Obsessed with True Crime discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Archive
>
True Crime Read In 2020: Post Reviews Here!
date
newest »
newest »
The AffairThis book was intriguing from start to finish with strong characters and unrelenting suspense. it is about a family that went through an emotional roller coaster ride because of secrets, lies and a heart-breaking loss that shattered their faith in each other and themselves. Someone is stalking this family and it brought on more stress and fear which was unnerving. The twist at the end which I never saw coming was shocking! A must read. 5 stars
The Babysitter
This story is a gripping psychological thriller with a well constructed plot and realistic and believable characters that kept me on the edge of my seat. The level of suspense is kept high and just when I thought I had it figured out another surprising twist happened sending me on a rollercoaster ride up to the last page. A riveting read! 5 Stars
Final Justice: The True Story of the Richest Man Ever Tried for Murder by Steven Naifeh and Gregory Whitesmith 5 stars
This true crime story will attempt to answer the question: Can money buy everything? The accused is Cullen Davis, probably the richest man in Texas at the time the murders happen. He has the money to buy the best lawyers in Texas. Money also buys wives and friendship. I love the way this book was written. As I got to the trial I was thinking I would probably start skimming, but I would say this is one of the few true crime books I have read where even the trial was interesting. It was not repetitive and the author's personal opinions made it even more interesting. As I got to the end of the trial I was wondering what could possibly happen when there were over 100 pages left. I'm not going to give it away but suffice to say there is even more happening after the trial.
As the book was printed in 1993, I decided to do some searching to see if I could find out what happened to the principal players after the book.
Cullen Davis is still alive. He is 86 years old.
Priscilla Davis died in 2001 at the age of 59 from breast cancer.
Priscilla's son Jack died in 2009 from a drug overdose.
Cullen's third wife, Karen Masters, the one he married when the ink wasnt even dry on his divorce decree from Pricilla, died at the age of 67. Cause unknown.
Richard 'Racehorse' Haynes, the defense lawyer for Cullen: 25 years after the trial has been implicated in the alleged bribery of a district attorney's investigator to secretly provide information to the defense during Davis' 1977 capital murder trial.
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Te...
There is a movie based on this case called Texas Justice. Looking at the cast list it doesnt look like W.T. Rufner is mentioned in the movie. What a shame. When reading about his court room appearance I couldnt help but think Sam Elliot would have been perfect for the role.
Mod
I am not saying you can't read fiction and can't post reviews about it in this group. I am saying, I would like this discussion thread to be True Crime or at least non-fiction.
Please post reviews for fiction books in the thread: Acquisitions ~ And WHAT ARE YOU READING? 2020. I know the title doesn't say 'reviews', but that would be a more appropriate place to post those reviews.
Thanks for your consideration, stay safe, stay healthy, stay beautiful, stay home, cover your nose and mouth and wash your hands.
Flesh Collectors: Their Ghoulish Appetites Drove Them to Crimes that Only Began With Murder by Fred Rosen3 stars
I have read several Rosen books. I dont think this was the best but maybe not the worst. I think it needed to be written with more emotion. He achieved that with the mother's of the victims, which at the end he thanks them for letting him interview them. That is probably why we feel more emotion for them than for the victims. The ending was interesting when he discussed his reasons for his views on the death penalty and why he makes an exception in this case.
The book was published in 2003 so I did a search for an update. Skip the rest of this review if this is a spoiler for you:
Both murderers are still in prison on death row awaiting execution. It has been 20 years since they were convicted.
Hunt for Justice: The True Story of an Undercover Wildlife Agent by Lucinda Delaney Schroeder 3 stars
The title sounded interesting. Going into it I thought it would be several stories about one of the first female Wildlife agents to go into the Alaskan wilderness to hunt poachers. I am sure this woman must have many stories to tell but this book focuses on just one. I think it would have been a better book if there was more than one story to tell. The conversations are too long and the author focuses on too many unimportant details, such as what she had to eat. It was hard to read at some points because she goes into detail about killing the animals and butchering them. I just cant understand killing beautiful animals just for the sport of it. I pretty much skimmed to the end because I wanted to see how it all turned out. Unfortunately, even though she took out a few poachers, there are still a lot of them left and they can make a lot of money so they dont care if they kill the last surviving animal or not.
Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders by Billy Jensen4 stars
As some of you may know, I am always on the lookout for a True Crime book that is different and I found it in this book.
The author is a True Crime journalist who got tired of all the unsolved crimes out there and decided to be an arm chair investigator. Having worked on True Crime television shows and podcasts he did come with a background that few people have. The author details some of the cases he has worked on, but he also lets us into his personal life. I learned a lot from this book about what to do if you want to start solving crimes. There is a lot more to it than you think. One of the tips he gave is to not go into this if you dont have a lot of time to spend on it. Another tip is dont expect to be paid and be prepared to spend a lot of your own money. At the end of the book he gives tips on what you need to know to do your own sleuthing, including not angering the people you are trying to help and keeping the cops on your side.
Koren wrote: "Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders by Billy Jensen4 stars
[bookcover:Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murder..."
Adding this to our TC "How To" shelf!!!
Mod
4 stars
[bookcover:Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started ..."
Thanks for all you do. Both of you. <3
Ted Bundy: The Killer Next Door, Steve Winn and David Merrill4 stars!
This is the book I guess I have been looking for all along when it comes to the Ted case. Told me all the interesting details I've never seen anywhere on the lives and personalities of his victims, the hassles faced by investigators in the wake of the crimes and a very colorful account of the courtroom antics of everyone involved. All the interesting stuff, no dullsville repetition of court transcripts. And here I find some real evidence behind Ted's last-minute statements that alcohol had a lot to do with the progress of his life. Not a boring or irrelevant line in here. Read it by all means.
A Stranger in the Family: A True Story of Murder, Madness, and Unconditional Love by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith5 stars
Well-written book about a seemingly typical American family when one of them turns out to be a kidnapper/rapist/murderer. After the initial background information the book goes back and forth between the thoughts and feelings of the murderer and the thoughts and feelings of his mother. This mother loved her son so much that she has a hard time accepting the things he has done. The son is not your typical murderer as he admits to his crimes and does not want to put his victims and their families through a trial. This is the first True Crime book where I can say I kind of liked the murderer, although not the things he did, and felt tremendous compassion for his mother. So many times I think we assume that a killer must have had a horrible childhood and horrible parents but in this case that is not true. He came from a typical middle class family and his mother had a thriving business, which was effected by the murder. I did a search to see if there was any information on her after the book was written but didnt see anything. I really liked how at the end of the book the author explores the psychological aspects of the crime for both the mother and the son.
Families Who Kill, by Bernie Ward3 solid stars!
This mass-market paperback has all kinds of crazy families in it, including organized-crime outfits like the Barker gang, serial-killer families like the Kallingers and weirdo religious cultists like the Lundgrens. Some were extremely horrifying even for jaded old me, and every chapter had new information even on cases I've read about in more than one other book. Well worth seeking out.
You Must Be Dreaming by Barbara Noel1 star
The author is drugged by her psychiatrist and raped FOR OVER 20 YEARS! Sounded interesting but 50 pages in I couldnt finish. I had a hard time believing most of it but the deciding factor to quit this book was the size of the print. You almost need a magnifier to read it. The story starts in the 60's and is published in the 90's, I felt like the author was getting on the bandwagon of books that were popular at that time dealing with sexual abuse by doctors. I may be wrong about that but either way I just could not finish this book.
Koren wrote: "You Must Be Dreaming by Barbara Noel1 star
The author is drugged by her psychiatrist and raped FOR OVER 20 YEARS! Sounded interesting but 5..."
Who was the psychiatrist?
Koren wrote: "You Must Be Dreaming by Barbara Noel1 star
The author is drugged by her psychiatrist and raped FOR OVER 20 YEARS! Sounded interesting but 5..."
Ot sounds like an excellent addition to oyr Bad Medicine, Sex Crimes AND Gaslighting shelves. Guh.
The Stranger In My Bed by Michael Fleeman3 stars
Not the most interesting case I've read about. Man has two wives and they both disappear off the face of the earth. Was he responsible? If I said the whole thing was pretty predictable I think you would figure it out. The courtroom proceedings are mostly a repetition of what we learned in the first part of the book.
Privileged Information by Tom Alibrandi and Frank Armani4 stars!
This showed me a side of the legal profession I never really suspected. Silly me, I thought that whole issue of attorney-client privilege was settled centuries ago, but it wasn't even really addressed until the hideous Garrow case, in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The attorneys involved did things I cannot really understand and boy, did they ever pay for it. A fascinating read.
Dying for Daddy: The True Story of a Family's Worst Nightmare by Carlton Smith3 stars
Through most of this book I was going to give this book a 4 star, maybe even 5 star rating. Then I got to the end and I have to deduct a star because the book was published before the trial so you have to google to find out what happened. In all fairness to the author it looks like he would have waited 4 years to publish his book. I did not learn why it took so long for this case to go to trial. This book is about a man who murdered his wife and 2 small children but didnt get caught until the 4th murder. I wont say who the 4th victim was because it was because it took me by surprise when I got that far and I wouldnt want to post a spoiler. The most interesting thing about the book was fact that the killer had a favorite country singer (who is also one of my favorite singers) and was able to meet her and the singer even contacted him upon the death of his child but then told people they were going to get married. It didnt say in the book but he even threatened her afterwards if she didnt meet him. I thought this was sad and one of the reasons its so hard to personally meet some of our favorite celebrities. Something that was interesting was the fact that the killer almost always killed on the 7th of the month, which was speculated had something to do with the fact that his father was born on the 7th and he had a contentious relationship with his father. I dont think this was ever proven and I would have liked that to be explored in depth.
Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America, by Kathleen Belew3 solid stars
I raced to find this book because I was so impressed with the author when she was interviewed on NPR. The book did not disappoint. She paints a shadowy, but very disturbing picture of a little-understood phrnomenon in this country that is being totally missed by police, courts and journalists who mischaracterize most of the terrorist acts in this country as the work of isolated small groups or "lone wolves." Belew explains that we are dealing with something entirely different. Did you know that a couple of armored-car robbers who heisted $3.6 million in a single day proceeded to drive all over the country giving parts of the proceeds to various kill-the-govt and white-supremacist terror groups? Did you know that there are national conferences for these groups where the young folks make love connections so they can have as many pure-white children as possible for the Cause? Have you ever wondered why so many "lone wolf" terrorists like Tim McVeigh own copies of the same books, notably The Turner Diaries? There is so much going on in this book and absolutely none of it is good for America. But it sure explains the mass neo-Nazi turnout at Trump rallies.
The Highwayman:: Larry Eyler, the Hoosier Highway Killer, Brian Lee Tucker2 faintly nauseated stars
This was a mercifully short read; I finished it up in about half an hour. Not sure what the author was going for here because there was nothing to the book but detailed, gruesome description of most of Larry Eyler's murders, with no background on the victims, how he met most of them, what was going on in Eyler's life that might have made him want to kill someone. I'm not even sure whether to put this on my Nonfiction shelf because so much of the book was interior monologue from the killer as he plunged his knife into a guy's head or disembowelled him. Did Tucker just make it up or did it come from Eyler himself? How would we ever know? NOT an uplifting read.
Death Roads: The Story of the Donut Shop Murders, Orvel Trainer3 stars
This was well-written and compelling but ultimately hard to finish because the family Trainer wrote about was just so vile and depraved. I wanted to scrape them off my skin under a hot shower. Those poor, poor young women. Nobody should have to die like this, and the kids in this family should never have been exposed to any of this ugliness, let alone brought along in the family station wagon so Dad, Mom, Granny and Gramps can teach them the tools of the serial-murder trade. Guh.
Hell in the Heartland: Murder, Meth, and the Case of Two Missing Girls by Jax Miller4 stars
A husband and wife die in a mobile home fire in Oklahoma. Their daughter and her friend are missing. A year before their son was killed by a police officer. The case has been unsolved for over 20 years. A crime reporter who has been interested in the case decides to travel to Oklahoma and learn more about the case. What she finds is an impoverished area that is dominated by drugs and corrupt police. Interesting story. I was surprised that the reporter didnt actually solve the case.
Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders, Billy Jensen5 enthusiastic stars!
This was a truly phenomenal read. It's not just a true-crime story. It's a how-to book for anyone with online access to start collecting the information that can be used to clear any sort of unsolved case. Missing people. Bodies without names. Rapes. Murders. I felt as I read that I was riding the same rollercoaster Jensen is on every day, because Jensen is a damned good writer on top of everything else. Don't miss this one, whatever you do.
The Last Stone, Mark Bowden4 stars
This excellent read gave me new respect for the difficult work detectives do, especially cold-case detectives who often have very, very little to work with. I never heard of this notorious case before picking up this book and I came away feeling that there is much, much more to know, if only the right person were to come forward and speak. My heart goes out to the family of the two girls -- one of whom was almost exactly my age and might be a grandmother by now if she had lived -- because no matter what they imagined had happened, the truth was probably worse. Some people in this world just need to be kept in chains and tormented with pointed sticks. This book describes some of those people.
Death on the River: A Fiancee's Dark Secrets and a Kayak Trip Turned Deadly by Diane Fanning2 stars
Normally, I like Diane Fanning's books, but this one I am not so much a fan. We learn what happened in the first few pages-not spoiler because it says on the back cover- she let her boyfriend drown. The question is...did she do it on purpose? We get less than 100 pages of backround information and then the rest is word for word interrogation and then courtroom testimony which is mostly information we have already been given. Well, if you know me, this is my least favorite format for a true crime book.
Koren wrote: "Death on the River: A Fiancee's Dark Secrets and a Kayak Trip Turned Deadly by Diane Fanning2 stars
[bookcover:Death on the River: A Fiancee's Dark Secrets and a Kayak Trip Turned ..."
Rightly so! I just read an excellent one that compressed a 2-day trial into a few pages by saying "he testified, in essence, that blah blah blah, but the wording of the prosecutor's question should have raised these concerns with the jury."
Fishface wrote: "Koren wrote: "Death on the River: A Fiancee's Dark Secrets and a Kayak Trip Turned Deadly by Diane Fanning2 stars
[bookcover:Death on the River: A Fiancee's Dark Secrets and a Kaya..."
The courtroom proceedings are ok if there is something different that we havent been told previously. Sounds like the book you are reading is a good one.
Murder on the Rails by William Palmini, Jr. and Tanya Chalupa3 stars
The book is written by a detective that worked on the case and tells about the murders committed by Robert Silveria, a modern-day hobo and train hopper. I did not know there is still a transient culture of train hoppers to this day so that was the most interesting part of the book for me. The most interesting part about the author is that he is an Elvis Impersonator. I would have liked the author to go more into his background and personal information and it seems there is not much to know about the killer and his younger years so I will give the book 3 stars because I would have liked to have had more biographical background but otherwise it was an interesting case.
The Mile End Murder, Sinclair McKay5 stars!
One of the best reads of 2020 for me! Wonderfully written, with no spoilers on the book jacket, in the photo section OR in the text itself. You need to read the book carefully to know where the author is going with the information. On top of this being a fine true-crime story it almost amounts to time travel. The author does an outstanding job of taking the reader back to daily life in Victorian times, anchoring the story in the surrounding circumstances of the creation of London's present-day urban sprawl, the seething social and political movements of the time and a number of other interesting crimes. Don't miss this one, if you love history, true stories that read like fine fiction, or of course Victoriana.
I started this in 2020 and finished on New Year's Day so I will add it to the 2020 discussion. Time to start a new discussion! No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators by Steve Jackson
4 stars
I read this entire book without realizing I had read it before until I went to add it to my Goodreads page. Apparently I read it when I was still on Shelfari so the date didnt transfer here and it has to be at least 5 years ago. Oh well. It was a good read and I probably enjoyed it more this time than I did the first time. Very interesting to read about how a group called Necrosearch helps to solve crimes that are many years old with new technology.
The Last Days of John Lennon5 stars
This is a short history of the Beatles centered around John Lennon and ending with his death. The book goes back and forth between the narrators voice and the voice of the murderer. I don't think I have ever read a Beatles biography so some of it I remember hearing at the time when I was a pre-teen but a lot of it was new to me. If you are a huge Beatles fan I doubt there is a lot here you dont already know. If you are a fan of the author's fiction I think you will like this nonfiction book.
Koren wrote: "The Last Days of John Lennon5 stars
This is a short history of the Beatles centered around John Lennon and ending with his death..."
It never crossed my mind that the author was THE James Patterson!
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Obsessed with True Crime
Books mentioned in this topic
The Last Days of John Lennon (other topics)The Last Days of John Lennon (other topics)
No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators (other topics)
Chasing Cosby: The Downfall of America's Dad (other topics)
The Mile End Murder (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Xavier Duff (other topics)Xavier Duff (other topics)
For These Two True Crime Stories, I was fortunate enough to have the transcript sent to me by this amazing author, Jeannette Hensby. What I found intriguing is that this author was living in the area where it took place. I too had that experience happen to me. I would say it was fascinating to learn what evil people do and I was intrigued by her book Falsely Accused and there was so many connections reading these cases that I found fascinated but saddened for the victims and their families. The Wallace case had me on the edge of my seat. When Bromborough came up it brought tears to my eyes because my sister lived there. Both cases were very disturbing. I highly recommend it. 5 Stars