Kill or Be Killed: A Cheating Husband, a Diabolical Plot, an Innocent Woman's Brutal Murder...

by Robert Scott

In May 1998, in the small northern California town of Cottonwood, Norman Daniels, 28, opened a wax-sealed envelope given to him by friend Todd Garton, 27, who claimed to be a paid assassin for an elite organization called the Company. Now the Company was recruiting Daniels. His initiation would be to kill the person named inside the Carole Garton, 28 - Todd Garton's pregnant wife. On May 16, 1998, Daniels shot Carole Garton five times, killing her and her unborn child. But police launched an intense investigation that revealed the sordid story behind the murder. In a dramatic trial, the depths of Garton's depravity and Daniels's desperation would be revealed-and justice would finally be served.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

347 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Robert Scott was an investigative journalist and crime expert.

Reviews

[Ceeceereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This case was odd and bizarre. The secret agent/ spy type of conman-fantasist, people fell into his web of deceit and ate up every lie. It’s not usually the sort of true crime case that I lean towards reading and this was a bunch of quite unpalatable characters. But I did become interested in the strange dynamic and the unfolding of events. Naive people that were willing to commit crimes and throw their own lives away, all at one man’s say so.

This was well written and thorough. 4 stars.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book--and a thoroughly weird story--at one point the judge actually remarks to the attorneys in the courtroom, "These are pretty unique evidentiary issues. It’s not the kind of thing you guys see everyday. It’s certainly not the kind of thing I see every day.”

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kill or Be Killed is the reason that I read true crime; stranger than fiction would be an understatement. The book reads like a far fetched grade B movie. Todd Garton was a failed marine with more hair raising tales than James Bond. His line of BS included time in Ireland with the IRA and as a government trained assassin vanquishing drug lords in South America. Garton somehow convinced two men and a woman of a secret mission with orders to eliminate his pregnant wife Carole. Robert Scott keeps the story flowing with enough dark humor to keep this reader amused for most of the way. Garton’s failed musical career leads to references of Sinead O’Connor, the Cranberries, U2 and other artists that I admire. Carton’s fictitious “Company” was led by a mysterious Colonel Sean (I would have used Colonel Sanders), a man with eyes and ears everywhere. The amusing tone of the book changes course abruptly about halfway through with a cold blooded murder. The delusional killer’s paranoia regarding the omniscient Colonel Sean resulted in a fatal mistake. The crime did not require Sherlock Holmes in order to be solved. The criminal masterminds left a plethora of evidence. The moron’s trail of emails and phone calls were easily recoverable and the killer told the police of his fear of The Company. The trial took some expected turns as the co-conspirators testified against one another. The courtroom drama is only mildly interesting and the final chapters are not as good as the lead up portions. Even so, this is a good true crime read.

[Angel Garlinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was good in the beginning but it started to drag and got boring half way through.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does this happen? How do people buy into such a bullshit artist. This book made me want to slap someone. Very well written, and excellently researched. I loved it.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book--and a thoroughly weird story--at one point the judge actually remarks to the attorneys in the courtroom, "These are pretty unique evidentiary issues. It’s not the kind of thing you guys see everyday. It’s certainly not the kind of thing I see every day.”

[Roger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Without a doubt, the absolutely most ignorant story line and the most poorly written book I have ever has the misfortune of having picked up. (I must have been desperate for a book when I downloaded this moronic piece of crap from Hoopla on my Kindle HD! The author, Robert Scott is NOT a good writer but a couple of books that I read by Scott were, at least, "passable".........this one DEFINITELY WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE!! Written with a sophomoric mentality about a nitwit, geeky nut case (Todd Garten) who "somehow" convinces other morons that he is or was an agent for: #1 - the IRA, #2 - the CIA, #3 - some make believe secret organization that he refers to as, "The Company" and boasts about his (imaginary) exploits in South America as a hired assassin for one or all of these organizations. All I can say is, "Wuuda stupid, ignorant, dope" written about by an equally unqualified stupid author! Read about one-quarter of this moronic thing before I sent it back to Hoopla. DUMB, DUMBER AND DUMBEST...........

NO RATING

[Maha Althani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exploring the 'True Crime' genre for the first time was an unexpected delight as this book was a blind date selection. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it and found myself captivated by the author's writing style. It has sparked a keen interest in me to delve deeper into this genre and explore more works by this author.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

n/s, true crime

kinda slow to get into but good. at the end it was very detailed

[Lauretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Very Intermingled Fantasy

From the beginning, the book grabs your interest. For the first 150 pages, I couldn't put it down. What I would like to know is, how Todd choose the killer.

[Myrna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deceit as a way of life

It is incredible that anyone can have such malicious control over so many human lives! Such conniving lies to impress people that he (Todd garter) was someone he was not nor could ever be. Such a sad true story of evil that can and does exist among society.