Obsessed with True Crime discussion

New year, new thread.

To clarify, this thread is for ANY book you are reading. The other thread is for True Crime books only.

Thanks for being here.

Ahh... nice.

Just started Chrisp's True Crime Miscellany by Peter Chrisp

Happy New Year, y'all
I don't like to make recommendations, but I'm going to make one today. If y'all haven't read it yet, try "The Night of the Gun" by David Carr.
It's a memoir written by a recovered drug addict ( he's dead, so can be said to be fully recovered) who also had other addiction problems.
I find that many memoirs, if not most, don't show much real insight into the motivations of the memoirist, but this one is different. And I think it has to do with the fact that Mr Carr was doing the AA steps, and during his efforts to go back to those he hurt during his addictions to make amends, he found out how unreliable his memory had been, and thereby gained a depth of appreciation for the level of rationalization he practiced for a long part of his life.
If you have read it, I'm interested in what you thought of it.

Hari wrote: "Happy New Year, y'all
I don't like to make recommendations, but I'm going to make one today. If y'all haven't read it yet, try "The Night of the Gun" by David Carr.
It's a memoir written by a recov..."

that looks really good. Added it to my wish list for future paycheck... LOL

Terri wrote: "Just started Chrisp's True Crime Miscellany by Peter Chrisp"

I liked that one when I read it.

Fishface wrote: "Terri wrote: "Just started Chrisp's True Crime Miscellany by Peter Chrisp"

I liked that one when I read it."

interesitng bits and bobs

I just got my copy of Born to Kill in the mail.

Fishface wrote: "I just got my copy of Born to Kill in the mail."

never heard of him -- looks like nothing on amazon either

I just got reintroduced to an author I read long ago, Calvin Trillin. He writes mostly humorous essays, and essays about food, but he is also an excellent author of true crime. I found an article from the New Yorker in 2009 he wrote about some murders under a bridge somewhere. His style of writing is emblematic of serious true crime style in my view: unemotional, without sermonizing, and no attempt to humanize the perpetrator(s), (which to me is an oxymoron, anyway): murderers/sexual predators/torturers, etc., are subhuman at the times of their nefarious deeds, if not before and after.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Have you read Trillin's TC collection, Killings? I finally got to that one not too long ago. It's good!

I have to disagree about murderers being subhuman! No animal I'm aware of commits murders except Homo sap., supposedly the pinnacle of creation. Or evolution, take your pick.

Terri wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I just got my copy of Born to Kill in the mail."

never heard of him -- looks like nothing on amazon either"

Nothing on Amazon!? That's where I got mine, where there were a dozen copies up for sale. Weirdness.

Hi, Fishface,
Yes I have read "Killings" and liked it.
To your second point, it's more a figure of speech when I use the word subhuman, not meant literally. However, (not to nit pick) I vaguely recall reading about at least one troop of chimps or apes or baboons that has been observed carrying out murderous raids on other troops, and male lions have been known to murder the infant cubs of a female in order to bring on her estrus and thereby mate with her. Admittedly the exception not the rule
My point is that authors who work at making their perpetrator sympathetic are not to my liking. A simple, dispassionate description of the life history of a killer is enough, but to blame physical/sexual abuse for a subsequent life of crime is unacceptable. Many people survive abuse and lead decent lives as adults.
In some of the reviews of "Don"t Tell A Soul" written by others I have seen praise for explaining away this horrendous crime by citing past molestation/abuse, and I was reacting to that.

I don't go along with the abuse excuse either. I wish, if the author were going to bring it up, he or she made an effort to show how the former victim translated that -- often quite consciously and deliberately -- into criminal behavior instead of treating it as the inevitable outcome. They never seem to hold back on any other form of shoot-from-the-hip psychoanalysis.

I agree.

I’m trying to read S. By J.J. Abrams and I’m also reading the first Harry Potter.

I want to read Evil Beside Her and A Warrant to Kill is anyone interested

Started Sleeping Beauties on Dec 31. Am loving it so far. What are your thoughts on the book if you are reading it?

"Incident At Big Sky" is my true crime current read.

Hari wrote: ""Incident At Big Sky" is my true crime current read."

Now there's a loopy story!

Among half a dozen of new YA novels and stuff I need to read for work I've got these True Crime reads lined up for this year:

Final Truth: The Autobiography of Mass Murderer/Serial Killer Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins

When the Monster Comes Out of the Closet about Wesley Allen Dodd

Rose West: The Making of a Monster

Charles Manson Now: I am not in jail. There is no jail.

Defending the Devil: My Story as Ted Bundy's Last Lawyer

Out of the Shadows: Fred West's Daughter Tells Her Harrowing Story of Survival

Fallet Thomas Quick: Att skapa en seriemördare (seems to be a similar case to Henry Lee Lucas'. It's unclear whether this guy was a monster or a completely delusional liar.)

The Thomas Quick question will become clear as you keep reading!

I hope it doesn't mess with your head too much to be reading Pee Wee's autobiography at the same time as a book aimed at the YA market.

Hello, all you Phelps Phreaks out there,
I recently read "Don't Tell a Soul" and was not impressed by Phelp's writing, however I don't want to let one book discourage me from reading more by him, so I am soliciting ideas on which y'all think is his best book.

I'm in no position to say, having read only 2 of them.

Fishface wrote: "The Thomas Quick question will become clear as you keep reading!

I hope it doesn't mess with your head too much to be reading Pee Wee's autobiography at the same time as a book aimed at the YA mar..."

Luckily I already watched a few documentaries on Gaskins, so I'm prepared. And the YA offers a nice balance to my True Crime obsession. :-)
Have you read the book on Quick? I didn't think it had been translated to English actually!

Ren wrote: "Fishface wrote: "The Thomas Quick question will become clear as you keep reading!

I hope it doesn't mess with your head too much to be reading Pee Wee's autobiography at the same time as a book ai..."

Thomas Quick: The Making of a Serial Killer

Thanks! My Swedish is a bit rusty so I might get the English translation as a back up.

Ren wrote: "Thanks! My Swedish is a bit rusty so I might get the English translation as a back up."

Negative perspiration.

Hari wrote: "Hello, all you Phelps Phreaks out there,
I recently read "Don't Tell a Soul" and was not impressed by Phelp's writing, however I don't want to let one book discourage me from reading more by him, s..."

I like his books, but not sure I can help you either since I liked "Don't Tell a Soul" and most of what I've read of his.

I read the Quick story when we were still all back at Shelfari (sniffle) as did A.R. (wherever she got to).

Just got The Path of a Psychopath, Alabama's Teenage Serial Killer, Raymond Eugene Brown.

Di dylan books by R.C Bridgestock

Terri wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I just got my copy of Born to Kill in the mail."

never heard of him -- looks like nothing on amazon either"

Try looking under the re-release title, The Mosser Massacre: The Southwest's Greatest Manhunt.

I'm reading War! What Is It Good For?: Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots, but it's much too heavy to lug around in my bookbag, so I just started The Path of a Psychopath, Alabama's Teenage Serial Killer, Raymond Eugene Brown. They're both great!!!

I am just starting Evil Angels by John Bryson. Wow...its just over five hundred pages. Just what I like...!

Finally remembered to bring my Amazon gift card to the library and sent for:

Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton
Under the Lake
Biting the Sun
Drowning Towers
Our Culture, What's Left of It: The Mandarins and the Masses
To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire

TC:
My Name Is Katherine
May God Have Mercy: A True Story of Crime and Punishment
Trail of Blood: A Father, a Son and a Tell-Tale Crime Scene Investigation

And the piece de resistance is a used copy of My Life with Charles Manson. Those puppies are not exactly being given away for free, but with the gift card it was basically half off, so I went ahead at last. I even found a copy waiting to be shipped from here in MI so I didn't have to blow the whole $50 card on shipping for the UK.

Son of a Gun: A Memoir by Justin St. Germain
3 stars

This was written by the son of a woman that was murdered by her boyfriend. There is very little here about the crime. It is more about relationships and how he dealt with his mother's murder. The author admits his faults. He has not been the perfect son. It was interesting in the beginning but half way through I got bored with it and toward the end it seemed to be a bit repetitive.

I'm gonna have to disagree with a few of y'all here. A persons history is something that should be considered when reading TC. I'm not saying that being abused as a child is an excuse for people who kill. However, no two people handle or react to abuse in the same manner. Yes, some survive and manage to become productive citizens. Others develop poor coping mechanisms (i.e. dissociation, alcoholism, etc) and have mental health issues, such as PTSD, etc. But, there is a small fraction of people who are abused that turn around and become criminal monsters themselves. It's not a coincidence that the majority of serial killers had an abusive childhood. As I said, I don't think it's an excuse...however, it does factor into it, imo.

Anyhow...I just started reading Born Evil: A True Story Of Cannibalism And Serial Murder. I've not read this author before, so Idk what to expect. There are already some things that don't sit well with me, but I am trying to keep in mind this book was written about 16 years ago, so times have changed a bit with regards to some issues.

I agree with everything you just said -- or typed -- Dannibal, but I feel bound to add that some of them were not abused at all and they are just "playing the victim card."

War! What Is It Good For?: Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots, Ian Morris
4 enthusiastic stars!

The last thing I expected after reading the description of the contents was a book on archaeology, but that's what this is, and it's a totally gripping read. The authors whisks you all over the globe, across continents and through the centuries, matching up changes in the technology of war with changes in the societies affected by those wars. He never lost me once, which is saying a great deal -- he was literally covering the whole of known human history and it would have been easy for him to leave the reader in the dust. He makes a good case that war causes at least as much peace and prosperity as it destroys, probably more. I felt a little squeamish about his statements that we can really know how many people still living in caves died violently, but in general his arguments make sense and there is a great deal to back up most if what he is saying. Fellow Discordians will be utterly intrigued by the critical role of bureaucracy in societal change.

I am reading Ann Rule's Empty Promises and Rage to Kill - I am multi-tasking. Love Ann Rule but I'm finding the "True Crime Stories" books are not as satisfying as her just regular-type books, I guess I explained that clearly...

Hari wrote: "Happy New Year, y'all
I don't like to make recommendations, but I'm going to make one today. If y'all haven't read it yet, try "The Night of the Gun" by David Carr.
It's a memoir written by a recov..."

I am making note, sounds extremely interesting

Let us know what you think of this book. And welcome to the group.

I Had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives, Roberto Canessa with Pablo Vierci
5 stars!!!

I can't recommend this one too warmly. (After reading a book about the Andes crash survivors, especially in January in Michigan, all you want is to get warm again.) Beautifully written, thoughtfully presented, impossible to put down. There was a bit of a contradiction between Canessa protesting that he's just an ordinary schmo and all his patients' parents saying he's God's gift to humanity, but that's only a quibble. For those of you interested in disaster psych, here is a beautiful example of how it can unfold and make a person's life richer and more meaningful. I just wish all 16 survivors would write their own memoirs. Thanks, Dr. Canessa, for taking the time to write this one. I will read it again and again. The way he described finally tasting normal food again, after 72 days without it, is just one of many moments in here I will never forget.

Family secrets: the dionne quintuplets' autobiography just came in at the library so all else is being set aside for the nonce. It remains to be seen whether this is the TC story I was given to believe. Some might say that keeping your children on display like sideshow attractions is a crime in itself.

I am reading Shop of Horrors by Bill G. Cox

Fishface wrote: "Family secrets: the dionne quintuplets' autobiography just came in at the library so all else is being set aside for the nonce. It remains to be seen whether this is the TC story I wa..."

It is not only true crime, it's a remarkably weird case. Added it to the TC shelf.

A copy of TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE -- the movie version -- just came in at the library. I'll have to regretfully interrupt my viewing of SHARK ISLAND to see it...

Currently about midway through the first half was a little boring but now that Ive reached the murder spree its picking up.

Rita wrote: "I just started reading Winter of Frozen DreamsWinter Of Frozen Dreams by Karl Harter. So far so good. Another lethal woman!"