Category: Nonfiction

3/5, AUTHOR, B, Book Review, Nonfiction, Read in 2008

Blood Brother by Anne Bird

Tara
Blood Brothers: 33 Reasons My Broher Scott Peterson is Guilty
by Anne Bird
Copyright: 2005
Pages: 211
Rating: 3/5
Read: July 22-24, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – True Crime Category

First Line: On a quiet midweek afternoon in early June 1997, I received a phone call that almost destroyed my life.

Anne Bird is one of the two children that Jackie Peterson gave up as a young woman. When Anne first met Jackie and her family she was glad that it turned out the way that it did. When she meets the “Golden Boy” of the family, Scott, she takes to him immediately. If she had known when she first met her “new” family what was to come she probably would have been a little more cautious. But whatever the reason, she became caught up in the Scott Peterson investigation in a way that no person should ever have to. Her family ties make her want to prove everybody wrong about Scott but her instincts tell her that things just aren’t adding up.
This was probably not the best book on this subject. But I am glad that I read this one. It was interesting to see it from this point of view. She was a part of the family and then yet again she really wasn’t because her adoptive family was the family that she really knew and trusted. And yet I understood why she was hesitant to believe that Scott could have done such a thing as kill his wife and unborn child. I am very interested in everything about this trial, having watched it all unfold daily. But like I said, not the best book to read regarding this case, but definitely worth your time.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Nonfiction, Read in 2008, U-V-W

Mistaken Identity by the Van Ryn & Cerak Families

Tara
Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope
by Don & Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen & Whitney Cerak

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 261
Rating: 4/5
Read: May 11-14, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – Bio/Autobio Category

First Line: Colleen Cerak woke up with a start to the sound of the phone ringing.

April 26, 2006. A date that the community of Taylor University will never forget. Returning from a banquet, a university bus carrying students and staff were hit by a truck. The accident scene was terribly violent and chaotic. Five people died. One survived. Laura Van Ryn’s family couldn’t believe that their little girl survived the terrible accident. Whitney Cerak’s family struggled to cope with the loss of their loved one. As Laura began the grueling healing process, her family was there to witness every moment. For five weeks after the accident she was showing amazing progress and the Van Ryn family thought that they were well on their way to returning to normalcy. Then it happened.
“Okay, Laura, I would like for you to write your name for me, the occupational therapist said. … W-H-I-T-N-E-Y…” (pg. 165-167)
The Van Ryn’s simply could not believe it. Had they been caring for Whitney Cerak for the past five weeks under the impression that it was their precious Laura?! Had the Cerak family actually buried their baby girl thinking it was Whitney?! Slowly, they began to remember strange things that “Laura” had recently been saying. Getting names wrong, not recognizing people. Just little things here and there. But it all made sense: “Laura” was actually Whitney!
Once the dental records did indeed confirm the fact that the girl who survived the horrific accident was actually Whitney Cerak, the Cerak family was contacted with amazing news.

“We have reason to believe that the girl identified as Laura Van Ryn is, in fact, your daughter Whitney Cerak.” (pg. 3)

Colleen Cerak could not believe her ears. Could they really have buried a girl other than Whitney? Could they have buried Laura instead?! No one in the family had the strength to view the body before burial … then Colleen began to think, five weeks!?!? How had five weeks gone by without the truth being obvious?! When the Cerak’s were reunited with their daughter, Whitney, everything was perfect.
But then, the Cerak’s wondered, how are the Van Ryn family coping?! They were the ones who, five weeks ago, felt amazingly blessed that their daughter survived a horrific accident in which she should have died. Now they were feeling the despair and heartbreak that the Cerak family had been experiencing for the past five weeks. And to make it worse, the Van Ryn’s were caring for a girl that they believed to be their daughter when in fact it was a stranger to them. How is something like that even possible?!
This book tells their story. It is heartbreaking. It is uplifting. It is amazing. I enjoyed it. Although I am not particularly religious, I understood that their story had to be told from that aspect since both of the families faith is a huge part of their life as well as this story. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It’s a must read.
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, R, Read in 2008

A Rose for Her Grave by Ann Rule

Tara
A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases: Ann Rule’s Crime Files: Vol. 1
Ann Rule
Copyright: 1993
Pages: 513
Rating: 3/5
Read: April 13-17, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – True Crime category; What’s in a Name – Plant category

First Line: Janis Miranda was a little bit of a thing.

Ann Rule’s Crime Files opens up with the story of Randy Roth. Roth was a man who courted, married, killed, and collected insurance on the women he victimized. The way that he appealed to women was amazing! And the way that he demeaned strong, independent women was even more shocking. But that story only takes up the first two-thirds of the book. The rest of the book is spent focusing in on four other true crime cases that Rule covered in the Pacific Northwest. Although Rule is my absolute favorite true crime author, I was disappointed by this one. I think that she does a much better job when she is focused on just one case. The four mini-cases really weren’t long enough for her to do them justice. This book was just okay for me. [With this book, I also finish the What’s in a Name Challenge. I will be posting a challenge wrap-up shortly.
4/5, A, AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, Read in 2008

Diana’s Boys by Christopher Andersen

Tara
Diana’s Boys: William and Harry and the Mother They Loved
by Christopher Andersen

Copyright: 2001, 2002
Pages: 365
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 4-10, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – Bio/Autobio category; Eponymous Challenge

First Line: That the beautiful, complicated Princess of Wales — arguably the most celebrated woman of the twentieth century — died so violently, so senselessly, and so young at age thirty-six was tragic.

Such a great book! Andersen makes the story of these two boys flow so easily. He really goes into a lot of detail about what life was like for them growing up not only as royals but also as children who had to watch their parents quarrel almost constantly. It’s really amazing how they got away with quite a bit, but both of their parents were always keeping them in line (although Diana was more likely to let them have a little fun than Charles). Andersen also spends a lot of time explaining how their parents’ problems and subsequent divorce as well as the tragic death of their mother effected their lives. Great read.
2/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, N, Nonfiction, Read in 2008

Coroner by Thomas T. Noguchi, M.D.

Tara
Coroner
by Thomas T. Noguchi, M.D.
Copyright: 1983
Pages: 252
Rating: 2/5
Read: Feb. 23-27, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: In my memory, as I write, there is a montage of tragic scenes.

Dr. Noguchi was the “coroner to the stars.” He performed the autopsies of individuals like Marilyn Monroe, Robert F. Kennedy and Janis Joplin. He was also highly controversial in some of his findings. In this book he finally reveals his true thoughts and feelings behind some of the details of his most famous autopsies.
I didn’t care for this book. It started out really good but it just seemed to be quite repetitive near the end. I was really disappointed in it. When I read the description on PBS I thought it would be a lot better and I regret using a credit to order this book. I wouldn’t recommend this book whatsoever.
2/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, H, Nonfiction, Read in 2008

Aruba by Dave Holloway

Tara
Aruba: The Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise
by Dave Holloway
Copyright: 2006
Pages: 203
Rating: 2/5
Read: Feb. 18-23, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – True Crime Category
First Line: I cannot tell you how much it hurts to lose a child.
This is the story of the Natalee Holloway case from her father, Dave Holloway’s perspective. I remember following this case and watching it unfold in horror in 2005. I could not believe that such a beautiful young lady could simply vanish off an island. I was also shocked that these parents let 100+ 18-year-olds go off to Aruba with only 7 chaperons! But my feelings aside, I felt that this book was really lacking in feeling. I felt as if I was just reading a true crime book written from the perspective of a person who had no involvement in the case whatsoever. All I could feel was anger coming from Dave Holloway when he should have been writing a more heartfelt story in my opinion. I just didn’t care for this one at all.
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, Read in 2008, S

The Marilyn Conspiracy by Milo Speriglio

Tara
The Marilyn Conspiracy
by Milo Speriglio
Copyright: 1986
Pages: 216
Rating: 3/5
Read: Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – Biography/Autobiography category
First Line: In the beginning of the Marilyn Conspiracy there was a lifeless hand holding the telephone, the nude body sprawled across the bed, and the house on 12305 Helena Drive.
This book is Milo Speriglio’s attempt to prove that Marilyn Monroe did not commit suicide, but rather, she was a victim of a homicide. Overall, I enjoyed this book. However, I had quite a few problems with it. First of all, I did not like at all how the author organized this work. He broke everything up into sections, for example some chapters were called “The DA,” “The Coroner,” “The Police,” etc. I felt that if he had just laid it all out it in a format where it would read easily, much like a novel, it would have been a much better read. I also had a lot of problems with the way that he concluded the book. Being a history major, I learned that when writing your conclusion, you must be very frank and firm. Instead, what I read seemed more like tip-toeing around what he really wanted to say. It became obvious that he acknowledged that Monroe had a relationship with Robert Kennedy, but felt that Kennedy was not the person behind the murder, but rather the Mafia was in order to strike a blow to RFK’s political future. Unfortunately, he didn’t come out and say that, instead he simply said it was possible. If that is his conclusion, he needs to be forceful. I just feel that this book had a lot of promise, but that the execution just wasn’t there.
3/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, Nonfiction, O, Read in 2008

The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates by Susan O’Malley

Tara
The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
by Susan O’Malley
Copyright: 2004
Pages: 371
Rating: 3/5
Read: Jan. 25-29, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight – True Crime category
First Line: A little before 10:00am — 9:56, to be exact — Russell “Rusty” Yates’s cell phone rang in the sixth-floor Shuttle Vehicle Engineering Office he shared with three other National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employees.
O’Malley discuses the Andrea Yates case. She goes into a lot of detail in regards to the mental illnesses that Yates suffered from. There is no doubt that this woman was severely ill. Unfortunately, things could not be straightened out for her and she instead killed her five children. This case captured the attention of the nation: what kind of a woman could kill all of her children?! And besides that, O’Malley goes into great detail about the family dynamics and how Andrea’s illness overshadowed everything. I only wish that more could have been done for this woman so that five innocent lives could have been saved. That being said, I personally did not care for this book. I remember this case going to trial and keeping up-to-date. I felt that the writing style and layout of this book was a little weak. I understand that the author had to discuss a lot of mental illness and religious matters, but I felt a little bogged down in those areas. I simply was not impressed.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, L, Nonfiction, Read in 2008

The Night Lives On by Walter Lord

Tara
The Night Lives On
by Walter Lord
Copyright: 1986, 1987
Pages: 226
Rating: 4/5
Read: Jan. 28-29, 2008
Challenge: Back to History
First Line: Just 20 minutes short of midnight, April 14, 1912, the great new White Star Liner Titanic, making her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, had a rendezvous with ice in the calm, dark waters of the North Atlantic.
In this book, Walter Lord attempts to tell the story of the Titanic. He tries to figure out why certain things occurred – things which ultimately caused the Titanic’s demise. He especially focuses in on why Captain Smith seemingly ignored the numerous ice warnings and why the ship Californian was nearby and ultimately ignored the distress flares. He also delves a little into the main players of the disaster, including some passengers. He uses the Senate hearings and the British inquiry into the event for most of his sources. I enjoyed this book. The beginning was a little slow, but it quickly picked up pace. This was the first book I had ever read on the Titanic, having being fascinated by the event for years and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Highly recommended.
4/5, AUTHOR, Book Review, F, Nonfiction, Read in 2008

Murder in Greenwich by Mark Fuhrman

Tara
Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley
by Mark Fuhrman
Copyright: 1998/1999
Pages: 401
Rating: 4/5
Read: Jan. 18-21, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight Challenge – True Crime Category; What’s in a Name challenge (Place category)
First Line: Although she had lived in Greenwich for only a little more than a year, Martha Moxley had made many friends.
Mark Fuhrman goes into great detail about the Martha Moxley murder case. In this book he really goes into how the Greenwich police bungled the case practically from day one. To say that they were unprepared and inexperienced for such a case would be quite an understatement. Fuhrman’s book really tore the case wide open. He made the world look at the case in a new light and made them want to solve this case regardless of what it took. He clearly states that Michael Skakel is the murderer and that suspicion needs to rest on him rather than the other suspects. I enjoyed this book. I’m glad that he took the initiative to dive into a case that was long cold and also something that most Greenwich residents wanted to forget about completely.