True Crime Books

Written as if it were being put together for the History channel. I would put this just above "Under and Alone".

If this is your kinda subject matter, you'll dig it! I couldn't put it down, eventhough there's alotta names and dates, and this baby is global in coverage, it'll captivate ya. Exciting and in-depth, it's a ride from cover to cover. On par with the other Canadian OMG authors, both in depth of content, and their tendency to believe in known fallacies with mythical proportion, eh! I woulda thrown up a firm five, but they hadta print the rubbish. Still pretty damn good though.

good account of the Hells Angels activity, related in an entertaining manner.

This is a great book - -there are a lot of facts so it isn't an easy read but very interesting just the same!

The Angels of Death is riveting book about the Hells Angels quest for global domination. Reads like a thriller where the most exciting part is about ATF's undercover operation. Well recommended and hard to put down.

I agree with the review above in that the cakes are not easy and are not your typical celebrations cakes.

I love Debbie Brown books and have most of them. The cakes are whimsical and fun. As far as ingredients, fondant can be purchased online (a good one is Satin Ice) and Wilton gumpaste can be bought at Michael's or Joann's craft store..and can also be bought online as well. A homemade marshmallow fondant recipe can be found online too.

I haven't tried her recipes, but I do use my own, using a firmer cake like poundcake for carved cakes.

Great ideas to inspire creativity.

I bought this book hoping to get some great (and simple) ideas for making fun cakes. The ideas were great, but simple? Not so much. I own another cake decorating book by Debbie Brown. Her work is flawless, which is not surprising, considering the level of detail she puts in to each cake design. The cakes were so complicated in the first book, however, that it took me close to 15 hours to build one of them (and I worked 8 years in the industry). This book, I assumed, would have her more simple creations. I also assumed (incorrectly) that the cakes would be for general parties (birthday, anniversaries, showers, etc.). I was wrong on both counts.

First, with the exception of the cover cake (which, to me, looks like it could work for a girl's birthday), the cakes have strange themes and none are really appropriate for general purposes. For instance, there's a cake made to look like a garbage can with someone's desk accessories in it; another cake is made to look like a washing machine with dirty laundry thrown about; another cake is a kitten on a pillow; still another is made to look like a moving van with a man trying to stuff in a mattress; you get the picture. There are no frosted cakes for standard celebrations. I'm not certain what sort of parties Debbie Brown is having, but they don't work for me.

Second, I cannot say that the cakes are simple to make. All of her creations require fondant, which is easy to make, but does require some general instruction (which she does not give). Having worked with fondant I did not have any trouble with that piece of it, but I don't know that the average savvy baker would know, for instance, to generously cover her work surface with powdered sugar, or that you cannot properly dye fondant with the over-the-counter egg dyes. In addition, her cakes require gum paste, which can be difficult to find if you don't live in a large city. Even for the very simple cake I made (a diver in an ocean), I needed tragacanth gum. As it happens, I have some, but again, I'm not sure the average cook carries that in his or her larder.

Finally, the recipes are not particularly good, so don't buy it for that reason. They have been adapted for U.S. kitchens (she's from the U.K., I believe), but flavor is not the focus of the cakes and frosting. The base of the buttercream she uses is powdered sugar and butter which you can get off of any box of flour or can of Hershey's cocoa (I make a cooked swiss meringue buttercream, which adds loads to the flavor of a cake). The cake recipe makes a firm dry cake, good for cutting into shapes, but not so good for eating. For me, I want my cakes to look and taste good. After all, once you slice in to that baby, people forget what it looked like.

Here is what is good about the book: The pictures are beautiful and you can pick and choose from her designs to add to your more subdued cake. For instance, I wanted to make some edible stones for a cake I was making, so I used her idea from a more complicated cake. Worked perfectly. Also, she outlines very clearly all the things you will need if you do choose to make the cakes she's listed. Finally, the book's whimsical designs will give you ideas for your whole party. Her "diver" cake, which I could barely get through, gave me the idea to give each guest their own hand-poured chocolate shells, nestled in a pail of sand (made of cookies). The kids loved it.

In short, I have other cake decorating books that I think are more valuable, and I do believe the title is somewhat misleading. If you're a novice, or you don't like working with fondant, this is not the book for you.

Edna Buchanan has written a multi-faceted book about many of the crimes in Miami and the nearby area from her career as a crime reporter for local newspapers.

She wrote about her childhood and the journey that led her to journalism.

The author related how publicity usually aids in solving cases and apprehending the guilty,but not always. The "Pillowcase Rapist" was used as an example where that tactic failed.

Victims are not always located. Like in the case of Christopher Wilder where two of his victims' bodies were never discovered.
The disappearance of a 17 year old girl was an unsolved mystery. The poignant story of her mother's courageous search in dangerous locales and her timeless determination was another side to that story.

Edna Buchanan documented the carnage of the race riots that resulted after the McDuffie police brutality-murder case.

There are a number of true life,colorful characters in "The Face had a Familiar Face" that make this book entertaining and hard to put down.

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK 4 1/2 STARS BECAUSE I WISH IT WOULD HAVE HAD SOME PICTURES. THE STORIES WERE REALLY DIFFERENT AND NOT SURE I WOULD LIKE TO LIVE IN MIAMI, FLORIDA.

Edna is a great (and very funny) speaker. Her writing is just as good. If you want to learn exactly what a crime reporter does and learn it in a truly very amusing book, this is for you. I read this book before I heard her speak. I expected that the talk would be boring (i.e., couldn't be as good as the book), and was I wrong! She kept all of us laughing for about 45 minutes. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak, don't hesitate! If hearing her appears to be extremely unlikely, you are in luck because you can read her book! Seldom do I laugh out loud while reading a book, but I did while reading this one. If I ever hear the song "I shot the Sheriff" I know I will start laughing out loud again. This is light reading and you won't regret the time you spend!

I finished this book in 2 days. I found it different from most true crime books I read, but very interesting.

First book. Mesmerizing. Tough, critical, witty, a read-to-the-end book (forget sleeping for about two days). A tough lady who won the respect of law enforcement and fellow novelist. Humorous, sad, caring,
historical and factual with no sugar coating. Just the facts, Ma'am! Street smart. If you don't have a member of law enforcement in your family, you need to read this book to garner some idea of their lives.

This book is far superior than many other books on similar topics, and the authors walk the line well between being academic and practical. The thrust of the book is toward an understanding of what criminologists call "emerging crime," and it delivers a well researched baseline of information synthesized with what is known or speculated about emerging trends. The end result is a product suitable for adoption in the academic marketplace, and would even make for fascinating reading by laypersons. Overall, the book is congruent with the scholarly and curricular purposes of higher education, and one shares the sense of urgency that comes across at times, but one also relishes the moments, evident in the writing, when careful and meticulous reflection is done.
The introductory chapter spares the reader from a boring introduction to the history of the Internet, and the basic typology relied upon is the well-known computer as target and computer as tool (instrument) which comes from some of the earliest distinctions made, as well as the third type, the computer as incidental to crime. The authors wisely stick to a legalistic approach, and educate or orient the reader about theft and fraud law, which is important to do. Gladly, there is not any overemphasis upon news stories. The writing is generalized when it can be, and specific when it has to be.
The criminological theory chapter is ripe with promise. Twenty-five pages are spent bringing the reader up to par on the mainstream theories in criminology, but then, strain, learning, and control theories are just applied, not really extended, to explain computer crime. Theoretical extensions are left to the reader's imagination.
There is a well-done analysis of hacker subcultures, but the approach taken is symbolic interactionist, leading to a morally relativistic position that hackers and computer criminals are qualitatively and quantitatively different from other criminals. Likewise with the discussion of virus writers, semantic danger is noted in perceiving virus writers as "technopathic" and I take this as the authors attempting to make the reader more culturally sensitive to the plight of those poor, unfairly-labeled "bad" guys.
The crimes of embezzlement, economic espionage, money laundering, and fraud are discussed in a straightforward manner, but the approach is quite legalistic, and all the reader will walk away with is a better understanding of the CFA and EEA acts.
A welcome focus on victimization appears when stalking and obscenity are discussed, but the writing is quite antiseptic, handling very meticulously and tactfully things like child prostitution and sexual predators on the Web. Topics like sex tourism are also discussed, but there's really no "voice" of the victims to be found.
Towards the middle, the book shifts to what criminal justice agencies are doing, but the discussion is freshman-level, and there's really no coverage of the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, or what the feds are doing. Other topics are missing altogether, like cyber-vigilantism. Computer forensics is the focus.
Once cyberterrorism is finally gotten around to, four types of it are discussed: infrastructure; information; facilitation; and promotion. The first type brings up the subject of homeland security. The second type brings up web defacement. The third type discusses cryptography and steganography, and the fourth type gets into the topic of propaganda. Issues are only brought up and never fully explored or exploited. An interesting inclusion is what's written on anarchy, eco-terrorism, and Internet cartoons. It seems like certain emerging trends sometimes take precedence over mundane issues.
All in all, the book grasps what can safely be generalized without losing currency. There are some brave, noble initiatives in this book, and it is creative in many respects, but it tries to deliver all things to all people, and suffers somewhat for it by lacking a perspective or voice.

This is the story of Tommy Lynn Sells who killed in multiple states and the testimony of a 10 year old girl that survived one of Sells' murderous attacks. It was her determined testimony that ended the slaughter.

Diane Fanning chronicles Sells' childhood,numerous jail stays,and nationwide travels. He even worked on the road for a few carnivals.

Some of his murders overlapped the area and time of the "Railroad Killer",Angel Rosendiz. That caused some confusion for law enforcement early on.

Sells has no sadness or remorse. Even killing a freshly new-born baby in the bizarre murder of an entire family! He seemed to victimize mostly younger girls,although victims could be from any age group or gender.

Another sad aspect of the Tommy Lynn Sells case is the probability that there are more unsolved murders across the country that he committed that won't be solved. He identifies some photos of victims and the place where the bodies are discovered but can't or won't elaborate details. This is in part due to his heavy alcohol and drug abuse during his murderous travels.

Diane Fanning has done her research well and some of the information comes from Sells himself. A real page-turner until the trial part of the book.

Diane has managed to do it again. A well written book that takes you into the demented mind of Tommy Lynn Sells. I can only imagine the research that went into this book. Cross-Country killers are especially hard to write about because their crimes are so widespread.

Fanning wanted to tell a story and wanted to tell it fast. To do that she had to cooperate with the killer to get his version. Tommy Lynn Sells is a con man and he conned this writer. The book is entirely too sympathetic to Sells and has next to nothing about most of his victims and little about the police and prosecutors who worked to put him away.

How distorted is the book? Well, Fanning worries that poor Mr. Sells and his "wife" (he married her while still married to another woman) were cruelly forced apart by the legal system. That is, a judge threatened to to give custody of her children to their father if she maintained contact with Sells. To Fanning this is persecution. To most people it is in the best interest of the children. What kind of parent pines after a serial killer who murdered children?

Fanning even includes a letter from Sells as an afterward to this book.

For those who read this book, google "Tommy Lynn Sells" and see how much Fanning distorted her portrait.

Diane Fanning's THROUGH THE WINDOW is the story of Tommy Lynn Sells, an itinerant thief, con man, and murderer and possibly the most appalling and cowardly serial killer you will ever hear about. The first quarter of the book, which presents the crime for which Sells was finally apprehended, the murder of Katy Harris, is thorough and well researched. Likewise, Fanning provides well reseached and necessary information on Sells' childhood. The last portion of the book consists of a letter, which I found interesting, from Sells to Fanning in which Sells paces the blame on everyone and everything he can think of rather than take any personal responsibility for his brutal murders. Finally it is apparent that Fanning has devoted an honest effort to make THROUGH THE WINDOW a comprehensive study. This is not one of the cynical rush jobs too often found in true crime writing.

Unfortunately, for me at least, the negatives outweigh the positives.
While the description of Sells' murderous odyessy is well done, the subject soon becomes repetitive. Sells wanders endlessly by car or train around the country killing and raping, and as the accounts of the crimes are necessarily short because there are so many of them, it becomes difficult to keep them straight. While I understand Fanning's desire to acknowledge as many of Sells' victims as she can, this does not always translate well to a coherent narrative.
It is however considerably more compelling than Fanning's presentation of Sells' trial. In my opinion a good true crime writer will, unless a trial is the high point of the story, seriously condense the trial segment of the narrative to contain only that portion which provides information which is truly necessary for the reader's understanding of the story. Otherwise the narrative will generally grind to a crawl, which is what happens in THROUGH THE WINDOW. Fanning includes verbatim way too much of the trial transcript: is it really necessary, for example, to provide the reader with as much of the almost always boring forensics as she does? In my experience this is a technique used by lesser writers and/or those who need padding to complete a minimum number of pages.

But the worst part of THROUGH THE WINDOW is the writing. The best true crime is professionally and reportorially written. The genre is at its best as TRUE crime. Fanning's writing, however, is often enough dramatic, sometimes to the point of becoming ridiculous, that her book enters the realm of dramatized, rather than true, crime.
On page 29, describing the scene of a kidnapping and murder, Fanning writes "The trilling songs of birds and the rustle of leaves caressed by a breeze provided a harmonic backdrop to the screams of a tormented young woman." Really?? On page 72, we get, "The warmth of the mellow sun competed with the warmth in Nora's heart." Though it may be considered a spoiler, I will tell those who are interested that Fanning does not reveal which source in this warmth competition was victorious. Perhaps it was a tie.

Then there are the silly similies. On page 33, describing a future victim's acquiescience to Sells' manipulation, she writes, "Like a leaf in a whirlpool, she was drawn into his world of uncontrollable violence." And on page 57, "Kent had bled to death - homeless and alone like a dog scavaging the city dump."

On pages 82 and 86 are two irritating examples of semi-pro writing. "Carnival season started early every year in South Texas - 1998 was not an exception." And, "The flood was a traumatic experience for the whole community. This family was no exception." If neither of these occurences was an exception, why mention it? This seems sort of high-schoolish. What would be wrong with a simple period after "South Texas"?
And finally, in a flourish combining the ludicrous soap-opera with plain bad writing Fanning gives us, "And in his hand was a knife from her kitchen. Her gullibility gleamed on its blade." That's just embarrassing, and as I was reading it, I felt my gullibility for having started this book reflecting dully off its pages.

Ultimately, in my opinion, Fanning's style of writing leads to melodrama rather than drama and results in, rather than a true crime book, a work of what is often dramatic fiction based on a framework of fact - fictionalized, as opposed to true, crime. This style of writing would seem to be more appropriate for romance novels or soap operas, but it has come to be representative of much of the catalog of the publisher, St. Martin's Press.
There are thousands of better true crime books available for devotees of the genre.

The information published in Through the Window by Diane Fanning regarding the abduction of Angie Houseman is incorrect. Angie Houseman was abducted from St. Ann, Missouri, not O,Fallon. There is a 20 mile difference in the locations of these two towns. This information should be verified for accuracy before being printed.

I have not read the book. I came across the information about Angie Houseman while looking to see if there was any new information regarding her case on the internet. Sadly her murder remains unsolved 14 years later.

Is this selection about Bill Bonanno or Talese? Talese is good enough to paint a milder picture of the Bonannos than what the other side presents. So who was this book written about, Bonanno or Talese? Talese's last few pages answers this question.

But, what of the Bonannos? Talese taints the Bonannos as more of a law-biding clan than one of murderers, thieves, etc. But back to the quality of reading. The book is sometimes hard to follow and excessively deep when it comes to descriptions, making points, etc.

I recommend reading this title as it's still relevant today. And, the Mafia still makes good reading. Pick it up....take your time...drink a glass of water and enjoy it.

Is as far as I could get. It wasn't even good falling asleep material. I soak up every half decent book on the mob. This ain't.
I understand the author is a journalist. Probly on the business page. It's that kind of droll style.
It's weird cause the title and author are almost household names. Undeserved.

If you expect a breezy page-turner about mob life you will be pleased in parts and disappointed in others. If you want a deeply investigative account of a mafia family, its history and personalities, this book is excellent. I'm not an enthusiast of the mob genre, so I came to this book with little else than what I've seen in the movies. It traces the rise and fall (or at least the beginning of the fall as it was published in 1971) of the traditional Sicilian mafia in America. Against this background are detailed and rich studies of the Bonanno family -- one of the original five New York City mob families. Nevertheless, it's not a Reader's Digest book. It is well researched and detailed, and the author makes frequent tangents. Gay Talese has formidable talents, so I did not mind any of these excesses. If you know what to expect from this book, it is very enjoyable.

This author is an excellent writer. He informs, educates and enterains all at once. If you want cliches go some where else,
if you want a great book stay here.

This book took a long time to finish. Actually, too long. I agree with those who found it's pace languid, and it's tone solemn. I did find it very interesting what Talese, whose work ethic and commitment to his projects is legendary, writes in the Author's Note that concludes the book, about his relationship with Bill Bonnano, and his subjects. His fondness is very apparent, as well he had incredible access to them, allowing for the intimate information he uses to tell the Bonnano story. But I feel that there is something to his relationship that prevents Honor Thy Father from being more engrossing, more urgent, more energetic. Perhaps the compromises he made to gain access proved an unobjective view. It feels that way. Because the book could have easily been 100 to 150 pages shorter. Extended paragraphs on lawyer's (verbatim) statements, over long observations about Bonnano's feelings while driving cross country, or the myriad interwoven nature of the "mafia" borne out to bewildering and at times confusing degrees.
Not to spoil it, but the ending packs as solid a wallop as only a few sections throughout do. In two pages Talese conveys the bind that Bill was in and expresses what his father Joe's recognition of his son's life means to him. It pinpoints the anxiety and mystery of the whole tale.
I did appreciate the juxtapositioning of Bonnano's family-wife and children-with his "family"-uncles, capos, consiglieri, etc. It proves Talese right that getting to know a mafioso such as Bonnano is both ironic and intruiging because he is a man like us all-stresses with his wife, concerned for his children, wanting to impress his father, weight fluctuations, affairs, but he also has pressures which are specific to his family's history-his sister's awareness of what their father has done to him, codes of honor and silence, absences for unknown and unexplained reasons, constant moving, security, guns, etc.
I like Talese though. I am curious about his other works, and I value the style he helped pioneer. I just wish there was a less expansive scope here. It has an epic length, but it doesn't have vibrant enough sub-plots and twists. It's really about one man's difficult world.

I've just finished reading this book and couldn't put it down. But after reseasrching the subject on the internet, I discovered that the drama was still continuing ten years later in this never-ending case--and in fact, one of the main suspects was freed from prison because of a technicality! Another reviewer said that this final chapter is covered in a book entitlted PRINCIPAL WITNESS which I've now got to read.

My only main criticism of this book is that there wasn't a single photo of the gallery of players which would have definitely fleshed them out into real people. Especially when the author many times physically describes William Bradley and his fascinating blue eyes and face. I would love to have seen a picture of him to see why he was so fatally attractive to so many women. Other than the lack of pictures, this is a good book to read as Part One of this crime. Part Two is contained in PRINCIPAL WITNESS, which I hope to read soon.

Informative and entertaining, the most interesting aspect of the book is the incredible hold that English teacher Bill Bradfield had over his coterie of friends. He told at least three people that Susan Reinert would be murdered by Principal Jay Smith, not to mention numerous other terrible things about Jay Smith (who apparently the whole school knew was weird and dangerous) but they were so enthralled and mesmerized by Bradfield, they somehow lost their sense of responsiblity to a fellow human being. Until it was too late, and they felt their own safety threatened. Susan Reinert, the fellow teacher who thought she was engaged to Bradfield, is ultimately found murdered after all Bradfield's warnings to his friends (but none to Susan)and her children are never found. It's horribly sad to see proof that people can lose their perspective, their sense of justice, and their own truth, if they ever had any, for nothing but a talkative loser like Bradfield.

There are no photos in this book, for some strange reason, which is very annoying, but Wambaugh is extremely (but not completely) descriptive.

This is a chilling story of deceit, ego, and murder. Author Joseph Wambaugh captures much of the tangled story with vivid effectiveness - a tangled story where the truth proved rather elusive. Susan Reinert was a high school teacher and divorced mother of two in Philadelphia. Tragically, her lover, department chair William Bradfield, and the school principal were ruthless and unscrupulous. Bradfield was an egotistical womanizer, while the principal apparently dabbled in sadism and weapons. The tragic result, apparently, was a family of three murdered. Reinert's body was found; her kids merely disappeared. In time, her associates were charged with the brutal crime. The book makes for compelling reading, but the mystery was never entirely solved, and the book may leave readers wanting more.

I go to upper merion and mr. velatis is still there... many old teachers that still teach there never talk about it.. they dont want any of the students reading this book.. but i did anyway.. maybe i like it better then some people cuz my dad went to UMHS when this all happened and i go to it now.. weird stuff..

This true crime book about a Pennsylvania murder case is well written. But after this book was written it has emerged that the author Wambaugh did pay the prosecutor and the head of the detectives substantial amounts of money to get access to case material.
The prosecutor Rick Guida were later sent to prison for drug offences. The man who lead the investigation, Jack Holtz, later resigned from the police force after being subjected to internal investigation. One of the two men who were convicted of murder, Jay C. Smith, spent 6 years on death row before the Supreme court overturned the verdict and set him free. The other convicted man, William Sydney Bradfield, died in jail in 1998.
Jack Holtz has the dubious honour of having put two men on death row, both of whom were later released.
Wambaugh praises both Holtz and Guida in this book, which makes the informed reader doubt the author's judgement.
(English is not my mother's tongue, and I have no formal education in English. Hopefully my English is adequat in spite of this.)

As I mentioned in another review I've recently started reading all the books about the Scott Peterson case that got decent reviews. So far this one has offered the best all around synopsis of the investigation beginning with day one. This book told me a lot I didn't already know about the case, but then I only generally followed the case when it was occurring. Perhaps, as other reviewers have stated, this book doesn't really tell us anything "new," but for some (like me) who don't know the intimate details, this book appears to outline many of them.

I gave the book 4, rather than 5, stars for a couple of reasons. Someone told me that the book was filled with "inaccurate garbage," some of the dates and names were apparently wrong but I'm not exactly sure what those inaccuracies are. I suppose if I did enough research of my own I could find the discrepancies, but I was just looking for a general overview of the case. The fact that a few people who know this case inside and out find inaccuracies in this book leads me to take Crier's assertions with a grain of salt.

Secondly, I found numerous places in the book where things didn't quite come together as Crier probably intended. I won't list specific examples but there are places where Crier mentions something or someone she assumes you already know - but many times I didn't. I found her thoughts a bit scattered at times and there were a few typos - which surprises me with professional editors/publishers. From a literary standpoint I'm surprised that some of this wasn't caught before the book was published and I'm not a professional by any means, just an average reader.

Whether or not you'll like this book depends on what you're looking for by reading it. I wanted a general overview of the case and why from the get-go police were convinced Scott was guilty. This book gave me that. It gave me insight into how investigators were operating and details about the investigation. How accurate it is, I can't say but I have to assume that the majority of it must be true to have made it to publication.

Overall, it's a good all-encompassing view of the Scott Peterson case which is just what I wanted.

The author does a good job of covering all the bases of this case. I would definitely say it is worth your time to read if you are interested in the Laci Peterson disappearance. While most of the book is very compelling, there are some parts that clearly remind you that she is a former lawyer (think wordy and boring). The upside of this is that she can give insight that someone not in the legal profession would lack so it is worth plodding through the slow parts.

If I were on the jury and read this book before I listened to testimony in court, I would have convicted him right away. I read it right after the jury found him guilty, if you have followed this story, it's a good read. It did tell of things not reported by the media.

A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson InvestigationCatherine Crier, former CNN news personality, former Court TV anchor, former civil attorney, former assistant D.A., former judge and author of a half dozen books which all have their basis in the legal system has written an encyclopedic rendering of the infamous trial of Scott Peterson. Having worn all the hats she has and having occupied each legal eagle seat in a courtroom, I am shocked by her bias toward Scott Peterson. She freely admits that she had him pegged as a sociopath from the very beginning and cuts him no slack in a case that was, for all intents and purposes, circumstantial at best.

Crier disallows virtually every piece of "evidence" that might have shed a more illuminating or different light on the case and on Peterson. While the book itself covers the case like frosting covers a triple layer cake, the feeling I had while reading it was, without a doubt, that she approached this case with a presumption of guilt and not innocence. From a person with her credentials, I find that approach quite shameful and appalling. It would have been a better book, carried more weight and been more appropriate had Crier taken it from the presumption of innocence through to its end.

Crier, having worn her many hats, should be more than superficially familiar with the behavior of a sociopath and yet she professes the sophomoric views of a lay person with no legal knowledge. While Scott Peterson may very well be a sociopath, why does Crier expect normal reactions from Scott Peterson when she fully realizes that no such thing is possible from a true sociopath? The jump from sociopath to murderer, in this case, is nothing short of a giant stretch of a stunted imagination from a biased reporter who should know better, in my opinion.

You'll learn some new things in this book but nothing to further your overall knowledge or clarity of the case in this over-written book by Catherine Crier.

Circumstantial evidence can be strong in many cases. But it was not strong in this case. The prosecution proved that Scott was a jerk and a liar. But that is all they proved. There were no set of circumstances showing he killed his wife. This jury would have convicted any married guy who was having an affair and had bought a lot of life insurance---because that is all the prosecution had.

Product was used but in good condition. Description was helpful and accuraate. Mailed at a reasonable timeframe and rate.

I'll keep this short - READ this book. Well written, scarey as heck and true ! A must-read for true crime buffs.

Stephanie Stanley was a reporter for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans in 2002. She proves to be a talented true crime author with this book.

There is a common theme with some serial killers-an abusive petty criminal breaks the law with impunity and recieves little or no punishment. As a child nothing is his fault. Derrick Todd Lee shares that theme with Kenneth McDuff.

The investigations into the multiple murders that Lee committed were hampered by two factors. First,the usual routine of looking at those closest to the victims as suspects. Husbands and boyfriends. Next was the F.B.I.'s profile that suggested a white male was the serial killer. The author spotlights the pain and disappointment of victims' families as well as some members in law enforcement that believe Lee could have been investigated 5 years earlier, sparing lives of latter victims.

Another problem in the investigations was the fact that he killed in multiple jurisdictions, crossed racial lines in selecting victims,and used different means of killing. A versatile murderer. It took time for authorities to link up the crimes.

As with many cases, DNA evidence was crucial in eventually connecting Derrick Lee to 6 victims. The author explains some of the process without getting too technical.

"An Invisible Man.." is one of the better,recent true crime books that I have read. I recommend it.

This is a must read if you like to be scared and love true crime. I read a lot of true crime but must say this book really got me scared. Reading it late at night, I double, triple checked all the locks before I went to bed! This story of a serial murderer who gets into women's houses in nice neighborhoods to brutally murder them, is frightening and terrifying.

I read loads of true crime, and this one is very well written and is a good story. I wasn't familiar with this case and I like to learn the details of a case as I go along, and that is the way this is written. Some true crimes give the ending away in a preface, or a first chapter which I do not like. This is very a very intersting case of a serial killer, and I can only imagine the horror this man inflicted, seemingly for his own satisfaction. Well, I guess that is the definition of a serial killer/psychopath/sociopath. Call him what you will, he is an awful man and belongs where he is! Held my interest from first page to last page. Hopefully Stephanie A. Stanley has written other books ..... I keep up-to-date on new true crime books through the search button at Amazon, and always read the reader reviews, if there are any. This book had good reviews, and they were right on. Thanks to all the readers who review at Amazon!

davis is a very good writer who does alot of research before he writes his books.the way he writes and divides his book into many smaller chap ters,really helps those of us who do not have time to sit and read for a long period of time.very interesting about marcello and his role in history!

I'm exhausted. By the time I reached the finish I'd forgotten the start. Look, Great facts, alot of research, but I found this book mentally fatiguing. If you are in to conspiracies get it. Meanwhile, I'm going to go lay and rest my head.

I think this book is spectacular! The author did some deep and complete research! I was impressed, plus I live in New Orleans and most of the action takes place in NOLA! There is even some speculation that The Mob played a role in the death of MLK and RFK! Read this book,you won't be
disappointed! Read Dr. Mary's Monkey too and you won't ever need to read another JFK book again!

I can practically read anything on the Mafia . . . except this book. I could barely finish it. It was so boring. The first 50 pages were good. It was actually focused on late Louisiana Mafia boss Carlos Marcello. Then, it happened. Nonstop writing on the assassination of President Kennedy. Again, it is nonstop and the author continually asks the reader questions that I don't think he ever conclusively answered. (By the way, I have never seen some many questions presented to the reader before in ANY book; my guess would be a couple hundred questions the author poses to his readers.)

I swear about 500 pages is just going over the same points in the assassination again and again. Oswald knew this guy. This guy knew this guy. Jack Ruby knew this guy. All these connections go back to the Marcello organization. I GET IT! ENOUGH!

You read about a page and half on Marcello and you think, yes, he's finally back on track. He's actually writing about Marcello now. But no, all of the sudden it gets back to the Kennedy Assassination. I have rarely rolled by eyes while reading a book except for this one -- and I am continually rolling my eyes. Not because the author states that Marcello was probably involved in the Kennedy Assassination, but because he has to hammer his points over and over again and again (nonstop).

Now, if you are looking for a book on the Kennedy Assassination, you got it here. But if you are looking for a book about Carlos Marcello, then skip it because you are just going to get mad with the author barely touching on Marcello past the first 50 pages without his throwing in some Kennedy Assassination angle.

This should not be called "Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of President Kennedy." It should be called "The Assassination of President Kennedy: The Assassination and Some Mob Boss Named Carlos Marcello." Very little is about Carlos Marcello and his secretive organization. It's all about the Kennedy Assassination and Marcello's possible connection to it.

The last part of the book is on the FBI operations in the late 1970s that finally brought Carlos Marcello down. But it's only about 50 or so pages long, too. In short, there is maybe a hundred or so pages dealing with Carlos Marcello, and what you have left is the author trying to link the Marcello organization to the President's assassination, and nailing his one-tracked hammer on the same points time after time, page after page.

What a waste! Had this book been nearly 700 pages on Carlos Marcello and his organization it would have been perhaps one of the best, groundbreaking books on the underworld in the history of the American Mafia being there is very little actually known about the man and his organization other than the basics. Instead, we get a 100 pages on Marcello and 600 pages on his possible connection to the assassination of President Kennedy.

Sorry if I hammered my point over and over again about this book, but I was giving you a preview of what you will experience if you buy and read this book. As the mob would say, "Give it a pass."

This book is dated,but I'm not so sure that any other book on the subject is better.
Mr. Davis exposes the numerous links the Marcello family had to other key conspirators in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.Lee Harvey Oswald,Jack Ruby,and David Ferrie all knew each other and had Marcello family connections.

Another highlight of this book is the contrast of the New Orleans mafia and other families.They operated quite differently than say,the New York or Chicago mob.The culture of that area was much like Sicily.

Mr. Davis gives details on the extent of the corruption and political power enjoyed by Carlos Marcello.The transcripts of recorded conversations from the sting by the FBI reveal a lot regarding who was bought.Some major political figures are mentioned.

The details of Carlos Marcello's deportation clarify the animosity between the mafia and the Kennedy brothers.The egos on both sides of the law were factors in the eventual assassination.

The monumental part that J. Edgar Hoover played in the coverup and possible motivation for doing that are explained very well in this book.

In the end of the book Mr. Davis briefly covers some of the books that were contemporary with his.
The only thing he doesn't do is name the actual trigger men.
This book is available and inexpensive.It's a book I highly recommend for anyone wanting to study the assassination of JFK.