"A fun book"
This is a great book - 24 meets The DaVinci code with a good dose of Gilligan's Island. Of course, the whole overall idea is preposterous but you enjoy listening to it.
"Memoir from a Prosecutor of the Casey Anthony Case"
I am going to try to stick to the book itself and not discuss the crime, which of course, was horrific. I found this to be a memoir - he discusses how he and the other prosecutors went about proving their case to the jury. He emphasizes Casey's lying and her lawyer's behavior. He discusses the investigation and how it proceeded. He discusses the forensics in detail - he was the prosecutor who presented the forensic issues and cross-examined the defense's witnesses. If you find forensics interesting, you will find this fascinating, especially how this information can be presented to a jury legally. He emphasizes the differences in Florida law and how this influenced all aspects of the trial Personally, I think he was a very hard on the young man who found the body (what a horrible experience for him; he should be a hero for finding the child's body despite being told more than once that he was wrong) and on the jury who he seemed to feel was not very intelligent, sympathetic or hard working despite giving up weeks of their lives, showing up every day, not dropping out of the trial.
He does not discuss the controversy that arose out of the computer searches for "Chloform" which has been in the news lately - the prosecution put forth that their were many searches for this term - now the expert who was involved in the searches has a different opionin of the evidence. That fact that the information given the jury may not have been correct doesn't change the fact that she is quilty; I was just wondering his thoughts on the discrepancies especially since it is said that it might have lead to a mistrial if she had been convicted.
I would have liked to have understood more about the general concept of cases in the public media and prosecuting big trials. I would have liked more information on jury thinking while sequestered and their treatment during this time - how can we help sequestered juries process the information they are presented? What can we learn from the OJ Simpson trial and this trial about juries who are sequestered?
He also very much disliked the defense legal team without really answering the question - why did they win? How can we change our laws to require defense attornies prove their version of the situation? With this success, will this become more of a technique to defend clients using elaborate scenarios without any proof? How can the judge help the jury understand the law and separate proven information from fiction?
He states that he has prosecuted other murder trials and I would be interested if he was to write more books about those trials or other ones that are similar.
One of the questions that Audible asks is what books are similar. Books I have found similar are: "True Story" by Michael Finkel really sticks in my mind (a father who killed his family and fled to Mexico), "Zodiac" by Robert Graysmith, "Green River, Running Red" by Ann Rule, Joe McGinnis's "Never Enough" (Nancy Kissel who killed her husband in Hong Kong) and the classic "Fatal Vision"I (Dr. Jeffrey McDonald), and "Columbine" by Dave Cullen. I would recommend all these books to listeners who like true crime - all are on Audible.
"Utterly fascinating"
OK, I admit I was a big reluctant to start this book but couldn't stop listening once I started. The authors go through case studies of many adults and some children with various problems with hoarding and accumulation. The authors discuss the individual struggles, family struggles and public health issues with hoarding. They talk about how they got into the area of treating this disorder which had previously not been discussed much. They do talk primarily about how the disease arises from psychological factors, as opposed to neurotransmitters (for example), but do talk some about the biology and genetic factors around hoarding. This is not a "how-to" book with chapter by chapter approach to the illness but they also give advice on how they treat people with these issues and how to approach the issue on a community basis. They also give families and individuals advice on where to go for help. The main thing that fascinated me was how they could so eloquently describe the struggles that these people have with discarding their things which I never could have understood from watching a show like "Hoarders", for example. If you are at all interested in this topic, don't hesitate to get this book
"Very enjoyable"
I listened to this straight through and enjoyed it immensely. Generally, his books have more of an ecological theme and a discussion of the hazards of overbuilding the Florida coast but this book is just a fun discussion of the gossip rage that surrounds us now.
"Fast Moving"
I thought "Oh boy" when I saw the length but I could not stop listening. The plot moves fast, the concept of a technical dome was fascinating, and I laughed more than I expected to. I have two notes. First, you really have to pay attention to the characters and names as the characters come in to the story because there is not much reintroduction when they reappear. (I think the book has a list to help the reader). Second, there are some violent and sad parts so this book is not for everyone. Unfortunately, the narrator moved the story along but does not have a good handle on the accents or different voices. He was somewhere in the middle - not enough accents or voices to add to the story and separate the characters with his voice. I would have prefered that he would skip all the voices and accents and just read the story.
"Interesting true crime book"
This was a very interesting book. It does mostly talk about the death of Lacy Peterson but does describe some other cases that are similar. I like Ann Rule and have read most of her books and I believe you would like this book if you like Ann Rule. Also, if you like this book, consider "True Story" by Michael Finkel.
"Nice summer reading"
I enjoyed this book and hearing about the history surrounding the Salem Witch trials. This was an easy book to follow and so was a good book to carry along while I did other things.
"Try some other of her books first"
I have read all of the Stephanie Plum books and this was not one of my favorite. It was not as funny as her previous books. But I would not discourage you from reading her other books - Four to Score is one of my favorites.
"Well written book about tragedy"
You have to pay attention while you listen to this book because there are so many people involved in the story. I listened once and listened the second time. The books seems well researched and the writing is clear.
My only fault with the book - if it is a fault, is that he states that the initial reporting was inaccurate including his reporting. But he does not say which articles he wrote that were inaccurate. I don't think he did this out of an attempt to deceive us but more of an attempt to keep himself out of the story.
"Enjoyable book"
This book started out slowly. In fact, I almost stopped listening two hours into the book. But the pace picked up and at the end I could not put it down. I have enjoyed the previous Camel Club books more because they were more about the members and their idiosyncracies, but this book still was entertaining
"Good at first"
First, this book is gruesome at points. There were times that I had to stop listening and fast forward it. But the first four hours were fun to listen to.