Greg King

Manson the Devil

Not only does Greg King give us a chilling account of the murders themselves, he also gives us great insight to what's happened to the victim's families and the heartless killers themselves in the 32 years since these senseless murders were committed. It is heartbreaking to learn how the victim's families must continue to relive the gory details of the murders every time one of the convicted killers’ whines before a parole board about how they have changed and should be set free and given a second chance. The victims will never get a second chance, why should the killers? I read after finishing this book I had the urge to watch Evil lives Here. I feel like so much hate was described in this book and such a star’s light was dimmed to soon and it made me sad.
It's incredibly offensive to hear the killers say that the only reason they haven't been paroled yet is because these were such "high profile" crimes and if this had not been the case, they would have been paroled long ago. While that may be true, let's not forget that it was the killers who chose these particular victims BECAUSE they wanted these to be "high profile" crimes so the world would listen! Well, the world did listen, and the vast majority of a decent, law-abiding society is determined that people who are capable of committing such a senseless crime (no matter the reasons) shall never be free to walk among us again.
Greg King's focus in this book is on the victims, not the killers, and that's how this case should be remembered. So many times, books and articles are written to try and obtain sympathy for the killers. They should be grateful that they beat the gas chamber and face the fact that a life, even though behind bars, is still a life. That's much more consideration than they ever gave any of their victims. I enjoyed this very much and will be looking into more books by Greg King if he paints the victims so much better then the evil people who committed them. I have a friend who loves serial killers too I will be recommending this to her as soon as I talk to her next.
… (plus d'informations)

I received an advance copy of this title from Net galley, this has not influenced my review.

True crime cases, particularly murders, and particularly gruesome murders committed under odd circumstances, regularly tend to be exaggerated and become overblown with lurid and morbid retellings. The Leopold and Loeb case is a textbook example of this fact. A hundred years on and the events surrounding their shocking and brutal crime are still fixed, if somewhat vaguely, in the public imagination. This continued fascination has spawned movies, documentaries, and fiction and non-fiction titles alike, to this day.
In the crowded field that is historical true crime (to say nothing of the crowded field of Leopold & Loeb writings) the authors of this title distinguish themselves and achieve an engaging, deeply informative book. A volume, I think, that will become a requisite for anyone wanting to know the full history of this case. In addition to excellent pacing, a compelling writing style, and relevant historical context, the authors avoid veering into sensationalism. The murder of Bobby Franks is placed squarely in the center of the story as nothing less than a heinous and outrageous crime, all the background and context we get about the perpetrators never goes so far as to imply anything close to exoneration. The authors also treat the whole case with professionalism and rigor, background, the crime itself, and the trial and aftermath all have their allotted space and each is covered well.
This was a lively and compelling book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in this particular case or in historical true crime in general.… (plus d'informations)

Fantastic book. My only complaint is that section 3 - The Experts - was really a slog. It starts out pretty good, but most of this section is made up of the interviews and court testimonies of the experts, and is frankly boring. We cotton on pretty quickly that the prosecution thinks one thing and the defense thinks another, and so several chapters diving into how this can be is, frankly, boring. The authors will state that the defense attorney is a blow-hard gasbag, and then quote verbatim whole pages-worth of his speeches! This section is necessary for the historical record, but casual readers are going to suffer through it. Actually, I just skimmed through (read: skipped) most of this section, and picked it back up at the next one, when it got good again.… (plus d'informations)