Pure Murder (Pinnacle True Crime) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have never read a book before that made me so furious. Not the quality of the writing, but rather the story itself. Corey Mitchell does an incredible job of pulling you right into the story as we find ourselves right alongside the father of Jennifer Ertman, a young girl, who was brutally murdered in 1993 in a park in Houston, Texas. We have no idea how she is killed or why or by who, but eventually we learn all that and so much more.
It take nearly 200 pages before we even get to the crime and by the time we are there I was completely entranced and mortified. In addition to learning about Jennifer, we also learn about her best friend, Elizabeth pena. I enjoyed how the athor did not try to make both girls out to be the perfect angels like so many other true crime authors do with their subjects. We learn that Elizabeth is a flawed individual and not the perfect daughter. This only serves to make her even more human and more sympathetic.
We also learn about the six main culprits behind this incredibly gruesome and horrifying crime. Instaed of creating sympathy for the killers, this also makes them more human as well. It is fascinating to know that they all came from relatively stable, happy home lives. Definitely breaking the mold of the typical killer, or at least how the media attempts to portray them.
Getting to know the two girls, as well as all six of their killers, made reading the murder scene almost unbearable. I never have experienced sheer terror when reading a true crime book, until now. After it was finally over, I wanted to put down the book and take a shower. There was no way though that I could stop reading this story.
I could not imagine this story getting any better (or worse as the case would be for the families) but it did. The insane ordeal that Jennifer and Elizabeth's families had to endure is completely maddening. Trials, delayed executions, Supreme Court rulings, and even meddling by the president of the United States are just a few of the obstacles they have to endure.
This book is intense, very well-written, and truly terrifying. I was not familiar with the case and know I cannot believe I did not know about it before. A truly staggering book that I highly recommend to readers of true crime, but also to parents, as well as people tired of criminals receiving more rights than the victims.
A genius work of literature.

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Two Innocent TeensThe crime was unspeakable. On a summer night in Houston, two bright, beautiful, success-bound teenage girls crossed paths with a group of young men fueled with alcohol and rage. Four days later, when searchers finally found Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena, their bodies were unrecognizable...An Orgy Of ViolenceAt first, the teenage boys grabbed Elizabeth, while Jennifer escaped. But Elizabeth's desperate cries brought Jennifer back to help her best friend. Both girls were subjected to sexual assaults of every conceivable kind...and long, painful, drawn-out deaths...No MercyFor days afterward, the killers bragged openly about their crime. By the time prosecutors got the case, convictions for double murder looked like a "slam dunk." But the families of the victims were in for a horrible surprise. In this terrifying case, justice would be a torturous journey... Includes 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos

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Blood and Money Review

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(More customer reviews)I don't write many "me too" reviews in this space, but I can't resist recommending "Blood and Money," not only for afficianados of "true crime" literature, but for anyone interested in the workings of the American legal system. I know little of the city of Houston or of Texas, but I gather that Thomas Thompson's tome is also an excellent snapshot of this booming energy/medical/cultural complex, c.1970.
The details of the story are covered by other reviewers here. It's interesting that many have come to hard conclusions about the legal culpability of certain principals in this long, involved story (perhaps being influenced by other sources), while Thompson himself passes no definite judgments (though it's not difficult to tell what he's implying). Although there are no source notes or acknowledgments, one has the impression that Thompson included little in this account that could not be corroborated by "reliable sources," although he does include some speculation on specific points.
But the real value of the book, as I said, is not so much in portraying guilt or innocence but in dealing with a larger issue: the impact of wealth, social prestige, and publicity on the legal process and on justice. Depending on how one views the evidence presented by Thompson, it's not unreasonable to say that none of the principals involved in this entire episode received justice from the Texas court system. Some relatively minor players went to jail, and one died, in part, because of their involvement. But for the big fish in this case, the legal system in the end had no answers and no closure. I'll leave the deeper reflections on class and justice to Karl Marx.
Another thought: This book should be required reading in medical schools. A physician who insists on treating his own family and friends is asking for it!
The publishers of this thirty-year-old book would do well to commission an "Afterword" for a new edition, to cover what happened since the 1976 publication. A few developments (based on some internet searching): John Hill's third wife, Connie, sued Ash Robinson for wrongful death in the slaying of her husband, but no damages were awarded. Thompson was himself sued for defamation by Ash Robinson, as well as by Ann Kurth (John Hill's second wife), and by a Texas police officer who figured in the story. Robinson's case eventually was dismissed, and Thompson won the other suits. Thompson died in 1982, Ash Robinson in 1985. The story was dramatized as a TV film, "Murder in Texas," in 1981, based on the book "Prescription: Murder" by Ann Kurth, who maintained that John Hill tried to kill her and may have faked his own death. Kurth's book, and the film version, no doubt have left many with a much more definite idea as to who was responsible for the death of Joan Robinson Hill.
Not exactly the most vital book I've read lately, but if you are seeking an intriguing, novelistic and somewhat illuminating book for bedtime or the airport, you could do far worse. And if you ARE a "true crime" fan, this book is a must.


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Power, passion, oil money, murder-all the ingredients of a fast-paced, gripping mystery novel drive this true-crime story that on its original publication leapt onto best-seller lists nationwide. To that mix, add glamorous personalities, prominent Texas businessmen, gangland reprobates, and a whole parade of medical experts. At once a documentary account of events and a novelistic reconstruction of encounters among the cast of colorful characters, this anatomy of murder first chronicles the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death in 1969 of Joan Robinson-the pampered daughter of a Texas oil millionaire and the wife of plastic surgeon Dr. John Hill-then examines the bizarre consequences that followed it. For in 1972, having been charged by his father-in-law with Joan's death and having survived a mistrial, John Hill himself was killed, supposedly by a robber. So was the robber, by a cop, supposedly for resisting arrest. From the exclusive haunts of Houston's super-rich to the city's seamy underworld of prostitutes, pimps, and punks, author and investigative journalist Thomas Thompson tracks down all the leads and clues. And in a brutal tale of blood and money he uncovers some shocking and bitter truths.

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Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned Review

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(More customer reviews)After days of deliberation (i.e., engrossing reading), this reader is ready to return a verdict: Judgment for the Author!
And it was by no means an easy case.
Darrow would seem a daunting, perilous task for a biographer. He was born four years before the Civil War, lived into FDR's second term, and in between was a pervasive, dominant force in almost every significant U.S criminal case and legal issue (and plenty other things that captured his boundless interest). Colorful, controversial, narcissistic, fearless, grandiose and thoroughly brilliant, he strode through the 1880-1930 legal landscape like a true Colossus, no-holds-barred, to give a powerful voice to those for whom society had already spoken, denounced and consigned to severe punishment.
He was sensational newspaper fodder, in days when newspapers were rampant but often unreliable. He and his contemporaries (virtually every American figure of note crossed paths somehow with Darrow) left extensive correspondence and writings. Everyone knew of him and had an opinion. The Scopes trial was the first to be broadcast live nationally on radio. Leopold and Loeb captivated the country--and those are just two of Darrow's more famous cases.
How to separate man from myth, fact from hyperbole, and articulate a workable understanding of what drove this remarkable figure?
Enter Farrell-a prominent investigative journalist (suitably here, neither lawyer nor academic), who seemingly leaves no stone unturned in his painstaking search for the essence of Darrow. With a writing style that is concise, cogent and fluid, Farrell succeeds in making Darrow come alive. What emerges in this fresh and colorful account is a portrait of a man both blessed with gifts and riddled with flaws, for whom almost any means--even juror bribery--justified the ends of manacling perceived injustice.
Farrell wisely lets Darrow speak his own great court arguments; the author also draws judiciously from reliable primary sources such as letters, diaries and observations by contemporaries. Farrell is respectful of earlier writers who have tackled Darrow's life in full, but points out where (and why) they missed a mark. This author also deftly weaves in outstanding secondary sources, such as treatments of specific cases. The net effect is a modest but knowing and confident author's tone--quite a feat considering the prodigious effort involved.
The requisite source notes are here, although I would have preferred more separate entries, rather than frustrating "round up" notes. Fortunately, the Bibliography is a reader's dream. Alas, my Kindle version had only limited photograph images (the Darrow Wikipedia page alone was more enlightening in this respect). Also, I found the publisher's bally-hoo of new revelations and "Free Love" lifestyles to be, well, of relatively minor stir in the grander scheme of things.
But these are minor criticisms. I hope other readers will experience the rare joy I had, of setting aside preconceptions/skepticisms about this icon, and letting Farrell completely take over the story-telling reins. It is a memorable and invigorating ride and one I highly recommend.

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Drawing on untapped archives and full of fresh revelations, here is the definitive biography of America's legendary defense attorney and progressive hero.Clarence Darrow is the lawyer every law school student dreams of being: on the side of right, loved by many women, played by Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind. His days-long closing arguments delivered without notes won miraculous reprieves for men doomed to hang. Darrow left a promising career as a railroad lawyer during the tumultuous Gilded Age in order to champion poor workers, blacks, and social and political outcasts against big business, Jim Crow, and corrupt officials. He became famous defending union leader Eugene Debs in the land­mark Pullman Strike case and went from one headline case to the next—until he was nearly crushed by an indictment for bribing a jury. He redeemed himself in Dayton, Tennessee, defending schoolteacher John Scopes in the "Monkey Trial," cementing his place in history. Now, John A. Farrell draws on previously unpublished correspondence and memoirs to offer a candid account of Darrow's divorce, affairs, and disastrous finances; new details of his feud with his law partner, the famous poet Edgar Lee Masters; a shocking disclosure about one of his most controversial cases; and explosive revelations of shady tactics he used in his own trial for bribery. Clarence Darrow is a sweeping, surprising portrait of a leg­endary legal mind.

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