True Crime Books

I like most books, this one would be a better (and truer) read if it were entitled "inside the mind of John Douglas". He is quite sure Btk would not have been found if not for his, and I mean his and his alone, brillance. He is condesending. Didn't like it.

I finally found this book at Amazon! Its an excellent read all the way through. John Douglas does not disappoint! Reading this book will make you cringe at the thought of how brazen Dennis Rader (BTK) was. He didnt sneak around in the dark, he walked calmy in broad daylight and you invited him right in your front door!! Freaky stuff, great book!!

The first act of John Douglas's book about BTK is entitled "My Lifelong Hunt for BTK." He is being disingenuous at best. Let's review this "lifelong" hunt, shall we?

1. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, detectives from Wichita came to him for one-day sessions to create a profile of who BTK was/is.

2. After BTK is finally captured in 2004, Douglas is given a CD containing BTK's letters, diaries, and drawings.

That's it. Hardly a lifelong hunt.

Although Douglas does a nice job of reviewing the crimes BTK committed, as well as his motivations, he spends too much time talking about himself. He sees himself as a tireless hero in this quest, a real macho tough-guy. I found myself wanting to slap him throughout the book.

Interestingly enough, for such a highly celebrated criminal profiler, he gets A LOT of things wrong about BTK. He thinks that BTK is a loner who is afraid of women and does not associate with them; BTK was actually married for 30 years and was socially involved in both his church and his son's Boy Scout troup.

There is an interesting article in the New Yorker [...] about the history of criminal profilers and how they tend to say things that can be true no matter what. This is noticeable throughout the book when we are let in on some of the profilers' meetings with Wichita police. BTK is a loner afraid of women, but he might be married. He might also be divorced. Well which is it?

When Douglas finally interviews BTK at the end of the book (at the expense of a poor single mother who had been gaining BTK's trust for months so she could get her big break), Douglas says to BTK that he is sure that Nancy Fox was his perfect victim because she said something that really "got to" him and he didn't want to kill her. Nope, BTK says that was wrong entirely, which seems to be the case for almost all of Douglas' theories. Whenever something he theorized turns out to be right, he touts it over and over again, but conveniently leaves out the things he was so very, very wrong about.

All in all, a good overall book on the killings, but Douglas proves to be an insufferable author, so much so that I would never consider reading anything by him again.

I like John Douglas, and have read everything he has published. Unfortunately, BTK offers virtually nothing new in terms of insights about serial killers in general, or the BTK in particular. One gets a sense of deja vu in reading this--a revisitation (and somewhat lethargic at that) of a crime and a criminal that we have already read about. Douglas covered the BTK already, in Obsession, and though he disguised the discussion, it is clearly the same facts, the same ideas, and the same conclusions. Why he chose to write about the BTK again, this time devoting an entire book to him, seems to more a kind of personal cleansing, or purging of the soul, for having contributed very little to the understanding and the capture of the BTK when his services were first requested some 30 years (though he naturally suggests that his profiles were fairly accurate, and simply not acknowledged--a supposition not substantiated by the actual facts of the case--the original profile was general, inconclusive, and ultimately rather useless). Clearly the case has haunted him ever since, and thus, this book. It goes over the same ground as others have done in their books on the BTK (there are several), though in an odd order, beginning with the present, then going back to the original killings, then forward, then backward, etc. The "exclusive" interview with BTK which is promoted on the cover, and as a chapter heading, is very disappointing, in that it offers virtually no new clues as to BTK crimes--in fact, we really never get a clear understanding of what "created" the BTK--what set him off, what caused his early instability, what fueled his dark fires, and so forth. Douglas seems to have written this book almost as an admission of his own bewilderment--"wow, look at this one--even I am confused!", without offering any real insights, or new views, on an old case. Very disappointing and uninspiring--for a better view of the BTK, and other similar killers, buy Obsession.

I enjoyed reading this book. The subject matter kept it interesting and John Douglas wrote it so that it wasn't dry. The only problem I had was the TONS of proofreading errors throughout the book, which were very distracting. (These were all things that wouldn't be caught by a spell checker.) Mr. Douglas, hire a proofreader; and if you already did, hire a better one!

Although the 1919 Series is in the title, the book goes beyond that, so if you're a curious baseball fan this book might have more than you are game for. Pietrusza seems to know his New York criminal element of the era, and the books travels down spokes out from the Rothstein hub into these areas, which certainly helps to put Rothstein into perspective, at least from a "buisness" standpoint.

I have uncovered additional info about Rothstein's personality with simple google searches, and in other books; the sources seeming to be reliable. Presuming these are accurate, they do help to supplement what we learn about Rothstein here. That's no big criticism, but the book left me with some unanswered questions about Rothstein's personality -- answers that might or might not be difficult to answer.

Rothstein was not a well-kept secret, even in his era, and there seems to have been enough written about him that I would think it might not be difficult for an author to give us more about his personality. This author choose to focus on dozens of peripheral characters, and if you're a history fan that proves to be illiuminating, but does not always illuminate Rothstein, just places him in a context. Still, readers can argue the "business" of Rothstein and his fellow criminals is the compelling part of his personality, and speaks volumes itself.

A glimpse into history and a ruthless time in America. Not only a good baseball story but a great read for anyone wanting to learn more about the time period.

Without trying to repeat what has already been said, A.R. comes alive in reading this book. He really didn't have many friends, just business associates. His life was all business and that business was making money! He was the ultimate gambler seeing an opening and taking it (no matter who you were - family, friend or foe). A.R. was involved in all types of scams, legitimate and illegal, for the sole purpose of turning a profit. After reading this book - you also find out a few undesirable traits about A.R. such as him being a welsher, and not paying debts on time. He wasn't the most honorable among thieves. This was an interesting characteristic of the book for it isn't one-sided. It gives you the facts about A.R. whether good or bad. This book paints a true portrait of the extent of vice which involved politicians, mobsters, athletes, policemen and of course actors and actresses. There is extensive research with regard to who killed A. R. I found this part of the book to be very interesting to see all the facts and the "behind the scenes" work unravel. It reveals the motives: the who, what, when, where, why and how. The last chapter keeps you very motivated and wanting for more. There were some great quotes from some old timers and I think one can learn a few things from reading this book. The book is recommended to other readers.

Tackling the biography is Arnold Rothstein is not like undertaking to deal with the life of most equally known men of even the same time. Rothstein was covered, as can be seen in the bibliography, in hundreds if not thousands of articles of the time in newspapers, magazines, books, and legends. The problem is not lack of words written, but lack of actual knowledge of the subject. Simply put, much of what has been written is legendary, apocryphal, repetitive, speculative or downright false, and it must have been an overwhelming task to wade through the junk to find the goods. Pietruszka has done as good a job of it as likely can be done at this remove.

Further complicating the task is the personality of the subject, in this case a man who was clearly highly intelligent, charismatic, and industrious, but was missing some kind of chip to his personal makeup that would have made him fully human. Judging from the book, AR loved the multiplication of money in any way possible, judging everything and everyone useful or not useful based strictly upon the expected financial return. Associates passed in and out of his life and he had no compunction about lying to them or ripping them off or leaving them hanging out to dry, to take whatever heat might come down in his wake, and he'd pick them back up again if there was money to be made with no personal feelings entering into it. It must have been hard to resist his charismatic pull, but harder to actually like the man.

Before reading this book I had known a little about Rothstein, mostly from the gambling/World Series angle. I had been unaware of his deep involvement in drugs and similar financial adventures. I wonder to what degree some of the crimes ascribed to Rothstein are simply a case of saying that because he was involved in this, with so-and-so, he MUST have been involved in that, with so-and-so. Notably, Rothstein's own little black book of records may well have been `edited' by the cops after it was found, and of course the missing sheets are missing. There seems to have been little actual written proof of much of anything Rothstein did, and there are so many conflicting stories and points of view it is hard to know the man's actual deeds with any certainty.

Rothstein's relationship with his wife stands in complete contrast: the one person from whom he did not intend to make money he put on such a pedestal that he found himself unable to approach her as a wife, as a woman, and of course this created further suffering.

I think that this man was a very one-sided genius, essentially an amoral machine. Pietruszka has done an excellent job of trying to separate fact from fiction of his fascinating subject.

Author David Peitrusza deserves plenty of kudos for his sweeping biography of Arnold Rothstein, the mad credited for fixing the 1919 World Series. In "Rothstein" we have an overview of the man and his times with perhaps too much of an emphasis on peripheral people and events. The reader will be regaled by stories of turn-of-the-century through prohibition era gamblers and big time criminals. Readers will acquire a greater knowledge of the East Coast underworld and some of the prominent figures who walked the line between criminal and legitimate. From casinos, race fixing and high society's degenerate gamblers to crooks both small time and big, "Rothstein" is an excellent account of the times of the famed gambler. Rothstein surely ranks as one of this country's most notorious criminal master minds.
As much as I enjoyed the book I would have liked getting to know the man himself a little better. While readers will enjoy an opportunity to learn what AR, (as Rothstein was sometimes called) did, where and with whom he did it you cannot be sure to understand what made him tick. His childhood and early years are skimmed over while great detail is given his murder and its subsequent investigation. Hopefully someone can come along who will provide a fuller view of Rothstein. For that biographer and anyone interested in a man immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald in "The Great Gatsby" Petrusza's book is a must-read. Whatever "Rothstein's faults as a biography, it is still a good read and highly recommended.

Roy appears to have a story to tell but it is very hard to find given the multitude of problems here. Apparently this book was written, edited, and published without the benefit of professionals. I can only hope that Roy doesn't truly have the literacy of a second grader as this book seems to indicate. I would lose a lot of respect for pilots if this is the case. I suspect a mental defective would have better luck publishing a book without having paragraphs end in mid-sentence and then begin a new paragraph like nothing happened and without the benefit of punctuation. All the while butchering the grammar and spelling of words and sentences like: "See Spot run". I suspect it isn't easy to find new ways to misspell words every sentence.

There's a great story to be told here, but it isn't. Rex Cauble, a wealthy, larger-than-life Texan is, according to this book, an innocent bystander while a group of his employees and their friends use his resources to smuggle huge amounts of dope. The author believes Cauble to be completely innocent, as we are told many, many times. The entire Cauble saga might have been the subject of great true-crime reporting, but this book reads like four or five drafts of the same magazine article stacked end on end in the hope of proving Cauble's innocence by shear force of repitition.

To begin, an admission. I don't own the book but did read parts of it while browsing selections at a brick and mortar bookstore.

Like many readers, I am of the opinion that this is a good story that got lost in bad writing. The story is real--I remember when it made major headlines here in Texas.

I wrote a similar book about my own experience in the dope-smuggling trade and got favorable reviews, aside from one, a one-star review from Genny Kirckpatrick. Out of curiousity I read the rest of Genny's reviews to get an idea of where she was coming from and discovered that Cowboy Mafia is the only book she (he) had reviewed. Then, by chance, I scrolled through the rest of the reviews on Cowboy Mafia.

Nearly all the five-star reviews of this book appear to have been written by the same author, Genny Kirckpatrick, aka Glen Baker, Dan Thompson, Brad Jeffery x 5, A customer x 3, Steve Young, and John Steadham x 6.

Notice the simlarities in writing style and the puctuation.

Even the editorial reviews by the LA Times and the Coleman Gazette display similar characteristics.

Just so you know.

If you have any aspirations about being a published writer, but are hesitant because you don't think you have enough talent, this is the book for you. In it's pages you will find sufficient courage to compile whatever type of manuscript you can muster, and shuttle it off to a publisher. Don't even worry about proof-reading it yourself.

This is apparently what "Roy Graham" did, and somehow it was published, and even received positive reviews from several national publications--no less than the Washington Post, LA Times, and People Magazine! I'm absolutely dumbfounded. I can't even get close friends to read my blog.

I found this under a pile of dust in the local library, and it looked interesting, so I took it with me. What could have been an entertaining tale in the hands of a gifted story-teller with intricate plot turns and twists, and well-ordered revelation on details becomes an incoherent mess, where events don't even seem to follow a chronological (or even a logical) path and conform more to the order in which the author recalls them via free association.

This book is the anti-Shakespeare. It is an example of how to do many, many things wrong when writing a book. It's for this reason that I admittedly enjoyed the book in some dark, demented way. I kept turning the page, holding out hope that the narrator would quit misspelling words, or inserting random, unnecessary carriage returns in the middle of a sentence, or at least to stop repeating details for the sixth time as if they were new. I don't want to ruin the ending for you, but my hope died unfulfilled as I turned the final page.

As for the climactic ending to the story itself, the author gives that away only a few chapters in.

Read it. You know you want to.

What a story - I've lived in Texas most of my life and very close to some of the ranches mentioned in this book. I was at a university in East Texas at the time of these events and remember the headlines, but never had the whole story. It is pretty amazing. The text may not be up to a true writers standards, but that's probably because it was written not by a writer but an actual participant in the story as it unfolded. I think this story would make an outstanding film. All the elements are there. By the way, you can read this thing in a couple of hours...it's hard to put down.

I think this book was a brilliant idea because you finally get to hear the side of the prisoners who's voices were never heard and now you do. Now people can see the true them and what they are about! Jennifer Furio is a wonderful author because she wanted people to see the beautiful people they are!

...There is very little of interest in this book. One gets the impresson that Ms. Furio sent the same "opening letter" to masses of multiple killers and published anyone who responded more than 3 or 4 times. The book is poorly written, horribly edited, and worse - not even entertainingly voyeuristic.
Almost all of the serial killers in the book claim their innocence and want financial help in funding their appeal. The only story of any interest was from David Gore of Florida. However, his letters were so disgusting that I questioned the need to even put them into print. I wondered about the families that had to read his vivid recollections of his crimes.
I would recommend this book to anyone seeking a book to lull them into sleep, to throw at howling alley cats in heat, or to smash cockroaches. If you want a book to read and entertain you for any period of time - pass on this one.
--Kathryn White-Fidram

Ms. Furio wrote to serial killers solicting letters for a book and this is the woeful result. While some of the letters do bring out some provocative points, Ms. Furio fails to provide any substantive context. Her not including any of her own letters make her techniques suspicious.

This book is worth reading if what you want is unedited words from some of the most violent people within our nation. The correspondence from inmates, convicted serial killers like Carol Bundy, is fascinating within itself, and in my opinion, each reader should be allowed to dissect each letter and form their own opinions as to how sincere the writers are in their apologies or remorse. What I think is worth skipping in this book is Ms. Furio's analysis and commentary on such letters. She has a tendency to take a lot of what is written by her penpals at face value, and therefore creates profiles of these people as more sympathetic than they should be. Yes, Carol Bundy was a desperate woman stuck in bad relationship after bad relationship, but she helped Doug Clark kidnap, rape, and muder eight women before she shot and killed her own ex-boyfriend. Yet, here Ms. Furio tries to paint her as a victim, and with her authoritative writing tone, the average reader might be inclined to believe her without digging a little deeper. What I would love to see is just a collection of letters from criminals compiled into a book. No outside force trying to tell the readers what to think about the person. Just the firsthand materials themselves. But this book is not that.

This book is a boring waste of time. The author doesn't include her letters, so the inmates' letters are sometimes difficult to follow. She probably chose to omit her correspondence because she hasn't always been truthful regarding her identity or her motives for writing and receiving the letters. The author could benefit from an ethics course at her local college. In the end, the reader has learned no more about these inmates than what is available about them elsewhere in much more interesting and better written books and articles. Do yourself a favor and waste your time with a less painfully boring endeavor.

Gary T. Lowenthal, a law professor in Arizona, spent his sabbatical as a prosecutor in the Phoenix (Maricopa County) prosecutor's office, the office of County Attorney Rick Romley, who, according to his web site, has held office since 1989. Surprisingly naïve for a law professor who says he has taught criminal law and criminal procedure, Lowenthal tells a tawdry tale of expediency and laziness that permeates that office.

The book is thus a must-read because it exposes a plea-bargaining-based expediency that not only encourages crime by failing to adequately punish and deter criminals, but also extorts guilty pleas from persons who may not be guilty. The excuse is that plea bargaining saves money and resources. There are two main reasons why that is not true: (1) criminals who plea-bargain their way out of prison are free to continue to prey on their communities; and (2) revolving-door "justice" means that the same criminal has to be processed over and over again.

As Lowenthal admits time and time again, however, it is just plain easier to plea-bargain a case with an offer of often unjustified leniency than to try the case and get the justice the defendant, the victim, and society deserves. For most defense lawyers, of course, plea bargaining is the only way they can make a buck-it just doesn't pay for them to spend the time and effort defending their clients in a trial.

Although the book's main focus is a case that Lowenthal did try, the real story he tells is about the lame excuses he and his fellow prosecutors marshal to justify either not charging crimes (including one Lowenthal declined to charge even though the police arrested the defendant red-handed in a stolen truck) or to justify probation for folks whose crimes warrant lengthy prison terms. "Down and Dirty Justice" paints an ugly picture of how justice is bartered in Phoenix. If accurate, Phoenix should get itself a new chief prosecutor.

Knowledgeably written by Gary T. Lowenthal (a law professor who dared to venture from the ivory towers and work for the Arizona County Attorney's Office), Down And Dirty Justice: A Chilling Journey Into The Dark World Of Crime And The Criminal Courts is an all-too-real presentation of an American judicial system which is chronically riddled with failures, brutality, the ruthless prosecution of the innocent, and the slap on the wrist to the guilty. Forced to conclude that it is the plea bargaining prosecutors, not the judges nor the juries, that rule the criminal justice system Down And Dirty Justice is a chilling and much needed expose and warning of just how bad the system is now -- before it gets any worse within the context and pressures arising from the current "War on Terrorism" and "Patriot Act" legislation.

This book provides insight into the way the criminal justice system really works. It's format is like Law and Order's in that it follows a case from the investigation stages to sentencing. It also features a gripping case. But, unlike Law and Order, this is the real thing. Resources and relationships -- between police and prosecutors, prosecutors and defenders, defenders and clients -- are strained. People are overworked and underpaid. Rigid policies and harsh mandatory sentencing laws prevent judges and prosecutors from fashioning punishments that truly fit the crime. Lowenthal has written a compelling, true account of our criminal justice system. I recommend it for those who want to learn more about the criminal justice system or those who just want to read an interesting true crime story.

This book is an entertaining, compelling, and somewhat grim look at American jurispudence today. Down and Dirty Justice is the riveting experiences of an experienced, ivory tower law professor thrust into the realities of today's legal system as a novice prosecutor. Early in the book, the author makes the point that his view of our legal system, though more informed than most, was still heavily colored by television. Like most Americans today, that was how I viewed our legal system, but as the author shows, TV shows such as Law and Order and The Practice, though supposedly true to life, give a far from true picture of the court system.
Mr. Lowenthal focuses on one particular case, an assault/kidnapping case. It is not glamourous; it is not high-profile. It is, however, fascinating. In his erudiate, well-written account, Professor Lowenthal details and highlights the often convulted and somewhat strange route to a kind of justice and resolution, which at times during this book were unlikely.
This book is not only well-written, but Mr. Lowenthal's insights into the legal system of today are deft and knowledgable. It is a book that anybody who has contact - or might have contact - with our legal system should read.

This is an excellent read and an informative book. I knew our criminal justice system was flawed but I did not realize the breadth of the problems. Though neither the victim nor the defendant is a particularly sympathetic individual, the system abused each of them. Any thoughts I had that justice usually occurs were eliminated. The author writes clearly and intelligently about a bureaucratic, political and often arbitrary legal system.

If you're studying the CIA's operations and routines you can't be without Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA. It covers all the CIA's covert and political operations and also considers these actions in relation to America's quest for global democracy, using three decades of research to detail techniques, events, major personalities and more. While general-interest public library holdings may consider this, it's a special pick for college-level or military collections also strong in democratic politics.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The CIA has been a symbol for the mysterious and given almost omnipotent power in the imaginations of those predisposed to paranoia. This very good book should set a number of these notions to rest. John Prados gives us a very detailed of the CIA from its founding out of the WWII OSS.

He shows us its role in engaging in alternative warfare and in undermining regimes that were hostile to America, its allies, and their mutual interests. Prados is not pro-CIA. Nor is he nakedly anti-CIA. It is pretty good reporting. I can't imagine how much digging he had to do to provide the information that is here. I enjoyed one footnote that after he got some information from some declassified files in a Presidential library that planes and agents were sent to collect those documents and others after he published his findings.

Prados points up the embarrassing failures that have become public knowledge. And when there are successes, he points up the transitory nature of such clandestine efforts. He is plainly unconvinced that the long term problems created by those efforts are worth the various kinds of costs incurred in pulling them off. In his concluding chapter he points out that the CIA and intelligence gathering should not be viewed only by the ends they claim to support, but evaluated as to whether their means are compatible with our Democracy and its professed ideals. I will leave this for each reader to judge.

I will say that Prados does not go out of his way, this is already a long book, to set the chessboard up and discuss what the Soviets were doing. In doing so, he makes the United States to out to be the aggressor, instigator, and fumbler of so many global events. In my view, this is a distortion. It isn't that Prados is wrong (he may well be, but I am not competent to say so), it is that he is only showing us one part of the stage. The actors that he show us look quite silly at times, however, if we saw what they were reacting to, with, or against on the unlit art of the stage, our perception of the story might well be different.

Still, this is a very valuable and comprehensive telling of this history and until we get something even more complete or authoritative or more information is declassified, this is a must have text for those interested in the history of the CIA.

These days I find myself taking the side of the CIA more and more in their wars with the Bush Administration, such the Valerie Plame affair, and the administrations manipulation of intelligence leading to the Iraq war. Amongst those scandals I was starting to forget about past misdeeds of the CIA. Thankfully, John Prados has written a history of the CIA's secret wars, some familiar, such as Cuba, Iran, and Laos, and others more obscure and in danger of being almost forgotten, such as Guyana and Tibet. It is a history of the CIA told from the perspective of its covert operations. And from this perspective we get a further glimpse of the familiar spooks and their deeds, like Allen Dulles, Frank Wisner, Ted Shackley, Richard Helms, Desmond Fitzgerald, William Harvey, and Bill Casey.

Multiple conclusions can be drawn from each of the operations. A recurring theme in of these operations is that the CIA is not the "rogue" agency that does whatever it wishes without the knowledge of the president. In each of these secret wars the president often provided the initiative for the operation, was aware what was occurring, and had the full capability of stopping it at least some point in the operation. A prime example given is Kissinger and Nixon pursuing a more aggressive meddling in Chilean politics against Allende.

Another recurring theme in the operations is often the targeted administrations plotted against were often moderate, independent regimes, who neither wanted to be in the Soviet camp or in the U.S. camp. But, dare they nationalize industries, and suddenly, with our obsessive paranoia of communism, the president and CIA would plot their overthrow, support the shadiest paramilitary insurgents and turn a blind eye to their misdeeds, including drug dealing. Often this led left leaning politicians of the targeted countries straight into the arms of the Soviets.

In Cuba, the rebels created a "disposal" problem. What do you do with armed and trained rebels eager to dispose of Castro, and knowledge of assassination plots? Apparently some believed the answer was to keep the pot boiling. The plots against Castro continued well after Bay of Pigs. In Tibet, Hungary, and Indonesia, the CIA stirred things up and promised support, but for various reasons, such as the need for secrecy or fear of full confrontation, full support to finish the job never arrived. That left rebels dangling, and caused bitterness towards the U.S. Often these operations were fueled by bad, incomplete or ignored intelligence.

Safe for Democracy is an important addition to any CIA history bookshelf. It is a well documented, objective and balanced history of CIA clandestine operations. Our foreign policy hubris is not new, something recently invented by Bush Jr. Though covert operations weren't as brazen as invading and toppling a regime by brute force, the results were destructive for the targeted nations, and did not make the world safe for democracy. The CIA, though it may not be the sole impetus for these operations, was the cat's paw for bad policy, and often a careless one too.

This is not a history book. This work drips with political taint; by that I mean that the author has a view in mind and sets out to persuade you the reader of that view, ignoring or minimizing events and information that might lead you to a different conclusion. As an intelligence professional, I couldn't stomach it past the first hundred pages.

If you read only this book about the CIA, you will believe it to be a corrupt and ineffective apparatus of clumsy power. While a popular view, it's not correct. But if you already believe that the CIA is a bastion of evil stupidity, prepare to have your belief system validated.

It gets two stars because it does actually include correct facts; it's missing three because they are only select facts, separated by manipulation.

W.R. Morris was Buford Pusser's authorized biographer, he wrote the best selling "The Twelth of August" however in 1973 he told People Magazine, "Buford can be a really nice guy one day and the next day he's barely civilized. I thread delecitly in the book." Did Pusser and Morris have a falling out or did Morris' research cause him to have a change of oppinion on the hero?

Regardless, this book is the origins of the loose mob that Pusser destroyed. The crime element along the Tenn and Mississippi border was the result of a government crackdown on the illegal activities in Phenix City, Ga in the late 40's. The displaced con artists and prostitutes settled on the stateline of Tn/Miss on highway 45. Morris provides a fasinating discription of the self destructive lives of this murderous group. It seems that Alcorn County, Miss is the hot bed of much of the criminal activity-yet McNairy County, Tn got the title of "Murder County USA" due to it being the dumping ground of many of the unsuspecting victims of the so-called "state line mob." One of these victims was a young Buford Pusser, who had the guts to go back and rob the robbers.

The ring leaders of the mob have an amazing ability to avoid long term jail sentences. They are soon challanged by a new sheriff- Buford Pusser, who has an amazing ability so withstand knife wounds and gunshots. Pusser believed in "fighting fire with fire" a true unconventional law enforcement warrior. Shortly after taking office he picked up a mob leader and took him out to the swamps and beat him up for three hours. Morris, as well as the author of "Mississippi Mud" believe that Pusser knew who was behind the ambush that killed his wife, but he kept the information from the authorities only to track down and kill, or hire to kill, the men himself. The result of this book is that Buford Pusser may have been a flawed and tragic hero, but in the end he got the bastards- and walked damn tall doing it, even if outside the law.

Morris covers some interesting material. However, I don't believe he did as good a job as he did on The 12th of August. Much of the material in this book is just a reprinting of some of his previous book. I compared the two books as I read this one though and sometimes the wording of conversations had some variation. This book is not well written for someone with the journalistic background of Morris. Yet there are some interesting theories in regard to Buford Pusser's possible involvement in taking out some of those who he believed were involved in murdering his wife. I think the book is an overall worthwhile read but there are places in the text where Morris used vulgarity for no other apparent reason than to be vulgar. It did not help drive home the point any better.

Once I started reading the book, it was hard to put it down. I live only a few counties north of where all this was taking place. I only thought I
had an idea of what was taking place and about the people who were running the gambling, illegal whisky, and prostitution operation. That was one tough
area vs one tough sheriff who had to "fight fire with fire".

It took only one day to read this book. It was like a magnet in my hands I could not put it down. I have seen
the movies, and heard stories of Buford Pusser, but now
I know the facts. What an awesome book.

as a little boy who grew up thinking sheriff andy taylor had a cool job, i've always found the sheriff pusser stories interesting.(in a 21 year law enforcement career, i found the job required a little buford pusser and a lot of andy taylor) i read the twelveth of august back in high school and thought the story fascinating but poorly written. the state line mob was better written and after meeting w.r. morris,his lovely wife cathy and spending an afternoon riding the roads of mcnairy county, i began to understand the relationship between him and the sheriff pusser. he couldn't tell the story inthe state line mob while sheriff pusser was living. i think he did a good job of telling the story. he told me about getting into a discussion with one of the characters in the book, who was voicing his displeasure with his portrayal in the book and mr. morris asked him one question: did i lie about you in the book? the man answered to the negative but he still didn't like being mentioned in the book. i've just order my second copy seeing how i loaned my first out to a so-called friend who never returned it. it's a keeper.

I did not find this book as enjoyable as I had hoped. I think the author was very slanted and presented her side of the story in a self serving way. Really a disappointment.

Having been on the inside I could relate to this one. Rita Schiano, author "Painting The Invisible Man" Painting the Invisible Man

Oh man.
I picked this book up on vacation, intending it to be a good read...if anything something to pass the time. I have a huge interest in the Mafia and have for quite some time....however this book blew it for me. I don't think I made it past page 50...in fact I think I read the first 50 pages half a dozen times. I couldn't believe how poorly this book was written!! On top of that, like others have stated, it was so repetitive! I was shocked to say the least. I believe there to be many ways to have a book sound very much like the author, despite the authors ability to write a book, which clearly was not done with this book!!

I was fresh off of reading "Westies" and was wishing that they had given more detail about Sissy Featherstone and Edna Coonan and their lives and ordeals with there husbands when I found this at the local bookshop. I flipped though it, thought it intresting and picked it up. I think the thing you have to understand is that when dealing with 85% of people in the mafia or associated in some way with the mafia. They aren't well educated. Or else they wouldn't have had to start doing petty crimes to get somewhere. They would have went to Law School or taken more traditional paths.

At the beginning of this book, I do see where alot of people call Lynda 'whinny', but she was telling why she turned out the way she did and why she put up with Louie even though he abused her. But as you go into the book, I feel it does get more intresting and I didn't want to put it down. And for not being as well educated as most expect, Lynda did really well for herself. It's a true story, and sometimes the people with the most intresting stories are the one's that didn't finish 8th grade. I think people need to remember that.

5 stars for Lynda not so much the book.

I have never written a review on a book in my life, but this one so enraged me, I sought out a place to state my view.

I won't expound on the whining, as others have covered that quite accurately. But what really burned my biscuits about Lynda is her feigned ignorance of how her husband earned his money. She had at least two independent confirmations from friends that her husband had become a made man in the mob. She even admitted to seeing a bandaid on his cut finger, which corroborated their story. Her response? They must be crazy. Is she color blind? The big, waving red flags were near impossible to ignore, but she somehow claims to have done it. She sees her husband brutally attack a man in their yard, in front of her children, yet has the gall to proclaim him a good and loving parent. She should have had her children taken away fron her for not protecting them from such a lunatic criminal. To make her statements even more outrageous, she knowingly participated in some of his illegal money making schemes. In fact, her 'honeymoon' was financed by stealing from the telephone company! Hey, there's a clue.

For all her whining about her 'horrible' childhood, she also casually mentions many positive things, such as the nose job she had done, and the vacations the family went on. These details are incongruous with the image she paints of a poor waif of a child wearing hand me down clothing (albeit high end label stuff) and being abused by her mother, and not defended by her father.

In my search for a place to vent my view, I found an interview she did on Court TV where her parting shot was, "Buy my book!" I also stumbled on her web site which you have to pay to view. For someone who claims to have had no clue what was going on in her husband's life, she lists lots of tantalizing come ons for joining her site.

Don't waste your money on this book! I bought my copy used and will be selling mine soon for .01. I am only grateful that my purchase of her book did not put one thin dime into her greedy hand.