True Crime Books

Once I started to read this facinating book, I couldnt put it down.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an in depth view at how anti semitism flourished in those times, and how destructive it was.
I was amazed at how the author gathered so many details, interviews, photos, etc. Very impressed- and for someone who preffers fiction over non, that means alot!!

Helmut Walser Smith's The Butcher's Tale analyzes a town's (Konitz Germany)involvement in anti-Semetic activity in 1900. At the turn of the century Germany is experiencing great progress in the arts, sciences, and they are considered the most literate in the world. Although the education system is the envy of other modern nations during the period, the government unfortunately continues to see the nation's minorities as a problem. Although the Jewish minority has been fully emancipated since Napoleon's invasion, anti-Semitism is still prevalent in Germany. Anti-Semitic sentiments have made their lives difficult, nevertheless, the Jewish community has been able to assimilate themselves into German society and have a voice in larger cities such as Berlin.

However in Konitz on March 13, 1900 body parts of a murder young man are found strewn throughout town. Immediately the Jewish community is suspected and anti-Semetic events take place. Walser Smith in The Butcher's Tale investigates the murder of the young man and how it tore the community of Konitz apart. Furthermore, Walser Smith illustrates to his readers the history of anti-Semetism, the place of anti-Semetism in Germany during 1900, and how anti-Semetic sentiments would evolve in Germany's future (particularly under the Third Reich). The book is written extremely well which makes it an easy read (it sucks you into the historical plot much like a novel). In addition, for anyone looking to gain knowledge of how anti-Semetism evolved in Germany or the roots of anti-Semetism this is an excellent opportunity.

I was recently assigned to read this book for a World Civilizations history course in college, and I was surprised by how interesting it turned out to be.
The author offers historical facts and evidence of a supposed 'ritual murder' in Konitz, a German town. But it reads like a suspense story that makes you want to keep reading to know what happened.
I strongly recommend this book to those interested in anti-Semitism and history.

The Butcher's Tale is on the surface the story of the murder of an 18 year old boy in an obscure town in a backwards corner of Germany in 1900. The parts of the book which deal with the discovery of the body and the subsequent investigations read like any report of a murder might, with heavy emphasis on detail and comparisons of witness testimony, etc.

The most important parts of the book deal, however, with the reaction of the townspeople to the murder: an upsurge in anti-Semitic hysteria which eventually forced the government to send troops to keep order. Smith does a good job of analyzing the roots of anti-Jewish prejudice in Germany and Central Europe and provides a fascinating history of the beginnings of the so-called blood libel and desecration of the Host stories, belief in which accounted for much of the anti-Jewish feeling in Central and Eastern Europe from the Middle Ages on. Smith also draws some interesting parallels with the behavior of the German government in 1900, when it actively protected its Jewish citizens, and then in the 1940s, when the Third Reich actively sought to massacre those same citizens.

This book is important because it gives us precious insights into the tendency of human beings, even well educated, civilized humans, to lapse into hysteria and believe the most unbelievable stories about people they once trusted and accepted. Read this book, and remember it the next time you hear rumors about child molesting day care workers, or secret covens of Satanists among us, or other widespread, previously unsuspected, conspiracies.

The reviews of this book may lead you to expect a true-crime story. It was researched very well and and is, therefore, a meticulous examination of German townspeople at the beginning of the 20th century; but the reviews are more interesting than the book. This is not because the story, itself, is not interesting but because it is told in a dull manner.

If you think, as I did, that this book will tell you why a whole town of Christians would not only believe false stories about Jews but actually make up the false stories, forget it. The author seemed to attempt to do this through his detailed examination, but I still don't know the answer. Maybe no one does.

Even if I had not already read the author's preface, after I read this book I could have told you he is a college professor and had his students critique part of the book. It reads like a term paper, lots of facts but not a page turner. A very interesting story, then, turns out to be a dull book.

Perry March was a successful attorney with a beautiful wife, Janet Levine March, and two beautiful children. They lived in a Jewish community of Belle Mead, Tennessee near Nashville, music capital. Janet goes missing and of course, the suspicion goes towards the husband as prime suspect. In this story, the twist is that he convinces his elderly father to help dispose the body of the mother of their two children. Larry and Carolyn Levine, the in-laws, are immediately suspicious because the couple were having lots of marital problems. Perry March is not a sympathetic husband as he tries to get out of this mess. He left a firm because he sexually harrassed one of the women there. After Janet's disappearance, he fled with his children to Mexico to avoid deportation. The law would catch up with him eventually and he was deported back to the United States. He wanted to make a deal of like 7 years in prison. Even without a body, his father would confess to dumping Janet's remains. Perry even remarried and fathered a daughter in Mexico as well while his in-laws fought to see their grandchildren. I felt bad for Arthur March who died on December 21 at 78 years old in prison and was interred at Beth El Cemetery in Portage, Indiana with his son and daughter. He loved his son, Perry, and would have done anything for him. I think it's wrong for the state to rescind it's plea bargain. Arthur March was harmless at the end and died in prison anyway.
Until I received a recent comment about Arthur March, I had no other knowledge about Perry's life with Arthur. It is possible that Arthur was probably responsible for his wife's death but it wasn't known. Yes, Arthur should have turned Perry into the police but the book can be somewhat regarding Perry's upbringing. There is no question that Arthur had responsiblity for the death of his daughter-in-law but only afterwards and help covering up for his son as well. He could have said that he killed her and spent the rest of his life in prison. But like I wrote, the author never mentions much about Perry's mother or his upbringing. The problem with true crime books is that it doesn't cover everything and things are omitted for the readers. True crime readers like myself are not expected to go out and research the cases. That is the job of the true crime author to report all relevant information. While I admire Jeanne King's writing, I do have to say with regret that I should have given less stars because of the omissions regarding Perry's upbringing and background. I do not doubt that there was abuse in Arthur's household and the belief that he could have gotten away with murder. If Perry had witnessed his own mother's murder at his father's hands, it could be traumatic but we don't know the truth. We can only speculate. King's job is to report and analyze from the information. There is no question that Arthur disliked the Levines as much as Perry did but father and son were both dangerous when they didn't get their own way. Now, if Jeanne King had focused on that in her book then it would have been more memorable. Regardless, Perry is in prison for his wife's murder and his children are being raised by the Levines. The March children have suffered losing both their parents in such a heinous matter.

Extremely well written and loads of detail. This author really does her homework. She's right up there with Ann Rule; in fact, I thought I was reading Ann Rule.

This is a great book for the most part. It details how the Irish Mob pioneered the way in which organized crime would be run in America, a system which was then copied blatantly by the Mafia.

The book also details the many wars that broke out between the Irish Mob and the Mafia and how in most cases the Irish used superior cunning, ruthlessness and violence to defeat the Mafia and Black Hand for many years. Finally a combination of assimilation into mainsteram society by the Irish, and the superior organization and numbers of the Italian Mafia allowed them to replace the Irish Mob as the premiere organized crime syndicate in America.

It also details how in a few areas, the Irish continued to control certain territories particularly in NY, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. It discusses groups like the Irish Mob in Boston and the nototrious Westies in NY, who continued to run vast crime rackets up untill the 80's and 90's. The Westies and Whitey Bulger's "Winter Hill Gang" were so lethal and feared, that even during the 60's, 70's and 80's, the Italian Mafia didn't interfere with there buisness or infringe on their turf.

The only place where the book faulters is the recycled and laughable theory that the Mafia killed John F Kennedy. This theory has been disproven by any number of well known and highly respected scholars, many of whom are convinced that there was indeed a conspiracy to kill JFK. However most scholars believe that any conspiracy involved the CIA and other much higher level government forces, and that the Mafia played a passive role, if any role at all. The Mafia as English points out in his book, would not even allow their members to kill police, prosecutors or politicians on a local level, so the idea that they would authorize a hit on the most powerful political figure in the country is quite frankly, ridiculous. It also fails to account for the fact that the Mafia, even with all their power, never wielded enough to kill the President of the United States. They couldn't and wouldn't even attempt to kill mafia procecutors in NY.

Other then that the book is a great histroy of the oldest, most fierce and most succesfull criminal group in American history...The Irish Mob.

PS. It seems odd that Mr. English would do such a detailed review of Irish Organized crime and yet not mention the fact that the North Side Gang in Chicago saw a major resurgence under the "Cavanaugh" family beginning in the late 1940's. Several books have been written about the fact that from 1950-2007 the North Side Gang in Chicago has killed scores of Chicago Mafiosi and now controls a vast swath of criminal rackets on the Niorth Side and throughout Chicago. I find it strange that Mr. English doesn't mention that in his book.

I found this to be an extremely well-written book chronicling the Irish mob from the later part of the 1800's to the present day. Some of the historical facts were astounding, leading me to research on my own even further. I also found the history of the mob from the early 1900's to be exciting, giving me a sense of the brutality of the era that erased the movie bred image I had in my mind. It is hard to fathom such an intense life those men and women must have led. Thanks to TJ English I got a chance to catch a glimpse.

I think this was exciting story but it was too long. You would have to read too much to find out too little about a character. I mean it was cool to find out all of the illegal activities going on in the Irish Mob but it was to little information spread out threw many pages which takes me days to read.
The reason I choose this book was for a school project but it turned out I got some pretty interesting information about the Irish Mob from this book. The author goes to much into detail about unimportant people rather then the important roles in the story. This book is pretty violent and I wouldn't recommend it to nonviolent law abiding citizens.

While a pioneering effort on the fascinating topic of Irish-American organized crime, I was somewhat disappointed with Paddy Whacked, considering the acclaim this book has received. The general background of Irish gangsters and the problems faced by Irish immigrants seem very well researched but the effort falls way short when you get down to specifics. Bugs Moran (born Adelard Cunin) was not actually Irish but the son of French-Canadian immigrants and his North Side mob, composed of mostly Germans and Poles, could hardly be considered an Irish gang. The century-long rivalry betwen Irish and Italian gangsters appears overblown here, as an almost continuous conspiratorial intrigue rather than the simple melting pot dynamics of gradually assimilating successive immigrant cultures. Where is the evidence for Owney Madden (English-born but of Irish ancestry) being forced by the emerging Italian-Jewish syndicate to turn on his Irish brethren? The supposed alliance of Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll and Jack "Legs" Diamond probably owes more to newspaper speculation than anything else and English's theory that it constituted a possible Irish combine to challenge the Mafia falls flat when one realizes that most of Coll's gang were Italians and that Diamond's mob was also ethnically mixed. And it's really a stretch connecting Joe Kennedy's early bootlegging involvement to the JFK assassination which may or may not have been a Mob hit. I also have problems with the fictional dialogue sometimes employed in this book. Paddy Whacked is an ambitious effort but still leaves a lot to be desired and falls far short of being the definitive study of Irish-American organized crime.

This was the first book I read that focused primarily outside of Italian and Jewish organized crime. This is the book that you want to read as an introduction. I personally took an interest in the chapters on Danny Greene and James Bulger and began to read deeper into them. I cannot say how excellent this book is and I recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested. The best thing about this book, is that you don't need to know much about Irish gangsters to read it. It is broken into short stories and once you take a liking to a particular era or gangster, you can read up on them. Definite good buy!

I am glad to see I am not alone. I quit half way through. The first half was somewhat interesting but it just went on and on.

The story of Albert Fish is an interesting one - what an amazing insanity! It is a fair read for those of us who find pathology fascinating. Beneath Albert's story lies the authors story - what seems like juvenile humor regarding fat ladies - the author never mentions the Mother of Grace Budd without adding a comment about her size/weight. Veeery interesting...

This book kept me at the edge of my seat... or pillow, depending on what time of day I was reading. It was an easy read, but yet gripping and almost to much to believe.
I must know, is this truly fact, or fiction? If you look at page 3, you see a note that reads "This book is a work of fiction... " but yet the cover claims that this is a TRUE Story.. could it be? Is the character, Albert Fish, real, but the facts within the pages fiction? I must know.
Overall, I would recommend DERANGED to anyone who, like me, is fascinated by the crimes some human beings (term used loosely) are capable of....

I have read all of Schecter's books and this is the best. He captures the psychological and historical portrait of one of the most fearsome killers in history. This bone chilling story will stick with you.

wow
at first i was wary of buying this but this book is like an E! True Hollywood Story and Stephen King book all rolled into one...i had to keep reminding myself that it was real not fiction
amazing!!!1

For anyone trying to solve the problem of living with books, Ms. Hueston provides no help. She arranges books by size and color, for what she perceives as visual interest. One of her displays even uses trompe de l'oeil wallpaper to create the illusion of a library! Many of the rooms shown are in architects' houses, "seaside" homes and European castles. Most of the results are cluttered: every surface in every room (including surfaces created by stacks of books) is covered with vases, ceramics, sculptures, candles, flowerpots, fringed shawls and what she calls "cherished possessions." In addition, many of the bookshelves are encumbered with framed prints or hangings that hide the books. Unless you share her flamboyant taste (including an inordinate fondness for the color red) and have a budget to match, look elsewhere.

I loved reading and looking at the pictures in this book! I have a lot of books (and dust-catchers) so needed some ideas on placement. This book shows many different ideas in many different types of settings....living room/dining room/family room/study. It really gave me the courage to try some different things! Also, I saw some books I just MUST have.

D. Jones

I am completely satisfied with my purchase. It's the first time and I'll do it again.

This book shows some stunning rooms beautifully decorated with books. For everyone who loves books and loves decorating it is full of inspiration and ideas.

I sent the book back to Amazon. Was disappointed in it. I expected it to be more about books and less about elegant rooms to put them in. A few books put on a chair or on a table or, obviously, in a bookcase really isn't that imaginative. A good magazine showing displays of collectibles including books does a better job as far as I'm concerned.

Of course you will not be able to put down the book because you are on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next in each story. Chris Bird doesn't just focus on the story itself like a cheap Hollywood film. Details of each victims personality, what led to the incident, how the police responded and the aftermath (how people who defend themselves feel afterward) gives you a lot of food for thought. There is probably someone who was involved in defending themselves that you can relate to. I bought this and the The Best Defense by Waters, read them in a few days each, and passed them among girlfriends. They make great conversation; we consider the possibility of an earthquake putting us in a situation like the Katrina chapter. Or what gun control means to an older woman who lives alone. Also, knowing what really happens when gunfire is exchanged, you will never look at an action adventure movie or police drama the same again!

I was very pleased that I learned so much from this book. I am an advocate of personal responsibility and self defense is a part of that. I try to think of ways to keep myself from ever having a confrontation and ways to remove myself from one if it were to happen. This book gives accurate descriptions of how people behaved in these times of stress, and while reading them I automatically inserted myself into the situation and noted how I "think" I would behaved differently were it me. At the conclusion of each story, I was able to compare what actually happened to what may have happened had it been me and I found some of my decisions to be in error. Hopefully I'll never have to be in one of those stories, but if I am, hopefully I'll be able to apply the knowledge gained from this book.

this book needs to be read by people that are not total anti-gun but think the police can "save" them. Learn that the gun is just a tool with a job to do,learn to use it like you would any other tool.

A must read by all anti Gun individuals and Thoes that understand what a Gun is for.

Apparently only God fearing, white Republicans own and value guns (with one exception). And only black men ("thugs") or Hispanic men commit crimes (with one exception).... While I enjoyed some of the stories, which I thought were well written and informative, I could have done without the cheap Republican talking points inserted into these tragedies. For example, we learn that whenever anyone says we need a waiting period to purchase guns to allow for a proper background check, we should remind them of what happened to unarmed citizens in New Orleans after Katrina. Huh? What does that have to do with a waiting period? As a Virginia Tech alumnus, I think background checks should be strengthened, not eliminated.

It's a pity the author couldn't just give us more stories in place of his right wing propaganda. After all, not all gun owners are rabid Republicans (although, to the author's credit, most of his audience no doubt is, so I suppose it's good business for him to preach to the choir). And many people believe there can be healthy limitations on gun ownership, e.g. the previously mentioned waiting period, or banning assault weapons, and these limitations are consistent with the right to bear arms (just like the right to free speech doesn't mean you can scream "fire" in a crowded theater).

In any case, if its stories you want, buy the book. There are good lessons to be learned here, and the author should be commended for his work in compiling them in one handy reference.

If anyone have read "Out in bad standings" its suprising this guy made another book. This book tells the exactly the same story, wich was already boring and lack any value.
Absolutely a no buy.

The Assimilation is an interesting kind of read. If you are a tried and true aficionado of Biker Books, this book is a must for you. It is well written, very insightful and portrays a step in the life and times of Edward Winterhalder from the point where he has become the Second in Charge of The Bandidos MC and the events which drive the merger from The Rock Machine MC to become The Bandidos Canada.

The only problem with the book is that there appears to be some redundancy with his initial book.

Having said this, if you have not read his first attempt at book publishing, The Assimilation is a wonderful read. It will be completely new information and its written with style and is a gritty insight into the inner workings of the Bandidos Nation.

It is actually much more than the title suggests. The book gives an insight into Connecticut Ed. He is one of the truly interesting and remarkable examples of a character who is destined to succeed in this world. His persona and character oozes with charisma and one immediately understands he is a force to be reckoned with in his publishing ambitions. Whilst he has 'doubled up' on some material from his first book, The Assimilation is the mature product with insight and characters developed to the point where this fact became quite irrelevant to this reader. Indeed, I found the read of the Assimilation to be an interesting study of author development and maturation.

I disagree with other reviewers who found the material a re-hash of the initial work by Winterhalder. The book provides a fascinating situation for writers and readers to see the blossoming of an author with Mana which was not well developed in his first attempt.

Many Topics are written about by multiple authors. The Assimilation should be read in the same spirit. His teaming up with de Clerq has inspired a brilliant new product which is a fabulous read for many, many reasons.

Arthur Veno, Ph.D.

In the book The Assimilation, the authors provide a definitive glimpse into the outlaw biker phenomenon, the 1%er culture. At one time or another we've all seen them, displaying the regalia indicating the intense loyalty to their motorcycle clubs, the various 3 patch colors screaming their presence to the wary public. Every marking, every patch, every pinned item has its own special meaning. And if you don't know, don't ask.

The Assimilation will tell how these outlaws from society take their clubs and their patches dead serious, and that means dead in the literal sense. The combined deaths of 160 bikers in the Canadian biker wars between the infamous Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and their sworn enemies the Rock Machine MC form the basis for this riveting true story.

Like the Hells Angels, the notorious Bandidos MC are a powerful worldwide organization with chapters in many countries. With clandestine outlaw biker politics working at a fever pitch at that time, the Bandidos planned to assimilate the Rock Machine into the fold, as indicated by the title of this work.

Enter Mr. Winterhalder. As a member of the Bandidos MC, he traveled to Canada to represent the Bandido's interest. Interspersed with a first hand rendition of these events is an interesting view of Mr. Winterhalder's life and a matter of fact telling of how he came to be in the position of representing one of the most powerful outlaw motorcycle clubs in the world.

To anyone interested in the subject of outlaw motorcycle clubs, I highly recommend this work as an "inside look" written by a man who spent 25 years living the life of a 1%er, and at one time held the rank of national secretary to one of the most celebrated outlaw motorcycle clubs, the Bandidos MC.

A book by a Biker with the integrity to not speak of justice then villainize and try to make a mockery of any system of justice.
A book by an Outlaw Motorcyclist that does not say he embraces freedom, then proudly lists his felony convictions and time spent imprisoned.
A book by a 1%er with the intellect to not glorify drug addiction.
A book by a Human Being that understands the meaning of "Brotherhood" and not just what serves himself today.
A book by a Man with the knowledge to understand the concept "Only Free Birds Fly".
They say..."Out in Bad Standings". I say good for Ed Winterhalder...
"It Is As It Should Be".

One of the best books I've read on biker material. Author gives you an in depth look of the goings on in the little known world of bikers. I enjoyed his first book as well. This one does not disappoint!!! Looking forward to more books by this particular author!!

Paul LaRosa, talented writer and excellent researcher, makes great use of both talents in 'Tacoma Confidential'.

Fairly presented without bias, LaRosa's detailed and insightful look into the tragic outcome of the troubled marriage of a dangerously flawed police chief and its impact on a major U.S. city is a riveting story that will keep the reader turning the pages at a furious pace.

The disintegration of a marriage and of the mind of a law enforcement officer is chronicled in such fine detail one has the sensation of actually 'being there' as the story unfolds. Despite never having met the major victims of this crime, the author's highly-honed research skills and evenhanded writing allow the reader to become intimately familiar with Chief David Brame and his wife, Crystal, and their families and acquaintances.

That Mr. LaRosa did ultimately meet so many others involved and their willingness to share such a wealth of personal information is certainly a credit to his ability to convey understanding and compassion. The same traits were excellently utilized to document this tragedy in an absorbing and compelling manner.

True writing skill prevents the far-reaching political implications of this case, both citywide and within the police department, from becoming muddled, confusing or boring. Instead, they are recognized as mind-boggling, somewhat amazing, and certainly always thoroughly interesting.

There was a moment of confusion for me when the author injected his personal input into the story via 'first-person' writing. Many writers accomplish this with irritating and insulting heavy handed innuendo that severely colors the facts. An astute reader recognizes immediately the efforts to force the reader to accept the writer's beliefs. The refreshing openness of this author's writing style; presenting the facts and trusting the reader to reach their own conclusion, certainly makes for a more enjoyable reading experience.

True true-crime fans are well aware of how this genre has fallen prey to a bevy of poor writers publishing weak books that read like sleazy dime-store novels. Readers have to continually be on their toes to search out first-class, well-written, great reads. If any of you fans missed this one, you need to remedy that mistake straight away because.....

'Tacoma Confidential Is A Winner'!

So many reviews of TACOMA CONFIDENTIAL, almost all of them positive, have already been posted, that I normally would not write another one. But I believe that Paul LaRosa has created a true crime book that is so outstanding that I feel the need to pile on. The subject of the book, the pending divorce between David Brame, the Tacoma, WA, Chief of Police and his wife Crystal - and the tragic outcome - is interesting and must have given Tacoma residents gossip material for months. But what elevates the book to the top echelon of true crime is the outstanding work by Mr. LaRosa.

TACOMA CONFIDENTIAL is written reportorially, straight-forwardly, and without the melodrama to which this story would readily lend itself in the hands of a lazy or less-competent writer. The research is remarkably thorough, and the reader has a sense, due to LaRosa's powerful narrative, of being at the center of the Tacoma Police Department's maelstrom of innuendo, sorrow, disavowance of responsibility, and just great gossip.

The most impressive single aspect of LaRosa's work, however, is his even-handedness. David Brame was apparently a cold, selfish, manipulative, and abusive man; and Crystal, while seemingly a nicer and more pleasant person than David, had her own share of negatives, coming across as compulsive, mildly hysterical, and as one of those people who shares their life's most personal details with strangers who probably would rather not hear them. La Rosa presents both of the Brames, warts and all -and there are plenty of warts - in a non-biased fashion, letting the reader come to his own conclusions.

This is excellent true crime, and I thank my friend in Lubbock for recommending it to me.

I really should learn to never judge a book by it's cover...but that is what I did with this book for many months. The cover, the title, they just didn't grab my attention. But once I opened the book and started reading...it had my fullest attention.

Paul LaRosa does an excellent job of relaying the story of Tacoma Police Chief David Brame who, in 2006, shot his estranged wife in a RiteAid parking lot before turning the gun on himself. And, sadly enough, this occured while the couple's children were just a few feet away.

This book is a riveting tale of sex, scandals, and attempted cover-up by many of Tacoma's high ranking officials. It is a definite must read for any true crime fan!

I'm surprised (shocked, actually) this book has received so many good reviews on Amazon. I found it horrible. It contains many contradictions -- for example, on one page LaRosa says every single journalist criticized the bartender-blogger who broke the case, and a few pages later, he quotes an editor complementing the same guy--, in lieu of facts he provides he says/she says ("Crystal said she only got $100 every two weeks, David's family says she got much more" -- well, who is telling the truth? Isn't LaRosa's job to find out and tell us?) and his writing is mediocre at best. I have read very few true-crime books in my life, but if this is one of the better ones, then the genre sucks.

The big secret life of the Chief of Police is simply not that interesting. It is very difficult to care about the victims. The wife is a spoiled brat and the husband is a retarded lech. These people were raising damaged children further traumatized by this violent, selfish turn of events. The parents do get high marks for lousy parenting. If you want to learn how not to behave, buy this book.

The writing is average and redundant. It is clear that much "filler" was put in to make it a full book. The author simply should have chosen a more interesting subject. On the surface, I can imagine he thought it was. A closer look is just another pathetic ugly divorce.

Having some experience in counter-terrorism, as I read through the updated introduction to the latest edition of "Surveillance Countermeasures" I was struck by how applicable this instruction is to the emergent new-age threat we face. It is an unfortunate reality, but the realists among us understand that we have entered a dangerous stage in our society wherein we are not far from a relatively chaotic time to include a wide proliferation of suicide vest and vehicle bombing attacks in the streets of the US, Canada, and Europe.

Based on terrorist doctrine and the post-event examination of terrorist operations, we know that two of the primary stages in the terrorist operational process are "Intelligence and Surveillance" and "Pre-attack Surveillance and Planning". Target surveillance activity is arguably the most important portion of the terrorist attack cycle. This also represents the periods during which terrorist operatives are exposed and at their greatest risk of detection. Regardless of the internet research resources and technical stand-off surveillance capabilities, actual "eyes-on" surveillance remains a critical aspect of pre-operational planning, and places terrorist operatives in their most vulnerable positions. Therefore, the identification of terrorist surveillance efforts prior to final mission execution is the most effective means of threat detection and neutralization. Terrorist operatives and other such bad actors who conduct physical surveillance to facilitate their activities, however, operate under the hope and assumption that they are operating against unwitting, unaware, and non-surveillance conscious targets. Therefore, an awareness of the threat and the ability to perform surveillance detection and anti-surveillance are critical to countering these adversarial efforts.

This book demonstrates the techniques to effectively counter the most sophisticated physical surveillance methods employed by traditional adversaries. Interestingly, the most notorious terrorist training manual that is widely available over the internet has a chapter that deals largely with the methods of physical surveillance that are a regurgitation of the time-proven techniques that are common to the world's most sophisticated practitioners of surveillance. Coincidentally, "Surveillance Countermeasures" details exacting and effective methods to counter each of the specific methods endorsed in this and other known terrorist training resources.

I do not want to be misleading by implying that this book is written specifically to address the terrorist threat. However, it is widely applicable to the terrorist threat and the myriad criminal enterprises that endeavor to develop the information necessary to effectively execute violent attacks and assassinations as a means to achieve their operational objectives. And of course, it remains an unparalleled resource for investigators and counter-espionage professionals, as well as those responsible for VIP or critical asset protection.

This book is about detecting people who are following you, and observing your activities. It unfortunately does not cover countermeasures to other kinds of surveillance, such as video surveillance, which has become prevelant in our time.

The title to this book says it all literally. I was skeptical at first and I thought the title was just hype to sell the book but after reading half of it in one setting, I was totally wrong. For the average guy with basic knowledge on the subject, this book is sure to build on that. What I love most about this book is when you read about countermeasures and all that stuff you also learn about the measures taken by operators. It's all how you read the book. This book is very detailed and amusing at the same time. The things people plan against you are very well thought out. The countermeasures are also genius. Once again, the title holds great justice to the material inside. Furthermore, the tactics in this book are still being used today if this helps you when debating on purchasing this book.

Though it can get a bit dry at times, reading this book through is very well worth it. It covers a lot of material, whether it be foiling foot, vehicular, or technical surveillance attempts. Unlike some books that will include a few pages on eluding surveillance, listing techniques like "leave the TV on if you think you're bugged" or "make two right turns if you think you're followed" and leaving it at that, this one will provide you with more discreet and effective ways at accomplishing these goals.

It also offers insight on the mindset of your adversary, the survelliance operative. It is obvious that the authors are very knowledgeable in this field. So if you want to learn how to detect and elude surveillance like a smooth operative, this book is your one-stop solution.

In the ever changing "Information Age" in which we exist, more and more of us are voicing concerns about our fear of "Big Brother" and the amount of privacy that we can continue to maintain. With government agencies and pseudo-agencies, as well as more and more online businesses requesting more of our personal data, and storing this info in larger and larger databases, we all should be rightly alarmed and concerned. This book, I find, provides very helpful advice to the consumer on how to try and preserve their privacy while also making you aware of how others (crooks) are constantly looking for ways to pilfer your identity. While some areas of the book I did not consider to be detailed enough (particularly, areas on surveillance), overall, I considered the book to be very informative. However, be aware, that the everyday consumer is not the only one who may be reading this book!