Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America

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Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 901 ratings · 216 reviews

Before Adam Walsh there were no faces on milk cartons, no Amber Alerts, no National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, no federal databases of crimes against children, no pedophile registry. His 1981 abduction and murder--unsolved for over a quarter of a century--forever changed America.

One sunny July morning in 1981, Reve Walsh and her six-year-old son Adam stoppe...more Before Adam Walsh there were no faces on milk cartons, no Amber Alerts, no National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, no federal databases of crimes against children, no pedophile registry. His 1981 abduction and murder--unsolved for over a quarter of a century--forever changed America.

One sunny July morning in 1981, Reve Walsh and her six-year-old son Adam stopped by the local Sears to pick up some new lamps. Enchanted by a video game at the store's entrance, Adam begged Reve to let him try it out while she shopped. When she returned a few minutes later, Adam was gone.

The shock of Adam's murder, and of the inability of the police and the FBI to find his killer, radically altered American innocence and our ideas about childhood. Gone forever were the days when parents would allow their kids out of the house with the casual instruction "Be home by dark!"

Reve and John Walsh--who would go on to create America's Most Wanted--became advocates for the transformation of law enforcement's response to and handling of such cases. Prompted by the Walshes' activism, Congress passed the Missing Children Act in 1982, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was founded in 1984.

While our lives have been significantly altered by Adam Walsh's case, few of us know the whole story--how, after more than twenty-seven years of relentless investigation, decorated Miami Beach homicide detective Joe Matthews finally identified Adam's killer.

Bringing Adam Home is the definitive account of this horrifying crime--which, like the Lindbergh kidnapping fifty years earlier, captured public attention--and its aftermath, a true story of tragedy, love, faith, and dedication. It reveals the pain and tenacity of a family determined to find justice, the failed police work that allowed a killer to remain uncharged, and the determined efforts of one cop who accomplished what an entire legal system could not. As harrowing as In Cold Blood, yet ultimately uplifting, Bringing Adam Home is the riveting story of a triumph of justice and the enduring power of love.(less)

Hardcover, 291 pages

Published March 1st 2011 by Ecco (first published February 11th 2011)

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Mar 01, 2011 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

This book tells the horrid true tale of 7 year old Adam Walsh’s abduction, torture and murder. It also tells the tale of his heart broken but valiant parents, John and Revi Walsh. Most people will be familiar with John’s name because of his fame from ‘America’s Most Wanted’ TV show which he was asked to host following his son’s death. With that platform John and Revi (working behind the scenes but just as determinedly as her husband) were able to pass lots of legislature that helped centralize s...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Adam Walsh was a big deal when I was a kid. He was kidnapped a few days after my 5th birthday, an hour and a half south of where I lived with my mom. His head was found a few weeks after that an hour north of where I lived. I've thought about it since -- about this lone car, driving through my town late at night while I was sleeping, with a little boy in the trunk.

There was a change after that, in my mom and in the parents of my friends. They watched us closer. We were always made sure doors an...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, nonfiction, nf-true-crime, source-review, format-ebooks, favorites

Bringing Adam Home is a grisly unflinching account of six-year old Adam Walsh's murder and the long jinxed investigation that followed. Many of you might be familiar with the name Adam Walsh - son of America's Most Wanted host, John Walsh and his wife, Revé. He was abducted one day in 1981 from Sears, where his mother left him for a few minutes at an arcade stall and came back to find him missing. He was then murdered by a serial killer, Otis Toole. What follows is a badly put investigative effo...more Bringing Adam Home is a grisly unflinching account of six-year old Adam Walsh's murder and the long jinxed investigation that followed. Many of you might be familiar with the name Adam Walsh - son of America's Most Wanted host, John Walsh and his wife, Revé. He was abducted one day in 1981 from Sears, where his mother left him for a few minutes at an arcade stall and came back to find him missing. He was then murdered by a serial killer, Otis Toole. What follows is a badly put investigative effort that should have solved the case in 1983, but instead neglects evidence, abandons proper interviewing techniques and has an incompetent detective who is more worried about his reputation than in solving crimes. This book details much of that evidence - Otis Toole himself coming forward multiple times to confess, the crime scene photos that were never printed (the biggest evidence of all was in these photos), and not following up with or giving any importance to the eyewitnesses that came forward.

Right from the first page, this book hooked me in. I like reading about true crime - I've thoroughly enjoyed reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, which features a cold-blooded killer, Perry Smith. Columbine by Dave Cullen was a favorite read from last year, it featured two teen misfits, who went on to make Columbine a household word forever. Otis Toole, Adam's murderer is a drifter and a very "strange man" with "strange eyes" - he has a very low IQ, several learning disabilities, and a troubled upbringing. He was the only suspect in the murder right from when he first confesses, but he was never charged. Detective Sgt Joe Matthews was pulled in to help on the case initially but Jack Hoffman, the arrogant detective in charge dismissed him soon. Since then, Matthews' repeated attempts to help were always botched, even though he always made some new finding.

Les Standiford writes a well-researched book, that never once reads like a boring crime report. Instead, although the reader already knows the outcome of the whole investigation right in the first few pages of this book, I never once could put the book down - and took to reading it at every spare minute I got. Les Standiford attributes Detective Sgt. Joe Matthews for all the research, but it cannot be denied that he has shared all that research with the readers in a compelling style. This book is a reader's dream - a true crime, psychopathic or remorseless killers, the anxious wait for justice. This book is also a person's nightmare - a true crime, psychopathic or remorseless killers, the anxious wait for justice.

Adam Walsh's murder is another one of those defining events that can be said in terms of before and after. Before the murder, children enjoyed plenty of freedom, they would play out all day without adult supervision and be back as promised before dinner. Parents hardly batted an eyelid when their child requested if he/she could play someplace else in a mall, while they went shopping. After Adam Walsh's murder, though, "Few parents would ever again leave their children alone or unattended in public places". I belong to the After era. I've never known life otherwise, so some parts of this book evoked plain disbelief in me. I wanted to ask many times, how Revé and a lot of parents left their children unattended. I grew up hearing every day from my parents - there are bad people out there, don't talk to strangers, don't go anywhere without telling us. That's the same thing I've told every younger cousin of mine and also my nieces and nephews. I had to suspend my current conditioning to accept that times used to be safer for kids at one point. There weren't any pedophiles or serial killers who targeted kids, rapists or abductors then, like there are plentiful now.

As I mentioned earlier, this book is a grisly and unflinching account of the murder. There are many aspects described vividly (Adam Walsh is the only child Toole murders. But he confesses to it many times.) There is supposedly a photo shared in this book (it was absent in my review copy, but I saw it online), that I couldn't stop staring at. It was horrifying once you understood what the picture was but it wasn't obvious (a layman glance didn't help me much). But this book is not so much about the grisly murders as it is about the investigation. It is also a testament to the Walshes' work towards ensuring stronger laws and legislation to protect kids. In Matthews' words, their work made sure that "From the moment a child goes missing, no matter what, everybody drops what they're doing". It is also an ovation to Sgt. Matthews for finally providing the Walshes an answer to the twenty-five year old question regarding what happened to their child. In the end, this is an impressive documentation of how things changed so much - from the days when kids could easily go anywhere so long as they promised to be back before dark, to the current unwritten rule of never leaving a child unattended.(less)

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Jul 08, 2011 Kim rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: with-susan

starting a little slow, with details about the area & cops involved. i am promised it will pick up (SUSAN!) ...

7/4-- getting into the story more. alot of what is reported is not as i remember it happening, but I was so young... the lead det. hoffman, i despise. working my way through...

7/8--one of the most poorly written true crime books ever. Fascinating case, and a real study on the politics of police work and the media. But, I'd LOVE to re-write all his research into a book that was actua...more

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Aug 05, 2012 William Cunion rated it 2 of 5 stars

Story of the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of 6-year-old Adam Walsh in Hollywood, Florida, in 1981. Generally a well-written book, with a story that moves quickly and comprehensively through a police investigation that was clearly more intent on saving face and protecting turf than in finding the killer and bringing him to justice. Despite the many, many names and details, the narrative is structured well and the story is easy to follow. But in the end, I just don’t think this is...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I didn't know much about the Adam Walsh case before reading this book, other than it's what catapulted John Walsh into creating the TV show America's Most Wanted. I didn't even know the child was dead, that's how little I knew of the story. I also didn't realize it took 20+ years for the murder to be solved.

It was sparked by a reporter asking John Walsh (in 2006 IIRC) if it bothered him that his child's case had never been solved. The Walshes then asked friend and detective Joe Matthews to pour...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Alisha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, true-crime

I first heard of John Walsh the year Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. I was the same age that she was when she was taken and I remember being horrified at the abduction and the ones that seemed to follow. It seems as though it was happening frequently during that time...children getting abducted left and right (later I learned that 2002 was one of the years where the abduction rate wasn't that high, much to my surprise) and the media harping on it. I also remember that when Elizabeth Smart was fou...more I first heard of John Walsh the year Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. I was the same age that she was when she was taken and I remember being horrified at the abduction and the ones that seemed to follow. It seems as though it was happening frequently during that time...children getting abducted left and right (later I learned that 2002 was one of the years where the abduction rate wasn't that high, much to my surprise) and the media harping on it. I also remember that when Elizabeth Smart was found, John Walsh interrupted his scheduled programming of his talk show to report live saying that Elizabeth had been found. I remember wondering how he got so dedicated in helping families dealing with abductions and later I found out about what had happened to Adam Walsh. And if I was horrified before, it was nothing compated to how horrified I was after I finished reading Bringing Adam Home.

Let's put aside the fact that the Adam Walsh abduction and murder was a horrifying case. What was even more horrifying was the way the investigators in charge of the case botched up the investigation and then basically REFUSED to rectify the issue. Most of the investigators were just interested in covering their asses, particularly when their blatant unprofessionalism and just all around douchery was finally discovered. They didn't care about the victim, they just cared about their careers. And, unfortunately for the Walshes, this case just proved that.

Bringing Adam Home also showed how different it was back then when it came to child abductions. Very little protocol was in place both at the mall and throughout the overall ordeal of an abduction. This was a time where people had assumed it was safe to leave your young child alone, unsupervised in a public place, a time where apparently it was okay to kick a 6 year old kid out of a store, into the streets, despite the fact that he was unsupervised. Not that I'm blaming the Walshes or the security guard (or anyone other than the murderer and the useless police detectives on the case), but it's interesting to see how the times have changed. And utterly heartbreaking to realize that, most of the time, change only comes when the problem has already claimed its victims (like Adam Walsh, Amber Hagerman, and other victims of child abductions) and therefore, for some, came absolutely too late.

Now to the actual book: Bringing Adam Home was an immense page-turner. It was completely engrossing and wasn't dry like non-fiction books have the potential to be. I found it to be factual and highly enlightening. This is one book I highly recommend.

(less)

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Dec 02, 2011 marymurtz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I still remember when Adam Walsh was abducted, and seeing the news coverage, watching his distraught parents on television and hearing them plead for his life. I also watched the TV movies about it and recall the ensuing crusade for a center to advocate for missing children.

Like most people, I also recognize John Walsh from "America's Most Wanted" and watched many interviews with him on television, some of which revolved around his young son's abduction and murder.

So I didn't think this book wou...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Stacy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to read this because I remember the day Adam Walsh went missing, and I remember when they discovered that he had been murdered. It was a horrible experience that his family had to suffer, and I was really affected by the details of the case. I never knew much of the logistics of the case until reading this book. As I read and learned more and more details, I became so angry at the Hollywood (Florida) and surrounding area police departments! Investigators cared more about their careers a...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Jenny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Most people are familiar with the case of Adam Walsh, the six-year-old boy who was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. His father, John Walsh, went on to host America's Most Wanted, but for 27 years, the murder of his own son remained unsolved. In Bringing Adam Home, Les Standiford, along with Det. Sgt. Joe Matthews, who ultimately solved the cold case, chronicle the investigation from the moment of Adam's abduction in July of 1981.

Despite various newspapers publishing various articles about the cas...more Most people are familiar with the case of Adam Walsh, the six-year-old boy who was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. His father, John Walsh, went on to host America's Most Wanted, but for 27 years, the murder of his own son remained unsolved. In Bringing Adam Home, Les Standiford, along with Det. Sgt. Joe Matthews, who ultimately solved the cold case, chronicle the investigation from the moment of Adam's abduction in July of 1981.

Despite various newspapers publishing various articles about the case throughout the past three decades, very few people actually had all the facts. They're finally revealed in full in this book. I was astonished as I read this. The mistakes that were made all throughout the case from the very beginning through every step of the way were astounding. I found myself shaking my head and rolling my eyes at the way certain people handled the investigation. It's easy to forget that detectives, just like everyone else, are humans with all the same variety of traits that other people have be it motives, laziness, etc. It truly takes the passion and hard work of a dedicated investigator to solve cases. And the murder of Adam Walsh is one that could have been proven years earlier if more effort had just been put into it.

If anything is to have come of Adam Walsh's horrific abduction, it is that America started paying attention and changes were made in the system to better protect children. It's scary that as recently as the 80's, none of the things we take for granted now were in place such as Amber Alerts, a national sex offender registry, any national databases of missing children, or even the ability for police departments to share information about missing or exploited children without difficulty. As with all other movements and laws to protect children, they have come about at a time when, in retrospect, it was barbaric that they weren't in existence already. In the book, Standiford discusses how at the time of Adam Walsh's abduction, more legal manpower was placed on missing vehicles than on missing children. It sounds so backward now. But we have Adam's parents, John and Reve Walsh to thank for advocating for children in the nation so that we are better able to protect them. Although this book's focus was really the investigation, which is sadly interesting enough with all the scandal associated with it, I also learned a little more about the laws that were enacted to protect children over the last 25 years. Some of them were very recent too.

As for the writing style, I really enjoyed Standiford's voice. Of course, I really don't know what was written by Standiford and what by Matthews, but the incredulous voice of the author made the narrative engaging. It felt like I was having a serious conversation with a very well-informed friend. The conclusion to the investigation, the ultimate piece of evidence, will absolutely shock you if you don't already know what it is. But it might disgust you too. Just beware that you are going into a book about a child who suffered a very violent crime. Det. Matthews should be considered a hero for his dedication to this case (not to mention the work he has put into solving so many other crimes). It's really devastating that it took 27 years to solve this murder, especially when it likely could have been done so a year after it happened. But this book is important in demonstrating how an investigation can go wrong and what it takes to protect our children. I was riveted by the detailed chronology of events depicted by Standiford and Matthews. Anyone who has had any interest in this case will enjoy this book, as well as anyone interested in child protection or true crime.

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com (less)

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Jun 02, 2011 Rose rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was deeply disturbing & I hated it. Stupid of me to read it really, I should have known better. It was too graphic in what happened to poor little Adam, too much information is given about the man thought to be the killer & I think it was all uncalled for. If it was a story about how the abduction changed how America handles child abductions now, why not focus on that a bit more instead of giving details on so many murders & rapes & other highly horrific acts committed...more

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May 13, 2011 Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book but was graphic and a bit self-agrandizing. Nonetheless, the author makes it clear that the investigation into Adam Walsh's disappearance was a complete disaster from the beginning. I had problems with the fact that the author spends a great deal of time personally knocking the official investigators and inflating his role or actions. I also had a problem with his assessment of how the trial of this matter would have gone. The author critizes a prosecuting attorney w...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Samantha rated it 4 of 5 stars

'Bringing Adam Home' is an engrossing account of the bungled police investigation surrounding the infamous Adam Walsh murder, along with the story of the investigator who was finally able to bring all the clues together.

Most of us are familiar with the basics of the case, and many of us are familiar with the boy's father, John Walsh, host of 'America's Most Wanted.' But why did it take 27 years to solve it? And what eventually made everything click? This book provides great insight into the poli...more 'Bringing Adam Home' is an engrossing account of the bungled police investigation surrounding the infamous Adam Walsh murder, along with the story of the investigator who was finally able to bring all the clues together.

Most of us are familiar with the basics of the case, and many of us are familiar with the boy's father, John Walsh, host of 'America's Most Wanted.' But why did it take 27 years to solve it? And what eventually made everything click? This book provides great insight into the politics and personalities that can aid or thrwart police departments in their investigations. The book also paints a disturbing, but honest portrait of the man who was eventually charged with Adam's murder. Readers get insight into the darkness that pervaded his life and led up to his gristly actions, even as it's revealed he would later have seemingly uncharacteristic flashes of guilt about what he did. It's a reminder that even the monsters are still, on some level, human.

Several of the policemen involved in the investigation aren't exactly portrayed in a positive light, but the book does try to be fair when it can, offering potential explanations for some of their behavior, and attributing apparent lapses in judgement to inexperience rather than incompetence. With any such story, of course, you're only hearing one side of the matter (in this case, the book was co-written with Joe Matthews, the man who eventually solved it), so a little bias is inevitable, but this account seems reasonable.

Downsides: when recounting the details of the investigation, it does read a bit slowly as it gets into the details of who said what and who called whom, and when. But that's perhaps to be expected from an investigation that spanned more then 25 years, rife with complications and errors along the way.
Also, it contains the phrase "It is one of many stories reflecting Matthews's refusal to be cowed by blowhards, but it is surely not the only one." I had to stop reading and put the book down for a minute after that one. You'll be happy to know that's the exception rather than the rule, though. Tsk tsk to the editor for missing it! ;)

Overall, it's quite an interesting read, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to know more about the case and/or for anyone who enjoys true crime stories. (less)

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Apr 06, 2011 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Everyone knows the case of Adam Walsh, the little boy who's kidnapping and murder woke up a nation. Before Adam Walsh, as Standiford states, it was easier to find a stolen car than a stolen child. What is very clear, however, is just how much the search for Adam Walsh was screwed up. How much by either incompetence, laziness, or territorial posturing is up for anyone's guess, but whatever the reason, it lead to years of questioning and pain on the part of the Walshes until a veteran detective an...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, on-shelf-at-library-so-why-not

I picked this book up from the library and perused it from an unusual position of ignorance regarding the subject, as I don't think I'd ever heard of Adam Walsh, have never watched America's Most Wanted, and had no idea that its presenter was anything other than a TV personality. (I am several years younger than Adam Walsh would be, so I suspect my parents have heard of him and simply didn't discuss it with me.)

So, to fill in anyone similarly clueless, Adam Walsh was abducted from a Sears store...more I picked this book up from the library and perused it from an unusual position of ignorance regarding the subject, as I don't think I'd ever heard of Adam Walsh, have never watched America's Most Wanted, and had no idea that its presenter was anything other than a TV personality. (I am several years younger than Adam Walsh would be, so I suspect my parents have heard of him and simply didn't discuss it with me.)

So, to fill in anyone similarly clueless, Adam Walsh was abducted from a Sears store in Florida in 1981 and his severed head was found in a canal several week later. As his parents found a new calling as advocates for missing and exploited children, the case of his murder went cold--even though a man implicated in a number of other murders repeatedly confessed to having killed Adam and knew details of the case that had never been publicly aired.

This book was cowritten by a detective frustrated by the mishandling of the case and it describes problems with the investigation. In particular, the local police department was disorganized (taking notes on a matchbook cover, for example) and the lead detective seemed more interested in proving the most likely suspect couldn't have committed the crime than in capitalizing on the circumstantial evidence that was accumulating. The problem is that no explanation is ever given for why the lead detective would behave that way, other than him being an incompetent jerk. Meanwhile, the detective who cowrote this book--who worked for a neighboring jurisdiction and was initially called in as a polygraph expert--comes off as a man superior in skills, intelligence, and morals. It doesn't take a strict editor to start asking questions about this: What were the lead detective's motives? Is there another side to this story?

Several blurbs talk about the marvelous writing in this book. I disagree--it's plodding and sometimes maudlin, and the author hasn't discovered a nice turn of phrase that he won't use three times in the space of a few pages. I've made a few previous forays into the true-crime genre and then, as now, I found myself wondering what the point was. After all, reading this analysis isn't going to cause me to make changes in the way I investigate murder cases. Meanwhile, the book lionizes the Walsh family for their efforts on behalf of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children (fair enough) but also for their role in creating a world where children are watched by eagle-eyed parents and not allowed to wander off to play alone. I'm not sure the latter part of that is actually a good thing.(less)

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Mar 11, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction-general

Standiford, Les, and Matthews, Det. Sgt. Joe. BRINGING ADAM HOME. (2011). ****. Standiford is the Director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University in Miami, and an established writer. He started out writing crime novels featuring his protagonist, Deal, then, abroptly switched to writing non-fiction. In his non-fiction books, he has focused on people and/or events in Florida. In this book – co-authored by Det. Sgt. Joe Matthews, a long-time veteran of the Miami Beach P...more

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Mar 11, 2011 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

Les Standiford's book about the Adam Walsh kidnapping-murder, written with Joe Matthews, the retired police detective who finally tracked down all the results from nearly 30 years of slipshod investigations and lost evidence and proved that the man who first confessed to killing Adam in 1983 was indeed his killer.

This book is engrossing not just because of the horror of Adam's murder or even the hard work of his parents in creating The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and his f...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Dan Curnutt rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the true story of the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh and the agony that it brought to his parents John and Reve Walsh. It is testimony to the work of distraught parents to take up the cause of missing children and bring it to the public's notice and over twenty-five years develop a program to help the nation deal with the exploitation of missing children.

In this riveting case regarding the loss of their on son we are brought to grips with the tireless efforts of some law enforcemen...more

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Jan 08, 2011 Jamie Kline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: shelf-awareness

My opinion: Wow, where to begin. I think it's safe to say everyone knows about the Adam Walsh case; I remember hearing about it growing up and I used to watch America's Most Wanted all the time. However, I really never knew the details of the case. I was under the assumption that all of those years there were just no clues as to who might have kidnapped and murdered that 6 year old boy. Obviously I was wrong, because about 2 years after he was murdered, a man by the name of Ottis Toole confessed...more My opinion: Wow, where to begin. I think it's safe to say everyone knows about the Adam Walsh case; I remember hearing about it growing up and I used to watch America's Most Wanted all the time. However, I really never knew the details of the case. I was under the assumption that all of those years there were just no clues as to who might have kidnapped and murdered that 6 year old boy. Obviously I was wrong, because about 2 years after he was murdered, a man by the name of Ottis Toole confessed to the murder, numerous times in fact. Due to mistakes or just blatant negligence on the part of the police department this man escaped being tried for this crime for over 25 years. There were many detectives and officers that were guilty of ignoring or destroying evidence, but none so much as Detective Hoffman. I was outraged by all of the things he overlooked, the interviews that were not thorough enough, the interviews that were ignored completely, and evidence that either disappeared or was never looked at. The fact that the Walshes had to suffer all of these years, not knowing for sure what happened to their son (the police department hardly ever kept them informed on any progress, or lack there-of). If it were not for Detective Matthews continued effort to solve this case and bring peace and justice for the Walshes, it might never have been solved. Even at the beginning, it seemed as though Matthews was the only one interested in actually solving the case, instead of just pinning it on the first suspicious person. Over 25 years went by with the case not going anywhere because they didn't have "hard" evidence that Toole actually commited the crime. Finally the Walshes personally ask their now friend Detective Matthews to personally investigate and find out once and for all who murdered their little boy. And so Detective Matthews sets out to help bring some sort of closure to this family.

This book was amazing! It brought me to tears at parts, a few parts made me laugh, but mostly I was shaking my head asking "why?" Why wasn't more done to put the killer away, especially after he confessed to the murder multiple times? It's like they didn't want to go through all of the trouble to follow up on it, so they just swept it under the rug. Of course like any loving parents, the Walshes could not let this go and because of their efforts through all of these years, many new laws and alerts have been developed to help protect and find lost children. As a mom, I can't imagine what Mrs. Walsh went through after Adam disappeared; I'm sure she felt responsible, but like the book says, at that time people weren't worried about their kids being taken, it just didn't happen. Everyone should read this story; it was an amazing read, horrifying and enlightening at the same time.

My rating: 5/5 stars(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Meredith rated it 5 of 5 stars

The killer drove the police to the murder site. His confiscated car was soaked in blood. His machete was soaked in blood. He showed the police where he tossed Adam's decapitated head. The case wasn't closed until 2008, almost three decades after it occurred, years after the death of the incarcerated killer. The murderer was never brought to justice. The mother has been blamed since.

This was the crime that altered forever the relationship between children and strangers. This crime has even change...more

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Mar 25, 2012 A.m. Torres rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was really good though it will frustrate you. A child is kidnapped and murdered, his killer confesses, but he's not charged, and years pass and pass until the murderer dies, and it still takes more years until he is officially named the killer and the case is closed. I understand this was 1981 and the 80's after that where our mentality was different, and there were limitations to DNA testing but still this killer knew details only the killer knew, and the one detective that should hav...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Loryn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This chilling account of the events that occurred during the kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh in 1981 are fully and completely discussed in this new book. After 27 years of not knowing who did this terrible thing to their son, John and Reve Walsh were finally given the news they had been waiting for: Ottis Toole. Throughout this book, all of the evidence found during the investigation is discussed as well as insight into how terribly mishandled the investigation was. While at times the detail...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, own, vine

I was barely a toddler when Adam Walsh was abducted and murdered, but I remember the vigilance it instilled in parents. Though I grew up with John Walsh on my television, I never knew the gruesome details of what drove him to be an advocate for missing and exploited children. What happened to his son Adam is horrific, but even more terrifying is the disastrous job the local law enforcement did in trying to solve the crime and bring the perpetrator to justice. The Hollywood, Florida police depart...more I was barely a toddler when Adam Walsh was abducted and murdered, but I remember the vigilance it instilled in parents. Though I grew up with John Walsh on my television, I never knew the gruesome details of what drove him to be an advocate for missing and exploited children. What happened to his son Adam is horrific, but even more terrifying is the disastrous job the local law enforcement did in trying to solve the crime and bring the perpetrator to justice. The Hollywood, Florida police department in 1981 was an inefficient, unorganized mess, and Detective Jack Hoffman, the lead investigator on the case, was more concerned with his own reputation than achieving any results. Admittedly, the lack of technology and modern practices was a deficit at the time, but Hoffman’s inflexibility and defensiveness were more damaging to the investigation. Ottis Toole, the man thought responsible was behind bars, convicted in three other murders, but despite his confessions, he was never charged with Adam’s grisly murder.

Twenty-five years later, at the personal request of the Walshes, it was up to Miami Detective Joe Matthews to examine the immense case file and gather circumstantial evidence against Toole to put the case to rest once and for all. The Hollywood police department finally underwent a much needed change in leadership, allowing Matthews to uncover key evidence that Hoffman either ignored or dismissed. By then, Toole had died in prison and other key witnesses were also deceased, but his remarkable investigative skills allowed him to prove Toole’s guilt and give the Walsh family peace of mind after almost three decades.

While the story was disturbing at times, the book itself was incredibly well written. I was hooked from the first page and devoured the book in a day. As co-author, the insight that Matthews gave was invaluable. I was deeply moved by the tragedy that the Walshes faced over the course of twenty-seven years, but I was also inspired by all they had done to ensure that Adam’s fate would be a lesson to the nation.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via the Amazon Vine program.(less)

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Jan 30, 2011 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, forensic-sciences

It's almost hard to believe that 30 years have passed since Adam Walsh was abducted from a south Florida Sears store. Thanks to the efforts of his parents, John and Reve Walsh, modern law enforcement now has a number of tools that were not available at the time: VICAP, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, AMBER Alerts and more.

Les Standiford's book ties up all of the loose ends in the case, and lays out the almost deliberate bungling of the Hollywood, FL, police department. Wh...more

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May 26, 2012 P.J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

As a whole, this book was well-writen and well-told sorry of the 1981 abduction and murder of 6 year old Adam Walsh. The book doesn’t focus it’s self so much on the murder but centers the story around the botched investigation by Florida’s Hollywood Police Department. The murder was not solved for more than two decades yet you will see the frustrating journey the Walsh Family had to endure to have just a little bit of closer.

Reading this book readers will be confronted by the absolute horrors of...more

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Oct 01, 2011 Robert Brase rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: law-n-order

Absolutely disgusting is the first thing that comes to mind. And this thought pops up because of the horrible way in which this case was handled. The chief investigator with the Hollywood P.D. should have been retired without pension due to the totally lame manner in which he handled this case. And the stupidity did not stop there. Instead it went all the way up the chain of command to the Chief of the damn department. Thankfully there was one competent police detective, from a nearby district,...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Suzanne rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a story that I remember vividly from my childhood. Remember watching it on the news. I remember how our family started talking about how to keep safe. I remember we had a "password" if anyone was trying to give us a ride without our parents knowledge. I remember.
I didn't realize, however, that the killer wasn't found right away. I was sure the case had been solved. As I read this book, I was shocked at how often the "ball" was dropped by the main detectives working on the case. I was ap...more

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May 06, 2011 Clockstein Lockstein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bringing Adam Home by Les Standiford & Joe Matthews is the true story behind the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh in 1981 and the subsequent investigation. The story is well known to most Americans because it changed how they viewed the world around them. It was no longer a safe place, and children needed close supervision, even in the corner store where they had previously been thought safe. Adam's father John turned his grief and frustration at the stalled investigation into crusading ze...more Bringing Adam Home by Les Standiford & Joe Matthews is the true story behind the abduction and murder of Adam Walsh in 1981 and the subsequent investigation. The story is well known to most Americans because it changed how they viewed the world around them. It was no longer a safe place, and children needed close supervision, even in the corner store where they had previously been thought safe. Adam's father John turned his grief and frustration at the stalled investigation into crusading zeal and helped get the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children founded, as well as beginning Fox's longest running program America's Most Wanted. But even with all the good the Walshes accomplished in the wake of Adam's murder, they still lived daily with the question that haunted all of America: What had really happened to Adam? John and wife, Reve, asked friend and investigator Joe Matthews to take a look at the twenty-five year old evidence and interviews and see if he could finally give them an answer. What Matthews uncovered was incompetence by the Hollywood, Florida police department, including willful destruction of evidence by chief investigator, Jack Hoffman. Readers will find their own frustration and anger rising at Hoffman's repeated and deliberate refusal to acknowledge the truth. Ottis Toole, a serial killer associated with Henry Lee Lucas had confessed to Adam's murder multiple times, and almost as often recanted. The evidence is laid out before the readers in a logical manner, and readers will come to agree with Matthews' conclusion, especially with the inclusion of photographs that sat at the crime lab for a quarter century without being developed! The book is a powerful indictment of the Hollywood PD's refusal to request help when they knew they were over their heads, as well as their malicious sabotage of the careers of anyone who tried to stand in their way. The evidence is conclusive as to Adam's killer. Matthews should be commended for the great burden he has lifted not just from the Walshes but from everyone in American who has been haunted by this tragic story.(less)

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Mar 08, 2011 Janice rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the tragic true story of the abduction and murder of 6 year old Adam Walsh from a Sears Department Store in Hollywood, FL on Jul 27, 1981. No parent should ever have to endure the agonizing pain this family endured. His abduction captured public attention across America and helped his parents advocate laws to have Congress pass the Missing Children Act in 1982 and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1984. The book details the gruesome abduction, the cracks in the s...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Karen Bonilla rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book was very badly written. The language is stiff and seems jumbled. It was really hard to follow the sequence of events. I still read it til the end because the event themselves were so fascinating. I had heard of Adam Walsh. I knew that he had been kidnapped and murdered. I knew that his parents had gone on to spearhead a series of laws to protect children and bring closure to parents of missing children. I knew all about Americas Most Wanted. I also knew that it took decades for them to...more

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About Les Standiford

Les Standiford is a historian and author and has since 1985 been the Director of the Florida International University Creative Writing Program. Standiford has been awarded the Frank O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Fiction, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and belongs to the Associated Writing Programs, Mystery Writers of Ameri...more

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Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision of Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army

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