Book Description
One father's mission to find his daughter
I am a father who has no idea what has happened to his child. The questions run through my mind all day long. They keep me awake at night. Is she dead? Is she alive? Is she being held captive somewhere? Are they hurting her? Is she crying out for me?
Customer Reviews:
Review of Aruba - The Natalee Holloway Story.......2007-09-17
I never finished the book. About 2/3 of the way through I got really tired of hearing the bitterness within the words of the author (Natalees Father). Yes, I felt his pain but he continuously seemed critical of Natalees Mother and it showed in every chapter. Both parents lost a child here and a public book was not the way to express his obvious bitterness about Natalees Mothers 2nd husband or his money. Throughout the book he speaks in terms of "I" as though he were Natalees ONLY parent. As a Mother myself, I felt outraged that it was not "WE". Even though Natalees parents are divorced, they shared this loss.
Many statements in the book are extremely contradictary and confusing. At one point it says the people of Aruba seemed to be hiding something and then in the next paragraph it says that almost everyone in Aruba offered to help in the search. I felt this book was more about the author than his daughter and I was greatly disappointed.
Aruba - Dangerous Paradise!.......2007-08-13
Aruba was one of my dream vacations. After reading this book, having 2 young daughters and a young son...I changed my mind.
Caution to American people! We whine about our system,yet we fail to realize that there is nothing like the "good old USA." When you see blue, warm beaches, tropical palm trees, cold coconut drinks, but if it's outside the US territory, it's a dangerous place (Aruba is no exception). All they want is your American dollar. Go to Hawaii instead, and boycott Aruba. If you get hurt in Hawaii, you can file a lawsuit and fight for your rights; if you die in Aruba, no one cares. This was proven by the fact that when Dave Holloway arrived in Aruba, the police were not even aware of Natalee's disappearance. Lots of American resources had to be involved in finding her.
We can only wonder what happened to Natalee Holloway. Since it happened on a foreign soil, I doubt that we will find the answer.
Cold Eyes
Riveting story, tragic, but a recommended read.......2007-07-21
I enjoyed this book yet it is so very tragic... I now fear having to travel far away. The laws in other countries can be very scary. Having lost your child and not knowing exactly what happened to him is probably the worst thing that can happen to a person. Still, as a story, it is riveting and I do recommend this book to everyone.
Obviously Aruba doesn't agree.......2007-05-21
This is for cheriwave and for anyone who has followed this case as close as I did, they will know why there are posters on here for Arubas side. They tend to come into every Holloway forum there is to get their 2 cents in. Its horrible how they not only took the only Natalee that her mom and dad had, now they try to make it look like its their faults also. Aruba the "book" is right on as far as how it all went down from 2005 till now 2007, and Shango is not silly! He was an actual person getting info out to the USA to try to help. Mafia run aruba is trying to cover for their tourism, and the sooner the public understands that the better. Aruba lovers need to go and buy Joran Van der Sloots book, and read some lies that he is making up in order to make money from tragedy. Dave, Stephanie, and Larry are the most down to earth and loving people you will ever meet, AWSOME book to the 3 of you!! I personally have 2 copies, and they go where ever I do, I get the word out to people who don't follow the story. I have so much more to say on this subject, but lets just say, this cover-up is coming to an end, so watch out suspects, you'r justice will be served. The BIG man knows how, and who, and one day you will pay for what you have done.
Aruba: The Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise.......2007-04-11
I enjoyed this book and appreciate Mr. Halloway's sharing his story, but it is tragic and I no longer want to travel away...the laws in other countries are scary...to not know what happened to your child is an internal hell forever. My prayers are with the family of Natalie...
Amazon.com
This book yields two surprises that have nothing to do with what made its author so notorious, but which have plenty to do with how public bureaucracies fail. First, it includes Furhman's contemporaneous crime scene notes (with observations as meticulous as any TV sleuth's), which make mention of a "visible fingerprint" Furhman saw on the Bundy back gate (and discussed with his partner at the time). Second, it reveals that Lange and Vannatter, the detectives from "downtown" who took over the case from Furhman, didn't check out the print that night or subsequently, and indeed never read Fuhrman's notes at all. That's why you didn't hear about the fingerprint during the criminal trial. (When authorities returned to sample blood from the back gate two weeks later, the print was gone.) In short, the main lesson of this book is an organizational one worth remembering: it doesn't matter if the grunts do a good job, if the big-shots don't follow up.
Customer Reviews:
Just the facts, Ma'am.......2007-10-10
Fuhrman's book is a good, straightforward telling of the Simpson investigation. For the most part, he seems impartial, drawing his conclusions from the evidence alone. My only criticism is that I felt he defended himself too often, but that's to be expected, I guess, when people are blaming you (wrongly) for setting a murderer free. Some chapters seem to be all about Fuhrman, but most of the book is about the case and evidence themselves. I learned a lot from this book that I wasn't aware of during the trial, and I agree with Fuhrman that if the prosecution had done its job, Simpson would be behind bars today. This was a much better read for me that Vincent Bugliosi's book, Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away With Murder, which was too emotional and seemed more like a rant than an objective look at the case.
Self-Serving Denial.......2007-09-26
I read this book with some interest, anxious to get some more insights into this notorious case and given Fuhrman's later role in allegedly solving the CT murder case involving one of the Kennedys, the author had regained enough crediblity in mind to where I would give this work a look. Unfortunately, while the book is interesting in fleshing out certain aspects of police work and the narrative of how the investigation proceeded, Fuhrman is much too concerned with playing himself up as a victim to the detriment of a more thorough analysis of this case. Fuhrman has many recriminations to launch against those in the LAPD and the DA's office who made mistakes causing this case to be botched, yet he displays no real recognition of the role HE PLAYED in botching it, by denying that he ever made racist comments, which ended up becoming the subplot of this case that sank it. Consistent with that, in a hair splitting manner worthy of Bill Clinton, he continues to deny that he lied or committed perjury even though he was convicted of the latter.
The Ring of Truth.......2007-09-19
Perceptive, unbiased people know the truth when they hear it, and one of the most famous of those people is Oprah Winfrey. At first, all she had to go on were the lies, half-lies, and twisted truths of the "Dream Team", Oprah Winfrey was a Fuhrman-hater extraordinaire. However, when Fuhrman, with bigger balls than a Texas bull, accepted whole-heartedly an invitation to sit in a snake pit and to be hissed, struck at, and spit at (Oprah Winfrey's show) speaks volumes. Anyone who watched that show marvelled how Fuhrman stood up to a barrage of garbage and simply told the truth. We witnessed a miracle: as Fuhrman calmly, and with quiet authority, told that truth, the hands of those, who fifteen minutes earlier could have strangled him, were now coming together in applause as the ring of truth began to sound, and it was Oprah Winfrey who led the way. When Mark Fuhrman apologized on nation TV, for using the 'N' word in writing dialogue for a movie script (something which not only regularly done, but is also EXPECTED by a movie-going public who wants realism) it was the icing on the cake. Fuhrman went from being hated to actually loved in a matter of an hour....and why? Because he told the truth and humbled himself.
He has done the same in MURDER IN BRENTWOOD. If readers cannont fully smell the coffee after reading this book, then there's something very wrong with their sniffer. Fuhrman was a cracker-jack detective, probably the best LAPD had. Without him, Simpson never would have been in custody, and with him LEADING the case, instead of the starry-eyed, Simpson-smattered, Vannatter and Lange, Simpson would never have, NO, could never have walked no matter how big the 'dream team', because in evidence a 'clear, first-rate, blood fingerprint would have been included, the finger print that Simpson left on the back gate as he made his ludicrous, wild-eyed, escape. That finger print was cleary noted and referred to in Mark Fuhrman's notes, and was witnessed by his partner. Why was in never lifted? The reader can only imagine. But Fuhrman's painstakingly accurate, crime scene notes have the ring of truth............and so does his book! Yes, it is 'a little self-serving', and after what he had been put through, it darn-well ought to be.
I highly recommend this book for any who want the truth!
Interesting statement about our legal system's faults.......2007-09-17
Like another reviewer said, 'a bit self serving' however an excellent expose on the failure of the system due to incompetence, celebrity worship, ineffective police work and corruption in the legal system (let's use the race card every time). Mr. Fuhrman's account of this event is revealing and disturbing.
Well written, behind the scenes.......2006-11-04
This book give a very detailed "behind the scenes" look at this terrible tragedy. The murders were horrific and the clarity with which Mark Fuhrman writes is excellent.
Customer Reviews:
His Best By Far.......2007-03-27
Harry has always been a true believer. His chapter updating the latest on the autopsy is reason enough to get this book. The newest information will
spin the heads around of the Posnerites. This work is not for the novice, but it will more than sustain the experienced JFK reader.
Too Disjointed At Times.......2007-01-11
While some good facts are in the book, I think it could have been better organized. The author goes on and on about wounds whose locations were changed so the "official version" of the assassination made sense to the American people. After awhile, there is too much repeating of the same thing. He covers the wounds in so many different sections, that after awhile he is really not stating anything new. Plus he throws in so many names of people at times that it is hard to figure out who is who and how they fit in. I've read better books regarding the assassination.
Not Up to Livingstone's Previous High Standards.......2006-11-24
Although I waited anxiously for this book, I must admit that as one who read Livingstone's other JFK assassination books, overall I was a bit disappointed in this production. Much of it is a rehash of his other books and borrows the new big picture framework from others, like Peter Dale Scott's Deep Politics and the Assassination of JFK. [Still, along with Michael Collins Piper's Final Judgment, is one of the best books on the JFK assassination.]
On the positive side, I was pleasantly surprised and happy to see that the author finally got religion and joined the ranks of those JFK researchers who see the importance and value of focusing more on the big picture, than groveling continuously in the dirty details without ever coming up for air. In this regard, Livingstone's previous work on the medical evidence is first-rate and seeing most of it repeated here did the book no harm.
Also, his investigative reporting on the pre-assassination party held at Texas oil magnate Clint Murchinson's home on the eve of the assassination is also first rate -- as was the way he connected the dots between the players in attendance there. Previously, the idea that such a party actually took place, remained in the realm of hear-say.
Unfortunately for me this was the high point of the book. It was all downhill from there.
The rest, including the much-touted "new revelations on the J.D. Tippit murder," left me cold. Facts, fiction, hearsay, rumors, "factions" and "factoids," seemed to have been all been given equal weight. The author provided no context, guidance, or analysis to wade through and out of this quagmire of "new information." As a result, one would be insane to try to draw any conclusions based on what amounts to random facts and "near facts" tossed at the reader, with the hope that something would stick. So far, for me none has.
This is especially unfortunate for a researcher of Livingstone's caliber, as now he will surely be cast down into purgatory with another run-of-the-mill researchers as just another "assassination conspiracy kook." This is especially unfortunate for this author, since his previous work has been of such high standards and generally held in high regard.
Despite this, I gave the book three stars.
Turning the Media-Mirror around and showing the real side........2006-09-10
He's on the right track here.He didn't write about Nixon pardoning Jack Ruebenstein ,from testifying to the HUAC ,in 1947.These men were socially and ideologically ,polar opposites.Yet,they both had a common link,the freemasons.Nixon was more than likey a big-wig in the masonic Scottish Rites and Jack Ruby a big price in the masonic jewish B'nai B'rth. How could a strip-tease nightclub owner escape the Cold War inquisition ,if he provided politicians with escourt girls? Well,very easily. Nixon may have cut a deal with Jack Ruby.If Ruby shot Oswald,Nixon would pardon him ,once he reclaimed the White-House throne,in 1964.Nixon knew if Ruby tried to explain publically the conspiracy-plot,the butterfly nets would swoop him up.So,Ruby followed along. In 1959,Nixon was the heir-apparent.Yet,America wanted something fresh and glamorous,not clammy and shifty.Nixon's quest to break the law ,in order to maintain his control over American politics,is well-known with the Watergate scandal. So, anyone who thinks that L.B.Johnson was the main-schemer in the asssassination plot,take a look at the far-right wing side. Good book !
A little crude in style but ..........2006-08-31
As Mr. Livingstone has stated elsewhere, the entire establishment is a conspiracy. Well put!
This whole JFK case has been subverted (or "faked" if you will) to cover up the involvement of those reaching into the very top of the US government.
It's very important to remember nearly 50 years later that ANYTHING less would have been "Old News" by now, pronto.
As Jim Garrison once said, it's not a question of whether Oswald's (US intelligence and/or military) handlers were or were not responsible for the assassination -- they WERE responsible.
But you won't hear about any of this from the Executive Branch, the Congress or the Mainstream Media because this story still has the potential to undermine the whole US political system, one that serves these folks quite nicely just like it is.
Book Description
While investigating the abduction/kidnapping of a marine captain’s teenage daughter, Will Coburn and his team of NCIS agents discover a link to a high-profile murder that took place more than seventeen years ago. As the team investigates, they discover a trail of lies, betrayal, and a political cover-up. Forensics specialist Nita Tomlinson will need a faith deeper than she can imagine as she struggles with the past and a family that she can no longer ignore.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Sequel.......2007-10-05
I checked out Paid in Blood, the first NCIS book by Mel Odom, and really enjoyed it. So I stuck it out for part 2.
Plot:
Will Coburn and team intervene on a girl's kidnapping. This leads to the discovery of a whole lot of drugs and a 17 year-old corpse of a Marine with the charm of a teenaged girl who was kidnapped and murdered about the same time. As the team digs deeper, they learn that the two mysteries (the girl's murder had never been completely closed) may in fact be intertwined.
Also, Nita is feeling overwhelmed with being a mother and a wife. She longs for the simplicity of life before marriage and tugs away from her husband, Joe, and her daughter, Celia.
Good:
Again, excellent mystery! I am impressed with how Mel Odom is able to take a particular incident (a teenaged girl's kidnapping) and have it lead to the real mystery (the 17 year-old corpse of a Marine). You certainly won't be board, trekking through North Carolina in pursuit of Bryce Ketchem or digging through the archives on Haskins or seeing through the eyes of Congressman Ben Swanson.
Also, the characters are diverse and real. You can feel Will's pain at his divorce and Nita's longing to get out of her trapped marriage (more in a bit). Shel, Remy, Maggie, Estrella...they are all people, not just names thrown in just because. They all serve a purpose--and if they aren't needed at a particular time, Mel Odom doesn't feel like he has to bring them up constantly (something many authors should take a hint from).
When I first started writing this just a little past the half-way point, I had some serious issues with Nita's marital problems. First, in this time, Joe was far too perfect. He really doesn't come off as a character, merely as a litmus test to show how bad Nita was being. Nita is full of rage; Joe is perfect, understanding, continually loving, always forgiving and wanting to work things out. However, I had to highly amend this review after I finally finished the book. He starts getting peeved at how Nita is being so selfish and even says so when she asks him not to let Celia, her daughter, call her. He is not afraid to be blunt and tells her to leave them alone. This change from perfect being to human being was great.
Lastly, Nita's reuniting with her mother was absolutely awesome. I won't spill the details, but the whole exchange was an ultimate climax for Nita and a turning point as well.
Bad:
If the first one gave you the heebie-jeebies at the forensics, don't expect this one to be better. In fact, it may be worse. Several people die rather violent deaths. One man receives a glancing blow to the head. A dead man is found in the lake. A woman's injuries from a hit-and-run accident are brought up. Mention is made to what happens when someone is shot point blank in the base of the head (and this is rather disgusting, in my opinion). These rather graphic descriptions made me cringe and almost gag as I was reading.
Other things that bugged me:
1. Will's children bug me. First, Wren, Will's seven-year-old daughter, knows way too much about baseball. I don't care if she watches it on television. There is no way that someone that young knows maneuvers and call outs as well as she does in the book. It's cute, but unrealistic. Second, Steven falls into the stereotypical teen category. I wish for once that people could write teens not as moody, rude beings but as actual humans with feelings and concerns (especially in favor of parents). I mean, Will was constantly surprised that Steven seemed to care about him. Duh! What teen doesn't!
2. Mel Odom's editor should be fired. He missed or glossed over several huge mistakes. "Maggie" is referred to when it should have been "Nita" (page 80). It is unclear whether the "husband" Laura is talking about is her ex-husband, Ben, or someone else (i.e. Chloe's dad or whichever husband she is currently married to) (page 160). He has Nita telling a cowboy "Merry Christmas" then mention something about Spring (May or June, I believe) while I think there is another reference to March (or at least snow)! What time of the year is it? Just decide and keep to it! My last beef is a major one: Will is talking with Haskins' widow and says, "You mentioned Mason" (Page 415). First off, I poured over the entire previous exchange. "Mason" wasn't mentioned once between Will and Cindy (widow). Mel Odom probably made a change and his dumb editor never saw the gap. It was very confusing and ruined the whole effect that the scene was trying to play on.
3. The whole David Horton almost-affair thing went from understandable to weird. I was okay with it until his wife approaches Nita. First off, this guy is an absolute jerk. Mrs. Horton should have left him in the dust years ago--kids and all. Second, this husband is fooling around--and he doesn't even bother to hide the fact he's fooling around by telling Mrs. Horton about Nita? "Honey, I was trying to cheat on you and this lady decided not to and hurt me. Wah!" Please. And then to make matters even weirder, Mrs. Horton goes to the same church Joe does. Please cue "It's a Small World". Lastly, this whole thing explodes into NCIS--but how? Does David run to his superior officers and say, "You got to punish Nita because she wouldn't sleep with me and I tried to make her and she hit me?" Does Mrs. Horton call Nita's boss, Larkin, and say, "You got to watch out for that ME of yours--she steals husbands"? I wish Mel Odom had left the whole stupid thing to be only between Joe and Nita. The incident (and her wanting to leave) could still have impacted NCIS without the whole "It's a Small World" thing playing in the background.
4. Practically everyone in the book is described as being fit for their age with the exception of the creepy politician, Ben Swanson. What's up with that? Not like I don't expect Will, Shel, Remy, and Maggie to be fit, but why must the lawyer, Wardell, Estrella, Nita, Joe, and practically every other character be described in this way? Take a look on the street, and you will notice far more people that are not fit than are.
Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Alluded to or non-existent. A woman is almost raped. Other times, sexual situations are alluded to (Congressman Ben Swanson has had extramarital affairs, Chloe's dad is not mentioned to have ever been married to Laura Ivers, etc.). Violence is pretty extreme (as mentioned in the beginning of "Bad") and ranges from shoot-outs (typical fare) to attempted rapes to hand or gun fights or hit-and-runs. If you are even the slightest bit squeamish, do not read this.
Overall:
When I first started writing this, the bad was outweighing the good. The editing was bad and Nita's home situation got in the way. After finishing the entire thing, I was very impressed. I loved the mystery and was moved to almost-tears during the Nita and her mother scenes (and I am not a crying person!). The plot was a little confusing (but is mostly explained in the end), the editor should have been fired, Nita's home life was a little overdramatic in the beginning, and the descriptions of autopsies and injuries was disgusting, but this was a fun way to spend the time. What makes this better than many other action stories is that this has character--real people doing real things. A good follow up.
A Compelling Page-Turner.......2007-08-09
This is the second book in Mel Odom's series on the Naval Criminal Investigative Services. The head of the team, Will Coburn, is separated from his wife, and he is trying to spend more time with his children. But he is called away to rescue a teenage girl who has been kidnapped. In the course of the rescue, they stumble on the corpse of a Marine who has been missing for 17 years. Inside the pants cuff of this Marine, they find a charm from a girl who had been murdered 17 years ago, supposedly by a serial killer. How did the charm get there? Is there a connection to the serial killer? The investigation leads the team into twists and turns in the plot that made this story a page turner that I could not put down.
The medical examiner on the team, Nita Tomlinson, has become an expert in forensics, but she finds the roles of wife and mom to be stifling. She grew up without a father and with a promiscuous mother who drank too much and often abandoned her, and Nita has no feel for how to act as a wife and mom. She feels compelled to visit her mother, with whom she has not talked in fourteen years. Though hurt feelings remain and the relationship is strained, Nita and her mother move one step closer to understanding one another.
The pacing of this novel is excellent, and the characters are so real they come to life. I also enjoyed the many details about how the criminal investigation and forensics jobs are conducted. This is the work of a master story-teller who seems to get better with each novel.
Book Evidence.......2007-06-14
I enjoy the NCIS Novels by Mel Odom. His characters are human...forgiven but not perfect...at least as long as they're on this earth.
Exciting thriller with a deeper message.......2007-05-19
NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) Commander Will Coburn lost his marriage due to the demands of his job. Now, he hopes he won't become estranged from his teenage children as well, but his job puts a huge responsibility on him. He must first lead his team to track down an apparent kidnap victim--a teenage girl with problems of her own. While investigating the kidnapping, though, Will and his NCIS team finds evidence of another crime--a long-ago murder of a marine. Since the marine was still in the service when he was killed, this is definitely NCIS business.
The more Will pushes the investigation, the more layers he peels back. But there's political pressure for him to back off, especially when the Will turns up evidence that a long-solved crime might not have been solved after all. The victim's step-father is now a congressman who's very much in a position to make life miserable for Will and the entire NCIS. Meanwhile, one of Will's most important team members, pathologist Nita Tomlinson, is desperately trying to protect herself from pain--in the worst way possible.
Will has his faith to turn to, but Nita long before rejected faith. In fact, it's her inability to live up to the trust her husband puts in her that frustrates Nita most.
Author Mel Odom delivers a high-quality thriller. Although we can guess the identity of the criminal at the heart of Will's troubles fairly quickly, Odom delivers plenty of twists and turns as Will searches for the evidence that will let him go after even the most powerful. Odom's experience in criminal investigations shows through clearly, allowing him to involve us as readers in the case--without ever sounding like he's giving us lectures.
BLOOD EVIDENCE is published by Tyndale, a religious publisher, and faith is an important element in the story. Odom walks the balance carefully, however, making the story enjoyable as a pure thriller for those who may not be as firmly rooted in faith as Tyndale's normal audience. Resolution of the Nita subplot does, however, sometimes get a bit heavy on the faith side. I appreciated, however, that Odom was careful to let us know that the powerful congressman was a member of the conservative party--evil lies in men, not in particular institutions.
Detailed and fascinating!.......2007-05-08
Violent gang members, dead bodies, dangerous relationships, dirty politics, luminol, assault rifles and a serial killer all feature in Blood Evidence, the second installment of Mel Odom's NCIS trilogy.
Commander Will Coburn is the lead investigator into the kidnapping of a young girl which plunges Will's specialist NCIS team into seventeen year old mystery of the murder of Commander Laura Ivers daughter and the contemporaneous disappearance of USMC Gunnery Sergeant George Haskins.
As the investigation unfolds, the team's medical examiner Dr Nita Tomlinson is battling her own inner demons, questioning her commitment to marriage and motherhood as her inadequacies begin to overwhelm her. Seeking refuge in her work, Nita makes some poor choices that may destroy not only her family and career but her very soul.
Mel Odom has again excelled, writing a novel that is replete with action, intrigue and fabulous character development. The meticulous details of a forensic investigation including autopsy descriptions, criminal profiling and ballistics information is smoothly integrated into the story, providing great interest without becoming overwhelming. There is enough military jargon and explanations of modern weaponry to keep any man enthralled and the relational threads, from Will's struggles as a single parent to Nita's marital issues, are just as expertly handled and will resonate with both male and female readers.
Mel's story held me captivate for the entire 435 pages and I eagerly anticipate the final instalment in this absorbing series to interact more with Will, Shel, Estrella, Remy, Maggie and Nita
Average customer rating:
- Where's the editor?
- A Complicated Trial Scene To 'Beat All'
- Court TV in Print
- Slow at first but picks up in the middle through the end
- Left Field Ending
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Compelling Evidence
Steve Martini
Manufacturer: Putnam Pub Group (T)
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ASIN: 0399137122 |
Book Description
In the gripping tradition of Presumed Innocent, Compelling Evidence is a courtroom drama of epic proportions. Mesmerizing in its pace, captivating in its action, this story will hold the listener right up to its final verdict and shocking conclusion. Defense attorney Paul Madriani was on the rise with the firm of Potter and Skarpellos until a short-lived affair with Potter's wife cost him his job. Now, Potter's wife is accused of murdering her husband, and Paul is forced to uncover secrets that may end his career - and his life.
Customer Reviews:
Where's the editor?.......2006-08-14
Martini is a talented writer, but he has one quirk that will drive you crazy. Instead of describing a character's expression, he simply writes that the character "makes a face."
Page 26: "He makes a face. Like he's never considered this before."
Page 67: "I make a face. 'Enjoying it enough. Now ask me if I'm making any money.'"
Page 89: "I make a face -- novel, but I'm not convinced that it represents a new low in the ethos of our public servants."
Page 107: "He makes a face. 'I haven't seen all the evidence.'"
These are just examples I turned up in a couple of minutes of leafing through the book at random; there are many, many more. Why didn't an editor deal with this?
A Complicated Trial Scene To 'Beat All'.......2006-08-12
It's fairly well known that one who represents himself in a court of law is a fool. It's equilavent to trying to be your own physician. A lawyer emotionally involved in the case, such as this one, is such a fool, but he was rooked into trying to defind his ex-lover, the wife of the prominent lawyer who is found murdered. He is set up by one of the other attorneys in the firm who will profit the most if the wife is out of the way. "It is the first of punishments, that no guilty man is acquitted if judged by himself." As a legal secretary, I had the occasion to watch first hand as the guilty went free, depending on the acting ability and sometimes friendship with the presiding judge of the defendant's lawyer. Courtroom law is like a stage and the prosecution and defense is all acting. Knowing Randy Nichols as I do, he lets women get killed simply because the prosecutors won't protect them from predators, and his corrupt office won't take a case they can't win. That's law today.
Another writer of courtroom cases, both he and Steve Martini being former trial lawyers, John Grisham has to say about this book: "a carefully written 'tale' of trial warfare, research is flawless, with the story including two elements essential to good suspense; a sympathetic hero and narrative tension." Many books have that; it's only the crime which is different. Lawyers are merely actors who know how to debate. They work primarily for the person who pays the most and cares less about society, punishing the person who did the crime. His aim is to get him off at all costs, unless he is an appointed defense and can live with an easy conscience that it was not his job to free the guilty. Crime takes place everywhere; the poor end up in prison while the rich live their good lives with no conscience.
Court TV in Print.......2005-08-20
If you enjoy simile-ridden narratives of Court TV, you'll probably enjoy this book. Dialogue and narrative are pretty evenly paced, and the storyline keeps the reader modestly engaged. Is it enthralling? By no means. Are there surprises? Only who really did it at the very end, otherwise everything is pretty perfunctory and matter of fact. We know the defendant didn't do it, and the suspicion cast on a third party is too obvious from the beginning to be the real culprit at the end.
The storyline is simple: A separated defense lawyer, who has had a liaison with his former boss's wife, decides against a conflict of interest to defend her against charges that she murdered her husband. The rest is pretty much the ins and outs of the trial - and a few diversionary, inconsequential motifs about another client and the attorney's embittered wife. All in all, a fairly ho-hum read. I even considered ditching the whole enterprise about midway, but am glad I persevered. Will I read another Martini? Only the other one I bought at the same time, but I otherwise wouldn't bother.
Slow at first but picks up in the middle through the end.......2004-05-22
I had a really hard time getting into this book. I also felt like the character development was a little shallow. However, I did enjoy the courtroom banter during the trial. The author did an excellent job of making the legal process easy to follow, with brief explanations along the way. The book became more interesting and harder to put down as I got deeper into it. I would have preferred a bit more substance to the ending.
I don't appreciate one of the other reviewers giving the ending away. Not cool.
Left Field Ending.......2004-02-10
Not bad. Was actually closer to a 4 star until the end. The ending sort of came out of left field, and what had been a good book turned into a so-so book. All in all, fairly mediocre..
Book Description
Do police officers make craftier killers? Can police officers thoroughly investigate a fellow member of their force? Can a suspect be found guilty of murder without authorities ever finding a body? And what happens in a case when police detectives miss crucial evidence?
CRACKING CASES takes the reader through the entire investigative process of five murder cases, with world-renowned forensic expert Dr. Henry C. Lee as your guide. Dr. Lee is considered by many to be the greatest criminalist in the world. He gained wide-spread public recognition through his testimony in the televised O.J. Simpson trial and has dedicated his life to establishing the truth at crime scenes no matter where the trail of evidence leads him and no matter which side these scientific findings eventually assist.
These engaging cases include the infamous O.J. Simpson case, in which Dr. Lee's analysis of the blood evidence at the crime scene revealed that the Los Angeles Police Department had missed several blood drops on Nicole Simpson's back, a footprint belonging to a second possible assailant, and the physical improbability of Simpson's climbing a fence to return to his home. Also included are the "woodchipper murder" in which an airline pilot killed his wife and then ground up her body to dispose of the remains; the Mathison murder, in which a veteran Hawaiian police sergeant claimed he acidentally ran over his wife after she fled the family van during a dispute; the Ed Sherman murder, in which a college English professor tried to disguise the time of his wife's death by turning up the air-conditioning unit in their house and then claiming that he was away from the home sailing on the day the crime allegedly took place; and police sergeant MacArthur, who shot and killed his wife, but then tried to make it appear that she had accidentally killed herself.
In each case, Dr. Lee presents an easily understood, detailed scientific explanation of how he investigated the murders, analyzed the evidence, and used forensic techniques that played a critical role in finally bringing the criminals to justice. The reader is treated to an absorbing discussion of how forensic experts examine blood-spatter evidence and use blood identification, DNA analysis, and other scientific technologies developed in the world's best laboratories.
CRACKING CASES is a fascinating insider's look by an international authority into the pursuit of justice in some of the most grisly criminal cases of recent times. Anyone who enjoys reading true crime and detective stories will surely find this book captivating.
Customer Reviews:
good for OJ case.......2007-07-25
I can't comment on how good this guy is at forensics, but if you trust his skills there, then the section on OJ is fascinating. He's not allowed to say who did it, since he testified for the defense, but if you read between the lines, he tells you. And it's not something I would have suspected, once you get beyond the obvious. And if he reads the forensics right, then his argument is pretty interesting. I read no other sections of the book, but this alone made the book valuable to me.
Buy the book well spent money.......2007-03-15
This book is a winner just as is Mr. Lee. I have met him and his courses are so well put that one wants to extend the learning periods.
The Gospel According to St. Henry.......2007-01-17
"True Crime" is a genre that is clearly flourishing, and in "Cracking More Cases" famed forensic scientist Dr. Lee has again dug deep down to the smallest of fibers, atoms, and blood spatters as he presents his view of the Skakel/Moxley case, JonBenet Ramsey, and "many more." There is the first problem: to me, THREE other crimes does not qualify as "many," but perhaps I quibble. While the crimes and the evidentiary trails are fascinating, to be sure, it is hard to escape Dr. Lee's ego which towers like an Alp over this book. The peak is reached on Page 111: "During my testimony, I referred to 'indirect forensic evidence,' a term that Mickey Sherman pointedly decided not to challenge, somewhat sarcastically asking, in effect, 'Who would want to take on so well known a figure as Dr. Lee?'" Now there is a legend being created in someone else's mind! Actually, there is little new in the book, other than Dr. Lee's self love. A check of the notes will reveal just how much he draws upon the work of others.
Sophisticated information presented in friendly language. .......2006-09-11
Fantastic! On a personal note, this is the only book of its kind that I will ever need for my work as a novelist. I'm not qualified to pass judgment on Dr. Lee's abilities but it's clear that he is premier in his field and this work will stand the test of time and will surely be updated with new editions as necessary.
My review serves two purposes:
First; this is an essential addition for any writer's library. If one of your characters should commit a crime that might require forensic science, you had better know what you are writing about.
Second, some of these reviews are hilarious! Are the Hardy Boys for real? I guess we'll turn [..] into a courtroom for amateur sleuths. A couple of morons with magnifying glasses have challenged Henry Lee to a duel!
If you're a TOP 50 REVIEWER and you have decided you know more about a murder Case than Dr. Henry Lee, I suggest that you re-evaluate yourself and stop speed-reading so that you can absorb and understand what the author is trying to say.
The Doc spotlights the Ramseys..........2006-09-11
Ditto to Dennis Littrell's eloquent and well-informed review, by the way. This is a solid and varied sequel indeed, and the Doc looks very cool on the cover, but I just want to focus on the Ramsey case above all.
While the excellent Dr. Lee does not flat out accuse the Ramseys of involuntary manslaughter and a pitiful cover-up, his use of probability terminology speaks for itself.
To clarify things, the critical points to grasp about the Ramsey case include the following...
There is no conclusive evidence - of any kind - that there was ever an intruder. All of the 'possible clues' touted by pro-Ramsey people have long ago been debunked.
The tainted, partial DNA sample that has been referred to repeatedly, could have come from any number of sources, including the clothing manufacturer/packer, and there is absolutely no evidence whatosever that it came from an intruder.
The sample is a limited 10-loci/marker sample and could never be enough to convict in isolation (you need 13 loci or sequencing markers), even if an idiot like John Mark Karr had been telling the truth. It is of some limited use in eliminating suspects, i.e. if any of their 10 corresponding markers don't align with the sample, they can be excluded.
The DNA is a red herring, anyway, especially as used by the Ramseys' belligerent lawyer Lin Wood. For him to drone on that the Ramseys were cleared by comparison to the case DNA is utterly meaningless on two counts. Firstly, because there is NO evidence that the DNA was that of a killer/intruder; secondly, because, as with any parent/child relationship, the Ramseys' DNA could have quite legitimately been all over JonBenet. Nothing short of finding John's semen in her mouth, vagina or anus could have been considered truly compromising.
As Dr. Lee suggests, given the total lack of evidence to support the intruder theory, the likelihood is that JonBenet was killed by accident and the parents panicked and created a woefully illogical and transparent cover-up.
No intruder could have had such prolonged and close physical contact with the child and not left siginicant DNA behind. To do that, he would have to have been wearing a space suit.
To me, the good doctor has put the final nail in the Ramsey's well-nailed coffin.
Book Description
Dr. Henry C. Lee is considered by many to be the greatest forensic scientist in the world. His vast investigative experience (over 6,000 cases!) and participation in many high-profile trials have earned him not only the highest respect from the law enforcement community but also widespread public recognition. Here Dr. Lee once again gives avid fans of true crime an intimate glimpse into the real world of crime investigation, combining his unparalleled expertise with a clear and lively narrative. Beginning with the infamous Scott Peterson trial, Dr. Lee vividly recounts his investigation of the case, by focusing on the crucial issue of physical evidence. As a criminalist who examined the remains of both Laci Peterson and Conner, he brings a distinctive perspective and unique voice to the case, and weighs in on the verdict. Next, Dr. Lee considers the much-publicized abduction of Elizabeth Smart from her family's Salt Lake City home. After a fruitless ten-month search, Elizabeth was found alive in a Salt Lake City suburb with Brian Mitchell and his wife, both of whom appeared to be mentally unstable. Dr. Lee—who investigated this compelling case—demonstrates the importance of physical evidence in reconstructing this crime. He also describes the role of brainwashing and outlines distinct similarities with the Patty Hearst case. In the final three chapters, Dr. Lee examines the case of a novelist accused of murdering his wife-who had also been the suspected link to a similar death in Germany—where a woman also fatally fell down a flight of stairs; the murder of a man's wife in which both the husband and her lover are considered suspects (with an outcome that is guaranteed to shock!); and the killing of a witness of an accused arsonist shortly before his trial, with a stunning conclusion that derived from Dr. Lee's intriguing investigative work. In each case, Dr. Lee presents—in addition to an engrossing narrative—the scientific details of how law enforcement investigated the crime, using the most recent advances in modern forensic tools. This is a fascinating insider's look by a world-renowned expert into the pursuit of justice in some of the most sensational and intriguing criminal cases of recent times.
Customer Reviews:
A little bland.......2007-09-17
It's allright, but a little bland and dry. Not a whole lot of details at time. Had to 'force' myself to read on during some chapters. Really don't feel like I learned anything new about the Peterson or Smart cases or about forensics in general.
Brad
Good Overview of How Forensics Works in Real Cases.......2007-03-14
Dr. Henry Lee has worked on over 6,000 cases in his years as a forensic scientist. In this book, he details some of the work he performed during what are arguably the most high-profile cases of the last 20 years as well as a couple lesser-known cases.
The first cases, Scott Peterson and Elizabeth Smart are cases that almost everyone in America and even outside the country has at least some knowledge. Dr. Lee brings into more detail the investigation, from a forensic point of view, of the two cases. He highlights not only the forensic work, but the prinicpal of basic police investigation; secure the crime scene. In the Smart case in particular, there is a tremendous amount of scene contamination and in the Scott Petersen case you see how some evidence was not properly catalogued and the problems those missteps led to in court.
The third case, that of Michael Peterson is one that is very familiar to me, since it took place in North Carolina, but may not be as well-known as the first two investigations. It involved the death of Kathleen Peterson, the wife of Michael Peterson, who was found dead at the bottom of a set of stairs in their home one night. Michael claimed she had fallen after several glasses of wine and some prescription drugs, but the District Attorney believed he killed her, especially after learning his first wife also died from a fall on a stair case in Germany, where they were living at the time.
In this case Dr. Lee is actually called to testify, which gives us a glimpse, not only into the science but the art of forensics. Many folks are well-trained and can performing the myriad tests and evaluations that can be made on hair, fiber, and blood evidence taken at a crime scene. One of the Dr. Lee's strengths, is in his ability to explain the information gleaned from the sometimes scant evidence and what is shows in easily understood terms.
The final two cases were not ones I was familiar with at all, having not been heavily covered by the media and not local to my area. They are nowhere near as complicated or questionable as the previous cases, but still give Dr. Lee a chance to explain more of the processes involved in forensics to the reader. One case, in particular, which started with the intentional burning of the Salisbury, MD Town Hall, opens one up to the aspects of a fire investigation and the special techniques required to determine if the fire was set or an accident.
One of the best parts of the book is when Dr. Lee stops the narrative to explain, to some degree, the science behind the particular evidence he is discussing. There is a good overview of blood spatter evidence and what is can mean. There is also a short discussion on what can occur during a fire and how that leads investigators to determine the origin of the blaze, the most important clue in an arson investigation. These overviews are by no means complete, but they do let you see just how much information can be gathered from a few drops of blood.
If you are looking for a book that delves deeply into the science behind forensics, visit Amazon.com and pick out one of the many criminal text books now available online. Dr. Henry Lee's Five Famous Cases does not purport to give you an in-depth knowledge of how forensic works.
What is does do, and I think handles well, is give you a glimpse into the real world of forensics. A place where answers don't come out of a printer in 20 minutes, where DNA does not eliminate all but the suspect, and where even the best police sometimes make mistakes. Five Famous Cases is essentially a book that lets you see why forensics is so important, but that even with all the modern science of blood spatter evidence, carpet samples, and shoe imprints, there is still a good deal of old-fasioned detective work that still has to be done in order for a case to be won.
Rather Disappointing!.......2006-08-22
Dr. Lee's book begins with the well-known Scott Peterson and Elizabeth Smart cases. He details all the evidence collected (and sometimes not collected), and takes readers from the crime to the trial. Unfortunately, forensic evidence did not play a role in either case. In Scott Peterson's case, Dr. Lee concluded that it wasn't the evidence that did Peterson in - rather his post-disappearance actions and court attitude. On the other hand, it was interesting to not that the original jury foreman was removed (reason unknown) - since he was both an attorney and an M.D. the jury might have been led to a greater focus on the inconclusive evidence and the verdict turned out differently.
As for Elizabeth Smart's nine-month disappearance, the case seemed to have been solved in spite of the Salt Lake City Police. Elizabeth's younger sister (in the same room when the kidnapping took place) was convinced that the man police suspected was not the one, identified the correct individual, and helped in the drawing of his portrait - thus, leading to Elizabeth's safe return. (The kidnapper and his wife were judged mentally incompetent for trial; nonetheless, they had brainwashed Elizabeth so much that she did not try to escape, and originally denied that she was the one everyone was looking for.)
The third case involved an individual whose wife was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. While Dr. Lee was called as a witness for the defense, it was not enough to overcome the eerie fact that the defendant's first wife had similarly died, and that her injuries seemed to great for having simply fallen part-way down the stairs.
The fourth case was quite straight-forward - an arson, followed by the murder of a key witness, and the fifth, while rather salacious, was also not that challenging.
A long-overdue focus on his famous works and methods.......2006-07-25
Dr. Lee is one of the foremost forensic criminology researchers in the world, having worked on over 6,000 cases and participated in many high-level trails with his evidence, so DR. HENRY LEE'S FORENSIC FILES is a long-overdue focus on his famous works and methods. Beginning with the latest headliner Scott Peterson trial, Dr. Lee focuses on how he investigated the physical evidence in the case, then moves on to the Elizabeth Smart abduction and other notable cases. Chapters survey how physical evidence is reconstructed and applied to the case in this intriguing true crime survey.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book not consistent with evidence.......2006-07-12
I do not know about any of the other cases, but I know the Michael Peterson case well. The photographs in the book are not consistent with the photographs I have from the crime scene. The defense ridiculed the prosecution because they did not have photographs of the footprints in blood. So where did that photograph come from? Testimony in court indicated that the blood spatter was behind--not on--the chair lift as indicated in this book. The footprint in this book shows a foot clearly wearing socks. Those socks would be covered in blood. However, the socks in the crime scene photograph clearly indicate socks that are spattered with blood not socks that have walked in blood. Because of these inconsistencies in this one case, I view all the other material in this book with great skepticism.
Customer Reviews:
disinformation.......2007-07-31
Perfect example of disinformation and subterfuge to mask the obvious. How many writers have been on the take from the cia in the past and present. No, how stupid to think that those in power would do such a thing. Follow this guys history and see where he's been. This guy has done no research, he just rehashes and totes the offical line with some disagreement thrown in for cover. He shows up at every forum on the NET where there is any discussion of facts that may not side with governments story line and automatically starts with the conspiracy theorist are blind and i.e. stupid. In other words, this is the truth and you must believe it. Sounds like religious dogma except this is the officially sanctioned dogma of certain parties in the gov. and power elite. Don't worry though because it will never be proven to the brainwashed masses that elected bush (the same who's dad was miami station chief for the cia), as long as they are still alive and maybe never. To many people have taken the koolaid.
Probably the basics are reality.......2007-07-22
Not having studied this case before, I took most of what this book presented at face value, it seems that the the lone gunman theory is correct and that there wasn't anyone on the grassy knoll or some big conspiracy in the government to hide what "really happened". All that said, it still seems that the Ruby connection wasn't explained to my satisfaction. I mean, criminals everyday probably deserved to be shot dead like dogs, but it doesn't happen that often...
As for the book as something to read, it was a bit dry, I find reading true life crime books by Ann Rule very fascinating because she makes them read like novels, even though they are true stories. This book read more like a text book, which I guess gets the point across, but didn't make it all that fun to read.
I'll give credit where credit is due, I think Fuhrman did justice to the fact that this case can be looked at like any other murder in that the facts are the facts and just because someone is famous doesn't change basic criminal detective work. I will however reserve a final word that just because somethings seem obvious, doesn't mean that they are, sometimes things are hidden, sometimes there are conspiracies to hide the truth, etc., etc,....
sometimes the truth is hard to accept.......2007-05-13
Like every other baby-boomer, I've read tons of books on the J.F.K. assassination. This one is profound in its simplicity.
If you want a clear-eyed, to the point, book on this subject, look no farther than A SIMPLE ACT OF MURDER. Agree with him or not, Fuhrman at least doesn't reach for the sensationalistic, as so many other of these books do.
A very superficial look..........2006-11-23
I was a little intrigued by the idea of a police detective looking at the evidence in the Kennedy killing and offering a 'solution' of the case. After reading this book, though, I am still waiting. The author provides nothing but a warmed-over presentation of the original Warren Commission report and restates the lone-nut-did-it conclusion. This book is a little like the 'Case Closed' book that Gerald Posner did a few years ago, but without even an effort to provide footnotes or references. Call it Posner lite.
The only deviation that the author makes from the Warren Commission is to attempt to reconcile the magic bullet theory with geometry and physics by saying that Oswald fired three shots but that none of them missed so there was no magic bullet. He then claims that the bystander injury from the alleged shot that missed was instead caused by an errant bullet fragment from a shot that hit Kennedy rather than a bullet striking the curb. The physics and geometry of THAT claim make the magic bullet theory look reasonable by comparison.
Fuhrman does offer a couple of interesting observations on the shooting. He claims that the grassy knoll shot would be a difficult angle, that an expert shooter would have no trouble shooting 3 bullets in 6 seconds from the bolt-action rifle, and he offers his opinion that Oswald was a failure as a Marine and had no friends. Recent evidence that Fuhrman has apparently never seen shows that Oswald received advanced Russian language training at a prestigious military language school while serving in the Marines, had many friends while in the USMC, served at a top-secret U2 air base in Japan, had a secret security clearance, and received an honorable discharge. Fuhrman also restates the botched autopsy of Kennedy as providing an accurate representation of Kennedy's wounds, ignores recent published observations of doctors who actually saw Kennedy's body after the shooting, and ignores most of the eyewitness observations of the shooting.
The Posner book "Cased Closed" is a much better statement of the lone-nut-did-it theory than this book, for those who are comforted by that theory, and has a lot more information. The Posner book does a good enough job of laying out the lone nut position that you can close your eyes, squint, and think to yourself that there might at least be a possibility that Oswald banged away from the 6th floor and did the job alone. This book does not.
Grossly Incomplete.......2006-11-22
Unlike Furman's other books, well-researched and written by a man who obviously knows how to investigate, this one was a disappointment. Furman totally ignored the Dallas doctors' observations of JFK's skull and the damage done to it. Taking only the autopsy material, and discounting the eyewitness reports from Dealy Plaza, as well as the reports from other than physician staff at Bethesda Naval, his conclusions are invalid.
If I didn't know any better, I would say that Mark Furman was merely fulfilling a contract with his publisher for another book that was due. Despite his self-proclaimed interest in the murder of JFK both from the personal and professional standpoint, Furman seemed in writing this book to not be interested in truth-finding. Afterall, it is the murkiness of the investigation, autopsy and conflicting medical examinations, to say nothing of the possible government coverup of the matter that have fueled the controversy for all these years. This book is overly simplistic, and I say that not as a "conspiracy buff" but as one who is interested in all viewpoints of the assassination, as long as they are thoughtfully conceived. Furman's is not.
Customer Reviews:
Every picture tells a story, don't it? Well, no.......2007-08-19
I wish I could write as beautifully as Luc Sante. Since he is Belgian, I assume English was not his cradle language. If that's right, then as an ESL stylist he ranks with Conrad and Deutscher as a master of prose style.
Of content, not so much.
There's something about a photograph that makes intellectuals go all runny inside. They start worrying about what's outside the frame, or what would have been in it just before or just after. Conceptually, a photograph is no more instantaneous than, say, a diary entry. But nobody worries about what Pepys left out.
A photograph is what it is. No need to make a big production number out of it.
Sante tries. Like the photos that end up in Found magazine, the pictures in "Evidence" are random. The New York police threw away decades of crime photographs. A few hundred escaped and Sante, who wrote the delightful "Low Life" about New York's seamy side, found them and selected 55 on, he says, purely aesthetic merits.
Fine. Nothing wrong with that. But if that was the purpose, why the text?
Well, of course, we don't look a police photographs as if they were Mark Rothko daubs, utterly without intellectual content. We expect them to tell a story.
In a few cases, Sante is able to match a picture with a story as reported in newspapers of the day. Others are completely unidentifiable and mysterious. So what does Sante do? He does what anyone would do -- he makes up stories to fit.
That's all there is to it. His ruminations about how we justify looking at these pictures are beside the point.
Some, it's true, are gruesome, but others, which have a gruesome story behind them, are on the surface peaceful. They could be of someone sleeping on a bed. We know they are dead not asleep, and the knowledge makes the difference. The photographs themselves are indifferent.
This is especially the case of shots of vacant lots.
Sante makes one good point. Since the events were unrehearsed, nobody straightened up the rooms (or warehouses, hallways, streets) for company. These photos are curious, unbuttoned (often, literally) documents of how people lived in New York City 90 years ago.
Evidently, the originals were highly detailed. Sante was able to read headlines on newspapers or printing on bits of paper scattered around, and thus to date or otherwise explain some of the scenes. The reproductions in the book lose all that.
There are plenty of other published collections of police photographs. Or war photographs. Nothing except their artificial rarity and the éclat of the Big Apple raises this little collection above the average of the others.
Fascinating Evidence.......2006-12-03
A compelling collection of crime scene photographs taken by the New York City Police Department between 1914 and 1918. The images are always intriguing, often mysterious, sometimes artistic, occasionally shocking, and reliably graphic. The appendix contains a detailed explanation of all known facts regarding each image (include applicable newspaper clippings) and much reasonable speculation on those images where the facts are lost to history. Highly recommended for the morbidly curious and fans of morbid history, alike!
crime scene photos.......2003-06-26
a clear a concise book of early 1900's crime scene photos with interesting text. not for the faint hearted. very graphic stuff including an image of a dead pregnant dog.
Dark and extraordinarily compelling.......1999-12-07
This is a collection of crime scene photos taken by the New York City Police Department between the years 1914 and 1918. Sante's commentary is clear and consistently well-written. The fascination here is that viewing these images is similar to the feeling one gets when looking through very old snapshots in the attic of a house belonging to an older relative. But the strangely voyeuristic sense one always gets while looking at old photographs is magnified in this book exponentially, and the experience becomes a distinctly chilling, almost uncomfortable one. Although certainly not for everyone, this book is nontheless unique and darkly wonderful.
Hideous and ruinous scenes, with great commentary.......1998-03-04
The photos in this assemblage are really awful -- I could hardly stand to look. The relief is in reading the commentary, which is a series of lucid, appropriately concise themes on crime, death, material culture, memory, randomness and order -- and the versatile and vital craft of photography.
Book Description
Hidden Evidence takes you to the scenes of 40 infamous crimes and into the heart of the forensic investigations. These are the true crime shockers that have grabbed headlines and aroused public passions. David Owen explains the scientific procedures that helped crack every one of these cases -- from the gathering of elusive physical clues to the examination of weapons and bodies, to the use of sophisticated scientific analysis.
Threaded throughout the book is the history of forensic science and the technologies that support it, including:
fingerprinting, autopsies, handwriting analysis, ballistics, hair sampling, blood typing, DNA testing, dental records, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, compound and electron microscopes, and toxicology.
The high-profile cases David Owen used to illustrate forensic developments are from as early as 1775, when Paul Revere used dentures to identify a slain soldier, to the latest developments in the Oklahoma bombing. Most will be familiar to readers, such as: The Lindbergh Kidnapping, Pan Am Flight 103, The Kennedy Investigation, The Hitler Diaries, Wayne Williams, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey MacDonald, Dr. Josef Mengele, Robert Maxwell's suicide, Tsar Nicholas II, and The World Trade Center bombing.
David Owen presents the facts, steering clear of speculation. Comprehensive in scope, thoroughly researched and expertly compiled,
Hidden Evidence is, in the words of former Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas T. Noguchi, "a fascinating book ... [and] an excellent mini-encyclopedia of widely discussed, high-profile cases."
Customer Reviews:
Forensic science explained.......2007-01-16
Very helpful book for my son who has a class project on forensic science. He used one of the photos for a clay skull. I recommend this book.
Hidden Evidence..or is it??.......2004-04-29
Hidden Evidence , by David Owen is a intriguing book about 40 different crimes and how forensic science was involved in solving each one. This non-fiction book covers forensic science cases from 1775-1988. This book has everything from carpet fibers to fingerprints to DNA testing and how each one put someone away in jail.
Hidden Evidence is placed everywhere around the world. Forensic Science is going on at anytime and everywhere. "Whenever you have excluded the impossible , whatever remains , however impossible , must be the truth"(Owen 8). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said that quote referring to all of forensic science. "Large fragments of glass can sometime be fitted into the lamp or window pane from which they were broken for a positive match , or the glass can actually preserve a record of the order in which events really happened"(Owen 180). David Owen knows what he is talking about and he should know with his 50-year forensic background.
One thing that stuck out in my mind was all the pictures in this book showing the evidence of some of the cases and or examples of certain instruments that are used in forensics. I feel that this book was well written. I think anyone interested in science should read this book especially if you are interested in forensics.
If your interested.......2004-04-21
This book is good and has a lot of info. if your into forensic Science. This book is pretty interesting if you want to learn in this subject. If you have to do a report on a science subject this is pretty good but its kind of long.
Picture-laden, text-light good general overview of forensics.......2003-06-29
This is a picture book for adults about forensics. The photos and illustrations are amazing, varied, and, often, gruesome and graphic. The text seems like an afterthought; nothing more than the basic information is given, and each case study covers the facts and very little else. This book is not for someone like myself who studies forensics, but rather for someone who is hooked on CSI, doesn't know anything about the topic, and wants to read more about it. This book is a much better general forensics overview and has more detailed information [and more information generally] the The Forensic Science of C.S.I.
Hidden Evidence also explains the major types of forensic science [ballistics, DNA, trace evidence, etc] and uses case studies to document each field. Overall, this book is a good starting point for anyone interested in forensic science.
Picture-loaded, text-light intro to forensic science.......2003-06-25
This book could also be called The Big Picture Book of Forensic Science or The First Book of Forensic Science. It seems like a picture book for adults, and the photo-to-text ratio is the main problem I had while reading this book.
The text seems to be an afterthought and there is no depth to it--just a bare recital of the facts of a particular case, forensic discipline, or procedure. The photos and illustrations more than compensate for the text, although many of them are gruesome [including the now-famous photo of Jack the Ripper's last victim, one of the most stunning crime scene photos of all time]. I've read about forensics for many years and this book was, to me, lame, but its just the basics text and great photos and illustrations make it an ideal book for someone who has no previous knowledge of forensics. It is a great introduction to the field.
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- Race in the Making: Cognition, Culture, and the Child's Construction of Human Kinds
- Reference Guide to the International Space Station
- Participating in Nature: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills
- Made in Korea: Chung Ju Yung and the Rise of Hyundai
- Private Pensions: Improving Worker Coverage and Benefits
For Laci: A Mother's Story of Love, Loss, and Justice
Every Woman's Nightmare: The True Story Of The Fairy-Tale Marriage And Brutal Murder Of Lori Hacking
Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson
We, the Jury: Deciding the Scott Peterson Case
Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith
