True Crime / Life Books

[nodorothyparker]

The Worst Hard Time is a pretty gripping account of the American Dust Bowl.  That's one of those things you know was bad from what little attention it got in history class and if you've ever read The Grapes of Wrath, but reading this made me realize just how much I'd underestimated the sheer magnitude and devastation of it.

 

Speaking of Jon Krakauer, I also really liked his Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith about the history of Mormonism and the FLDS.  But I also have a weird fascination with Warren Jeffs and the FLDS and religious cultism in general.  That's probably the same reason I found Carolyn Jessop's Escape so interesting.

[NewDigs]

...

Speaking of Jon Krakauer, I also really liked his Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith about the history of Mormonism and the FLDS. But I also have a weird fascination with Warren Jeffs and the FLDS and religious cultism in general. That's probably the same reason I found Carolyn Jessop's Escape so interesting.

I have a similar fascination with cultism and have been amazed at how many interesting Mormon true crime books are out there. Under the Banner of Heaven is one of the best. You might find this older title, The Mormon Murders, interesting.

And re: cultism, don't forget Going Clear, or as reviewer Lawrence Wright called it, "Eyes Wide Shut". No one does it like the Scienos.

EditedToCorrect: Lawrence Wright is the author, Michael Kinsley the reviewer.

Edited July 28, 2015 by NewDigs

[Yokosmom]

It's out of print now, but if you like reading about cults, The 4 O'Clock Murders, by Scott Anderson, will blow your mind.  Mormon cultist in Mexico, using his vast family to commit crimes, including murder, and to settle scores. Ervil LeBaron makes Warren Jeffs and his group look like amateur night in Dixie.

 

Re Ann Rule--I knew that she must be going downhill physically--she sold her beautiful lake house a few years ago, and I greatly suspect that her last (not particularly interesting) book was co-written by her daughter.  However, I was very surprised to read that her two sons were charged with stealing and embezzling from her.  I guess that not even true crime writers are exempt from having lowlifes in their families.  I really liked her early to mid books.  Small Sacrifices, Everything She Ever Wanted, and The Stranger Beside Me stick out most in my mind.

[pigs-in-space]

I have a similar fascination with cultism and have been amazed at how many interesting Mormon true crime books are out there. Under the Banner of Heaven is one of the best. You might find this older title, The Mormon Murders, interesting.

And re: cultism, don't forget Going Clear, or as reviewer Lawrence Wright called it, "Eyes Wide Shut". No one does it like the Scienos.

EditedToCorrect: Lawrence Wright is the author, Michael Kinsley the reviewer.

 

I really like both Under the Banner of Heaven and Going Clear.  Definitely two of my favorites.  Going Clear I first listened to as an audiobook on a long car trip, and I usually prefer actual books to audiobooks, but it was an entertaining listen.

 

Lately I've read/started reading:

-Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood by Greg Merritt.  I'm about halfway through this one, so no strong opinion on it yet.

 

-Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William Mann.  Obviously I'm on a bit of an old Hollywood kick.  Very interesting, but got a bit repetitive at times, and even though the author claimed  he wasn't embellishing, it definitely felt like he was adding in his own spin a lot.  He was also quite emphatic about how one of the women grew up and gained weight, and described her as "waddling" and stuff like that.  Maybe she did, but it turned me off for sure and was an unnecessary descriptor.

 

I just added American Eve, which was mentioned earlier in the thread, to my library holds, since it seems like it would be a great follow-up to these two books.

[NewDigs]

I did the audio version of Going Clear too! And not only was the subject matter fascinating, in a sickening kind of way, but the reader did a really good job. Like you I also usually much prefer reading the actual book but this one was captivating.

I am also bringing over a partial post of mine from the ID Network thread. 20/20 did an hour long show about a favorite true crime book. One I highly recommend.

Saw a 20/20 that was not only new to me but one that I was thrilled to see. The episode was named "Survivor" and it was based on events retold by a surviving victim which she recounted in her book This Strange Piece of Paradise.

I read this book and it was so incredibly powerful that I had always wondered about and wanted to somehow see this surviving-victim author. And there she was! Her point of view as victim was really something and her tenacity over the years was unflagging. I wish I had seen the entire episode. I will never forget her or the book and recommend both/either.

[Yokosmom]

I can recommend that book too.  It had a real effect on me.  Her fellow survivor, who didn't want to relive the event, and cut herself off from the author, suffered too-her book, if she had written one, would have been totally different.  She was about to start medical school, I think, but the attack left her legally blind.  Just goes to show how one terrible crime can alter lives so radically and permanently. I was also impressed by the older couple that helped the author due to their own, horrible loss.  Actually, judging by this book, you wonder why even more people don't try to commit murders, judging by the police inaction shown here.

[psychoticstate]

I really like both Under the Banner of Heaven and Going Clear.  Definitely two of my favorites.  Going Clear I first listened to as an audiobook on a long car trip, and I usually prefer actual books to audiobooks, but it was an entertaining listen.

 

Lately I've read/started reading:

-Room 1219: The Life of Fatty Arbuckle, the Mysterious Death of Virginia Rappe, and the Scandal That Changed Hollywood by Greg Merritt.  I'm about halfway through this one, so no strong opinion on it yet.

 

-Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William Mann.  Obviously I'm on a bit of an old Hollywood kick.  Very interesting, but got a bit repetitive at times, and even though the author claimed  he wasn't embellishing, it definitely felt like he was adding in his own spin a lot.  He was also quite emphatic about how one of the women grew up and gained weight, and described her as "waddling" and stuff like that.  Maybe she did, but it turned me off for sure and was an unnecessary descriptor.

 

I just added American Eve, which was mentioned earlier in the thread, to my library holds, since it seems like it would be a great follow-up to these two books.

 

I am also reading Room 1219 now.  I love old Hollywood  so this ticks that box, along with true crime.  I like that the author so far has researched Virginia Rappe far more than any other author or historian.  It's nice to get an idea of her as something other than a drunken, whorish party girl.

 

I have Tinseltown in physical book form as well as the audio version.  Very different from what I was expecting but it was fascinating.  Definitely gives you something other than the "Charlotte Shelby killed Taylor" theory.  And a most interesting look at Hollywood and L.A. in the late teens/early twenties.

[glowlights]

I picked this up at the library yesterday, and I'm already halfway through it. I've never been convinced Shannan Gilbert was a victim of the serial killer, although there were no drugs found in her system which was my theory till that came out. I hope he goes into this further. Sad how similar the backgrounds of these victims are.

 

Me neither, but the story of her last night is so baffling and sad. :(

 

For anyone who enjoys shorter pieces, The Best American Crime Writing series ran from about 2002 to 2010. Each volume was filled with intriguing true crime stories, all very well-written. Of course some years were stronger than others, but none of them were duds. Otto Penzler and his guest editors did a great job with it. This was one of my favorites:

http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Crime-Writing-Reporting/dp/0375713026/ref=sr_1_29?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1438899086&sr=1-29&refinements=p_27%3AOtto+Penzler

[Crs97]

With all our talk about Jon Krakauer, I thought this was an interesting interview in which he says he wished he had never climbed Everest:

 

http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/archive/segment/55cd05f278c90ad1b5000801?source=gravityRR&cps=gravity_2688_-4282118916890711149

[MargeGunderson]

Speaking of John Krakauer, has anyone read Missoula? I generally love his books but this one just may make me too angry to enjoy.

[hendersonrocks]

Speaking of John Krakauer, has anyone read Missoula? I generally love his books but this one just may make me too angry to enjoy.

 

 

Yes - and you hit the nail on the head. It's not a book you can really enjoy, but it is incredibly written and meticulously researched (though the people on receiving end of Krakauer's wrath would disagree with that assertion, of course). I've recommended it to many people but always with the caveat that it's not an easy read. That being said, I also think it's a NECESSARY one.

[NewDigs]

Speaking of John Krakauer, has anyone read Missoula? I generally love his books but this one just may make me too angry to enjoy.

I have wanted to read that. Thanks for the reminder.

An NPR Krakauer interview piqued my interest but I had recently finished The Price of Silence, about the Duke LaCrosse scandal, and was not prepared for more anger and righteous indignation. Though I think the anger and indignation is differently directed in each book.

[MargeGunderson]

Thanks! I'll add both Missolua and The Price of Silence to my reading list.

[hendersonrocks]

I just saw Sars/Sarah D. Bunting tweet this out: Seven first-time true-crime hits.

[NewDigs]

I just saw Sars/Sarah D. Bunting tweet this out: Seven first-time true-crime hits.

Thanks! To you and Sarah.

I seem to end up reading so much drek in order to get my true crime fix.

Glad to see Strange Piece of Paradise represented. I consider it a classic

[MargeGunderson]

Does anyone have recommendations for good true crime websites? I used to read Crime Library on my lunch hour but since its demise I haven't found a replacement.

Edited September 4, 2015 by MargeGunderson

[NewDigs]

I admit that I had no idea these websites existed. And I can't vouch for Websleuths but it looks interesting. More of a forum. A really big forum.

I just finished Speaking in Bones by Kathy Reichs and a major thread that ran through the story was about online posters keeping cold cases alive and the above site was one of the sites she mentions. I know that there is a lot more to the site than the cold cases but have spent minimal time looking.

Thanks for reminding me! Looks like Crime Library was interesting.

Edited September 3, 2015 by NewDigs

[MargeGunderson]

Just told so folks in the 19 kids and counting thread about this board so hopefully they'll visit!

I am finishing Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz. She and a college friend were attacked by a man with an axe while camping overnight on a bike tour (in Oregon in the late 70s.) Both survived, Teri with fewer physical injuries than her friend. Terri goes back to Oregon several times over the span of a few years to investigate what happened and try to find out who perpetrated the crime.

She's a vivid writer and the story is interesting, but I found my attention wandering by the end.

[NewDigs]

Speaking of John Krakauer, has anyone read Missoula? I generally love his books but this one just may make me too angry to enjoy.

Just finished Missoula and share your anger. But I frequently find myself angry reading true crime. Yet I continue.

Having now read both Missoula and Price of Silence I find myself upset/angry with the, to me, rather obscene, culture of school sports and the way schools/universities have autonomous security forces that seem to answer to no one except the school authorities who seem to not want to hear about it.

Throw in a couple of doses of prosecutorial misconduct and my ire, it is raised.

If anyone is interested in religious true crime Krakauer also wrote Under the Banner of Heaven about Mormon fundamentalism. And there is no shortage of fringe-Mormon true crime books. Krakauer does a good job with it, imho.

While there were times I also thought Strange Piece of Pardise was going long I remained intrigued because of Jentz's perseverance and ability to investigate this crime.

Not everyone has the time nor money to finance such a pursuit and I'm glad she did. And I don't remember reading a true crime penned by the vicitm. A unique perspective.

[Epeolatrix]

Although not penned entirely by a victim, a couple of books featuring survivors of serial or mass murder are Delivered from Evil: True Stories of Ordinary People Who Faced Monstrous Mass Killers and Survived by Ron Franscell and There But For the Grace of God: Survivors of the 20th Century’s Infamous Serial Killers by Fred Rosen. Each chapter of each book is devoted to a short case summary and an interview with a surviving victim and they are pretty interesting. Delivered from Evil is the better book, but if you can ignore the occasionally dickish observations of Fred Rosen, his book is okay, too.

[Maharincess]

I've been reading survival stories lately. I just finished Adrift by Steven Callahan who was adrift at sea in a small raft for 76 days.

It's incredible what people can survive. Does anyone have any recommendations for books like that one?

Thanks!

[Bunty]

You might enjoy "The Raft" written by Robert Trumbull.  I've not read it but I enjoyed the recent movie it was based on Against the Sun.

 

In one of the most harrowing true stories of World War II, three US Navy airmen crash land their torpedo bomber in the South Pacific and find themselves on a tiny life raft, surrounded by open ocean. No food. No water. No hope of rescue. Against incredible odds, these three virtual strangers must survive storms, sharks, starvation - and each other - as they try to sail more than a thousand miles to safety.

[Maharincess]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it.

Thanks to comments here, I've fallen into the hole of acolumbinesite. There's so much false information out there that I never knew about. It's horrifying and fascinating at the same time. I can't stop reading there.

[savannah1985]

You could also try "Unbroken" by Lauren Hillenbrand. They made a movie out of it but I don't know if it's any good. The book is great,Hillenbrand wrote "Seabiscuit", another meticulously researched book.

My aunt was a librarian and loved true-crime books. She got me interested in Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Jeffrey MacDonald. And you know what gets me about Jeffrey MacDonald? I'm a mother, ok? If my son died I would be devastated. If my son was MURDERED, in the way his family was MURDERED, I don't think I would get through it. I don't expect him to be the basket case I would be, but come on. He was joking about his treatment when he was on Dick Cavett. The man is as guilty as sin.

Oh, and at the library? The call # is 364.1523. True crime.

[Sharpie66]

In the late-'70s, I was in junior high, and that tween-age fascination with the dark and twisted coincided with the television broadcast of Helter Skelter (which my mom wouldn't let me watch, but I tracked down the book), and then the news coverage of John Wayne Gacy (which was local for me, so it was alllll over the news for months). It even seeped into the schoolyard taunts used by the kids. Then, a few years later, I did watch the tv miniseries "A Deliberate Stranger" with Mark Harmon as Bundy (which I saw again not that many years ago--it still holds up, and Harmon is still chilling in the role).

 

What freaked me out was when I was chatting with my assistant manager at the bookstore I worked at in the 1990s, and found out that her first landlady at her apartment building had been Gacy's first wife. I can't imagine being in her shoes!

[Readalot]

In the late-'70s, I was in junior high, and that tween-age fascination with the dark and twisted coincided with the television broadcast of Helter Skelter (which my mom wouldn't let me watch, but I tracked down the book), and then the news coverage of John Wayne Gacy (which was local for me, so it was alllll over the news for months). It even seeped into the schoolyard taunts used by the kids. Then, a few years later, I did watch the tv miniseries "A Deliberate Stranger" with Mark Harmon as Bundy (which I saw again not that many years ago--it still holds up, and Harmon is still chilling in the role).

What freaked me out was when I was chatting with my assistant manager at the bookstore I worked at in the 1990s, and found out that her first landlady at her apartment building had been Gacy's first wife. I can't imagine being in her shoes!

same age same fascination during my teens. I lived in LA during the Night Stalker...crazy scary time indeed! - Thank you all the reviews, these are about all I can handle. I use to love reading books like these, and fiction thrillers too. Later figured out it contributed to anxiety and insomnia so I had to stop. Boo!

[ccphilly]

I just finished all 900 plus pages of The Executoner's Song. I thought the first half was excellent but the second half dragged. Also, I hated that the "romance" between Gary Gilmore and his girlfriend was portrayed as one of the greatest love stories of our time.

[Pepper Mostly]

I never read it (strangely enough, I'm a pretty big true crime buff), but the TV mini series with Tommy Lee Jones and Rosanna Arquette was outstanding.

 

If anyone here on PTV knows anything about me, they know I'm from Boston! I love anything of local interest. Just finished Black Mass, about local criminal Whitey Bulger, which suffered by being a fascinating subject, but poorly written. Dark Tide, about the great molasses disaster of 1919, and Fire in the Grove, about the Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942.

 

The conversation about Into Thin Air reminds me of a couple of other Everest books I enjoyed--Dark Summit by Nick Heil, about the disastrous 2006 Everest climbing season, and High Crimes, by Michael Kodas.

[Darian]

I just finished all 900 plus pages of The Executoner's Song. I thought the first half was excellent but the second half dragged. Also, I hated that the "romance" between Gary Gilmore and his girlfriend was portrayed as one of the greatest love stories of our time.

This isn't true crime exactly but if those 900 plus pages didn't burn you out on Gary Gilmore, his younger brother Mikal wrote an excellent memoir called Shot in the Heart that gives a lot of family history and perspective. It's a beautiful book but not, you know, exactly uplifting. 

[ccphilly]

Thanks Darian-I found Gilmore's mother's story quite interesting while reading The Executioner's Song.  Wasn't there some insinuation that Gilmore's father was related to Houdini?    I'll check it out.    

[MargeGunderson]

I never read it (strangely enough, I'm a pretty big true crime buff), but the TV mini series with Tommy Lee Jones and Rosanna Arquette was outstanding.

 

If anyone here on PTV knows anything about me, they know I'm from Boston! I love anything of local interest. Just finished Black Mass, about local criminal Whitey Bulger, which suffered by being a fascinating subject, but poorly written. Dark Tide, about the great molasses disaster of 1919, and Fire in the Grove, about the Cocoanut Grove fire in 1942.

 

The conversation about Into Thin Air reminds me of a couple of other Everest books I enjoyed--Dark Summit by Nick Heil, about the disastrous 2006 Everest climbing season, and High Crimes, by Michael Kodas.

Hi fellow Boston-area resident! Have you read any of the books about the theft at the Gardner Museum? Very interesting! I really hope the FBI finds the paintings in an attic somewhere. And for more local flavor, Sebastian Junger's A Death in Belmont about the Boston Strangler.

[GreekGeek]

And for more local flavor, Sebastian Junger's A Death in Belmont about the Boston Strangler.

 

I haven't read this, but I read Gerold Frank's The Boston Strangler (written in 1966) a long time ago. What freaked me out most wasn't just what the Strangler did, but how many plausible suspects there were. 

[Pepper Mostly]

Try A Rose for Mary, by Casey Sherman, about the Boston Strangler. Eye-opening. I knew that there had been doubt about DeSalvo, but not the extent. Great read.

[psychoticstate]

You could also try "Unbroken" by Lauren Hillenbrand. They made a movie out of it but I don't know if it's any good. The book is great,Hillenbrand wrote "Seabiscuit", another meticulously researched book.

My aunt was a librarian and loved true-crime books. She got me interested in Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Jeffrey MacDonald. And you know what gets me about Jeffrey MacDonald? I'm a mother, ok? If my son died I would be devastated. If my son was MURDERED, in the way his family was MURDERED, I don't think I would get through it. I don't expect him to be the basket case I would be, but come on. He was joking about his treatment when he was on Dick Cavett. The man is as guilty as sin.

Oh, and at the library? The call # is 364.1523. True crime.

 

I have read everything I can get my hands on regarding the MacDonald case and continue to follow it.  MacDonald is guilty as sin.  His cover story was crap but he sunk himself with his big ego and equally big mouth.

 

In the late-'70s, I was in junior high, and that tween-age fascination with the dark and twisted coincided with the television broadcast of Helter Skelter (which my mom wouldn't let me watch, but I tracked down the book), and then the news coverage of John Wayne Gacy (which was local for me, so it was alllll over the news for months). It even seeped into the schoolyard taunts used by the kids. Then, a few years later, I did watch the tv miniseries "A Deliberate Stranger" with Mark Harmon as Bundy (which I saw again not that many years ago--it still holds up, and Harmon is still chilling in the role).

 

What freaked me out was when I was chatting with my assistant manager at the bookstore I worked at in the 1990s, and found out that her first landlady at her apartment building had been Gacy's first wife. I can't imagine being in her shoes!

 

The 1976 Helter Skelter was so well done, it still freaks me out to watch it.  Steve Railsback got Manson down to a T and the recounting of the murders is incredibly disturbing.

[Hanahope]

If you've ever seen the movie Goodfellas, its based on a book, Wiseguys, by Nicholas Pileggi, which is very good, imo.

[SmithW6079]

I just finished all 900 plus pages of The Executoner's Song. I thought the first half was excellent but the second half dragged. Also, I hated that the "romance" between Gary Gilmore and his girlfriend was portrayed as one of the greatest love stories of our time.

I think I ended up skimming that one or not even finishing it. I found the depictions of everyday Mormons and their lives depressing, and I reached the point where I just wanted Gilmore dead already.

[Chairperson Meow]

Ordered my copy of Juan Martinez's book Conviction. It should be here Mon/Tues. I can't wait. I've read lots of true crime books, followed lots of cases, but this clearly has to be my favorite prosecutor. You can see him tear down lie by lie. Beautiful.

[Lemur]

So I have a thing about historical ship wrecks and natural disasters, which usually leads into true crime (I refer to it as the Larson Matrix).  With that said, I'd recommend the following:

 

-Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash:  Dutch East Indies ship flounders off the coast of Australia, captain embarks an open boat voyage to get help, leaves survivors in the charge of a highly questionable second-in-command.  Hilarity ensues.  And by hilarity I mean murder. 

 

-The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin:  Hey, did you know how badly our weather service sucked back in the Victorian Era?  Probably, if you've read Isaac's Storm.  Anyway, this storm predates the Great Galveston Hurricane by 12 years.  It's about a blizzard so bad it paralyzed the entire northern tier and lead NYC to create the subway system.  Before it got there though, it paralyzed the Plains and the immigrant families who'd moved there.

 

-Dead Mountain:  The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar:  The Dyatlov Pass Incident is one of those things that routinely shows up on Cracked and Listverse lists of unsolved weirdness, and well it should.  A bunch of Russian college kids with a ton of experience go out on a winter camping expedition and don't come home.  Their tent is found abandoned and when the bodies are found, they're inappropriately dressed for winter camping in the Urals.  The author explores the incident and proposes a new theory on what happened.  

 

-The Wreck of the Medusa: The Most Famous Sea Disaster of the Nineteenth Century by Jonathan Miles:  A French frigate ran aground off of the coast of Africa.   Gross incompetence, murder and cannibalism.  Also, it produces one helluva painting.  

 

-Blue Latitudes:  Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz:  I unabashedly love Horwitz, have since Confederates in the Attic ended up on my college reading list for HIST444 in college.  Horwitz is at his best when playing off his buddy, Roger.  A fantastic exploration of history and the contemporary impact of colonialism, as well as the image and legacy of a naval hero most people are only passingly familiar with.

[Qoass]

I just finished A Mother's Reckoning : living in the aftermath of tragedy by Sue Klebold and would be very interested in hearing other readers' response to it.  The author's son is Dylan Klebold of the Columbine massacre and while she concedes that her son was completely responsible for the murders he committed she spends a lot of time on how he was mentally ill and nobody picked up on it.  I've got to say, though, that she also strikes me as the type of person who lives in her own reality that does not necessarily coincide with that of others.  Sure, we all do but in my reading I was struck by how much emphasis she puts on appearances or how things look rather than how they are.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Qoass

[Lemur]

I just finished A Mother's Reckoning : living in the aftermath of tragedy by Sue Klebold and would be very interested in hearing other readers' response to it.  The author's son is Dylan Klebold of the Columbine massacre and while she concedes that her son was completely responsible for the murders he committed she spends a lot of time on how he was mentally ill and nobody picked up on it.  I've got to say, though, that she also strikes me as the type of person who lives in her own reality that does not necessarily coincide with that of others.  Sure, we all do but in my reading I was struck by how much emphasis she puts on appearances or how things look rather than how they are.

 

I want to read this now.  Wasn't she the mother, who when called, was getting her hair done and made some sort of nonchalant remark about her son getting in trouble at the school?  (Could be a complete urban legend.)

[Qoass]

She got her hair done the day after so she would look appropriate putting her son to rest.  She explains herself but I was still scratching my head.

[hendersonrocks]

I'm in the middle of Five Days at Memorial, which is all about the total breakdown of one hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is absolutely HORRIFYING to read about what happened there in this level of detail but at the same time I can't put it down. It's unreal to me this happened just 11 years ago in a major American city.

[Rilla-my-Rilla]

I'm in the middle of Five Days at Memorial, which is all about the total breakdown of one hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is absolutely HORRIFYING to read about what happened there in this level of detail but at the same time I can't put it down. It's unreal to me this happened just 11 years ago in a major American city.

 

Yeah, that book was crazy. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I had a nightmare about it about half way through reading it! ( I was trapped somewhere, not sure where, but not a hospital though, and there were animals all over and no food or water)

 

After that, I read Columbine by David Cullen and had a nightmare about that one too!

 

I had to put the non-fiction down for awhile.

[SmithW6079]

Yeah, that book was crazy. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I had a nightmare about it about half way through reading it! ( I was trapped somewhere, not sure where, but not a hospital though, and there were animals all over and no food or water)

After that, I read Columbine by David Cullen and had a nightmare about that one too!

I had to put the non-fiction down for awhile.

When I was reading "The Rape of Nanking," I got nightmares.

[Rilla-my-Rilla]

When I was reading "The Rape of Nanking," I got nightmares.

I haven't read that, but that's a rough subject so I'm sure you had some crazy nightmares.

[SmithW6079]

I haven't read that, but that's a rough subject so I'm sure you had some crazy nightmares.

It really was. The Japanese military were savages. But even though the book gave me nightmares, I felt I had to finish it for the victims, as weird as that sounds.

[Athena]

It really was. The Japanese military were savages. But even though the book gave me nightmares, I felt I had to finish it for the victims, as weird as that sounds.

 

Not weird at all. Part of remembering history is learning and being educated on the story of the victims and passing it on in some way as the author has done and as you have by sharing it. I've read parts of the book, but I never committed to finishing it. I did a lot of academic reading on war crimes and met Holocaust survivors, and part of the emphasis is to share stories so things like this do not happen again or at least to remember the victims.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I just finished all 900 plus pages of The Executoner's Song. I thought the first half was excellent but the second half dragged. Also, I hated that the "romance" between Gary Gilmore and his girlfriend was portrayed as one of the greatest love stories of our time.

 

This is an old post, but I also read The Executioner's Song and found it much too long and wordy. Gilmore's brother Mikal also wrote a book which I found much better called Shot in the Heart, which is about life with and without Gary, including some background into the family's history and the events leading up to the murders.

[Pepper Mostly]

I read Mikal Gilmore's book! Long ago, though. I thought it was brave of him. I can only wonder how the family members suffer.

[WendyCR72]

I recently read Killer Show about the massive fire in Rhode Island at the music venue (sort of a roadhouse dump) The Station that sadly made the news back in 2003, where 100 people lost their lives.

It was authored by one of the lawyers in the case, but both sides were presented and we got to "meet" those that lived and died and got to see how hubris, greed, and arrogance cost so many their lives when it could have been avoided. It's not an easy read by any means, but it is a gripping one.

The book also highlights some of those seen in the video of the fire that is still on YT to this day. (A reporter was there filming for, ironically, club safety, and it is 13 minutes of horror and chaos; I know there was an even longer 20-minute version up, but that's down now.)

One of the most disturbing things in the book was that one of the Dederian brothers who owned the club was also a reporter and did a segment about mattress fires and discussed the foam used in many, which he called "solid gasoline" - the same kind of foam he and his brother used (to keep costs down, as they pinched pennies) to insulate that club.

But if you're into true crime and reading about the aftermath of the survivors and those who didn't make it, I highly recommend the book.