True Crime Books

Mind Hunter, (Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit) is an insightful journey into the life of a FBI profiler John Douglas. This book does not contain extensive case file information. However, it does contain a good taste of many criminal profiles enough to satisfy the curious and interested reader. In "Mind Hunter" Douglas shares in brief his expert finely tuned perception of person's such as Ed Kemper the coed Killer, Son of Sam David Berkowitz, Mass Murderer Richard Speck, Son of Sam David Berkowitz, Charlie Manson, Green River Killer, et all. Douglas introspection of abnormal behavior is illuminating and his drive to understand the human condition is compelling. The book also affords the reader a chance to gain a few insights into the history and manner in which the FBI's Behavioral Science unit has evolved over the last generation. For those of you following this career path you will gain from this book the impact the profession can have on ones personal life, family, friends and the public at large. Within its pages you will preview the pressures, pitfalls, and rewards that come with this career and much insight can be gleaned by the careful and perceptive reader. "Mind Hunter" is undeniably one of the most compelling books I have ever read.

this is well written, and worth your time to read.
gives you insight about the reasons why men do
such wicked things.
It's good to know the FBI has figured these guys out, and
are able to track them down more easily.

Mark Olshaker has written a very readable, entertaining, and educational book on the life and career of Special Agent John Douglas of the FBI. Douglas was one of the leading experts on criminal personality profiling and a pioneer of modern criminal investigative analysis. The 'Prologue' tells of the physical breakdown Douglas endured from overwork. This is a shocking and misleading introduction! The nature of violent crime has changed since 1960. The murder rate has gone up and the solution rate had gone down (p.30). Crimes between strangers lack an obvious motive. This need created the behavioral approach to criminal profiling. The Investigative Support Unit assists local police in focusing their investigations. Few towns or counties ever have a serial killer or the experience to learn the techniques for solving rare crimes (p.31). [G. K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" used to solve crimes by getting inside the head of the murderer, a feat that seems illogical compared to "Sherlock Holmes" and other detectives.]

[As I remember it, the "Mad Bomber" was caught when police work matched the handwriting in the letters (p.33) to the employee records. Metesky contracted TB and was then fired for being out sick.] The early chapters tell of Douglas' life, education, military service, and how he joined the FBI. These are colorful stories. Douglas was most successful in clearing bank robberies when he developed a "signature" to link several crimes together (p.86). His background in psychology led him to behavioral science (Chapter 5). After Douglas joined the Behavioral Science group he learned that the academic expert's opinions had limited applicability to law enforcement. [Academics don't get the details known to the police, law officers see a limited area. Only national police can see the whole picture.]

Douglas knew the importance of actual experience (pp.104-105). Chapter 6 tells about a strange murderer who was released against the advice of state psychiatrists (p.107). Chapter 7 tells about other serial murderers. Good psychics can pick up on small, nonverbal clues; keep them away from detectives who know the details (p.151). The following chapters describe the cases that he worked on. Is there a classic profile to a serial killer (p.178)? Can an interrogator educe a confession from a suspect (p.186)? Chapter 11 tells about the Atlanta child murders and the conviction. Chapter 15 tells about the solution to the murder of a two-year old boy. Wrapping the body in a blanket was a clue (p.283).

Serial killers are not legally insane, but not normal either (p.338). Their mental disorders derive from their sexual interests and their character. Insanity means not knowing the difference between right and wrong (p.339). Can a brain tumor cause a murderous rage (p.341)? Violent, sexually based serial killers can not be rehabilitated [except by a death sentence]. If they are released on parole they will return to past behavior (p.343). Don't confuse a psychopath with a psychotic (p.345). Killers are created by a bad background (p.357). [Like Ted Bundy?] That seems like an incurable problem given our society. Crime can be lowered by families at the grassroots level (p.374). [Does it takes a village?] The changes in family life since 1960 has effects. [No mention of the National Highway System since the 1950s and the ease of travel for everyone, including serial killers.]

What can I say other than John Douglas never fails to deliver? This book is a great read, and I loved it!

this book is very similiar to many of his books. This book discusses much of his life. His second book is much better if you are interested in true profiling.

Written by a former FBI agent, he provides a great deal on the history and structure of the Kansas City Mafia from its inception to the beginning of the Civella era. He includes information from the Kefauver Hearings and background files, from the recently published MAFIA book (from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and with an intro by Sam Giancana, the former crime boss's nephew), Nicola Gentile and the Kansas City Star. Unfortunately he gives no sourcing except for a small list of books that covers two pages. I wish he had footnotes or endnotes. The writing style is also rather dry and matter-of-fact, but it is accurate. As someone who has researched organized crime for over twenty years, I can definitely recommend this book.

I am anxious to read this book! I grew up in the north-end "Little Italy" section of Kansas City (3rd and Gillis). I later became a Police
Offier,where I worked with the Metro Squad, including Mob incidents, as I was familiar with the "family" and knew many of them personally. I remember working with Bill Ouseley and George Lukenhoff at the Kansas City FBI office back in the 60's. John W. Yates, Jr.

A fantastic story but known to people that have watched the World Cups from 1970 and after..Brazil and Italy,the teams that have won more trophies in this tournament is not because they deserved it but because they had help from outside the field.The strange thing about Mundial is that the ONLY footballer which was caught "dirty" was Diego Armando Maradona.The one that made football so popular in all over the world.All others are clean...
My congratulations to the author.

This book was way too long. The tale of the missing money and the subsequent tracking of a faceless hacker could have been told in 200 pages. What I found really tedious were all the phone calls - calls to try to track the hacker and to various government agencies to try to get help to catch the intruder. Phone calls can only be so interesting. Yes, it is real life and real life is never (I hope) as interesting as fiction - but by the time the hacker was caught, I was just happy to see the book end.

This was a required book for a computing ethics class I took, and I felt it covered a lot of material and was entertaining at the same time. I would have enjoyed reading it for recreational purposes and I highly suggest it. Some level of technical understanding might help with some material, but is not needed.

All in all, very well written book.

This is the kind of story that you have a hard time putting down. My son, husband, dad and I all read it. Two of the readers are very much into computers, the other two not so much. We all enjoyed it. It is also great to remember in detail the days before internet and gave my son a better understanding of how far we have come with this technology in such a short time.

This book was VERY well written considering it was a reconstruction of a log book....that sounds kind of cheezy but it was an awesome book. Each chapter keeps you digging deeper into how this guy did what he did to catch the hack. Half way through the book it seems like it's over and he has the guy, but a few twists, turns, a visit to NSA and CIA, and your still waiting for the guy to be caught. EXCELLENT play by play, great humor (tire factory in a microwave, HA HA), and all around closure on the last page. 100% recommendation.

As you can see from the reviews here, many people also love this book.

I love the trip down memory lane that this book provides. Sure is fun to go back to a more innocent time and remember what it was like before the internet became huge. If you remember archie, gopher, kermit, then this is a book for you.

Even if you're too young to remember this time, it would be quite fun to watch WAR GAMES and then read this book. I love the writing style--this is a real page-turner.

Neither of the names in the title were familiar to me, but I was intrigued that the Gibson Girl had been a real person.

Using up the youth of pretty young girls is not a new thing. Evelyn Nesbit lived it in 1900. The book is sometimes a bit flowery, but the story is gripping.

When a historically minded person speaks of the "trial of the century", meaning the 20th century, several come immediately to mind: O.J., Leopold and Loeb, Nuremburg, Sacco and Vanzetti, Scopes, among others. However, the trial of Harry Thaw for the cold-blooded murder of Stanford White was the first of the century (1906), and perhaps the one with the most drama. That was because the chief witness was Evelyn Nesbit, the wife of Thaw, and the former seductee and mistress of White. The author gives us a thorough review of Evelyn's lfe, and her rapid rise to fame as a young girl. This rise is even more remarkable when you consider it happened in the first decade of the last century, before radio, television, the Internet, and supermarket tabloids (although there were some trashy papers in existence). It's a remarkable story, and moves through the high society world of New York, Pittsburgh, and cities in Europe. These people lived quite a different lifestyle than we do today, at least those of us who are not multimillionaires or celebrities famous for being famous. Evelyn had quite an eventful life, and it is retold in a breezy fashion that it easy to read. Occasionally the language gets a bit overblown, but that's often how things were in those days; sometimes events took on a larger-than-life appearance. To anyone interested in social and legal history in the early part of the last century,I highly recoimmend this book.

As a fan of architecture, I was well aware of Stanford White (of McKim, Mead and White) before I first read of his affair with Evelyn Nesbit and subsequent murder by her husband in E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime. It is a startlingly tragic tale, so it was with much interest that I read this more complete telling of the story. On the whole, I felt that Uruburu did a good, but not great job telling it.

There were certain events in the book that just didn't seem to add up, and I see from some of the more critical reviews here, that there may be indeed be certain information that the author either omitted or did not find in her research. For instance, there are nagging inconsistencies regarding Evelyn's financial status throughout the book, but particularly after the murder trial. She is said to be left penniless, but then we learn that her son attends boarding school. How is that possible?

It is more believable that Evelyn knew that the Thaw family would pay her handsomely for her testimony and that she struck a bargain with them. After all, the Thaws had made a career of paying people to keep quiet about Harry's deviant behavior and it would have been clear to them that she held the key to Harry's fate. Evelyn herself was smart enough, and she certainly disliked the Thaws enough, to have realized the gold mine at her feet.

I had the feeling that Uruburu was always trying to find elements of Evelyn's story that fit most cozily into a feminist-type agenda and perhaps this is why there are so many places in the book where the pieces don't quite add up. Evelyn is mostly portrayed as a victim of the times and of the men in her life, even though it is clear that she understood at least some of the power she held over them.

On the whole, however, I enjoyed Uruburu's writing style and her vivid descriptions of life at the turn of the last century. And I came away knowing far more about the compelling characters whose lives came together in such a terribly tragic collision of events.

Paula Uruburu has done a magnificent job of telling the story of Evelyn Nesbit, the girl who was the reason Harry Thaw murdered architect Stanford White. You feel as though you were in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York because of her exquisite sense of detail in describing the culture and moral values of the time. Despite all the detail, the story never gets bogged down in minutiae, and it's a remarkably easy and pleasurable (if reading about a woman being brutally beaten can be called "pleasurable") read.

I get the impression, however, that the author and editor were running out of time and space as the deadline for the final version approached, so they cut out huge chunks of narrative at the end. The last few chapters are very spare and choppy compared to what was previously written, and leaves the reader wanting to know more about what happened to the main characters after the trial.

There were a couple minor inconsistencies that I found puzzling. In 1904, Evelyn Nesbit had an appendectomy that left her hair falling out in clumps, so her head was shaved. Cut to a year later, where Evelyn and Harry are married and living in Pittsburgh. Harry gets Evelyn to pose with her head through a hole in a sheet and her hair pinned up above the sheet. She was posing as the wives of Bluebeard, and her head was supposed to appear severed. The hair looks at least a foot long, which is impossible growth in one year, yet the author makes it sound as though it were her real hair.

Another instance is where Harry would enter her bedroom at night and demand to hear the story of White's debauchery over and over again. He insisted that she refer to White as "The Beast", or simply "B". It sounds as though this started when they were married; however, when Evelyn and Harry eat at a restaurant the day of the murder and White enters, there is a flashback to premarital days when Harry, paranoid even then, made Evelyn promise to tell Harry every time she encountered "the Beast". I wonder when his insistence on this terminology actually began.

An index would have been welcome, too. When Thaw's sister was intentionally or unintentionally referred to as the "Countess of Vermouth", I missed the humor because as she was a minor character, I didn't pay close attention to her title. It would have been nice to be able to quickly check the index and see that she was actually the Countess of Yarmouth.

These are minor quibbles, however. Uruburu has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of that time period and "the crime of the century".

The new book has been called the best-ever rendering of the case, and it's impossible to disagree.

Whether or not you've read other books about the fatal love triangle between Stanford White, Evelyn Nesbit, and Harry Thaw before, you may relish this telling as I did. Like generations of tabloid readers before me, I "gorged" myself "on every morbid morsel."

It is the author's decision to stay entirely within the point of view of Evelyn Nesbit, the apex of the love triangle, that makes this book so engaging -- that and her aesthetic vocabulary. This version of one of the most infamous crimes of passion of the 20th century features a sable-hared Pandora, a scheming roue' who fell slave to her, and another man who was fatefully smitten. The molten force of emotions fairly sets fire to the pages.

Harold Schechter referred to the author's "breathless narrative pace," and that's what's to like. Other authors have bored students of the scandal with long-winded descriptions of how great an architect Stanford White was. This author doesn't go beyond a mention of his career.

This author has also rendered two murder trials in only a few pages, focusing on what mattered to the heroine of the story -- her time on the witness stand.

In this telling of the backwards fairy tale, Evelyn Nesbit is alternately lost, willful, wicked, giddy, blissful, unguarded, needy, starved for attention, desperately alone, impulsive, and spiteful. She is a voluptuary sultana, the little Galatea, the molten-eyed soubrette who inspired scenes worthy of Chekhov.

If you are interested in and fairly familiar with New Jersey politics and politicians this is a reasonably entertaining and informative book. It's no page-turner, but not bad.

According to this well written and documented book the elected have not ever been to New Jersey! It is not only amazing but downright disheartening to read all the unbelievable events that have gone on for years by both parties in all parts of the state. No wonder so many people leave this beautiful place. They can't afford it. What really makes you mad is that there is little hope for future change. This book will make your blood really boil!!

Even if you live a continent away in Washington state, "The Soprano State" will amuse, educate and yes, horrify you. Authors Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure have put together an appalling catalog of the "worst of the worst" New Jersey politicians and public servants and their most outrageous shenanigans.
As the authors note, "why should such a wealth of lunacy and depravity" be enjoyed only by New Jersey? My personal favorite, in a chapter titled "All Aboard the Gravy Train," is an anecdote about how sometimes "the legislative gravy train delivers real gravy." In that case, New Jersey taxpayers coughed up $124,000 over three years to purchase 300 lunches each day the Legislature was in session to feed 80 members of the assembly, 40 senators _ and lobbyists. The lunches were trucked in from a well-connected restaurant 57 miles away!
¶ It's tempting for us outsiders to feel smug, but there's also a nagging worry: what if our politicians are just less obviously outrageous, and our reporters more lapdog and less pit bull?
¶ Beyond the entertainment value, this book is a cautionary tale, reminding us that citizens anywhere can be fleeced by those we elect.
¶

As a former kid from New Jersey I purchased the book as
somewhat of a lark. After devouring the material it was
no longer a lark. The pathetic corruption is so clearly
detailed and documented it makes your head spin.The New Jersey I left in 1974 had an outstanding public school system which has been decimated by the lads in Trenton,
draining resources from small school districts and pumping
those funds into inner-city enviroments. No measurable
improvement is to be found. the State is bankrupt,under-
funded pensions and corrupt at every level of government.
If you live in NJ you have to read this.Then start packing

This book should be called, "The Corruption State," which is a better title, since New Jersey is one of three in our country that's known for corruption from the top all the way down to the smallest town. If you can dream up a way to squeeze money out of a taxpayer, then you can be in NJ politics. They are professionals here and have perfected the art of stealing from your wallet.

After this book was published, they came out with two more ways to take money out of our wallets: They want to charge us $.10 for a deposit on every can and bottle that can be recycled IN SPITE OF US ALREADY RECYCLING! So...if you want your dime back, YOU have to take it to a redemption center to get your dime back.

The next new tax (they call it a "user fee") is they want to add $.40 per 1,000 gallons of water onto our water bill. Call it what it really is: a tax.

This book was at times so funny it was infuriating, so maddening it made you furious, so ridiculous it drove you insane, yet us as residents here are powerless to do much about it as long as these jerks run this state. The endless pay-to-play, patronage, favoritism jobs in Trenton (the state capital) and beyond will continue as long as there is a New Jersey. Even if you vote, they will still continue to run this state using the newly elected as their puppets. It's been done before.

We are NOT in debt; not if Atlantic City gave Trenton $468 MILLION dollars in 2007! This is just one example. It's the wasteful spending, it's the three, four and five jobs one person holds PLUS their pensions and benefits that's draining our state's treasury and the cronies who run this state allow all this! Why? Because they're part of it, they receive it as well and they make damn sure that their family members and friends are also on the dole as well so everyone has a piece of the action.

Excellent book. My only regret is that I can't move out of my home state (NJ) sooner than I want to! What a shame...I grew up here, I love the area, but I can't afford to live here anymore, not when the pickpockets control this state and it's never going to change, even with Christopher Christie doing his best to root out the corruption.

Could not put this book down. Loved it! Only thing I didnt like was the cover--- It's weird looking; while I was reading it everywhere I went I would put the book face down.

I just finished this book and found it hard to put down. Piper Rountree is right up there with the worst of the worst - an incredibly narcissistic, coldblooded, self-absorbed individual. Kathryn Casey pulled it all together seamlessly, from the beginning of Piper's and Fred's relationship to the tragic end. It's the first book of hers I've read, and I'm here now to order another.

DIE, MY LOVE is Kathryn Casey's account of the murder of Fred Jablin, a respected college professor, by his self-centered and narcissistic wife, Piper Rountree. Rountree's motivation was to assure that she was granted custody of their three children, and, not incidentally, that she would not
have to pay child support. She is presented as a woman who professed repeatedly to care more about her children than anything else in the world, but who in fact simply used them when it suited her needs, one of the main ones being to show the world that she was, above all else, a MOTHER!
Fred meanwhile became the one who actually cared for the children on a day to day basis, performing the routine, mundane tasks that a truly loving parent repeats daily to raise and protect a child, because Piper found this necessity boring and beneath the artistic, new-age, and ultimately just "special" person she considered herself to be. Both before and after the murder, Rountree and her equally self-centered sister clumsily constructed a series of events designed to provide Rountree with an alibi. But since the sisters were not as smart as they believed they were, the attempt ultimately failed.

This is the fourth Casey book I have read and reviewed (the others are A WARRANT TO KILL, THE RAPIST'S WIFE, and SHE WANTED IT ALL) and they are all outstanding. Casey, as is for her routine, avoids filler and drama. Her research is so deep that she has no need to copy police reports or trial transcripts, a common tactic of the lazy incompetents who litter the true crime landscape. Her writing, as always, is crisp, reportorial, and adult. It is also highly literate, and it is always a pleasure to read a writer who actually appears to have more than a passing familiarity with the English language.
The highest praise I can think to give a writer is to say that you realize that when you have finished a book you are truly glad you read it and then realize that, while it was beautifully written, you were not aware of the author's personality while you were reading it - that the author does not personally intrude on the story he or she is telling. And I can praise DIE, MY LOVE as well as Casey's other three books as meeting this standard.

DIE, MY LOVE is outstanding true crime, and I believe Kathryn Casey is among the very best true crime authors currently writing. I unreservedly recommend this one.

Oh those minority opinions, sure to get the writer in trouble- especially when all the foregoing reviews have awarded DML 5 stars! Nonetheless, let's give this review a try: Piper and Fred are not the ideal, happily married couple. In fact, they are poles apart. He is a distinguished egghead of a college professor; she can kindly be described as a "free spirit". Early one morning, Fred meets his demise in the driveway of his Richmond, VA home. It is not divulging much to state that the slate of suspects is short. Wifey quickly emerges at the head of the list, as most spouses do in these situations. The challenge to the Law is to place her at the crime scene. What makes DML interesting is Piper's alibi-she claims to have been in Houston at the time of the murder. Plus, there is a Texas-based sister who could pass for her. That draws 2 investigative departments into the chase. The story ebbs and flows as scenes shift from Texas to Virginia and back. This reviewer found it difficult to track all the detectives, district attorneys, lawyers, witnesses, family members and hangers on in two cities. Sometimes interest would heighten, other times it would wane. The end result was an often frustrating read. One has to hand authoress Casey credit. Imagine how challenging it must have been to document the myriad of facts and personalities herein. Ms. Casey certainly set a high bar for herself but this reader found DML a bit much. This reviewer is actually a Casey fan, but one has to call them as he sees them: Ms. Casey has simply done better work elsewhere, most especially with her first tale, "The Rapist's Wife". This review could not conclude without mentioning the infamous Ann Rule rule: Tundra will be happy to read that it is not in effect here. Those centerfold photos do not even hint at the resolution; they do the proper job of putting faces on the main characters. Also, the front and back covers reveal nothing. Casey fans take heart: Most reviews are favorable. Scroll up or down to receive more favorable opinions of "Die My Love".

For so many years Ann Rule has been the reigning ruler of the true crime genre. Well she better watch her back because KC is poised to steal that crown. All of her books have been excellent and this one does not disappoint. In the days of so many poorly written, lazily researched and badly edited true crime books ruining the genre thank goodness for Kathryn Casey. Rather than start the book at the point of the murder, she is like the proverbial fly on the wall and takes us back through the lives of Fred Jablin and Piper Rountree. From what shaped them as adults to their meeting and subsequent marriage, all the way to the contentious divorce and custody battle and then the tragic murder of Fred Jablin. All this back story may sound boring but it is far from that. It gives insight that makes the story of the police investigation and subsequent trial all the more interesting. She also delves into the dysfunctional and troubling bond between Piper Rountree and her sister Tina which added a creepy element as well as in my opinion a bond that helped make the murder happen. If you are thinking of giving up on true crime because of all the bad books out there give this one a read. It is an excellent book and will restore your faith in the genre.

This is another book I read because it is on the Modern Library's Top 100 non-fiction list. The overall topic of the book is the journalist/subject relationship, which was interesting, but I thought Malcolm could've gone a lot more in depth on the issues. She stuck only to one particular case and seemed to have been discussing more of the innocence or guilt of the subject, Macdonald, rather than fully delving into the broader issues. I thought the book would've been much more powerful if she had worked more on proving her thesis, rather than detailing the accounts of the murder trial.
She seems to barely touch on the ideas of the original thesis, therefore ending on a very weak note.
The only reason I would suggest this to anyone is if you are itching for a quick and somewhat-interesting, and definitely thought-provoking read.

I'd have a bit more respect for Ms. Malcolm if:

a) she had actually attended MacDonald vs. McGinniss, so that she could write from an informed viewpoint instead of relying on second- and third-hand accounts;

b) she had spent less time oohing and ahhing over MacDonald's personal magnetism, and stuck to the facts of the case at hand;

c) she had bothered to read the literary releases to McGinniss's publishing company, SIGNED BY MACDONALD HIMSELF, that gave McGinniss license to write any type of book he wished (including, one presumes, a book that might actually say that McGinniss himself had concluded that MacDonald was guilty, despite the friendship the Journalist may have felt for the Murderer);

d) she hadn't stated - repeatedly - the total fiction that the jury hung 5-1 in MacDonald's favor. The fact is, the jury hung on ONE QUESTION OUT OF THIRTY-SEVEN, never actually voting on the other 36, because one juror believed that MacDonald had violated his agreements with McGinniss by cultivating other journalists and by ignoring his agreement not to sue McGinniss.

Or is MacDonald next going to sue Malcolm, because in her very title, she herself calls him a murderer?

Let's call an egg an egg, Dr. Jeff. You killed them. Pay the price. Be done with it.

In 1970, a respected army physician named Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that four strangers broke into his home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and killed his wife and two daughters. Although an army tribunal tried Dr. MacDonald and cleared him, years later the case was reopened. This time, MacDonald was convicted and sent to prison, where he still is today.

Janet Malcolm does not reopen the MacDonald case in her book, "The Journalist and the Murderer." Rather, she examines the issues behind a libel suit that MacDonald brought in 1984 against his supposed friend, Joe McGinnis, author of "Fatal Vision." Joe McGinniss posed as an ally of Jeffrey MacDonald for years. McGinnis lived with MacDonald for a while and even joined his defense team. McGinniss sent MacDonald sympathetic letters in support of his cause. In these letters, he frequently expressed his belief in MacDonald's innocence.

It was only after "Fatal Vision" was published that MacDonald discovered the truth. McGinniss did not believe in MacDonald's innocence; on the contrary, he portrays MacDonald as a psychopathic murderer. The author posed as a friend for the sole purpose of keeping MacDonald in the dark so that McGinniss would continue to have access to his subject. "Fatal Vision" became a huge bestseller and it eventually became a miniseries.

Malcolm's book, written in 1990, takes on added significance in 2003, when the ethics of journalists are under fire as never before. Time and again, a small number of journalists have been accused of plagiarizing and fabricating stories. The public is beginning to recongnize that reporters are fallible people who suffer from the same pressures, ambitions, and even psychological disorders as other ordinary mortals.

Malcolm's book is not merely a condemnation of McGinniss's behavior towards MacDonald. Her premise is that the journalist's relationship to his subject is, in its very essence, a perilous one. The gullible subject babbles away to his "sympathetic" listener, revealing more of himself than he realizes. When all is said and done, only the journalist and his editors have control over the final product. They are sometimes tempted to distort the facts to make the piece more interesting.

Malcolm asserts that certain journalists are con men who prey on people's loneliness, credibility, and narcissism to get a good story. Journalists have their own agendas and the "truth," which is elusive at best, is not always their top priority. Malcolm's book is a warning not to believe everything that is printed in a newspaper or a magazine, since each story is only one version of reality.

Ms. Malcolm slices off the hand that feeds her

With regard to item "a)" from "...pointless exercise," MacDonald v. McGuiness was over when Ms. Malcolm got involved. According to Fatal Justice by Palmer & Bost, McGuiness's lawyers threw a post-trial press conference for the court of public opinion: only Ms. Malcolm showed up.

Otherwise, Journalist & Murderer is mainly about journalistic ethics, if there are any. Here, McGuiness insinuated himself into the defense team (he was privy to trial strategy) of Jeffrey MacDonald, with the promise presenting him in the best possible light. When McGuiness sours on MacDonald, he puts up a cheery front & presses on. After Fatal Vision, MacDonald felt betrayed.

Of course, in our Cartesian-dualist society, since it's always either-or, we ask why he should feel betrayed? Guys convicted of killing their families have no reason to feel betrayed. They're bad guys; they deserve betrayal.

However, when McGuiness concluded that MacDonald was guilty, trial evidence just wouldn't do. McGuiness shamefully proved himself a member of the old Star Chamber (maybe Joe expected some votes as Cheney's heir @Halliburton?) by trundling out Cleckley's (1941) old psychopathology checklist & diagnosing Dr. MacDonald an incurable, speed-fueled sociopath. Dr. Phil's forbearer: super!

Ms. Malcolm is my favorite contemporary writer: she is foremost literate & like my favorite noncontemporary writer Mencken, she can be vicious without being vengeful. However, when you read, say, 1999's Sheila McGough, you may well wonder what sort of journalistic ruse Ms. Malcolm might cook up while slicing vegetables in the McGough kitchen. The Journalist & the Murderer is a blueprint for any such ruse. Better news is that after reading J&M, you can laugh without a twinge of guilt @gaudily & nightly paraded notions like "journalistic integrity."

Joe McGinniss put himself on the map writing the classic 1969 book, THE SELLING OF A PRESIDENT. That book detailed how Richard Nixon was sold to the public like any other consumer product. It's worth reading if you can find a copy. The Nixon book was such a hit and McGinniss was so young he couldn't find material good enough to follow it up and his next few books were mediocre.

Determined to find another worthy subject, he tackled the case of Dr. Jeffrey McDonald, a man accused of killing his wife and children. That story became the bestselling FATAL VISION and this book, THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER, chronicles the techniques that McGinniss used to get close to McDonald, and how he pretended to support McDonald through the years of legal proceedings although he always thought him to be guilty and wanted a guilty verdict for a better book. McGinniss' technique led to unfettered access to legal files, evidence, but most importantly access to McDonald. They'd drink together, strategize together and were pals during the experience.

The central question is how far can a journalist go to get the story? Although a jury found McDonald guilty of murder, a later jury found in favor of McDonald in his suit against McGuinniss because they felt that his techniques were so underhanded and self-serving that even a murderer deserved better. The book shows the divide between the win-at-any-cost media and the public that grows weary of the techniques used against people to create news. Does the public have the right to know enough that journalists can lie to subjects to bring the story to press?

This short book makes you question a number of journalistic techniques and it doesn't hurt either that McDonald has strong supporters and could possibly be innocent of the murders, at least in the context of this book.

Seriously, this guy churns out a book every 4 years cause he does his research. Add to that the fact he is an exceptional writer. Perfect guy to write about this historic meltdown. Hard to rate your favorite books but remember how much I enjoyed reading it two years later. What a blast of a read (tragic story though). After reading the book I became so interested in the Enron debacle, that I actually skipped class and drove to houston (two years ago) to watch Fastow get cross-examined during Skilling and Lay's trial.

So yes I fully reccomend and endorse this book. Buy it and enjoy!

Conspiracy of Fools is the story of Enron, from beginning to collapse, researched and presented in excruciating detail. It's a horror story of greed, incompetence, arrogance, and willful ignorance. And it's a cautionary tale depicting the importance of accounting. It's also thought-provoking, particularly with regard to the contradictory nature of American business--what's good for the actual business isn't necessarily what's good for the stockholders, and vice versa.

The first quarter or so of the book, I spent a lot of time flipping back to the the cast of characters in the front of the book, and being frustrated by the way it jumped between characters and POVs. After I became familiar with the major players, it read much more smoothly.

The other thing that drove me nuts for quite a while was that so many scenes were described with precise dates, sometimes even down to the minute. I kept expecting those times to be significant in some way, but they never were. I eventually realized that it was supposed to be proof of how accurate the research was, but I just found it distracting.

There's more detail than I expected, but in this kind of book, I appreciated that--it felt like I got a clearer picture of not only what happened, but why, and how it was allowed to happen.

Other than that, it was fascinating, and horrifying. Reading it was like watching a series of train wrecks, or a horror movie where you're screaming at the bimbo not to go up the stairs, but she does anyway. I'm glad I read it.

As a 56 year old very successful business owner of 30 years, I always looked in awe at these 40 year old CEOs and CFOs of major publicly held corporations. How did these guys learn so much in such a short period of time? Are they actually that much smarter than I am? Apparently NOT! The only difference between us is that I could never match their levels of arrogance, greed, stupidity and total lack of ethics. Welcome to the world of big business.

As tragic as the ENRON situation is, what transpired behind the scenes was so incredulous, I found myself laughing out loud. The fact that they thought they could get away with some of these schemes was astounding. The fact that they got away with them as long as they did is a tribute to the stupidity of the supporting staff around them. This book should be required reading for any college grad going into the business world.

It was most interesting to get a glimpse into the personal life as well as the unethical business practices of the executives.

This book gives sobering data, while reading like a best-selling mystery--quite the feat!

The book is particularly relevant when we fit the story of Enron into the larger picture: Geo. W. Bush's longtime personal friendship with Enron head Ken Lay; Bush's own businesses in the 1980s--Arbusto and Spectrum 7--also collapsing shortly after HE sold out HIS personal stock; numerous other financial giants coincident with Enron (eg., Arthur Anderson, Tyco, Worldcom, etc.) demonstrating the same fiscal irresponsibility; this pattern repeated yet again in the recent (2008) Bear Stearns debacle.

Do you want to understand the mechanisms by which greed and corruption flourish? This book gives a detailed view of the process. I was continually astonished as I read. But then, I always am. (People sometimes accuse me of being cynical, but I can honestly reply, "To the contrary! I'm constantly amazed!")

A great companion book to Pigs at the Trough : How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption Are Undermining America. We can't say we weren't told....

Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)