True Crime Books

My emotions ran the gamut from rage, indignation, incredulity, to fear.
ANYONE considering moving to Mexico or doing business in Mexico, or for that matter any more including the U.S., should read this book!

An all to honest look at the war on drugs. This book takes you down some very dark passages. Things will not look the same again.

When I read this book, back in Dec. 2002, I didn't realize just how it would change my life. It altered my perception of reality forever and I am 60 years old. Mr. Bowden has made a compelling case for the failure of the War on Drugs. In heartbreaking detail he summarizes the story of a family in El Paso who suffered greatly as a result of their child being murdered by another child. But the background to the War on Drugs is as byzantine, complicated and murderous as it gets. Its as if the average U. S. citizen lives in a completely alternate universe where this issue is concerned. It also explains why millions of illegal immigrants cross our borders every decade. Five years after reading this book, I am still affected by it every day. May I suggest Sibel Edmond's gag order case and the MadCowMorningNews as another place to go to understand the nexus between terrorism and drug trafficking, greed and money laundering. Great book--though a complicated read at times---images of the desert are beautifully described.

Charles Bowden has written a well documented story of a span of time in the drug history of the U.S./Mexico border. Certain drug cartels intertwine and are involved with the same several families for years. Thousands of people are put into bondage, murdered or disappeared with little or no trace of them ever again. Many Mexican politicians, even a president or two, are involved with the drug scene and with stealing and removing to other countries, the wealth of Mexico. One murder, which is never solved conclusively, has enormous impact on the life of one DEA officer and on the survival of his extended family. It's a raw picture of one of the reasons to not allow wholesale amnesty of illegal aliens.

This book is brilliant! Only gifted readers will be comfortable reading it though because it is an incredible read! THE TRUTH WILL AMAZE YOU if you are clever enough to hang onto the pages as you turn them!

I admire Mr. Bowden so much because this book is based on 7 1/2 years of research and detective work. The detective work starts with one individual and spirals into a nonfictional mystery of global proportions leading the reader to a place where their reality of what being a U.S. citizen means is forever changed.

THIS BOOK SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR EVERY CITIZEN IN THE UNITED STATES!! EVERY PARENT SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!


"Saying NO to Drugs"... isn't working folks!! THE WAR ON DRUGS is a BLOG to keep the average American from reading books such as this!

Our leaders are making sure the drug problem won't go away . THIS IS A PROFOUND BOOK ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND THE ERASING OF OUR DEMOCRACY.

Thank you Mr. Bowden for having the courage to write it!

This book has some great lines about prison. One has stayed in my mind ever since I read the book 25 years ago. Jimmy Smith: "Powell was a punk in the gym in Vacaville. They bent him over a workout bar and browned em."

I read this book many years ago. Last week, while I was browsing through used books in a Goodwill Store, I came across a hardbound copy in pristine condition. It was selling for $2.00. Needless to say, without hesitation, I bought it. I found myself an absolute treasure. Without a doubt in my mind, this is easily the finest non-fiction story of crime and retribution I have ever read, gripping and haunting thoughout. Only one other non-fiction crime story comes close to it, and that is SWORDFISH by David McClintick. If this book can be purchased, do so without hesitation. Jay Wickramasinghe, Citrus Heights, California

This gripping narrative describes the 1963 kidnapping and murder of Los Angeles police officer Ian Campbell (1931-1963) and the crime's lengthy aftermath. Campbell and his partner Karl Hettinger were kidnapped at gunpoint one night by two hoods during a routine traffic stop, and then driven into the country where Campbell was shot dead in an Onion field. Hettinger managed to flee to safety, but was left with psychological trauma and a crushing sense of guilt over his partner's death. The author details the lives of the two killers, their lengthy trials and appeals, and the aftermath for the traumatized Hettinger, who was blamed by many for allowing the tragedy to occur. Readers learn not only about the crime and its lengthy aftermath, but also about the victimization of survivors, and about our imperfect system of justice.

Author Joseph Wambaugh modeled this book after IN COLD BLOOD, Truman Capote's superb look at the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family. Wambaugh didn't quite match Capote, but THE ONION FIELD makes excellent reading (it also became a pretty good movie). Readers might also like Wambaugh's THE BLOODING (about the first use of DNA testing) and ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS.

It has been some years since this one hit the shelves, but it is non the worse for wear. Actually, I have to agree with another reviewer in that I too, feel this is one of Wambaugh's best. A true sory, brought to light in a very readable story like format. It is rather unforgetable. The author does a very good job of not only telling us a story (Wambaugh is, after all, first and formost a great story teller), but gives us great insight into the thoughts and motivations of the killers. He gives us a wonderful profile of the oung officer who survived this horrible crime. I cannot in all truth say it is as good as "In Cold Blood," but it comes pretty close to the mark. Recommend this one highly.

The two cops didn't expect anything life-altering when they pulled over the car with the busted taillight in Hollywood that Saturday night in 1963. But that was what they got. Before the night was over, one officer was dead and the other would never be the same.

Joseph Wambaugh's 1973 true-crime account of the killing is perhaps his best-known and most celebrated work, made into a memorable movie and a kind of calling card for Wambaugh's critical yet sensitive way of writing about crime and police work. "The Onion Field" may be based on a true story, but it reads like a novel, much like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" would have had Capote been as interested in the crime itself as in the problem of capital punishment.

Like "In Cold Blood," you have one killer who is gay and unreasonably violent, another who is a hardened tag-along. Unlike "In Cold Blood," Wambaugh wastes little sympathy for either, especially as they and their attorneys work the system to preserve their lives while the surviving cop is left roasting on a spit, forced to relive the experience that night in the lonely onion field where his partner was killed as the rest of his life spirals out of control.

There are sections where "The Onion Field" is hard to put down and others where it lulls you to sleep. Wambaugh finds everything in this case too fascinating to keep to himself, whether it's a juror with a persecution complex or a defense attorney who objects to everything in hope of getting a mistrial. The first 50 pages may be the dullest in the book, as the "before" lives of several key participants are examined to great mundane length.

But once the two felons, Jimmy Lee Smith and Gregory Powell, find each other, Wambaugh is at his best tracing their brief partnership of crime. Powell styles himself a trenchcoat-wearing mastermind, but his idea of strategy is a getaway car with a burnt clutch so there is no chance of pulling away from a job too quickly. As the pair drive around aimlessly, Powell waving his gun around, Smith wondering when he might ditch his pal and steal the loot for himself, "The Onion Field" is on a par with Wambaugh's best comedy. Then they meet their destiny and the two lawmen, and the bad guys' stupidity is no longer funny.

The other element this book really nails is the story of the surviving detective. Already wrestling with huge survivor's guilt, he is forced to endure much departmental second-guessing about how he allowed the crooks to take him alive. In time, he becomes such a mess he starts to steal, as if willing his own disgrace. Naturally, this gets brought up in court by an opportunistic defense attorney, who labels him a sociopath.

"He doesn't know the meaning of guilt," the lawyer says, ironically enough given by this point of the story guilt's all the guy does know.

I've found other Wambaugh books more compelling, especially "The Blooding," which has many of the same themes (pathology, the strain of police work) but also a better story and sharper focus. "Onion Field" is a memorable book, though, something to shake the most jaded reader into thinking about how many different ways we can find ourselves on the wrong side of the law.

I'm a newer fan of the TV show, but have a long-time fascination with violent crime. So when I heard SVU had a book describing real-life murders in relation to the series, I absolutely had to look.

Dwyer and Fiorillo do a stunning job. Not only do they present 25 fascinating cases, but they delve into the details you normally don't find when researching the particular crime. Done and solved crimes like the BTK killer are widely known about, but the authors go into side details that most writers forget to cover in 20-page tales. There's even a crime the show only lightly touched upon--the scizophrenic man shoving someone in front of a train.

Dwyer and Fiorillo have outdone themselves. This book is a brilliant compilation of true crime. The old seems fresh, and the new is horrifying and captivating. Even if you're familiar with most of the crimes in here, it's worth taking a look. I highly recommend this book to any fan of the show AND fellow true crime intrigues.

This book is amazing, just like the first one! It's well written, and I would highly recommend it for any true crime junkie, or Law & Order fan! Try it -- you'll love it!

To many Americans, the CIA and KGB are things of a James Bond movie. Lots of sex and violence with the KGB being at best stupidly evil. In addition,many Americans today think of the CIA as almost more of an enemy to the Republic than Moslem terrorists, the Chinese, or the resurgent Russians. Far too many people today blame the CIA for not having clearer information about Iraq or worse actively plotting with the 'Government' to get us into a war.

This book of Bearden and Risen though, is one that both popular historians and casual reader alike can get into. They show that often intelligence services make educated guesses on fragments of information that may or may not be compromised by the enemy. Concerned with a period of global turmoil that was surprisingly governed by understood rules of intelligence gathering and other activities, this book brings the reader into the world of the CIA. Far from the James Bond style killing and counter killing by the Allies and Soviet Empire, it was one of limited violence between the two principal powers. A busted or captured agent was interrogated briefly and put on a plane for home, no killing and seldom more than a mild roughing up.

The dying days of the Soviet Empire were ironically the period that that the KGB (with help from American traitors like Aldrich Ames and Robert Hannsen)had wiped out most of the CIA operatives in Russia. The Americans had been sent home and the Russian agents of the Americans killed. The US had virtually no human intel assets behind the Iron Curtain. This is some of the most interesting parts of the book, seeing how much damage a couple of American traitors did as we blindly tried to understand what was going on. The bewildered KGB agents simply cannot believe their Empire is collapsing while they have gotten the upper hand over their Western enemies.

Bearden's insider accounts need to be taken with a grain of salt but his recounting of that period and the US efforts in Afghanistan are informing. Many of us who have studied the period or were in the Armed Forces knew in a general manner what was going on, but seeing the CIA somehow keep Congress on their side while turning on the heat on the Russians in Afghanistan is a both a pleasure and source of wonder. One does not have to think hard to wonder what our present Congress would have done in similar circumstances.

This book illustrates a critical period in our history. Depicting intelligence services being blindsided by events is something critics should remember happens far too often. No intel service of any country has a 100% batting average, not even the legendary Mossad of Israel and that is something Congress and the American public too often forget.

I read this regular book, here in Brazil.This book was writen by two CIA's men.This book is about the last years of Cold War.The years between 1985 and 1991 are the focus of this regular book.
The failures of this are:
1-Has too much space dedicated to Afghanisthan.
2-This book is very biased.
3-Even having some little paragraphs about years, before 1985, this book almost talks about 1985 and 1991.
War in Afghanisthan wasn't so important, in Soviet Union's defeat.The real thing was that socialism was defeated in Afghanisthan, years before Soviet Union invasion of Afghanisthan.As a source of lives, Afghanisthan killed (in almost ten years) just about 15,000 soviets, against more than 23,000,000 just between 1941 and 1945.The authors were in afghanisthan and they use this experience as a big part of this book.
As a external way to broke Soviet Union the fall of oil's price, between 1985 and 1986 was a sucess.Soviet Union paid its food, from oil's money and money from weapons selled to oil's exporters.When the oil's prices fell between 1985 and 1986, Soviet Union became a crippled country.And this fact has too little space in this book.
This book is too much biased.Aldrich Ames made so much calamities, not just because of himself, but because of CIA's failures.Before of CIA's men, the CIA's agents are americans, having the american failures.To search for confort and happiness are americans, but they can be a calamity, because spies are to be looking for duty, not confort.

Good book. Gives unique insights. Shows to what degree the heroes in the CIA go to protect this great country.

There's lot of spy vs. spy folklore here but it's presented in a format that really jumps around, making it unnecessarily confusing. The story of the CIA's operations in Afghanistan could have made a separate book and doesn't fit with the rest of the more familiar spy games. In fact, that book has already been written- Ghost Wars, the Pulitzer-Prize winner by Steve Coll. It seems like Bearden wasn't sure whether he wanted to write an autobiography or a history of CIA operations.

This reads like a Tom Clancy novel only cheep. We have seen this story before in many spy movies. There is little substance and a lot of editorializing (which I thought was a bit heavy on the US side). At one point the author tells us the CIA boss was so wonderful even the KGB studied him for his professionalism. PLEASE!!!

This is the kind of story many would consider incredible hadn't these events actually taken place. Years ago a short-lived television series (two seasons, to be exact) called "Tightrope" aired in which a young actor named Michael Connors portrayed an undercover police officer known only as "Nick" who, week after week, successfully infiltrated various underworld gangs and operations. It was a fictional TV show, nothing more, designed solely for the entertainment of the viewing audience. In 1976 Special Agent Joseph D. Pistone of the FBI made that role a reality. Under the guise of jewel thief "Donnie Brasco," Pistone entered the dangerous world of organized crime and eventually penetrated it at a level so deep that he was actually "proposed" for membership in La Cosa Nostra when the "books" were opened. Renting an apartment on Manhattan's upper East Side (a lot more affordable then), Pistone began to frequent a local restaurant where he got to know a few "connected" guys. This led to his broadening his circle of associates to include, first, a Colombo-affiliated crew in Brooklyn and, later, a Manhattan-based faction of the Bonanno family. The fact that he was accepted and gained the trust of these otherwise wary, street-smart "wiseguys" is a testament to how well Pistone played his role, knowing how far to push the envelope in tricky situations and when to step back. The operation, which lasted six years, came to an abrupt halt when Pistone was given a "contract" to "whack" a Bonanno rival. By that time, however, the Mob had been irreparably damaged. Within weeks of the startling revelation that "Brasco" was in fact an FBI agent, a $500,000 bounty was placed on his life and the Mob began to exact revenge on those who had originally "sponsored" him. One, Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero, was picked up by FBI agents while on his way to almost certain doom after having been "sent for," or summoned, to a Little Italy bar by his former pals. Two others weren't so lucky. In August, 1981, the badly decomposed body of one Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, a capo who maintained a special fondness for Pistone even after learning he was an agent, turned up in a Staten Island creek, minus both hands. Seven months later, in March, 1982, Anthony Mirra, a psychopath who had been the first to introduce Pistone to the Bonanno crew, was found shot to death behind the wheel of his car in a downtown Manhattan garage. Co-written by Mr. Pistone himself and Richard Woodley, "Donnie Brasco" reveals the gritty, day-to-day workings of the Cosa Nostra lifestyle as it actually exists (or should I say existed?) and not the honorable, glamorized version of Don Vito Corleone's world as depicted in "The Godfather."

than the mob. Congratulations to anyone who does anything to reduce its influence and send its members to prison. Criminal trial attorney inner-city courts in a very large city, 30 years, state and fed prosecutor, and in my estimation this FBI agent is about as heroic as they come. Talk about role models. Forget about sports stars and pay attention to this former FBI agent and what he did for all of us.

like it much better that movie- so much more insight- get it if you are interested in this topic!

Gripping story of Joe Pistone posing undercover as Donnie Brasco for 6 years (!) to infiltrate the mob. As I read the story, I couldn't help but keep thinking how brave and street-smart this guy is. One slip and he's a dead man! Pistone thoroughly covered all his bases to maintain his fake identity. In the end, after the FBI agents announced to his mob ties that Donnie was actually an undercover agent all this time, they doubted it could be possible, and told the agents their was no way Donnnie was working undercover. That's how good this guy was!

I'd put money that you've already seen the movie. What you wanna know is if the book is any good/better/different, right? I'd say different. For example in the book "Donnie" is much older, perhaps over forty - his kids are in high school, whereas as I recall Jonny Depp's Donnie was late twenties/early thirties perhaps, with pre-school-ish kids....Maybe that's not a big deal. A bigger difference is much of the tension in the book comes from one of Donnie's early connections and sparring partners, Tony, who feuds with Lefty over "control" of Donnie - this is a very important strand in Donnie's rise in the Mafia, and as I recall wasn't in the movie at all. Bottom line is there is far more in the book than the bare bones story told in the film, and it's a well told tale. Forgettaboutit, just buy it....

I am in school for Criminal Jutice and plan to start Police Academy in a few months. All I know about being a cop is that something is pushing me to do it. I am not fully aware yet of everything I am getting into, but something keeps me from giving up. This my life long dream and passion. After reading this book it gave me so much more courage and wisdom to know that I can make a difference. Most people would fear what Randy has encountered, but I pray to do the same things. I know it will not be easy, but with prayer and faith, anything can happen. This book was very educational to me, and I loved every story. Great job!! *Kerista*

The author Sgt Sutton is actually a lieutenant in my police agency and I, for one, feel priveleged we have a man that has gone through all this in this book as a head in my police dept! God bless him and officers all around this world!

This book is better than other cop memoirs because much of it is the unvarnished, unpainted skinny on real police work. Most of the stories are depressing and sad and frightening. Morons and whack-jobs and bottom-feeders are who cops deal with.

The book is well-written, the subject is interesting, and the stories are realistic and plausible. I read the book in one evening. It's THAT engrossing.

Randy Sutton compiles a collection of true cop stories that will leave you reeling. Devoid of any gooey sentiment but true to the street beat that these cops work. At times scary, depressing, uplifting and heroic these cops tell a story of sacrifice, family and the failure of society. Not an easy book to get through at times but highly recommended.

I'm a student at Eastern Kentucky University majoring in Police Studies in hopes of becoming a police officer. When walking through Wal-Mart, this book caught my eye, and although school has turned me against reading, I bought it anyways. Later that day, I sat down and began to read the book, and couldn't put it down. I felt that I was living Sgt. Sutton's life right there in my living room. This is a very powerful 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.

Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' is enjoying a resurgence of popularity thanks to the Oscar-winning film depicting the author's life and work during the writing of this phenomenal piece. At one point in the film, the character Capote makes the statement that when he thinks about how good this book will be, he can hardly breathe. Perhaps it is because it is part of our history now, I don't consider the book to be that good, but it was a work fairly close to groundbreaking in its impact - it was a new genre, the narrative telling of a non-fiction event as if it were a fictional novel.

The narrative centres upon the murder of a Kansas family by two men, Perry Smith and Dick Hicock, who are in many ways far from typical killers, much less cold blooded killers. The family, the Clutters of Holcombe, Kansas, are far from typical victims, nor is this the kind of place such a murder would be expected. Capote does a remarkable job at an even-handed analysis and narrative treatment of all the characters, from the family itself to the townspeople and investigators, as well as the murderers themselves. Perhaps it is because he found an area of identification?

This is a psychological thriller of a sort - at least it would be, were it not a true life tale. Getting into the minds of the criminals and the investigators was no easy task for Capote, but what comes forth on the page is very crisp and insightful reporting, without the kinds of embellishments one might expect from a figure such as Capote when dealing with middle-America folk.

The question of why for the killing is still never fully resolved, despite Capote's attempt to set out all the story and psychological detail. Perhaps this is as strange as the interest Capote took in the subject in the first place, as well as the effect it had on him, and those around him, ultimately - while Capote himself never again finished a major project after this, that is also true of his assistant, Nell Harper Lee, whose book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (done about the same time as 'In Cold Blood') was also her last major writing.

A worthwhile book in many ways.