Obsessed with True Crime discussion
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True Crime read in 2016 ~ Reviews welcome here
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Gets weirder, I changed the shelf to "to-read" and it showed up on "currently reading" again.
This may call for an audience with the Webmaster.
The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking by Brendan Koerner4 stars!
If you're interested in historical criminal trends, don't miss this book. It discusses, not just a single hijacking, but the Golden Age of Skyjacking in the USA, this specific case being one of the jewels in the crown, so to speak. The cases range from tragic, to improbable, to utterly zany. The main case discussed in the book -- in which an embittered Vietnam vet and his trusting teenaged girlfriend hijacked a plane and ordered it to take them to North Vietnam after picking up Angela Davis, who was waiting to hear whether a California jury would find her guilty of murder -- was the longest-distance hijacking in American history up to that time and was full of nutty elements. Well-researched, well-written and the story moves right along.
Blood Justice by Tom Henderson3 stars
This book was made all the more interesting for me when I saw some familiar Minnesota names mentioned. My husband and I both got a kick out of reading some trivial information about the old Casey Jones show we watched as a kid. This was a children's show. Imagine what would happen today if people found out the smoke from the train was created by several people behind the scenes smoking like crazy to try to get enough smoke to make it look like the steam from a train. This book dragged at times for me but the murders were interesting for the most part.
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3 stars
This book was made all the more interesting for me when I saw some familiar Minnesota names mentioned. My husband and I both got a kick out of reading some t..."
Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Finished The Bodies In Barrels Murders by Jeremy Pudney and started Milwaukee Mayhem: Murder and Mystery in the Cream City's First Century by [author..."I brought home The Bodies In The Barrels Murders by Jeremy Pudney and looking forward to reading it.
I cannot figure out what happened to my Let's Roll by Lisa Beamer (wife of 9/11 Hero Todd Beamer) with Ken Abraham. I posted my review in this thread and saved it so when I go into my fb page I can see it but I don't see here here at all. What am I doing wrong? Very frustrating...
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I found it in the review portion of the book. I think you may have posted it there and just thought you posted it here.
I feel your pain, Rita. A lot of my discussion posts disappear from this site.
Now reading The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor and The Trash Bag Murderer. It's sort of like watching APOCALYPSE NOW and ENCHANTED APRIL on a split screen.
Finished reading No Jury Will Convict Me: The Complete Jodi Arias Case by Georgia J. Joyce. 3.5 Stars.I am new to this case and it just fascinates me. I can understand why the trial was so widely watched. So, I enjoyed the book but I can't tell if it was the book or just this case.
I am almost finished Behind The Words: A Logical and Satirical Guide to the Impossible Defense of Jodi Arias by Kim Anne Whittemore - Volume II I am rating the two volumes low mostly because I just can't condone the author's treatment of some of the "players" in this case. It's disgusting really. I know it is supposed to be satire but low blows isn't my definition of satire. The only reason I continued reading was because the author goes through (minutely) Jodi's time on the stand and since I missed the trial, it is interesting.
Finished AUTHENTICITY: Jodi Arias by Lisa Wilson. 3.5 - 4 starsThis was a very different book from what I was expecting. The author writes about "authenticity" and uses Jodi as an example of "unauthentic". She also goes off in these tangents that were kind of interesting really and what she had to say about society and the internet was thought provoking.
You are on a total Jodi Arias roll!
I know! She is "some piece of work", isn't she? BTW: No Jury Will Convict Me and Authenticity are $0 with Amazon Unlimited. That's always a good thing in my book.
I wasn't really up on the case either until I saw a documentary on it. Until then I had only heard how revolting Jodi was and how she deserved the worst the court could throw at her. Then I found out how Travis had been messing with her and suddenly I had a lot more sympathy for the killer.
Shelley wrote: "Finished AUTHENTICITY: Jodi Arias by Lisa Wilson. 3.5 - 4 starsThis was a very different book from what I was expecting. The author writes about "authenticity" and..."
Shelley, what also intrigues me is the relationships between her father and especially her mother. I don't remember seeing the mother cry once in the months of that trial unless I missed it. Mother and daughter relationships can be volatile but I couldn't read what Mother was thinking through these long court sessions. Perhaps Jodi's parents just wouldn't talk to any of the reporters and were not co-operative. The mother looked looked rather aloof and no warmth in her at all, at least that was my impression. Mother alone would make an interesting read.
Shelley wrote: "I am almost finished Behind The Words: A Logical and Satirical Guide to the Impossible Defense of Jodi Arias by Kim Anne Whittemore - Volume II I am rating the t..."
Shelly, are you going to read Juan Martinez new book coming out, I think it is called Conviction. I can't wait to read that one.
Fishface wrote: "I feel your pain, Rita. A lot of my discussion posts disappear from this siteReally Fishface? Wow...I didn't know that and although it isn't nice to say, it makes me feel better because I just thought it was because of what I was doing. Perhaps it is but for the life of me, I don't know how else the review posts could be done.
***sigh**
Rita:I did read Conviction and posted a review back a few pages ago around the end of February. I gave it 4.5 stars (5 on GR). This book is, of course, written by the prosecutor so it has that angle. I really enjoyed getting all the details of the case. It's very well written and easy to follow.
So, highly recommended!
Rita wrote: "Shelley, what also intrigues me is the relationships between her father and especially her mother....I know what you mean. I watched some of the trial on YouTube and her mother never ever changes expression! If I was her I would want to try to be stoic but there is no way ... I would be so completely devastated and it would show.
Shelley wrote: "Rita wrote: "Shelley, what also intrigues me is the relationships between her father and especially her mother....I know what you mean. I watched some of the trial on YouTube and her mother never..."
I think most of us noticed it because I kept thinking if that was me sitting there listening to all this horrible stuff about my daughter I would be carried out in a stretcher. There is no way I could sit there and not even so much as change an expression on my face. It just seems impossible. I totally agree with you Shelley but who knows, I will keep my eye out for anything that smacks of Jodi Arias!
Shelley wrote: "Rita:I did read Conviction and posted a review back a few pages ago around the end of February. I gave it 4.5 stars (5 on GR). This book is, of course, written by the prosecutor so it has that an..."
Holy cow, how did I miss your Conviction review, I must have been in a trance....yikes! I am glad you read it Shelley and I will be checking my new ordering list now that I am home to make sure I have it on there!!!! Thank you again!!!!
Fishface wrote: "I wasn't really up on the case either until I saw a documentary on it. Until then I had only heard how revolting Jodi was and how she deserved the worst the court could throw at her. Then I found o..."I hate to mention this but I did find that some "glorified" Travis a bit too much. He absolutely didn't deserve what happened but he was not faultless.
Shelley wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I wasn't really up on the case either until I saw a documentary on it. Until then I had only heard how revolting Jodi was and how she deserved the worst the court could throw at he..."You can read the circumstances to mean that they sort of deserved each other. He kept dishing it out and she kept on taking it, until finally...
Koren wrote: "Blood Justice by Tom Henderson3 stars
This book was made all the more interesting for me when I saw some familiar Minnesota names mentioned. My husband and I both got a kick out of reading some t..."
I may have already posted about this Koren but I am having that dang computer trouble again where it shows just a handfull of emails so I clicked on this one from yesterday. I don't remember reading Blood Justice by Tom Henderson but I am going to order it. He is phenomenal and anything he writes is terrific!
I remember that case because it went down right in this area. We were all so shocked that Nancy Ludwig's murder was not only solved after all that time, but that there was so much more going on under the surface.
Fishface wrote: "I remember that case because it went down right in this area. We were all so shocked that Nancy Ludwig's murder was not only solved after all that time, but that there was so much more going on und..."Fishface, I was wondering about that being close to that area. WOW
The Trash Bag Murderer by Tony StewartA reluctant 3 stars
I am so grateful to Tony Stewart for writing the only book-length treatment of the Trash Bag Murders case, but dang, was this one ever a tough read. The murders were quite horrible, and to make it even more stressful...well, let's put it this way -- I have never seen a book in more urgent need of a good copyeditor. The spelling, grammar, usage and punctuation border on the totally random. He uses "aloud" and "allowed" interchangeably, as if they were the same word, and keeps referring to the National Senate of Missing and Exploded Children as if that institution really existed. I was halfway through the book before I figured out that "trash bend" is his way of spelling "trash bin." Oh, and Stewart thinks it's possible to "seduce" a dead body. Funniest of all, he thinks The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and Its Analysis was written by JAN Brady. All this nonsense does create an entertaining distraction from the kidnapping, necrophilia, dissection and maddening unanswered questions connected to this half-resolved serial murder case.
Jan Brady, who I never realized was the author of The Gates of Janus: Serial Killing and Its Analysis!
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor3 stars
This was a remarkable story, overall well-written. I have to say the book dragged in the middle because it just went on and on and on about the guy's layered deceptions, all centered around his enthrallment with Thurston P. Howell III and alligator shirts...and none of it seemed to make anyone suspicious or really lead anywhere until the very end, when suddenly he was in a courtroom in handcuffs and the truth was out. Bang! The end! Almost! Because nothing much was resolved yet when the book went to press. With all that said, it did end on a cliffhanger...
The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth 5 stars
This is about a serial killer in Austin, Texas in 1885. It's very well researched and written. The late 1800's is one of my favorites eras to read about but mostly it's been Victorian England and not American so this was a nice change. I loved reading about what life was like back then in the "new" city of Austin. It was so interesting to read that these crimes and the crimes of Jack the Ripper were speculated to be connected by people at the time on both sides of the Altantic. I had never heard that before but I can certainly see why many thought there was a connection.
Highly recommended!
Thanks Shelley, I will add it to my wish list!
I started reading In the Name of God: The True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing Homicide -- it's utterly enthralling. I was afraid it would just be a lot of facts and figures, but it starts with the beginning of the faith-healing movement in the USA and follows it, frighteningly, to the neighborhood where I went to school all my life. The year I was in 9th grade this Christian Scientist couple allowed their child to die slowly of meningitis, blocks or at most a couple of miles from where I sat sweating bullets over my algebra, and when it was too late they finally realized they were on the wrong track, and became the very first crusaders for the cause of reframing faith-healing as child abuse.
The Knick-Knack Man by Paul B. Kidd4 stars
This is about an Australian serial Killer who heard voiced in his head to kill. It was always men that he killed and when he was done he cut off their penises and threw them away. There are some grisly pictures in this book and it is very graphic so not for the faint of heart. It goes back and forth between the author and his interviews with the killer in his own words, which I thought were believable for the most part. The courtroom proceedings were very brief, which I liked. Very interesting, quick read. I finished in a day.
Doctor Dealer by Mark Bowden 4 stars
This guy was a going to school to be a dentist and got involved with dealing marijuana, which eventually led to cocaine. He was into it big time and lots of people were involved. This is an intricate story that for me at times was kind of hard to keep all the people straight. It started to drag a bit in the middle but otherwise a well-written, interesting crime. This took place in the 80's so I think this guy must be out of prison by now. Will have to google to see.
Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Rita wrote: "Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Finished The Bodies In Barrels Murders by Jeremy Pudney and started [book:Milwaukee Mayhem: Murder and Mystery in the Cream City'..."Belleza, so you saw my post? I am delighted...lol. I think maybe I did think I was posting it here. Belleza, I can never understand why when I see a book I want to read and window comes down asking if you want to read, I click, then type in title and author and go to MY BOOKS and it isn't there on my shelf. Confusing....for me anyway. Thanks Belleza!!!!!
Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Fishface wrote: "That's super weird. "Gets weirder, I changed the shelf to "to-read" and it showed up on "currently reading" again."
Same thing happens to me Belleza, plus Goodreads is saying I am reading a certain book and I don't even have the book. ???
Rita wrote: "Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Fishface wrote: "That's super weird. "Gets weirder, I changed the shelf to "to-read" and it showed up on "currently reading" again."
Same thing happens to me Belleza, plus..."
Well, that's confusing. Could it be a book you're reading under a different title?
Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Fishface wrote: "That's super weird. "Gets weirder, I changed the shelf to "to-read" and it showed up on "currently reading" again."
Same thing happens to me ..."
Rita wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Rita wrote: "Lady♥Belleza★✰ wrote: "Fishface wrote: "That's super weird. "Gets weirder, I changed the shelf to "to-read" and it showed up on "currently reading" again."
Same thi..."
Plus Fishface, it says I am or have read a certain book and that is wrong because I don't even have the book.
In the Name of God: The True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing Homicide5 stars!
At Shelfari, this would also have gotten a heart and a place of honor on my list called "The Very Best True Crime." I cannot recommend this book too highly. It's a well-thought-out, compassionate, yet hair-raising story of how the faith-healing movement in the United States overstepped the bounds of sanity and became more important than the right of a minor child to get medical attention. The author starts all the way back at the beginning, with Mary Baker Eddy and the people who followed her off the edge of the Christian Science cliff, all of whom wanted to believe God could and would heal any illness or injury with enough prayer. He follows that timeline through to a horrific infant death in 1977 in Grosse Pointe, MI and explains how that led -- less than 5 years ago now! -- to the defeat of the laws that allowed parents to kill their children without legal consequences. It's a truly epic story well told from every possible perspective. Not for the weak of stomach, but if you can stand to watch helpless children died needlessly in gruesome ways, the story is more than worth it.
Fishface wrote: "In the Name of God: The True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing Homicide5 stars!
At Shelfari, this would also have gotten a heart and a place of honor on my l..."
Wow, what a great review Fishface and you had me at "The Very Best True Crime" book and certainly a frightening reality that seems to be alive and well. It sounds like an epic story and I just added it on my Wish List.
Well, to reiterate what Fishface mentioned in her review, I too would give this riveting book No Easy Answers: The Truth Behind Death at Columbine a heart and six stars to this brave young man who wrote it. What a shocking but inspirational story for all young people growing up to have such insight presented to them in the telling of the unvarnished facts as an alienated teenager and how it can cripple and destroy their heart and soul. A crushing blow for parents, family, friends and the teachers but a necessary truth we all have to face. I highly recommend this book. It was written by Brooks Brown who was a good friend of both Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. It truly shines a light on what kids face all the time. 6 Stars
Finished In the Name of God: The True Story of the Fight to Save Children from Faith-Healing Homicide - here's a link to my review. I'm afraid I wasn't as glowing as Fishface about it. 3 stars.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Final Payoff by Ian Mulgrew 3 stars
This book raises the question: Should criminals be paid for their confessions? Not particularly well-written book but an interesting concept. There was a backlash over decision that was made so it probably isnt going to be a common practice.
Peppermint Twist by John Johnson, Jr and Joel Selvin 4 stars
Those of us who grew up in the 60's have probably heard of this dance club called The Peppermint Twist. This book ties in the music and the mob to find out what made this place famous and what contributed to its ultimate downfall. There is lots of namedropping in this book which lends a touch of nostalgia.
Koren wrote: "Final Payoff by Ian Mulgrew 3 stars
This book raises the question: Should criminals be paid for their confessions? Not particularly well-written book but an interesting concept. There was a backl..."
I sure hope not as the idea is simply ludicrous. What kind of message does that send out to everyone and it certainly smacks of awarding bad behaviour.
There was a LOT of controversy about paying Olson for the bodies, but those in on the decision said it saved them much more money than they would have spent investigating and searching on their own, and most importantly it provided much needed answers to the victims' families. When he puts it that way, I can live with it, but I still feel very weird knowing that his son probably went to college on that money -- that's what the mom set it aside for. I always try to keep in mind that the killer's family is ruined too.
Finished To Have and To Kill: Nurse Melanie McGuire, an Illicit Affair, and the Gruesome Murder of Her Husband by John Glatt. 5 Stars
Excellent writing. Excellent writing to me is when I am not distracted by the writing at all, it flows, it's clear, etc. This was a great true crime story that leaves you with questions. Not everything is known about this crime. I hope it will come out someday. (view spoiler)
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Obsessed with True Crime
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That's super weird.