I don't really do true crime, but this was OK. Weak as hell review, but I just want this out of my in folderI don't really do true crime, but this was OK. Weak as hell review, but I just want this out of my in folder...more
Bowden throws this out early in the book, a quote from A Peculiar Indifference - The Neglected Toll of Violence on Black America by Elliott Currie:
“DuBowden throws this out early in the book, a quote from A Peculiar Indifference - The Neglected Toll of Violence on Black America by Elliott Currie:
“During the first eighteen years of the twenty-first century, about 162,000 Black people were murdered in America, notes sociologist Elliott Currie in his 2020 book A Peculiar Indifference, citing figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Bowden is in error, or the book had been revised because the actual figure in the book 170,000 murders. I’ve never heard a word from the Black Lives Matter movement about Black on Black crime. One kid is killed by the cops (Freddie Grey) and the community rises up. What? What about the other 300, murders a year of Black men in Baltimore, mostly by other Black men? Crickets chirping.
I’m not defending the police, but people seem to have lost all perspective on the issue of murdered Black men. The statistics are appalling and getting worse, this when other crime statistics are falling. In the most recent outrage-du-jour, a young Black kid was shot by some old white dude for ringing his doorbell by accident. The kid lived, praise the lord and good doctors, but the residents of Kansas City stormed the streets in protest. Where were these people when 119 Black people were murdered the year before, mostly killed by other Blacks?
Bowden pads a lot of the book with long transcripts of interrogations and court proceedings, some entertaining, others not so much, but they all shed a lot of light on the conditions that create this culture of violence.
After one lengthy cross-examination in which one of the defense lawyers tried to get a reticent police chemist to admit to the small amount of drugs in question (a gram or two).
“Can I say on the record that that was the single most delightful moment of my entire legal career,” said Michael Lawlor, one of Tana’s lawyers. Said the judge, “I’m not going to comment on what that says about your legal career, Mr. Lawlor.”
This book rates five stars from me because of his closing essay, that and other points he makes about how American society really needs to get its shit together and figure out the issues and problems of Black society in general. We need something on the order of the Marshall Plan to make any headway. We need an investment in education on a level with what we spent on the useless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As he points out, public schools are the best way to inculcate children in the straight and narrow road to prosperity, peace, and a decent life. ...more
This was OK, but mostly just a bunch of cases I didn't care about, some of them extremely gruesome and violent. I was just hoping for some insight intThis was OK, but mostly just a bunch of cases I didn't care about, some of them extremely gruesome and violent. I was just hoping for some insight into criminal behavior to use in stuff that I write.
The author's views on politics, especially the death penalty, don't interest me in the least and he should have left them out. As far as capital punishment, his views weren't interesting or insightful in the least, just the typical law enforcement view of frying people's asses. The only thing positive that I can see about the death penalty is that it gives prosecutors more leverage in dealing with defendants. The downside is that it puts the United States in some pretty fucking dreadful company among the nations of the world. Iran and Saudi Arabia come to mind, two total shit-holes we shouldn't look like in any way, shape, or form....more
I wish that I could have come up with this line from Newjack where he quotes a coworker describing their life as prison guards, “…a life sentence in eight-hour shifts.”
This isn’t a novel. We’ve all read books and seen movies about cooler scenes in prison, but that stuff is fiction. This writer made a serious commitment to a story, like something Zola would have done back in his day. As his bio states, Ted Conover, is a "master of experience-based narrative nonfiction.” I am officially a huge fan of Ted Conover and plan to make my way through his entire bibliography.
The takeaway from this book is that the USA needs to stop putting motherfuckers in prison for bullshit, things like minor drug charges, and non-violent crimes in general. We have other ways of punishing people. Take away their driving privileges. Make them do community work. Force people to take adult education. Because once someone goes to jail, their life is taking a turn for the worse. Period.
Rehabilitation isn't even on the table in the prison system. It's mostly just warehousing young Black men who are much more likely to be arrested and sentenced to prison than Whites....more
I don’t read true crime, or I didn’t, or at least it’s not something that attracts me. The title didn’t sell me and after reading the book I don’t eveI don’t read true crime, or I didn’t, or at least it’s not something that attracts me. The title didn’t sell me and after reading the book I don’t even know why this is the title, and the sub-title is really fucking stupid. I was drawn to it simply because it takes place in Japan. I despise the voyeuristic appeal to these stories of attractive women as victims, as if fat, ugly girls aren’t worth talking about. I am currently fascinated with Japan and all things Japanese. I should just go live there and get it out of my system.
What we learn about from this book is the not-so-underground world of the Japanese sex for hire industry which isn’t always even about sex.
The book also gives the reader a good look at the Japanese justice system that seems totally bizarre to this Westerner. Trials that take months with perhaps a month between court days, instead of a jury a team of judges decide the verdict, and the conviction rate of almost one hundred percent with the down side of that being that many cases never go to trial. The police rely on confessions for almost every case.
The killer in this story is just about the biggest piece of shit, evil human I've come across in my crime reading. I think he's still alive somewhere, hopefully behind bars. How I wish that I could visit his cell for thirty minutes. I don't often have these fantasies of revenge, but if ever a man needed to be stomped into dust, it's this murderous creep....more
You probaby think you don't need to read this book. However...
"One reliable estimate is that the average American now commits approximately three feloYou probaby think you don't need to read this book. However...
"One reliable estimate is that the average American now commits approximately three felonies a day."
This should be required reading for all Americans, Black and White, male and female, rich and poor.
Here is the very short version:
1. Never talk to the cops except to answer two questions: name and what you are doing right now and only because you can’t deny that later.
2. Don’t plead the 5th and don’t politely ask for a lawyer. Demand a lawyer and shut the fuck up..
The book is short and fascinating and well worth reading. I also recommend the video. As of this writing, this video has 8,481, 341 views on 10OCT20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9......more
Once again, like with Gomorrah, a really good TV series was extrapolated from a shoddy nonfiction piece of journalism. I really liked ZeroZeroZero, thOnce again, like with Gomorrah, a really good TV series was extrapolated from a shoddy nonfiction piece of journalism. I really liked ZeroZeroZero, the recent TV series, so I thought I’d give the book a read. Just like with Gomorrah, the book is mediocre, and that’s in the good parts.
OMG is this guy a shitty journalist. I really hate his opinionated musings on cocaine usage and how great it makes you feel. I completely disagree. I’ve tried cocaine quite a few times and it does nothing much for me. I never understood its popularity. Obviously, cocaine is popular, but he makes it out as if everyone but you is snorting their brains out every day.
Most of this book reads like he did no investigating of his own and merely perused newspaper articles on the topic and rewrote them.
There is very little cohesion to anything he writes and the book just sort of meanders through the world of crime, both organized and otherwise. A good portion of it isn’t even about cocaine.
How they made a half-decent TV series out of this is like a magic trick. I can't believe that the author of this book even gets credit at all for the series....more
I read a lot of crime fiction, but I’ve never liked the serial killer branch of that tree. They almost always get it wrong. The killer is always someoI read a lot of crime fiction, but I’ve never liked the serial killer branch of that tree. They almost always get it wrong. The killer is always someone like Hannibal Lector, fabulously brilliant when the truth is almost all of them are pathetic losers, but that doesn’t make for such a good story. This book sort of sets the record straight.
What is truly amazing, at least in hindsight, is that it took law enforcement so long to figure out that maybe they should be trying to learn something from these murderers to stop future horrors. The author doesn’t seem to be particularly bright, but he was in the right place at the right time.
I watched to seasons of the TV series which, like this book, had its ups and downs. All of the personal stuff about the family of the cop was a huge bore.
Of course, in these times we have a new sort of killer: the mass shooter. What do you expect when you arm a nation up to its eyebrows while the gun lobby buys our elected officials down to the last one so they will vote against all and any attempts at regulation?
To borrow from the hilarious film The In-Laws, "Run serpentine!"...more
The creepy underworld of international organized crime is too bizarre to be fodder for films. A brilliant psychopath running wild with billions of dolThe creepy underworld of international organized crime is too bizarre to be fodder for films. A brilliant psychopath running wild with billions of dollars at his disposal and nothing in the way of a moral compass. I hope someone does the world a huge favor and kills this creep while he is in prison. I can’t believe the DEA cut a plea agreement with this guy. He should be in prison for the rest of his miserable life....more
That's why I love this site; it forces me to remember things I've read. I was handed this book before boarding a rather long airplane flight and I devThat's why I love this site; it forces me to remember things I've read. I was handed this book before boarding a rather long airplane flight and I devoured it. A creepy story of murder and the high seas. Completely readable, instantly forgettable (unless you are racking your brain here at goodreads).
P.S. I'm writing this on 12AUG19 and at this point I can't remember the flight I was on when I read this first. I must have been sometime in the mid 1990s, although even that vague a reckoning is a wild guess. I no longer have my copy of the book, but I'd love to revisit the story. I learned that they made a TV mini-series out of the story back in 1991 the Rachael Ward, grrrrrr.
All that I can remember is that it was a fascinating story. For more of a review than that I'll have to get another copy and reread it....more
Leftbanker
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