4 comments about Comrade Chikatilo: The Psychopathology of Russia's Notorious Serial Killer.

1. This is no doubt one of the best true crime books ever. It delves deep into the mind of Andrei Chikatilo and gives us information about why he did it, if there ever is a reason to do these horrible crimes.
   
   Worst of all is that if the police hadn't been so inadequate, Chikatilo would have been in jail after his first kill. They were so sure that Kravchenko, a man who lived in Chikatilo's street, was guilty of the murder. Chikatilo went on to kill 52 more people. The search for this serial killer was almost impossible, because the police didn't receive support from the Communist Party, who denied that there was such a thing as a serial killer in Russia. That only happened in America.
   
   As others have said, this is not for the weak hearted. It is graphic and uncensored, and you will be shocked. I know I was.



2. In November 1990, Russian police finally arrested the man they believed to have been behind the brutal killings and mutilations of several children and young men and women ranging from age 9 to early twenties. The man was Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo, a Ukraine-born supply clerk in his mid-fifties, who lured his victims with promises of a nice meal at his dacha in the woods, assaulted, stabbed his victims with knives multiple times, poked their eyes out, and calmly disposed of the body. Under questioning, he admitted to 53 murders, which could've been up to 70. This book traces Chikatilo's life, his reign of terror (1978-1990), and why he evaded captured for twelve years.

   Having been born during the man-created famine of the Stalinist USSR, and having witnessed the kidnapping of his older brother Stepan, who was eaten by starving peasants, and thus made to stay inside the house for fear of suffering the same fate, it's no wonder that Chikatilo grew up with a damaged psyche. His impotence and premature ejaculation no doubt led to further humility, humility that wouldn't have boiled into a rage of unfulfillment and thence to horrific murder, had medically curing impotency been legal in the Soviet Union. Indeed it was lucky enough that he and his wife bore two children, and that his wife was a modest, patient, and understanding woman. Alas, that wasn't enough, it seems.

   The book also examines the flaws inherent in the Soviet police system. People suspected of a crime on circumstantial evidence, yet having an airtight alibi can be made to confess. This happened to Aleksandr Kravchenko, an ex-con who committed rape and murder but was under 18 so served his time, had seen the error of his ways and was now a good citizen. Unfortunately, he lived on the same street as Chikatilo, his house was also near the river where Chikatilo's first victim was, and his wife, brought in on trumped-up charges of stealing, was forced to change her testimony regarding her husband's whereabouts. Further, Kravchenko was beaten up in prison and threatened with rape by a decoy used to elicit confessions, and confessed to a crime he never committed, for which he was executed.

   Another example is the immunity given to Party members from crimes. Party membership was quite a mark of status in the Soviet Union. And the emphasis of scientific evidence, then dated, worked for Chikatilo. The police was looking for someone of blood type AB, and due to a medical anomaly, Chikatilo's blood was A, with the B antigen more prominent in his hair and saliva--hence the evidence was enough to drop any murder charges against him. One police captain might have been credited with his capture, but he acted more on intuition and common sense (his seeing Chikatilo's behaviour at the train station and panic when asked to produce his documents), and that unfortunately isn't scientific.

   Comparisons/contrasts between him and John Wayne Gacy are interesting, as it highlights the difference between American and Soviet sociology. After Gacy was caught for his first offense back in the 60's, he served his time and was released, presumably cured (alas it was not to be). Chikatilo was known for fondling the girls at the school he taught and once was caught assaulting a 14-year old in a lake, grabbing at her, yet nothing was done about his behaviour--it was just seen as one of his odd quirks(!)

   The conclusion was that Chikatilo was three personalities in one. One was the ordinary family man, the other was the rapist/murderer, and the third was the one who acted insane when put on trial for his heinous crimes. The authors do a good job in maintaining the chronology and gathering of information, painting an effective portrait of Chikatilo, and using narrative reconstructions of two killings in gruesome detail, yet the lack of bibliography and sources makes the book somewhat questionable.




3. I was absolutly spell-bound by this book.Very well written.This book however is not for amatuer readers.Delves deeply into the whys and hows of this wickedly sick individual.Definatly not a bed time story.5 plus stars.



4. This book is not for the timid. However, if you truely want to get into the mind of a serial killer, this is the book for you. Of all the books I have read on the subject, this offered the most insight into the mind of the actual killer. From the moment I picked it up, I could not put it down.

4 comments about Dynamite Fiend : The Chilling Tale of a Confederate Spy, Con Artist, and Mass Murderer.

1. Ann Larabee has written a fascinating portrait of a Victorian villain as coldblooded as any killer today. Unfortunately some small defects may distract the reader.
   
   On page 40 she writes that in the 19th century "no CIA or Interpol existed, and bored diplomats were the principal international spymasters." Interpol has nothing to do with spying, and while diplomats have always been responsible for reporting to their governments what is going on abroad, that makes them neither spies nor spymasters.
   
   Page 47: "Ice...was desperately needed as the only truly effective remedy for yellow fever." Ice was not effective, nor did anyone think so.
   
   Page 48: The author translates the Latin motto on the Confederate seal, Deo Vindice, as "God will vindicate." The two nouns, in the ablative case, mean "With God as avenger."
   
   Page 115: The town of Bodenbach (Decin, today) is up, not down, the River Elbe from Dresden.
   
   Page 119: Professor Larabee says that in the 1870s "well over 10,000 ships sank every year, mostly small boats...." Ships and boats are different things.
   
   Pages 127-128: The Washington paper published by the bomber's fellow passenger, Donn Piatt, was The Capital and not the Washington Capitol. Nor was Piatt, as she says, ambassador to France. We had no ambassadors abroad in his time, only ministers heading legations. Piatt was secretary of legation at Paris, the minister's deputy.
   
   Professor Larabee calls her book narrative nonfiction and says she has taken few liberties with the historical record. One could have hoped, however, that she would cite more sources for her narrative. She thanks her editor, who "reigned in some of my narrative excesses." Whatever the reign, the reins should have been tighter, including a spell and grammar check.



2. Why would anyone want to read a novel when they can spend time with this true-life thriller? The author has unearthed the real story of a despicable but fascinating character. The book is thoroughly researched and informative, as well as nicely written. This is a page-turner for anyone interested in true crime and/or the American Civil War.



3. Ann Larabee tells an engrossing story. A well structured, well written narrative. Meticulously researched. An enjoyable read.



4. Wow! What a read: I couldn't put it down once I started it! It's obviously well-researched, but it read like a novel. I never knew what historical figure I would meet on the next page, Keith crossed so many paths.
   
   Larabee has done an excellent job bringing to light little-known aspects of wanton terrorism, with its roots in the U.S. Civil War and extending to the Continent.

No comments about Defiance: The Story of One Man Who Stood Up to the Sicilian Mafia.

1 comments about Laughing on the Inside: The Life and Crimes of Felon O'Reilly.

1. Felon O'Reilly's story is very powerful and his translation of it into a lesson for all is genius. This book is a must read for everyone. His uncanny sense of humor makes this a true page turner.

2 comments about Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes: Robert F. Kennedy's War Against Organized Crime (Capital Classics).

1. Ron Goldfarb's "Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes" is an insightful analysis of the RFK led Attorney General office investigation of the mob. Part memoir and part history, you feel like you are part of the action when you read this interesting book.



2. Overall, too much emphasis on Goldfarb, and not enough on Kennedy. The description of his work in Newport is somewhat dull. However, his thoughts at the end about the JFK assassination connection with organized crime are interesting.

5 comments about The Silent Don: The Criminal Underworld of Santo Trafficante Jr..

1. Being from Tampa I've been looking all over for info on the 400 pound elephant in this town. People still whisper his name around here as if he's going to come back from the grave and seek revenge on them. My parents used to tell me stories about him and his family's activities in our "hood"(it sure as hell wasn't happening in his neighborhood). Hell, he's buried less than a mile from where I live, along with majority of his "family members". So let's just say his presence still seems to loom over Tampa. But the old guard of Tampa just tries to forget the past, especially "his" past. Finally, this author comes with some juicy details from the exploits of Santo Trafficante Jr. Everything from his father's start, Santo Sr., to Cuba, to Appalachian, to La Stella, Bay of Pigs, Hoffa, all the way to JFK. Not to mention Donnie Brasco. This book was a huge bounce back from CIGAR CITY MAFIA, and will not dissappoint. GREAT JOB SCOTT!! Now give us something on Charlie Wall or Primo Lazzara. Hell, I'll buy it.



2. "The Silent Don" is the story of Santo Trafficante, longtime Mafia boss of South Florida. SD provides an endless parade of mafiadom, crime personalities and corrupt officials. Author Deitche has certainly done his homework. Like a good reporter, the author buttresses his text with piles of references and footnotes, almost to the point of overkill. SD touches many the many bases of Trafficante's line of work, but two chapters stand out: 1) Chapter 6 deals with the "good old days" in Havana before Fidel Castro overthrew the place, closed the casinos and kicked the mob out. What a fun, free wheeling, anything goes place Havana must have been-and how profitable for the bosses like ST. One wishes this fascinating sector had been longer. 2) Chapter 15 takes us to, if not down, the slippery slope of the JFK assassination and the Mob's involvement with that treacherous act. Did Trafficante REALLY confess his role in the JFK murder to his lawyer? Deitche suggests so. Or, as the author also hints, was Carlos Marcello, Mafia boss of New Orleans, behind the JFK hit? Marcello controlled Dallas in those days. Perhaps it was that eponymous bunch of "rogue" CIA agents harboring grudges from the Bay of Pigs fiasco? Again, one wishes for more concrete evidence, however fascinating the speculation. The final call on SD makes a 5 star rating impossible. Deitche would have served his readers better had he narrowed the scope of the text rather than covering so many of ST's criminal activities. Also, the typesetting is wearying: Paragraphs need to be better spaced. Physical layout is a problem here and the footnoting is awkward. Do we need 536 of them in a 229 page book? A good stern editor with a sharp blue pencil could have tidied up the text, but those guys were laid off years ago! That kvetching aside, SD remains an entertaining 4 star story. This is only a first edition; perhaps future printings can address the housekeeping issues. That might nudge "Silent Don" up into the 5 star category.



3. certainly worth reading if you like digging a bit deeper into the Mafia literature. Trafficante usually figures as a minor character in other books, so I was glad to learn more about him. I wouldn't call this a great read, though. There are a number of references to "Mob Lawyer," Selwynn Raab's biography of Ragano, Trafficante's lawyer. Haven't read that yet, but have read Raab's "Five Families," which I can highly recommend as being very well-written & informative. Most bothersome to me about "Silent Don" was the index - the page references were off on every single entry - and I checked dozens. There was some regularity to the discrepancy, but it was a real pain to work around.



4. For those who don't know, Santo Trafficante, Jr., was the Mob boss of the Tampa, Florida area from at least the late 50s to his death in the 1980s, and he may have had some sort of connection with JFK's assassination. Scott Deitche does a marvelous job of giving us his background and details about his life, as well as other incidents in the Tampa crime family during his reign.
   
   Deitche's second book is very impressive. He has shown tremendous growth and uses a wealth of primary sources, including oral interviews of living relatives of deceased mobsters. For the researcher, the endnotes are greatly appreciated. As far as writing style, it's almost academic compared to the informal style of his first book. So if you want to know what went on in the field of Florida organized crime in the second half of the twentieth century, this is the book for you. If you are just interested in true crime, this is also for you. And for those interested in Tampa or Florida history, I think you will enjoy it too.



5. First, this book is very well written compared to "Cigar City Mafia" which was also informative but was hard to read due to writing style. This one provided much info in an area where I grew up so I found it fascinating.

No comments about Inventing Billy the Kid: Visions of the Outlaw in America, 1881-1981.

2 comments about Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom: Tales of Drugs, Mules, and Gunmen.

1. In Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom: Tales of Drugs, Mules, and Gunmen, the exiled Colombian writer Alfredo Molano makes a similar point. Molano's book consists of a series of populist portraits of the little people in the cocaine business--people who for the most part have gambled and lost, the sort of folks whom, as he puts it, "our compatriots would be happy to bury so as not to cause embarrassment at embassy cocktail parties." (Molano interviewed many of his subjects in prison.) Most are motivated by a desperate desire to escape the poverty that afflicts the vast majority of ordinary Colombians. In each case, cocaine offers the prospect of financial relief--of freedom, really, to use a word that President Bush seems to be unable to complete a sentence without. A man Molano refers to as Scuzzball, the son of peasants from the southern state of Putumayo, leaves home at the age of 13 because, as he puts it, "there's no life where we were living and it was time to go looking for it." Endowed with natural intelligence, Scuzzball becomes an artist at cocaine extraction and sets himself up as a chemist, hiring out his knowledge so that his fellow peasants can coax a little more product out of their coca bushes. Eventually, however, Scuzzball's entrepreneurial instincts lead him into trafficking. He is betrayed, and by the time Molano meets Scuzzball, he is doing time in a Bolivian prison in Cochabamba. "In Colombia," Scuzzball ruefully tells Molano, "it's we nameless people who moved [into the cocaine trade] ... until those with nice last names started to ask us for help and little by little we gave it to them, and eventually we take them as partners in the business."
   
   The situation is much the same for the poor of Colombia's slums. "The Mule Driver," another Molano character, describes the gamble taken by the "mules" who transport cocaine on airlines. The mules wrap the cocaine in condoms and swallow them. "If the rubber tears, you'll live a few hours; if it doesn't break but the police seize you, you'll spend eight years of your life behind bars; if you carry it off, you've laid the first layer of bricks that goes towards building a wall between you and poverty."
   
   Molano doesn't romanticize this impulse, which is both corrupting and fraught with moral ambiguity. Colombia's legal products have never sold well enough either internally or in the United States to generate significant numbers of stable jobs. The few jobs that Colombia's globalized neoliberal economy has kicked up are low-wage and nonglamorous--offering little more than what Kirk refers to as "the cheap seat at the world's parade." By contrast, the cocaine business offers fabulous riches and far sexier possibilities--what Kirk describes as "integration through crime." Although for a person of few prospects it's a tempting line of work, it has obvious drawbacks. The Mule Driver, for example, starts as a poor liquor-store delivery boy infatuated with a rich girl--the daughter of the owner of a whorehouse. After he loses his job as the result of this infatuation, his brother tells him that the job was beneath his dignity anyway and advises him to get into cocaine. "Why should I have a 'job' that has me stooping to work at the beck and call of a boss," the Mule Driver argues to himself, "killing myself for a lousy salary that would never compensate me." Although he makes good money for a while, he ultimately gets betrayed by the girlfriend and winds up doing twenty-two years in a Madrid prison.



2. "Loyal Soldiers in the Cocaine Kingdom; Tales of Drugs, Mules, and Gunmen," by Alfredo Molano is a collection of seven self-portraits of bad decisions. The introduction and translation by James Graham is outstanding. Graham displays a towering knowledge of Colombia and successfully argues that Plan Colombia will never succeed. His logic is simple, "no military campaign will ever extinguish the narcotics trade, because it would first be necessary to eliminate the disenfranchised members of society, individual by individual."
   
   The testimonial literature in this short (158 page) book reports how Colombians want a better life and roll the dice on getting caught trafficking. Unfortunately, the author employs weak transitions which leads to a choppy read and much confusion. The first (the mule driver) and last (puppet) chapters are good. However, much of what is inbetween contains nuggets of interesting information but it is wrapped in a maze of confusing language. The back of the book informs us that Alfredo Molano is a highly regarded sociologist and journalist who (in his native Colombia) is compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. That may be true...but he will hardly be confused with the legendary Gabo by critical readers in this country.
   
   Bert Ruiz

5 comments about Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the 'Bangkok Hilton': Sandra Gregory's Story.

1. Sandra Gregory takes us deep inside life in a Thailand women's prison and then into the Durham prison of England. Life was terrible for this woman who was arrested for drug trafficking a very small amount of heroin in her vagina. She truly did not deserve such a long and harrowing sentence. She is a hero in my opinion for having survived such an incredibly soul-destroying incarceration. God bless Sandy for writing such a critically-needed memoir. Her book should be on everybody's required reading list, especially high school and college-age kids. They could benefit from Sandy's horrible experience, and might be deterred from doing the same. Thank God she finally got released, but how terrible was her suffering in the mean time! A truly sad but unforgettable read.



2. This was a rather timely read given the current situation in South East Asia with Sharpelle Corby and the Bali 9. In this book, Gregory tells the story of how she set out from Britain to spend 8 weeks in Thailand, accompanying a friend of a friend she had no previous acquaintance with. Gregory loved Thailand so much that she decided to stay on, until she became seriously ill and distraught over the political situation at the time. Having no money to return to Britain and too stubborn to ask her family for financial support, she 'serendipitously' re-encounters her former travelling companion who offers her one thousand pounds to smuggle a small quantity of heroin for him. Desperately ill and under the impression her acquaintence has 'fixed' things at customs, she agrees. She is, of course, caught.
   
   The story describes her time at Lard Yao, known worldwide as the 'Bangkok Hilton' and the shocking conditions she was forced to endure. Following her transfer to a British prison, Gregory continues her tale, drawing contrasts between the penal systems of the two countries, and finding Britain to be the worse of the two.
   
   Of particular interest were Gregory's encounters with some very notorious offenders such as Rosemary West. She also speaks of the shadow of Myra Hindley in two of the prisons she was incarcerated in. I actually found the second part of the book, where Gregory was in British prisons to be more horrifying than her descriptions of Thai prisons.
   
   Gregory's book is very readable, honest and pulls no punches. However, at the end, you realise that Gregory's book is not so much about her physical survival, but her emotional survival and the evolution of her soul.



3. Gregory's book details her life from meeting the guy who offered her money to smuggle drugs, to her life in Thai prisons, adapting to the harsh way of life and finally moving back home to a British prison. The development of her character from beginning to end is evident to all through her concise narrative about her guilt and shame, especially when she speaks of her family members. All in all, this is a haunting real-life story that shouldn't be missed by anyone, especially Caucasians travelling for long periods of time in Southeast Asia. The temptation may be great when funds are running low, but the horrors of prisons in the less-developed regions are not exaggerated.



4. I live in Bangkok, less than 10 km from the prison Sandra was held in. I enjoyed reading the book for several reasons. One, as a ex-pat resident of Thailand, I could relate to and even walk past many of the places she described. Second, I'm a sucker for real-life dramas--the gorier, the better. And third, from reading the book,it was a shocking realization that as an ex-pat, one cannot necessarily rely on one's embassy to "take care" of any legal entanglements while in the Kingdom of Thailand (ex-pats living here are generally very spoiled and well-taken-care of). I also felt sorry for Sandra, as there are more heinous crimes than the one she commited every day herethat go unnoticed, unpunished (ie, sex-slavery, child trafficking).
   The prose is readable, enjoyable, but not beautiful nor well-crafted, However, anyone travelling to Thailand as a backpacker or as a tourist would be well-served to read this book. Many legal aspects of Thailand seem erratic or lackadasical compared to Western countries, but if you DO get caught doing wrong, the consequences are harsh indeed.



5. Having lived in Thailand for a gratifying 5 years, I am familiar with everything she describes and feels for the country. Thailand is a stunning country known as the "land of smiles" but numerous people don't realize that behind those smiles there is an entire different side to Thailand. That life I like most people have never gone through and do not realize how hideous it is. That is what this book is about, a book filled with fact stating the hideous side of Thailand. I was traumatized by some of the events not realizing that such a beautiful country has such a dark side too it when crossing the path of a good person to breaking the rules. I think it is definitely worthwhile reading, it touches your heart so much because you realize that as we speak about the harsh life in prison there are people out there in those hideous prisons which animals control who think they are gods and the prisoners are slaves. Even though Sandra Gregory made a huge mistake the reason for such was so understandable. Even though she smuggled the drugs I think she is a great and caring person helping others realize that you should think twice before smuggling drugs. This is one of the unsurpassed books I have ever read, it isn't an enjoyable book, where you can laugh, it is depressing and sad but so realistic because you know this is a true story, which a human being has been through. Some of the events disgust you but you continue to read because the book has so much gratitude to it.

2 comments about Outlaws of the Lakes: Bootlegging & Smuggling from Colonial Times to Prohibition.

1. The Great Lakes have served as a smuggler's freeway since Canada's infancy. In "Outlaws of the Lakes: Bootlegging and Smuggling", Canadian author Ed Butts tackles the subject of the illegal trade in booze and just about everything else banned or excessively taxed by the government. He also highlights its more infamous practitioners, such as Rocco Perri, Canada's Al Capone.
   
   Butts has dicovered or deduced some eye-opening facts. He demonstrates that a French bootlegger was responsible for the founding of Detroit, and points out that smugglers made a valuable contribution to the British-Canadian victory during the War of 1812. Historic triumphs aside, Butts does not whitewash or glorify the degraded character of the smuggler or the vicious reality of his / her daily life. These lake pirates killed each other, turned the legal system into a farce by bribing government officials, and created a legacy of violence and corruption that taints Canada and the United States to this day.



2. Edward Butts book Outlaws of the Lakes is nothing less than brilliant! A must to read! This is an extemely well written account of both Canadian and American smuggler's, bootleggers and corrupt government official's at it's best! Also great detailed accounts on Al Capone and his rivals Dion O'Bannon and the Purple Gang. A must for crime readers and historian buffs! I give this book 5-stars with highest honors.