew what Kobe was up to. I'm surprise his wife didn't know before Colorado. In this life we live we all make mistakes. The goal is to learn from them. I hope that some day I get a chance to meet Kobe and hopefully have a ten minute conversation with him. Not about all of this but just talk. To the author I hope you make some money and satisfy whatever hunger you may have. Kobe move on and enjoy life as best you can. We all are trying to do that.



2. In 2003, basketball super-star Kobe Bean Bryant was accused of rape. During the media circus that followed the revelations, it was suddenly announced that Swiss bodyguard, Patrick Graber, was arrested for solicitation of murder - allegedly offering to murder Bryant's accuser for $3 million. Mr. Graber later plea-bargained the charge down to grand theft, to which he pleaded no-contest, and was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay $191,000 in restitution.
   
   In this book, Patrick Graber's story is fictionalized, and told by Keith Quillin. The story begins with Graber's life in the security services of the Republic of the Seychelles, when it was a one-party Socialist state, and weaves a story that would do James Bond proud. Along the way, we see Graber's evolution as a man, as he learns to do the unthinkable, when ordered to, and finally ends up trapped within a web, used as a pawn in a game involving Bryant and others.
   
   So, the question becomes, what is the truth here? Well, the short answer is, I just don't know. The fictionalized story, filled with guns, sex, and daring-do makes for an exciting read. However, its exciting nature gives the story a real feeling of pure fiction, which means that you don't take its claims seriously. What parts are fiction, and what parts are non-fiction? I'm afraid I just couldn't figure that out. It's a real exciting book, I'll give it that, but is it an expose? Read and decide that for yourself.



3. A fascinating book, detailing the rise and ultimate fall of Patrick Graber, ex soldier, spy, professional killer and bodyguard. The early chapters of the book provide an interesting insight into a very different world, a world where spies and assassins abound and at times the reader has to take a step back, poke their midriff sharply and remind themselves that this is not the latest Ian Fleming thriller. It's supposedly a true account but unfortunately unbalanced as it only comes from one side. Nevertheless it's a captivating read and once into the main body of the book it cannot be put down. I wavered at times with my sympathies for Graber, a killer, of that there's no doubt, but in Graber's words, killings that were justified - evil people, drug dealers and traitors and although at times Graber wrestles with his conscious the reader sides with him realising that governments really do employ his sort. (And why not?)
   
   And then to the main body of the book - the alleged rape. My sympathies lie with one person and one person only... Katelyn Faber. I've no doubt, in my opinion, whatsoever, that she suffered a serious sexual assault. If that wasn't bad enough she then had to face a media circus, the best legal team Bryant could buy, and even more concerning the might of the NBA and so called fans of Kobe Bryant who they could see doing no wrong. The pressure must have been unbearable and Bryant gets off scott-free with a well worded apology and a slight undisclosed dent in his huge undisclosed fortune. Life's a bitch isn't it?
   
   And then to the interesting part. Patrick Graber accused of solicitation of murder, allegedly offering to murder Bryant's accuser for 3 million dollars. This was a strange one and at times I wondered just how stupid Graber could be taking a step closer to an obvious trap, time and time again. If he was innocent, as he claims in the book, why did he go so far? And can he really have any complaints about getting three years inside. He openly admits he intended to walk away with a million dollars, in effect duping Bryant and his chief of security... Or was it Bryant that duped Graber?
   
   The answers may be hidden in this fascinating whodunit, but unfortunately I couldn't find them.
   
   Ken Scott; Author.
   A MILLION WOULD BE NICE: JACK OF HEARTS: THE SUN WILL STILL SHINE TOMORROW



4. You'll pardon me if I don't get overly excited about Kobe Bryant finally winning his first NBA MVP award. My personal opinion is that Bryant is a man who willfully raped a defenseless young woman in Colorado and then assaulted her again in the court of public opinion before essentially buying his way out of a serious criminal conviction. This expose by Bryant's former bodyguard does nothing but reinforce my negative opinion of the superstar - that's only to be expected, of course, because Patrick Graber definitely has an axe to grind against his former employer. Graber is the man who did time in prison for supposedly plotting to kill the rape victim, and this book - cowritten with Keith Quillan - represents his attempt to clear his name and to vilify Bryant for setting him up as a fall guy in order to deflect media attention away from himself in the days leading up to his trial. Graber's credibility is a real concern here because he really has no evidence beyond his word to back up what he is saying. Unfortunately, I found him to be less than forthcoming regarding certain parts of his life, so I really don't know how much of his story to believe.
   
   Somewhat to my surprise, Dead Women Tell No Tales was far less scathing an expose than I had anticipated. In fact, we are made privy to only a handful of occasions in which Graber and Bryant were together. This book is more about Patrick Graber than it is about Kobe Bryant. The first section of the book represents a conscious attempt on the part of the writers to deal with the credibility issue by recounting Graber's extended period of loyal service as a member of a secret, elite unit in the Seychelles charged with safeguarding the life of the president. I actually found this to be the most exciting part of the whole book, as it recounts several of the dangerous missions Graber was intimately involved with - including assassinations. His exit from the Seychelles is problematic, however, as it is wrapped in innuendoes about a relationship that developed between Graber and the President's wife - and this book does little to clear the air one way or the other as far as that matter is concerned.
   
   After moving to America and setting up shop in California, Graber went into the bodyguard business and soon counted Kobe Bryant among his clients. Bryant didn't need or use him as a traditional bodyguard, however. According to Graber, he was the man the NBA superstar called (oftentimes in the middle of the night) when he had "private" business to take care of: the transportation of young women to and from Bryant's hotel room, the delivery of hush money (with a little intimidation on the side) to one of those girls who fell out of favor, etc. I don't think Bryant was ever without at least one woman (usually more than one) during each of the meetings Graber describes, and on at least one occasion Graber claims to have seen cocaine in the room.
   
   It is impossible to underestimate the importance of the final meeting between bodyguard and client. Graber describes a furious Bryant insisting that he kill the rape victim in Colorado before the case ever goes to trial, making thinly veiled threats against Graber's wife and children in order to overcome his obvious hesitation. Bryant reportedly had everything planned in such a way that the path would not lead back to his door. Graber insists he had no intention of actually murdering an innocent woman, but it is a fact that he followed the plan outlined by Bryant - up until he was arrested, of course. He spends the rest of the book offering rationalizations as to why he did what he did. The reader must come to his own conclusion as to why such a seemingly smart man would make so many stupid decisions one right after the other. The attempted murder charges against Graber were eventually dropped when he agreed to plea bargain down to a charge of grand theft. That charge ties in to a separate case involving one of the fishiest, most implausible loans I've ever heard of, a fact which does nothing to help Graber's credibility in my eyes.
   
   I really don't know how much of Graber's account to believe. If he is telling the truth, the bulwark of his defense would have to be sheer stupidity. The one thing I do know is that no one involved in any of these events comes out looking good in any way, shape, or form.



5. When the original story surfaced about Kobe and the alleged rape I immediately became a Kobe hater even though I am a big Laker fan. Reading this book I thought would bolster my opinion about his dirty deed. Unfortunately, this story doesn't really sell me any more than before on Kobe's guilt. I pretty much feel the same; he probably did it but through a tremendous image makeover everyone has forgiven the NBA MVP. Everyone has moved on , including me as I now applaud the player for his basketball talents, pushing aside what may have been. The book is just not convincing enough; compelling but not convincing. When I read this book several months back I immediately thought this book is more about Patrick Graber. The first several chapters details Patrick Graber's clandestine life as a sort of mercenary that tries (successfully?)to prove the valor and honor of this throwback miltary man. The problem is he seems to go to the highest bidder which doesn't exactly prove his integrity. Somewhere along the way in the first chapters Kobe is introduced and the relationship(bodyguard) he had with Graber but it is mostly about Graber and his operations in faraway countries. The book has quite a cast of characters(lots of name dropping) but the depth to which they are explored, with the exception of Graber, is pretty shallow. After reading this book I felt the story (Graber's version)would never hold up in a court of law so therefore things remain the same; he probably did it but it was never proved. If you are curious about the story of the man who was arrested for planning to take a hit on Katelyn than read this book, this is his version of events that led to his being set up and arrested. Is the book entertaining? Yes, in a sordid sort of way. Does it prove Kobe raped Katelyn Faber? No, but it stil makes you wonder. She has since married and has a child and Kobe is in the Finals matching up in the classic Celtics-Lakers rivalry. Let the games begin.