Crime Books

I purchased this book for my daughter. She read and finished the book and told me that it was well written and that it was very interesting reading. I didn't read it so I would be hesitant to recommend.

I loved this book! My heart goes out to Sharon Rocha and the rest of Laci's family.

I was pregnant with my 3rd son when Laci went missing and was so devastated to hear how she went missing. As time went on, and I looked at Scott on TV, I could tell he was guilty. He was blank, cold, and detached looking. I felt so sad for Laci and her son. She was so beautiful and looked to be like such a sweet loving woman. I was drawn to the story, and waited for her mother to write a book about her. I realized it might not happen, but was happy when she finally wrote this book. I read the book by Scott's half sister, and really enjoyed that book. I also read this book and cried like a baby at certain parts. I was confused how Laci could have been so trusting of Scott, as most women (or at least I thought) have women's intuition that would tell them something was wrong. I am happy that her mother wrote this book. I always wondered what went on with Laci's side of the family during this whole tragedy. Even though I cried many tears while reading this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

When the story of Laci broke news, I thought it wouldn't be as sensational as it turned out to be, I mean how many people go missing, or are murdered;my husband thought the same way. I began reading the books about Laci and the investigation, which covered forensic, and mental health issues, but no emotional feelings until I read Sharon's book. It's powerful in its own right. A must read!

This is a compelling book which reads very quickly, as it is hard to put down. Sharon Rocha paints a lovely portrait of her daughter Laci. You can't help be empathetic as evil moves in around her. I have an incredible amount of respect for her and the search-and-rescue fund/foundation she created. This tugs at heartstrings and elicits tears. I can't help but cry.

I am a huge fan of Robert McCammon and this book is one of the best reasons why. The writing is so engrossing that you can get lost in the story and not even want to find your way out. The characters are all richly drawn and can stand on their own, not just as sounding boards for the main character, Cory, an 11 year old boy. If you have read the reviews this far down you will already know the plot, and all I can add is that if you take a chance and read the book you will be better off for the journey. The beautiful writing will break your heart and make you laugh out loud. What more could you ask for?

i have to wonder about anyone that gives less than four stars for this book. i have been giving copies of this book to friends for years. this i think is hands down the best book of growing up in the south since to kill a mockingbird and that my friends is high praise indeed. i would not hesitate to reccomend this book to anyone, ever! the man can write and the book is absolutely fantastic! treat yourself to a great read and get this book. also like another reviewer stated dan simmons "summer of night" is pretty darn good also! read and enjoy.

First: this should be required reading for every young person in America. McCammon paints a perfect picture of life in the deep south during the 60's. The principles young Corey learns are as true today as they were then. Second: This book represents real life. Sure Corey's lessons came from more dramatic circumstances, but who among us didn't learn the same life lessons in our own fashion. This is one of the finest stories of innocence lost through experience examples I can ever remember reading. Thank you Mr. McCammon! This book IS what a great book should be: a compelling story that encourages us, the reader, an opportunity to drift away to a magic place.

If I was given the choice to read one book before I died, this would be the book. A true classic and should be required reading in every English class across America.

I've always thought a good author creates pure magic with a great story. Robert McCammon does just that with Boy's Life. There's mystery, suspense, humor, horror, spooky things, and just about every sentence will command that you keep reading well past the time you usually go to bed. This author is very gifted and as this was my intro to him, I plan on reading everything else by McCammon I can lay my hands on. Ignore the 'poor man's Stephen King' tags that were placed on him and discover another author who will take you far into a magical realm when you start reading the first page. You won't regret it. Brilliant book!

Originally bought as a source for a research paper, i had come into this searching for a simple first hand account of the Jonestown incident. However, once i began reading, Seductive Poison evolved into much more than just a primary source. What sets this book apart from any other literature on the accounts of Jonestown is Layton's honesty. She provides the reader with a background of information leading up to joining Jim Jones and finally wraps up with the eventual mass-suicide. Instead of focusing primarily on the final events of Jonestown and the actions of Jim jones himself, Layton tells her story, from beginning to end which will help others understand why anyone would have gotten up and followed a man such as Jim Jones.
Before beginning this book, i was skeptical. I had many questions about the followers of Jones, their motives, their mental state, what they believed in and I was worried that Layton might try to sway the reader in one direction or another. However, that is not the case. Seductive Poison provides the reader with facts, journal entries, letters, and most importantly, Photos of the loved ones she describes throughout the entire book.
Often the writing of memoirs such as this involving such an emotional attachment don't live up to the story itself. However, Deborah Layton is a talented writer which allows the reader immerse themselves in the content rather than focus on the pros and cons of the writing. From her steady attention to detail to the heartfelt commentary, Layton has truly pulled off a winner. Because of her first hand situation in the Peoples Temple, Seductive Poison is informative. Anyone interested in seeking the ways and workings of a cult, how cults come-to-be cults, why anyone would join one or just looking to read of a women's personal journey of coming into her own, should give this book a chance. I did, and I'm thrilled with my choice.

This book is an insider's view of the rise and fall of the Peoples Temple. Ms. Layton was one of Jim's most trusted aides and as such knows more about what went on in the temple than the average member. She describes how she got sucked into the cult, her activities after being sucked in, what life was like in Jonestown, and how she came to see the truth and escape. At the end of the book she gives updates on many of the people who were significant to her, whether they survived or died, and, if they survived, how.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars only because I read the book Escape right before this book and it was a more riveting read.

The book is autobiographical in nature. Ms. Layton talks about all the things she was involved with in the Peoples Temple - the illegal bank accounts, her first time being raped by Jim Jones, how and when Jonestown went from a paradise to hell on earth (when Jones came, it completely changed), and the continuous brainwashing from when she first came to the temple to when she finally escaped. The escape itself completely absorbed me and it was hard to put the book down. Ms. Layton also gives insights into Jim Jones, his charisma, and his character.

I was only 7 1/2 years old when Jonestown occurred and the book helped fill in so many details that I had never known. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple.

Something I always have a hard time grasping is: how does a person get sucked into something so clearly unhealthy, and what keeps them in? It's so hard to understand because it's such a gradual process, and many of us feel we are perhaps too "smart" to get hooked into any kind of cult. In reality, it takes months or years for cult brainwashing to reach levels where it really does feel impossible to escape, and even highly intelligent people are caught up - this is not easily conveyed in ANY medium, be it a 2 hour documentary or a 300 page book.

But Layton takes a really good shot at it, and does an excellent job. The first two chapters of the book are somewhat slow and give background information on Deborah before she even finds out about the Temple. They describe her troubled childhood, and help understand how she could view the Church as a positive force in her life. Then, in great detail, she recounts how Jones continually manipulated, re-divided and controlled all the people within his organization. You really feel the stress and fear of the people trapped within. She makes it easy to understand everyone's plight.

Some things really struck me about the book. One thing I liked was Layton's strong desire to tell the truth. I felt it shine through in her measured descriptions of events, honest retelling of her less-than-perfect childhood, and disinclination to "play the victim" or sensationalize her experiences. I also liked that she didn't attempt to provide historical information on events she didn't experience herself - like the Church years before she joined, or the actual events of Nov. 18 in Jonestown where she wasn't present.

I also really appreciated the fact that this factual memoir was still interwoven with a good message. The parallels Deborah drew between her experiences and those of her Grandparents in WW2 concentration camps were interesting. I really liked the way she pointed out the choice she makes in what to share with her daughter, compared with what (and how) her mother shared with her: it helps to reassure that Deborah's experiences were not in vain.

For anyone interested in the history and facts behind life in the People's Temple, this is an important read. It's the most detailed account I've yet heard, and the story itself is quite riveting. I do not know how well it would serve someone who knew nothing about Jonestown whatsoever, but as a supplement to e.g. a documentary (or some other very historical look at the People's Temple), this makes an excellent read.

I have never read a memoir that was this honest or this terrifying. Deborah Layton was a member of the People's Temple for 7 years. She was one of Jim Jones trusted few. This is a true "insider account" of what happened.

Ms Layton has the rare ability of pulling the reader into the story. It allows you to feel and understand the working of a cult from the inside out.. You see the path that led her to Jones and the bravery it took for her to leave. As a confused and rebellious adolescent Layton was attracted to Jim Jones' religious movement for its radical teachings on inter racialism and social justice. As a member of his inner circle, she saw things that made her secretly question him, though she remained faithful to his socialist vision. Layton paints a graphic picture of how Jones exercised confusing emotional, sexual and physical manipulation and abuse. This mixture of love, fear and a sense of purpose, the sense of working for a greater good, kept her there for seven years and kept others there until the end.

In December 1977 Layton (along with her Mother who had also joined) traveled to the new headquarters in Jonestown, Guyana. Upon arrival they discover that the residents were enduring a living hell. The conditions were appalling. Constant middle of the night suicide drills followed by 16 hour work days in unbearable heat. People are near starvation. There is a constant fear of being labeled a "traitor" and the punishment that would follow.

With no money, passport or way of contacting anyone on the outside Layton finds a way to escape. It's heart pounding and terrifying. My hands were shaking as each new obstacle unfolded itself. She returns to the United States with dire warnings, trying to get help for her sick Mother who is still there. (Layton's Mother died of cancer a few days before the "mass suicide". She died with no pain killers. They were confiscated upon arrival in Jonestown and given to Jones) No one believes the people inside are being held hostage by the infamous Jones and his growing madness.

Only months after her escape, the Jonestown Mass Suicide/Murder occurred. Deborah Layton was one of the few who escaped. Her story is told in an honest and insightful way. It's a riveting, nail biting, heart pounding, stay up all night book that reads like a novel.

I recently saw Deborah Layton discussing her experiences with Jim Jones and the People's Temple on PBS. I was really struck by this attractive, intelligent, and articulate woman who seemed nothing like what I'd imagined someone involved with the People's Temple would be. I guess I had somehow imagined they were all, well, kooks and wierdos. I've long been intrigued by Jonestown, and could never wrap my brain around how 913 people could be duped into mass suicide, so I quickly bought Deborah's book, Seductive Poison. I found it to be one of those rare books that whenever I got a few minutes to spare, I just had to pull it out and devour a few more pages. The book is richly written and gives deep insight into the People's Temple movement and the sad tragedy that unfolded in Jonestown, written by someone with firsthand knowledge. One aspect that I found so moving about "Seductive Poison" is that Layton really humanized the people of Jonestown. These were good, decent folks who were terribly deceived and manipulated by an evil madman. They weren't the kooks I'd imagined, but rather people I think I genuinely would have liked, had a lot in common with, and would have been friends with. Fortunately Deborah Layton was eventually able to see through Jim Jones' lies and find her way to freedom. The story of her final escape from Guyana is as tense and heart-stopping as any action movie, yet profoundly sad, and ultimately hopeful as she emerges from the lies and manipulation that once held her. Sadly, so many others at Jonestown were unable to find that freedom. Seductive Poison is a haunting journey, and will cause you to understand the human loss of the Jonestown tragedy in ways that will linger with you for a long time.

I was determined to finish this book just to count the number of times Georgia Durante mentioned how beautiful she was. It was a million plus. You get the drift. This little lady couldn't get over herself. Her poor daughter Toni took the brunt of her mother's bad, bad choices and paid the price. There was claptrap galore, from her inane, juvenile musings to the stupefying way she portrayed herself as a hapless victim. And the verbatim dialog? How could anyone possibly remember exact conversations from three decades ago? Come on!!

Georgia Durante should just have named her book, "All About Me". At least it would have been an honest if not vacuous biography by just another celebretard who managed to sleep her way to the top of the heap.

The author keeps you turning pages with an incredible life, as fast as the company she keeps. I enjoyed this read, the author's no nonsense delivery, the woman's perspective, and the story told straight and true. If there are embellishments, you wouldn't know it as it's told. An excellent memoir.

Having lived in Rochester all my life, I recognized a lot of the names that Georgia wrote about, even remember her as the Kodak Summer Girl.
Excellent read

I have recommended Georgia Durante's The Company She Keeps to many of my clients who are recovering from being sexually, physically, or psychologically abused. Ms. Durante's story, her courage, and her subsequent success in a field dominated by men serves as a wonderful source of encouragement and inspiration. It is the true story of a very remarkable person who had many things to overcome, including not being taken seriously because she is so physically beautiful. When you read this book, you learn her inner beauty and strength.

Larry M. Raskin, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Louisville, Kentucky

This is a brave book. I can't imagine going through some of the things the author went through and not have a heart attack from fear! My sister loved the book too!

This is a very comprehensive book on personal protection. It is far broader than a street self defense manual. It covers all kinds of self defense and safety issues.

It is very broad in its scope. Here are a few of the areas it addresses: street self defense, fire safety, mobs, traveling in strange cities, online shopping, and much more. As you can see, it is far reaching.

Prior to reading this, I never would have guessed that an author could cover such a broad range so well in such a relatively small book.

I would recommend this book for anyone who would like to improve his/her overall personal and family safety. There are numerous tips for parents of small children that are excellent.

You really can't go wrong with this book. It will stimulate lots of thought for most readers.

I highly recommend this book on all levels. As a martial artist who has done many martial arts, I have to say, this information really rings true. For example, he states, the goal of self-defense should be to "stun and run" - which almost anyone who knows the field will tell you. For example, where I train, we "stay and commit", but most of us are pretty highly trained. I have also done some of the "military martial arts" that Tom describes, and to be honest, in a "bad" situtation that I can't talk my way out of, i count on it to save my life, and I have been trained to "fight through the adrenaline dump" by the Israelis I trained with. But I also realize, most people don't have time to do that kind of training. So Tom's program is really useable for people who don't want to become experts in the martial arts. His book is full of lots of information that can literally save your life (for instance, have a map before you visit a new city, etc.). The book is full of anecdotes of personal protection. I particularly liked his advice on using your eyes to scan a room, and how to confront a "bad guy" who is sizing you up (you basically stare through him to let him know you are not afraid). A lot of his advice comes down to projecting confidence and not being a "victim", becuase universally, bad guys go after people whose body language, eyes, and positure suggest that they are not willing to defend themselves. So this is an excellent book on personal protection that I would highly recommend to anyone, from the beginning to the true pro.

I read lots of books like this, and I found absolutely nothing new in here. In fact, it looked a bit familiar. With the checklists, the boxed tips, the statistics and the vignettes, it looked an awful lot to me like Be Alert, Be Aware, Have A Plan: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Home, Your Family, by Neal Rawls. Really, it looks like Patire got his whole idea on how to present his material from the Be Alert book (which, by the way, was a much much better book). I say don't bother.

We hired Tom Patire to speak at our annual PTA event here in Chicago. I was on the committee that sought him out after I read his book and saw him on Fox. The book is an updated look into safety and has some similarities of other books in this catergory but it is written in much different, more people friendly format.

Tom takes the approach of easing the reader into different safety issues by relating them to factual events in his life. Because of that the book reads life a story of safety and not like a book of boring statistics. I loved the Tom's Tips but really was intrigued to his child safety training since I am a single mother of two young girls.

What really hit home was how Tom talks about 'seeing from their eyes' and their being the children of the world. The book can be used in different ways. For example it can be used as a guide to safety issues like when you travel or safety at home. It can also be used as a call to urgency because safety is usually not a subject that we like to think about or address.

It gets even better should you attend Tom's talk. Tom is a big, in-shape, charismatic guy that has a empowering way of getting you involved in his lecture which he calls 'Safer Life!' From his opening statement to his closing remarks Tom's becomes the big brother that we all wish we had and presents safety with out installing fear.

I gave his book 5 stars as I did Gavin DeBecker's book. But Patire's talk is the missing piece to the safety puzzle. It's one I would recommend for all people, especially single mom's to attend.

Have A Blessed Day!

Kim K.

A family from my town in Wisconsin recently appeared on the Montel Show. Watching the show one had to feel for the terrible ordeal that the family went through during their violent home invasion. At the end of the show Montel brought out a security expert named Tom Patire. Mr. Patire's comments were for everyday people and his tone and way of speaking showed his compasion for human life and left me feeling empowered. This led me to buy his book. The book is beter than good - it is excellent. It's for all ages from teens to seniors and is filled with unlimted, priceless information on how to keep you and the people you love, safe. Montel open my eyes to what can happen and Tom Patire gave me the information on how not to let it happen or what to do if.

Montel - Great Show!
Tom Patire - Great Book!!

I had never heard of the book nor the author when I bought it, but it had received a 5 star review on your web page, so I bought it. I have read my whole life and enjoy it very much, but this book was very poorly written, the story line was absolutely stupid, there were more misspelled words throughout than I can ever remember coming across while reading a book. I threw the book away, rather than loaning it or passing it on to someone else.

I have not read these books, but it is rare for a book to get so many reviews and have an overall 5 star rating, so I thought I'd check it out. Then I noticed something fishy - I'm not making it up - check it out for yourself: Most (not all) of the reviews use the same basic language and grammar. Most of them mention the word "series" in the first sentence, "characters" in the second, and the last sentence ends with one to three exclamation marks "!!!". Also, they don't say anything about the plot of the book, and they have about the same number of helpful votes (30-50). All this is very suspicious to me, and then comes along a review that says they bought the book because of all the 5 star ratings and then found the book to be awful and even contained many spelling errors. Did the same person write these using different names? It looks that way to me. Based on all this I decided to skip this one.

This was my favorite visit to Lambert by Victoria Taylor Murray. The characters are now beginning to show their human side and I like that. Nouri certainly has her fair share of love interests to choose from with her crazy husband, her first real man Charles Mason, the guy that holds the key to her heart Clint Chamberlain (or does he?) and of course, my favorite the sexy homicide detective Gabe Baldwin. Which one will she wind up with? I'm getting ready to find out! Can't wait!!! This storyline is so hot!!!

I absolutely love this story! Gabe Baldwin is my favorite male character in this MUST READ series. His character is alpha-male, hot, sexy, and mysterious. I like that in the characters I read about. Of course, Charles Mason and Clint Chamberlain aren't bad either. I wouldn't kick either one of them out of the sack, hahaha! If you are a reader who wants to escape from it all via reading fiction then you have just struck gold with Ms. Murray's popular LAMBERT series. Get cozy before you start reading this book because it is very hard to put it down once you begin the story. That's a fact! (I'm thrilled to recommend this book and the 3 other books that go with it!)

I bought the first two books based on the glowing reviews. I agree with the What Am I Missing Reviewer. They were poorly written and I could not even stand to finish the first one. The reviews are obviously a set up and a great disservice to people who actually buy these books. Please show us a review from a national source.

Looking for something I knew I would enjoy, I went for White Knight, the -- ninth? tenth? I've lost count -- book in the Harry Dresden series. I liked seeing the different strains of White Court vamps, especially when we got to see all of their powers in full bloom, so to speak, when Harry and Ramirez had to confront them all at the gathering. I liked how capable Lara Raith is at manipulation, though of course I appreciate that Harry is always able to find a way through her tangled web. I thought their final escape from the cave was great -- though I didn't think a whole lot of the super-ghouls that were the ultimate bad guy; smacked of Buffy and the Neander-Vamps. Especially the whole big-showdown-in-a-cave, with a gate to the underworld that they all come through -- you get the picture. And this book didn't have nearly enough Bob in it.

I did, however, love the resolution of the Lasciel/Denarian subplot that's been running through the last five books. I liked the way it worked, and I loved the message it gave: that everyone has a choice, and the simple fact of that choice makes us better people -- when we recognize and acknowledge the choice, that is. I feel like it makes me a better person when I realize that I'm living my life, I'm not trapped in it.

Anyway, I liked Thomas's part in this, and I loved Mouse, of course -- I dig his super-bark -- and Elaine was fine, though not a terribly interesting character. I liked her resolution, too, how she's going to become a champion of all the lesser magic-users who aren't good enough for the White Council; you just know that's going to come back and slap them right in their elitist faces. Workers unite! Viva la Revolucion! I also liked the insight into Gentleman Johnny Marcone and his relationship with Dresden -- though I'm not really sure I buy the gangster-with-a-heart; can you really be ruthless and run all of Chicago's rackets without hurting innocents? Then again, we are talking about a book about wizards here, so maybe I shouldn't complain about suspending my disbelief.

White Night is the ninth book in the Dresden Files. In the last novel, Proven Guilty, Harry takes Molly Carpenter as an apprentice to prevent the White Council from executing her for practicing black magic. Proven Guilty begins with fairies being sent to centers of fear. Molly had used fear to cause her friends to quit using drugs, and in doing so practiced black magic and became a beacon for the "fear" fairies. Once she was captured, with Michael gone, Charity and Harry led an expedition to the capital of Winter to get her back.

White Night continues the theme lines from previous novels (the war with the Red Court, peace with the White Court, Elaine, Lasciel), but centers around a power play within the White Court. The three powerful families within the White Court are making a play for power by culling the human race of wizards. Jim Butcher also makes strides in the development of Lasciel, Cowl and the White Court.

This is the best book in the series so far; I could hardly put it down. The developments with Lasciel are very fascinating and the climax of this novel was very exciting. If I didn't know that Harry was going to live, it would have even been more exciting. I just thought of interesting plot line for future novels, Butcher could have Harry die, and then continue the series with Molly and/or Elaine to avenge him. Heck, he could even start a side series with what Elaine is encountering in LA with her as the main character. I highly recommend White Night to anyone who has read the first eight novels.

I've never, in my life, ever said this about anyone, ever.

I am a FAN of Jim Butcher.

He has consistently written top notch novels, one right after the other. He's managed to build multiple, detail-rich over-arcing storylines, significant character change and growth, emotionally-laden highs and lows and the evolution of a world so complete that I have to remind myself to eat, sleep and go to work whenever I get started on a new Dresden Files novel. They are, intentionally speaking, mesmerising, pure magic every time.

As I said, Dresden isn't the ONLY Wizard when it comes to these books.

If you are into modern day swords and scorcery or if you just want a little escapeism. This is the way to go. Butcher starts off with a bang and never lets up. The only thing is you will need to have read the rest of the series to understand some of what is going on. Other than that it rocks.White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9)

You know a book is good when you've picked it apart, word by word, you know it inside and out, and it still takes your breath away when you re-read it.

This is the ninth Dresden Files book, and yes, it's White Night, not White Knight or White Nights. Easy way to remember: every single one of the Dresden Files titles is two words, with the same number of letters in each word--which is why Death Masks isn't Holy Sheet.

Anyway. The have-nots of Chicago's magical community--those people with just a bit of power--have been going missing. Several have turned up dead, mostly in apparent suicides. And somebody's left a message with the bodies: Exodus 22:18. Harry Dresden isn't religious, but that's a verse he knows by heart: "suffer not a witch to live."

And what makes things worse, for Harry at least, is that a lot of the missing women were last seen with either a very handsome man with dark hair or a very tall man in a gray cloak. Wardens of the White Council wear gray cloaks, which makes Harry himself a suspect, and the other man sounds very much like his brother Thomas, who's been secretive about his new job.

The plot is convoluted, but it makes sense once you get all the pieces, and what's really cool is that it's convoluted because that's the way the people involved do things. It's that level of detail that prompts the five stars. Everything in the book has a reason for being there, usually several reasons.

Harry's still training his new apprentice Molly, and that's got a bunch of layers as well--her strengths fit everything we know about her from previous books, and the effects on Harry show, too. It's not just "let's give Harry a teenage girl for a sidekick." It has so much consistency you'd believe they were real people.

Several characters from earlier books show up, ones we haven't seen for a while, and that's fun, and completely plot-driven. No Mouseketeer role calls here.

As you can probably guess from the fact that his brother is a suspect, the emotional intensity is up there. There's also a lot of emotion involved with Harry dealing with anger issues and with Lash, the shadow of a fallen angel who's living in his head. I needed tissues.

There were also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and dozens of quotable lines, like "...age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good."

And some very cool special effects, which the TV show will never get a chance to use because it's been canceled, darnitall. Ah, well, they probably work better in my head anyway. Stupid SciFi Channel.

One caveat: this is a planned series: 20 books and then a big old apocalyptic trilogy, because who doesn't love apocalyptic trilogies? Which means that even though the books are complete in themselves, there is something going on that's leading to that apocalyptic trilogy. In other words: read the series in order. You'll get more out of it that way.

There are some hard parts to get through describing the fire, but you'll appreciate the Chicago history, the history around the event, what it did to the surrounding neighborhood and how it changed fire codes in the U.S. and likely the world. Your children are safer today because of what happened to these kids.

The book also made me replace all of my smoke detectors!

This book was given to me to read when I took my first fire fighter class. My instructor loaned me her copy and I ended up buying my own copy. The tragic events detailed in this book led me into teaching fire prevention and making sure that a tragedy such as this never happens again.

I have recommended this book to several people both in and outside of the fire service. Everyone that I know who have read it have been touched by this story. I have also given this book as a gift to several students taking their first steps into the fire service so that they never forget the impact a tragic fire can have.

I love to read and I feel that this is one of the best books I have ever read. I am also a firefighter and decided to read this book because it had to do with a historic fire, little did I know that I would love this book for much more than historic and educational reasons. This book was very well written and showed all aspects of this event from the firefighters to the victims themselves. I would recomden this book to anyone who wants a good read, as well as to anyone who is interested in fire history.

This was a fascinating book. I bought it to read on a trip, because of the excellent ratings. We were stuck in a plane on a runway in Dallas for 6 hours. The wait seemed much shorter, because I was thoroughly involved in reading this book.

I highly recommend it.

This is one Chicago tragedy that resonates with me strongly. My former attorney, recently deceased, was a survivor of the deadly fire at Our Lady of Angels Catholic School.

Despite our shared interest in history, he never spoke of the fire during the twenty years in which I knew him. Last year, I found a web site maintained by survivors of the fire and questioned him about the inclusion of his name and that of his sister on the list. His sole response was that the entries were correct. Both had attended school on December 1, 1958, the date of the fire. Our brief conversation proceeded no further. My friend was visibly uncomfortable and I did not make press him with additional inquiries.

Having read this well written account of the fire and the arson investigation, I can understand why my friend preferred to change the subject. This book is compelling, but it is not for the faint of heart. The descriptions contained in "To Sleep With Angels" will haunt and disturb you. You may not be able to read the book without pausing to weep.
I could not read the book in a single sitting.

It is difficult to forget any of the tragic events described in "To Sleep With the Angels." In no particular order, the random images include a father, who rushed to the school with a ladder to rescue trapped children, watching his own son perish in a cloud of toxic smoke as the ladder was too short to reach a high window; a sick ten year old girl had a premonitory dream, but within a few hours the same child felt much better and asked her mother to let her attend school after recess; from an upper floor window, frightened children recognized an adult neighbor, the owner of the local candy store, and began shouting at the woman and begging her to help save them. The terrible list goes on and on as the authors relate the individual memories and recollections of many of the survivors, the families of the victims, the witnesses and the investigators.

More than ninety persons perished that on that cold December afternoon. In addition to ninety-two students, three nuns were also killed in the burning building. A majority of the victims succumbed on account of smoke inhalation. In the aftermath of the fire, a national campaign was launched to improved fire safety at schools throughout the USA.

Almost as painful as the fire itself was the ultimate fate of many of the survivors. Following the tragedy, many local residents began to move away from their formerly beloved parish. Some people would describe the exodus of the families from the blue collar West Side neighborhood as white flight, but others believed that it was simply too painful for many parents and children to continue living in close proximity to the school where their loved ones had died. They needed to find new surroundings in which to live rather than be reminded of the tragedy on a daily basis. There were far too many unanswerable questions: How many additional lives might have been saved if a set of doors had been closed? How many children would have been spared if the fire had occurred fifteen minutes later after the three o'clock dismissal bell? Why wasn't the fire alarm bell sounded at the school more quickly? Firefighters felt that they could have saved many more lives if they had been given the correct building address and had arrived on the scene four minutes sooner.

No one was ever prosecuted for the crime of arson in connection with the suspicious fire. A juvenile offender set the fire, but he could not be tried under Illinois law since the crime occurred before his thirteenth birthday. This same minor was subsequently tried and convicted for a series of arsons committed in suburban Cicero, where his family moved after the fire at Our Lady of the Angels. The authors posit that church and civil authorities sought to shield the identity of the boy on account of his minority. This explanation is wholly credible.

After my friend's funeral, his two sisters related that their brother regularly attended memorial masses held to honor those who died in the fire at Our Lady of the Angels. The elder sister, who had also attended the school on the day of the fire, exited the building safely. Her brother was also escaped without serious injury. Their father heard a radio broadcast concerning the fire while driving his car and he was permitted to enter the police cordon to look for his children. He was unaware that they had arrived home safely during the confusion. There was a great deal of crying when the children and parents were reunited at their home that afternoon. These personal stories are not repeated in the book.
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In a bizarre and equally disturbing development, one of the authors of this book was convicted of arson after setting a fire to a storage building opposite St. Benedict's Catholic Church on the North side of Chicago in June of 2005. Thankfully, only property damage resulted from the fire. David Cowan was said to be despondent after losing his janitorial job. The defendant, who was also a former suburban firefighter, was sentenced to serve a three year prison term in December of that same year. He has been paroled. Ironically, he was also the author a book entitled, "Great Chicago Fires" and had reported on fires for various newspapers.

Jeanne Boylan could be a movie star or model. She is tall, slim, and blonde. She began her artistic career by doodling in notebooks as a child. Her art career is really based on getting serial killers, mass murderers, and criminals brought to justice. Her relationship to Marc Klaas, the father of murdered victim Polly Klaas who became an activist seeking justice for the victims. The book's narrative is taken by the author's perception and experiences. The Smith case rendered the same feeling that the mother was involved in her sons's abductions and murders. Reading about how Jeanne and Marc learned about their fates were both horrifying. They still had hope that a mother would not have gone so far or over the edge of the unthinkable. We all think that the criminals can be monsters but Susan Smith was also the mother to two innocent young boys, Michael and Alexander. Nobody believed her story of an abduction in a rural road in the middle of the night. Most motives behind carjacking is the car itself. Carjackers don't want two babies in the backseat. Sadly, a carjacker would have probably returned Michael and Alexander safely somewhere but Susan's story never washed out. Her sons' bodies were in the bottom on John D. Long Lake. Of course, Boylan writes about her failed marriage, her background in Montrose, Colorado, and how she became known as the woman behind criminal portraits which led to the captures of the Unabomber or Ted Kaczynski and others.

I became interested in this author after seeing her speak about eyewitness memory on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I found the book, read it and then noticed a composite drawing in the Elizabeth Smart case that seemed to bear no likeness to the man arrested for the kidnapping. Jeanne Boylan's name was periodically associated with the case and I felt let down that she'd so badly erred in doing the less than stellar drawing. (Though now we know that the man was caught because the Smart family realized his religious name, announced it to the public and then were given real photos by the man's own family that were aired on TV which then resulted in his subsequent identification and quick arrest.)

Now, in more recent news reports, I found out that Jeanne Boylan actually interviewed the younger sister of Elizabeth about her memory of the abduction night and that the poor suspect drawing the media was showing was not from her interviews, but was from a local portrait person and was not taken from the little sister's sighting the night of the abduction but rather was taken from the family who knew the man and had spent many hours with him. Now I understood why the descrepancy.

I felt relief. I momentarily thought Jeanne Boylan had lost her skills. Now I understand the difference between her interview and the drawing that is now linked to the case but does not look like the kidnapper.

I look forward to the sequel of 'Portraits of Guilt' and to reading more about what happens to eyewitness's memories when the sightings are endured during moments of fright and fear and how that forces their vision very deep into the recesses of their mind as it did for Elizabeth's little sister.

Praise the Lord that with help and encouragement, Elizabeth's little sister finally remembered the religious name with the help of the loving Smart family, the apparently astute police and Jeanne Boylan who all had fiercely guarded the young child's evolving memory while it was gradually surfacing so that the kidnapper was finally caught. Good things come to those who wait!

I found this book on Oprah's website under "Oprah's Books" and think highly of her choices so ordered it. I'm happy I did. It was a fast moving, compelling read and gave me a view into a world I knew nothing about. I feel entertained, educated and wiser from reading it. What more could you ask... I endorse the book, author and Oprah's good taste.

I am a reseacher in the area of human memory. My university studies and thesis are in the area of crime victim recall and memory malleability. I was given Miss Boylan's book by a fellow doctoral student who said simply, "Read this. This woman gets it."

To my astonishment, this was true and to know that there is a woman struggling essentially all alone to enlighten police about the seriousness of memory malleability made me want to jump into the pages of this book and yell to the police she works with that there is scientific data backing up every word she says about this topic.

Miss Boylan unfortunately writes in too kind a fashion, seemingly concerned about offending the masses, but sometimes creating change requires the proverbial 2 X 4 to create the desired impact. Although I appreciate Miss Boylan's subtle and polite manner, my only complaint about this book and her story is that she should and could have been much more hard hitting in her critique of what has historically gone wrong in criminal investigations. With what she's experienced, she is entitled to be direct.

With the knowledge we in the academic world have now of how memory works, there is no excuse for the mistakes made in past cases to continue to take place. Jeanne Boylan should scream her message and take her lumps. I'd rather see her save lives than to worry about winning a popularity contest. She can speak from inside the world of police, whereas "us" in our ivory towers, don't have access to the real world as she does.

Boylan relied on us to give her the foundation for her work and my predecessor's findings of three decades now, but those of us doing the empirical research have to rely on people like her to deliver our findings to the point of practical application in the police world. She can be the go-between from our world to inside real life criminal investigations.

Overall, Portraits of Guilt is a great book, great 'on the mark' insights into crime victim memory and some lessons in Boylan's stories that had better be paid attention to before we lose more lives such as Polly Klaas. (Her book is dedicated to the Klaas girl's memory.)

I give this book a five star rating for it's general level of readibility and for her stunning insights into trauma victim memory malleability, but Miss Boylan, if you write a second book, and I hope you do, next time, take the gloves off and try to come out swinging.

I've read a lot of good books about healing from trauma and the effects trauma has upon memory. I've also read a lot of books about the fallibility of memory that do not correctly take into account the actual experience of the trauma. Jeanne Boylan has succeeded in writing the first book that accurately addresses both sides of the understanding of memory. She clearly illustrates the way that traumatic memory can be malleable in the presence of suggestion. It is through the insight of Jeanne Boylan's work that we can keep the innocent people out of jail and the guilty people can be handled accordingly.

She succeeds at what she does because she has both a natural ability and a deep understanding of trauma and memory. She also succeeds because she knows how to reach the heart. She works from her intuition as well as her logical understanding. Her kind and gentle nature is a true asset in the work that she does, and she could not achieve what she has achieved without it. In addition to all of this she has the added gift of being an incredible artist. Jeanne Boylan was born to do the work that she does; it is an inborn gift, which was further honed by her own personal experience of trauma and surviving a crime.

Jeanne Boylan describes traumatic memory as being like a fifty-cent piece that has been tossed below eight feet of water. The memory gets buried by the intense emotional trauma, but at the same time is locked into memory. As the emotions arise our minds protect us by blurring the image, like the movement of water. We can still see it, but it is distorted. With the right approach the memory of the trauma can be brought back to the eyewitness's conscious memory in it's original condition, just as the fifty-cent piece can be retrieved from the water fully intact.

Jeanne Boylan works with survivors to draw near perfect portraits of the criminals. Her technique is the art form. She says, "The answers to uncovering memory reside in understanding the powerful inner workings of the human mind-- and more importantly, in the power of the human heart. (p. 11)" She says "The higher the degree of personal trauma, the harder the mind works to discard or bury the image, but, also, the more likely it will have been encoded into memory in the first place, even if it is housed at a much deeper level of recall... Sometimes if we can coach the conscious mind to move aside we can still access the original untainted image--if there is reason enough for it to have been retained in memory. (p.13)" It is the release of emotions, no matter what form, that helps reach the image. She uses an interview technique, which brings the person into a safe space in order to access the memory without the emotions blocking it, and she uses carefully worded questions to prevent suggestions from distorting the original memory.

During her chapters about the devastating kidnap and murder of twelve year old Polly Klass, she provides new insight into how to recognize the veracity of an eyewitness account. She explains that when witnesses remember the trauma or the attacker differently that this is actually a sign that they are telling the truth because no two people remember an experience identically. The discrepancies help to validate and preserve the images and details of the memory for later needs (as long as suggestion has not been introduced). There is usually one stronger witness, however that witness will often have a degree of self-doubt that can be increased when she/he encounters discrepancies among the other witnesses. Jeanne Boylan was the first person on the case of Polly Klass to treat the witnesses (also twelve years old) with the validation and support that they needed.

The chapter about the abduction and torture of Sister Dianna Ortiz was the most powerful aspect of the book, for me. Anyone who has experienced a similar trauma will find a lot of healing and peace in reading this chapter. We watch Sister Dianna Ortiz work through the intense PTSD, become empowered, speak out and overcome the accusations that her experiences were a figment of her imagination. Sister Dianna Ortiz speaks of her healing, "Healing comes in many forms. I know I will always carry the memory of what happened to me on November second, 1989. For more than six and one-half years I have allowed my Guatemalan torturers and Alejandro to haunt me. Many times, I've felt like they danced within me. Many times I've felt that if I got close to anyone, I was going to contaminate them with the evilness that they left inside me. But today, I can sit here and say that that evil does not exist inside me anymore, and that is because of the work that I was able to accomplish with Jeanne Boylan. (p.282)... The images of my torturers and Alejandro have always stayed within me, and I have held myself responsible for the horrible things that happened on that November day, but today, because I was able, with the help of Jeanne Boylan, to put a face to these monsters, I can put them away from me. They no longer live in my soul. Until I faced them, I could never be free. (p283)"

In the next chapter called Awakenings Jeanne Boylan says, "Though I knew instinctively the importance of freeing a victim of the evil left from an attack, never before had I realized so clearly the emotional power that floods the soul when the residual grip of an assailant is finally loosened, and gently removed from the heart. (p. 286)"

Jeannie Boylan ends the book with the conclusion she left us wanting to hear since the Prologue. She weaves in her own experience, and powerfully does for herself what she has already done for so many others.

Hemingway, Ruark, and Sanchez are all pale imitators of the great Peter Hathaway Capstick. Try to imagine an American walking away from a Wall Street career to hunt as a professional guide in Africa. Now imagine that this guy could write WAY BETTER than Hemingway, and you're still not there.
A small snipet from the chapter on leopard.
"...the bark of the tree, when, suddenly, your gazing into two yellow-green eyes as evil as poison gas."
I'm not a hunter myself, but reading this book makes me wish I was.

"Death in the Long Grass" is my favorite of all Capstick's stories. Note, I didn't say "the most accurate or honest", but simply my favorite. He makes fearful episodes with wild beasts believable but, I suspect that Capstick put many second-hand stories into the first person.

I spoke to one long-time professional hunter in Zambia, old Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, "What do you know about Capstick?" At the time I was an avid reader and believed every word like scripture. He told me, "All I've heard of him is that he was a cook in a hunting camp in Zambia." Then again, my professional hunter friend may have had insufficient information. Another time, in one of his book, Capstick seems to quote me, personally. I will paraphrase, "I met a young African hunter who gave me his philosophy on hunting, 'It's better to spend small amounts of money and go on many safaris than to spend a great deal of money and go on only a few'." This is, in fact, an accurate quote...but...I never met Capstick. But this was and is my personal philosophy and, because of it, I have hunted all over the world and taken everything from doves to elephant.

Another friend, who reportedly knew Capstick in his later years, told me that Capstick said words to the effect, "Everybody believes that I am a liar." My friend responded, "It doesn't matter what people think. You are a great writer and you've done more for big-game hunting than any man alive." I quite agree with this, by the way.

In one of his books, Capstick tells the exciting story of hunting down a maneating leopard. It's truly a gripping tale. Late in his life, Capstick--for a fee--offered his company on African safaris. I read the account my one of the men who hired Capstick. Once again, I'll paraphrase, "It's a remarkable thing that Capstick, who had guided so many hunters in the killing of leopards, had never actually shot one himself. I therefore gave him my leopard permit and Capstick did the shooting."

Hey, Capstick was a fascinating writer, had a great ear and made the reader live the adventure. Were all his facts exactly straight? I don't know and doubt it really matters.

Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Conquest of Mexico.

I first read this book years ago, but that copy got lost and I was overjoyed to find it again. My siblings and I all wanted it when Dad gave away his library.

Mr Capstick is a wonderfully descriptive writer! Each one of the big eight African game animals has a chapter; and each is the very worst way to die. Capstick does not skimp on the gory details, but he is entertaining and real. He spent many years in the Africian bush and obviously knows each of these animals very, very well.

I worked with a gentleman who met Capstick while in Africia and he reported that the man in the book is the same man in real life. If you want a different view of Africa from the Disneyification of wildlife this is the book for you.

"If you want to be a writer, don't listen to your high school English teacher", Pete Townshend once told a caller on a syndicated radio program. In this instance, I emphatically agree! I never knew what my high school English teachers wanted either. I can just imagine them with their red pencils, crossing out one line after another if they would ever bother to read a book like this. But in actual fact Mr. Capstick spins his yarns so well in this, his first book, that most of his readers could not put it down.

Reading in the safety of your own home, as you are sitting in your recliner chair sipping an iced drink, I daresay you will look over your shoulder once or twice. Even if the hair doesn't stand up on the back of your neck.

I won't go into the content here, as there is more than enough info in the other reviews. I've read about half of his books and I suspect that this first one is his best. You just have to start here. He writes so engagingly that even the foreword is required reading!

PHC is a spinner of hair raising yarns. He is quite a creative storyteller with a style that makes you feel like you're part of the hunt. His descriptions and details bring you face to face with dangerous game on a safari adventure. I've read and re-read this book many times and each time I am always wanting to know what will happen next.