End of Watch: Utahs Murdered Police Officers by Robert Kirby

Hands down, best book ever written. I think that everyone should read it at least once.
The book chronicles the stories of police officers who were murdered in the line of duty. Murdered. Not accidents. The stories are from 1858 (If I recall correctly) to 2003 when the book was published.
How Mr. Kirby writes these stories is with respect and honor to the officers themselves, but he doesn't cover up what went wrong. He tells it just as it happened. When reading the stories, you can tell where they might have messed up. Policies in the 1800's and early/mid 1900's were lacking. There wasn't much training to go through, and alot of this stuff had to be learned on the job, by experience. Thankfully, nowadays, officers are required to go through POST, (Peace Officers Standards and Training) before they are ever put out on the street. Then they have a one year probationary period where theres even more training.
Kirby talks a little bit about his background as a Police Officer, but you dont learn too much. I dont think he was all that happy with it, but that's just the impression I got.
Many of the stories are heartbreaking and they are a terrible thing. I wish we could completely wipe out Police Officer deaths, but it's just not possible. Wherever anyone serves, whether it's in the military, law enforcement, firefighters, or even occasionally security, there will always be the possibility of being injured, attacked or even killed. When most people see a cop, they automatically assume they are bad people with a badge who have something to prove. That's not true. They are people with family, homes, and outside lives and interests. They are not just a badge and a gun. They are people. And they are very important. Not many can do the job they do and for as long as they do. They get my respect and support always.
Awesome book. Read it. Love it. Talk about it. I for one will go buy the book and read it again.
To Mr. Kirby: My review doesn't do your book justice, (I am terrible when it comes to saying what I really want to), but you get my thanks in writing such a moving book. I am sad it took me so long to find it at my library though. Cant wait to order it and read it again. Thank you.

-Eagle Feather

Jumped, Fell, or Pushed? by Steven A Koelher and Pete Moore (Readers Digest)

This book is an amazing compilation of techniques used to solves murders and other criminal activities. It's chapters cover everything from how they trail a killer, to fingerprints and genetic material, to bullets and poisons. At the end of the chapters, it has case studies that give you a real life application of what the chapter talked about. It has case studies on Ted Bundy, Timothy McVeigh, Snowtown murders in Australia, and many, many others. I liked reading the case studies and learning the real-life applications. It's a good book to read, and also a good reference book. (Not as a killer, mind you. As a student of criminology.)
Have a wonderful day!

Murder in the name of Honor by Rana Husseini

Now, I want to make it very clear: If you read this review, then you decide that they are evil, horrible people, then you are not invited back to this blog. I am reviewing this book to bring to light the small percentage of these crimes and what is being done about it. I do not want to start a fight about this, I do not want to come across as a "feminist" or "racist", although I do believe women need more equal rights, in every country. I picked up the book because it was about something I had heard very little about, and surprisingly, not many in the US have ever heard of it. (I almost didn't review this one at all because of the possible problems it would cause to those who are arrogant, ignorant jerks.)

This book is about a Jordanian journalist who got assigned to write about a so called "honour killing" that had happened. When she did this, she discovered that these "honour killings" happen quite frequently and always, always involve the killing of a woman by her male relatives hand. They always involve the girl "shaming" the males family name by either talking to another man, going out without a headscarf, not being a virgin, or even having an unknown phone number on their cell phones. If they have a cell phone.
Rana goes on to discover that it is perfectly legal in Jordan to kill your female relative if they have shamed you, and most only get six months imprisonment where they are treated as heros.
Rana started to see what she could do to change it and the rest of the book shows that process. As of the publishing of the book, she is still working on getting the laws fixed so women have equal rights as men. (By the way, if they kill their husbands for any reason, even to get away from the abuse, they are often imprisoned for life or they are killed. Hows that for fairness?)
I think this is a great book, and it shows how things actually are in Jordan and what's being done to change it. It doesn't only happen in Jordan either. It happens in Afghanistan, Iran, even Europe and the USA. I hope she gets the laws, and the cultural beliefs about this, changed. But it needs to be done within the system, not from the outside. She gets my support in her venture.

A few more books for you.

Here's a short review of them:

Weird US and Weird US: The ODDessy Continues

Two books by Mark Moran and Mark Scuerman take you on a tour of some of the oddest, and most interesting, places in the United States. Catagories include: Haunted Places, Strange People, Odd Festivals, etc. There are listings of Gateways to Hell, there's stories on Midgets, and a THING in a freezer. (No one knows what the THING is, but everyone has to stop and see it.) They have other books like Weird California, Weird New Jersey, and Weird Ohio. You will have to check your local book store for more listings.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

This book written by Stephen R. Covey details the seven habits one must develop and have to open up their potential, reach their goals, and become effective people of society. There is alot of good stuff in that book, but I am more of a creative person, and this book was written for a more logical brain. Which brings me to my next review....

Life Tuneups

This book was written by world-renowned speaker and founder of Lobella International, Loren Slocum. This book, written specifically for women, helps you rediscover your true self, find your passion, and follow your heart to live the best life you can. It's full of exercises you can do to help you discover who you are inside. It's a wonderful book, and I recommend this book for all women in everyones life!

I have more books I am reading, and I cant wait to review them for you!
Happy Adventures!

The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton

I just finished this book and I must say it's wonderful!
It's the story of a girl who, on a whim, moves to the middle of nowhere in Wyoming after driving through on her Vespa on her way to New York from California. She meets a cowboy named Mike while he and his friend are feeding the cattle, and soon she moves into a half-finished cabin on his property.
Mike finds her a coyote pup and gives it to her as a gift. She raises this coyote, all the while discovering a completely different way of life from the one she knew in New York, and discovering who she really is.
I love this book. It's a great lesson for everyone on going where your heart takes you. It's got pictures throughout the book of the coyote, and a few landscape pictures of Wyoming.
I recommend this book and also recommend that you visit Shreve's website: http://www.dailycoyote.net/

Happy Adventures!

Public Enemies by John Walsh

Another wonderful book that takes you into the world of America's Most Wanted and the criminals they help capture.
One thing that I absolutely love about John's books and AMW is that they tell the story of the victims and not just the killer. When I read these stories, I feel like I get to know the families that the killer has affected and honestly, that's not a view that you get very often.
I recommend this book completely. Just read it. Go. It's awesome.

All Pets Go To Heaven by Sylvia Browne

Now, before you go criticizing my reading and reviewing of a Sylvia Browne book, let me say that I really like the woman. She's amazing and, although I have no proof, I'd like to think that she's the real deal. Some ideas are a little out there, but for the most part, I like her.
Now onto the book:
Let me tell you what has been going on during the months of April and May. Two days before Easter, my Grandma fell and a week later she passed away. She passed away on April 9, 2010. My Baby Girl, Rikki, a border collie/german shepherd mix, had to be put down on May 8, 2010, the day before Mother's Day. Kuma, our 1 1/2 year old purebred Akita, passed at 3 in the morning due to complications from bloat. That's the reason I picked up this book. Some of the stories are very inspiring and some are very sad. I nearly cried when I read some of them, but I resisted. After all, I was at work.
If you have recently, or not recently, lost a beloved pet, then I recommend this book. It's a wonderful book and there are many other books by Sylvia Browne that I would recommend you read as well.
Enjoy!

The New Vampire Handbook by The Vampire Miles Proctor

Okay, okay, I know what you are thinking, "She's been bitten by the Twilight bug!!" No. I haven't. I'm not a big fan of Twilight, although I did read the books and saw the movies up to this point. That's all.
Now, onto The New Vampires Handbook: A Guide for the Recently Turned Creature of the Night by The Vampire Miles Proctor.
This book goes under the same catagory as the book "Zombie Survival Guide" by Max Brooks. It's very entertaining.
Your introduced to The Vampire Miles Proctor (the vampire community no longer has Mr. or Mrs. titles, only "The Vampire".) who is acting as your mentor and teaching you all you need to know about vampire life.
The first chapter tells you what your body can and cannot do now that you've changed. (You will need to start carrying several pairs of long tube socks from now on.) He also teaches you proper vampire etiquette, how to find places to sleep and live, what to do if you see someone you knew from before your turning, and, most importantly, how to properly feed and on whom. You cant just go around draining anyone. You need to pick and choose. He also informs you that just because someone looks good on the outside doesn't mean their blood has enough "vitality" to sustain you. The Vampire Miles also tells you how to change someone, but he is very specific on the reasons to change someone. They must have a talent or ability that will benefit the vampire community. Just because he makes a killer martini (which you can no longer have anyway) doesn't mean that you should change him. It doesn't work that way. He has pointers and personal stories scattered throughout the book, and, quite frankly, some are just hilarious!
If you enjoy humor books like "Zombie Survival Guide" or "How to Survive a Horror Movie", both by Max Brooks, then I recommend that you read "The New Vampire's Handbook: A Guide for the Recently Turned Creature of the Night" by The Vampire Miles Proctor. He also hints at some other handbooks he will be writing in the future. After all, he does have eternity.

A Cop's Life by Sgt. Randy Sutton

Impressive. Its a fast read and some of the stories are very touching. The law enforcement field is not an easy field of work, and it takes a special person to do this kind of work.
He tells the stories of his lengthy career from his role model who was his best friend in the beginning, saving babies, suicides, and the deaths of two fellow officers, one a veteran and the other a rookie he has helped through the entire process of getting into the law enforcement field.
The stories in this book are not always pretty, but they all give you an inside look at the law enforcement field. I will not go too far into reviewing this one because I do not want to give it all away, but I do recommend you read it if you have someone you know working in the field.
I am going to look for more books by Sgt. Randy Sutton, so I may be reviewing more in the future.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson MD

This book was written by Spencer Johnson to help people deal with changes in all aspects of their lives.
The story follows two mice (Sniff and Scurry) and two little people (Hem and Haw) who live in a maze and search for "cheese" to nourish them. The "cheese" is whatever you want in life such as a good job, good relationships, money, spiritual peace of mind, etc. The "maze" is how you get there.
It's a simple concept and a quick read, but if you apply the concepts found throughout the book, it really can change your life. I haven't done it yet, but I will work on it.
There is a version of this book for teens, "Who Moved My Cheese? For Teens" but I haven't read it yet. I figure the concepts in this book is applicable to anyone in any situation. Happy Reading!

No Mercy by John Walsh

No Mercy is a book written by John Walsh about the starting of Americas Most Wanted. It tells the stories of several cases they have helped solve by telling the stories of the victims and putting out the photos of the perpetraitor(s) out there and asking for help from normal citizens like you and me.
For the record, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I dont want to go into it too much without giving things away, but it goes through the process of using a tv show to catch a killer.
One thing John Walsh specifically says is that they will never revictimize the families or victims of crime. John and his wife were constantly revictimized by the press during the 20 years it took to bring some kind of closure to the Adam Walsh case and he refuses to do that to others. He has an agreement with families who come forward that if anytime between the taping of the show and the night it airs, if they change their mind, he will personally burn the tape. He says he's done it several times.
The cases in this book dont focus so much on what the victim looked like, what he had done to the victims, or why, but more on how they come to catch him. John does not linger on why a murderer/rapist does what he does. He commited a crime and now he must pay for it. If they did it once, they can (and usually will) do it again.
I currently have two more of his books on my reading list, but I have not gotten that far yet.
The next book I review will be Stephen Kings "Just After Sunset" which my boss loaned me and said was really good. It will put me behind a week (ish) on my list, but so far I've read three or four stories and only one was dumb. So we will see. Have a wonderful rainy weekend!

Funeral and Memorial Service Readings, Poems and Tributes

Funeral and Memorial Service Readings, Poems and Tributes edited by Rachel R. Baum.

I picked up this book expecting some awesome and heartfelt poems and tributes I could use in memory of Grandma who passed into the next life back April 9, 2010. I found several I liked, but the majority of these poems I feel didn't have much life to them. They were just words. I didn't feel they were written for anyone special. I know most of them were, but maybe it was just me.
Anyway, I found several I enjoyed enough to type up on my computer and save for a later project.
Short review, but nothing in this book stood out to me very much. *shrugs* I do miss Grandma very much though... She was the center of our life. She held everyone together...

All Gods Children by Rene Denfeld

This is a book that covers a part of society that most people dont know exists. Street families. Not necessarily homeless people, people who choose to live on the streets due to "abusive relationships in the home" or various other reasons. Most say they were raped or abused by parents, kicked out by their parents, or simply just left a difficult situation.
This book follows street families in Portland, Oregon. The main family the book follows is a group called simply, "The Family". It consisted of several members who are usually between the ages of early teens, 13 or 14, to older members who can range all the way up to 26.
Rene delves into these kids minds and follows their stories that seem innocent during the day, but by night, these kids are very, very dangerous. There are several instances where someone in the street family offended someone else, and the entire culture turned against them. The punishment can vary from a simple "taxing" (taking objects valuable to the taxee), to a beating to even death.
The last part of the book covers the story of a mentally disable young woman who befriended these kids. She thought it was all innocent fun, but then she soon found out that they can turn on loved ones as easily as a winter storm.
This last case is heartwrenching and horribly sad. This was the only book I have ever read that actually had me waking up at night. It was mindboggling and just didn't seem like this kind of culture could exist right under our noses.
If you want to see into the darker side of our society, then read this book. Good luck finding anything online that explains any of it though. I haven't found anything. Some pictures, but nothing about the culture itself.
Next book review: A wonderful book by John Walsh called "No Mercy".

The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

This book covers several cases from Jack the Ripper to the still unsolved JonBenet Ramsey murder.
All in all, it was a very interesting book. The author essentially profiles all the crimes scenes to tell us what kind of person could have commited the murders. It's very interesting but I cannot post too much about it without giving it all away.
The first part about Jack the Ripper is slightly confusing, but you get the gist of it. He goes through all the suspects and gives reasons they could have done it and reasons they couldn't have done it. His last suspect, (the person I thought could have done it), fits his profile perfectly. But alas, since it's been over 100 years since the murders, we will never know.
He covers the Lizzie Borden killings, which if anyone has researched it will realize that Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the crime, even though there was plenty of evidence to support that she commited the crimes, but they never found the ax that her mother and father were killed with and without a murder weapon the prosecution kindof falls apart. I know Lizzie killed her parents. There's no doubt about that. But alas, we cannot solve this one either.
The Lindbergh Kidnapping is one I had heard of but never looked into. It was a very interesting read and at the end, I found I agreed with the author on his verdict. The man charged with the kidnapping and killing of the Lindbergh baby was not working alone, but the people and police were satisfied with convicting just one man that they didn't look for the rest of his group. Now, I'm not saying that he didn't do it, but I'm sure that he wasn't working alone. He was a german carpenter named Hauptmann.
The Zodiac Killer. This one could have a post all on it's own. This killer was never identified or caught and all the murders remain unsolved to this day. I am currently looking for a book that covers the Zodiac more than this one did, but I can tell you about it a bit. The Zodiac enjoyed shooting couples in their cars and he usually would go to the passenger side of the car and shoot into the car. One man survived the Zodiacs attempted killing, and described him as being in his early 20's, 200 lbs, 5'8", brown crew cut hair. He wore a rain coat like those in the navy and pleated pants. The Zodiac murders remain unsolved.
This book touches slightly on the Black Dahlia murder and the Boston Strangler.
The ending chapter is about the JonBenet Ramsey murder. It was a hard chapter for me to read as I have a niece thats almost 3, but after debating with myself back and forth, I finally gave in and read it. It was a read that was well worth it. You get details from the case in this chapter that you didn't get in the news reports and, actually, the news reports were quite misleading anyway. They automatically assumed that the parents were responsible, but where she was discovered and how she was discovered was in direct contrast to the profile. I am not going to divulge much of the information from this chapter, but I would suggest that you read this one and make the answers for yourself, but take into account the evidence.
Follow the evidence and make the theories fit the evidence. That's the most important part. People have a tendency to make the evidence fit the theory, but that doesn't work and has led many people to the wrong conclusions. Stick with the evidence and facts.

Killer Book of True Crime by Tom Philbin and Michael Philbin

Another book by Tom Philbin and Michael Philbin.

The Killer Book of True Crime by Tom Philbin and Michael Philbin

This book covers everything from Homicide, Rape and Mass Murder to the more mundane crimes like car theft and arson. I found the whole thing very informative and very interesting. (Having always been interested in Criminal Justice, this book was right up my alley. I think I will go buy the book for myself!)

I wanted to cover some interesting things I found in the book:

The Brinks Job

The Brinks Job was one of the best planned and best executed bank robberies of all time. On January 17, 1950, seven armed thieves in Boston made off with $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities. The Job took seventeen minutes and the FBI spent $29 million investigating it.

The mastermind of the group who concocted the whole thing was Anthony "Fats" Pino. It took eighteen months to plan out and they made twenty-seven trips to the Brinks building complex and made copies of keys from the lock cylinders. They took the cylinders, made a key, then returned the cylinders before they were missed.

When they entered the building on January 17th, they got to the counting room easily due to the fact that they had keys and had on chauffeurs uniforms and bizarre masks so they could not be easily identified. In fact, it would be 5 years and 361 days before they were caught.

One of the robbers, "Specs" O'Keefe had entrusted his $90,000 of his share to a fellow thief and when he asked for it back, the other man wouldn't give it to him. O'Keefe threatened to go to the cops if he wasn't paid. Pino and others reacted by hiring Elmer "Trigger" Burke, a New York hitman, to "clip" O'Keefe. He was unsuccessful and O'Keefe went to the authorities. They were all arrested only 5 days before the statute of limitations would have expired. All they had to do was wait 5 more days.

We have already covered Serial Killers in my previous posting. But they are nonetheless extremely interesting.

Mass Murderers

The difference between Mass Murderers and Serial Killers is that mass murderers kill several people (sometimes large crowds) at one time. Serial Killers kill 3 or more people over the course of a year or more.
Some infamous Mass Murderers are:

-Ronald DeFoe Jr. who murdered his entire family in their sleep on the early morning of November 13, 1974. The real Amityville Horror had taken place. He shot his entire family: his mother, his father, his two brothers and his two sisters. They were all found in the same position: lying face down in there beds, faces in the pillows.

-Howard Unruh was a soldier in WWII who after being discharged return to his home town of Camden, New Jersey. He had a shooting gallery in his basement that he used quite often and practiced regularly with several knives he had. On September 6, 1946 something finally broke inside him and while walking the streets of Camden, he randomly shot to death anyone who was around. He killed 13 people in a matter of minutes.

-On July 21, 1984, James Oliver Huberty walked into a McDonalds near the Mexican border on Interstate Highway 5 in San Ysidro, California. He was carrying an Uzi, a shotgun and a pistol, the weapons in plain sight. Then he began shooting at anything that moved: children, men and women, and didn't stop until SWAT picked him off over an hour later. The final toll was twenty-one dead, including Huberty, and thirty adults and children injured.

-On July 14, 1966 in Chicago in a place called Jeffrey Manor, eight nurses were found killed in their apartment. At 6 in the morning Mrs. Freda Windmiller heard what she thought was screaming. She got dressed to investigate. Meanwhile Robert Hall, walking his dog, heard the screams and rushed to where they were coming from.

When Hall and Windmiller got there, they saw a young, dark skinned woman crouching on a ledge outside of a second story window, screaming for help and speaking in half broken english. They were afraid that she would jump and convinced her to go back through the window through the house.

When the officers arrived on the scene, they discovered eight young nurses in the apartment, all stabbed several times. The girl had escaped being killed by hiding under the bed until the killer left, then she waited for hours to make sure he had gone and then climbed out onto the ledge and started screaming.

Their names are:

Pamela Wilkening, twenty years old, stabbed in the left breast but then finally strangled by a bed sheet.

Mary Ann Jordan, twenty years old, stabbed three times in the neck, breast and eye.

Suzanne Farris, twenty-one years old, stabbed eighteen times in the back, neck and chin. She was also sexually assaulted.

Nina Schmele, twenty-four years old, stabbed in the neck and then strangled.

Valentina Pasion, twenty-three years old, stabbed in the neck.

Merlita Gargullo, twenty-two years old, stabbed and strangled.

Patricia Matusek, who was twenty years old. (Its not said how she died, but I figure she was stabbed as well.

Gloria Davy, who was twenty-three years old. The killer paid special attention to her.

The book also covers criminal investigation, rape, terrorism, theft, death row, prison, stalking, female killers, arson and much more. It's a great read if this is what your interested in, but still very informative if your just looking for a specific topic. I will be buying this book for myself as soon as I get money and can buy it.

Again, anything by the Philbin brothers is a great read. Recommend it. :)

Killer Book of Serial Killers

This book, written by Tom Philbin and Michael Philbin, is a goldmine of some of the worst serial killers out there, such as John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, and many more.

The first chapter in the book, however, is about Albert Fish and his kidnapping, and subsequent consumption of, 9-year-old Grace Budd in 1928. Yes, he cannibalized her. Sick bastard.

Ted Bundy

It's no wonder all the women went with him, he was rather good looking! He liked women with long dark hair, parted in the middle. He would feign an injury and ask the unsuspecting woman for help. She obliges and walks with him to his VW. He layed the back seat of his car flat and hid a tire iron behind the seats. When a woman came with him, he would take out the tire iron, knock the woman unconsious, and then take her to a wooded area, kill her then rape her. Nice eh?
Authorities estimate that, conservatively, he has killed over forty women. They will never know for sure because dead bodies dont talk and Ted Bundy was sent to the electric chair on January 25, 1989.

John Wayne Gacy

It is said that the most dangerous position a young boy could be in was with John Wayne Gacy in his home.
He had a home with a crawl space underneath it, and occasionally he would torture and kill a young boy and bury his body beneath his house in the crawl space. His neighbors started to complain about the smell, which Gacy had claimed was sewage problems, just like everyone else had.
When officers discovered the bodies, they discovered that Gacy had covered the bodies with lime to hasten decomposition. They discovered 27 bodies and Gacy confessed to five more.
Gacy was executed May 10, 1994 by lethal injection.

David Berkowitz
The Son of Sam

David Berkowitz was convinced demons were talking to him, and they wanted blood. They instructed him to drive the streets or wander the malls/clubs until they saw a victim that they liked. Then he would walk up to them and shoot them, usually people or couples in their cars. The demons liked long dark haired women.
Near the end, the demons told him to go on a shooting spree in a campground in Southampton, Long Island. Luck was with those on the island as it had started to rain, then downpour. Berkowitz decided to pull over and wait it out. Soon however, the demons told him to go home, the rain had cleared out too many prospects. When he got home, the demons criticized him on his inability to complete the mission. They told him he had to die. The police had finally discovered who was behind the killings because of a traffic ticket.
Soon, every available officer surrounded his house. When he was arrested, he just looked at them and smiled. Like it was all just a game.

I enjoyed reading the book and learning about the different serial killers. I did not enjoy reading the Albert Fish story, because I dont much like cannabalism, and they only focused on one victim: Grace Budd. To be a serial killer, you must have killed at least three people and the killings must be over a long period of time, 1.5 years at least.

I just finished their first book: The Killer Book of True Crime, and I will post the fascinating facts and stories of the book soon. I want to own these books for myself. Happy Reading!