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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Blood
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
I read this many years ago after hearing my mom talk about how she felt after this happened. It's a deep dive into the tragedy and goes into great detail, including the bad parts. If you want to learn about the series of tragedies that the Manson "family" caused, this is your one stop shop.
Come to think of it, 30+ years later, I still have the paperback copy that my mom bought for me at a used book story as a teen that contains the photos and all.
Come to think of it, 30+ years later, I still have the paperback copy that my mom bought for me at a used book story as a teen that contains the photos and all.
Disturbing and scary, but interesting. The detail was a bit tedious at times (and contributed to the excessive 650+ page length), but the way it was written and the way the story unfolded compelled me to keep reading to find out what happened. I cannot fathom what wackos these people were. Wow.
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Okay. Buckle up cause this review is going to be lengthy.
First of all the spoiler free review/recommendation.
If you are newly getting into true crime, and know some details of the Manson case, this book is very informative about the investigation, the trial and the following events for the facts of what happened. If you want the prosecuting attorneys take on how he conducted his research, that's exactly what this is. Point blank. Period.
If you want something that is insight into his emotions and feelings regarding how he was doing during the investigation, that is not included. If you are curious about the psychology of Charles Manson, it is in here but from a third party perspective and not diagnosed by any professional.
This is in essence a transcript of interviews, testimony, and court proceedings of this case, nothing more, nothing less.
My feelings about this book is that it left a lot to be desired. Bugliosi didn't insert himself as far as his feelings regarding anything to do with the case. Because of this I didn't feel any sort of connection to him, or any of the players in the investigation. Thus, it lacked interest. My incentive to get through this book is that it would tick off multiple reading challenges I'm currently apart of and really, nothing more.
I have read other true crime books that i have felt far more connected to the Author, those being The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule and I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara.
Now for some spoilers if a 60 year old murder case can have spoilers.
At times the narrative of the trial got very confusing because Bugliosi used the Family names and the given names of the defendents, interchangeably. Katie, and Sadie are Patricia and Susan and he uses all 4 names rather than just using the names while being members of the family or their birth names.
In the Afterward published in 1994, he criticizes people who profit off of true crime, which I found to be extremely hypocritical as he's written one of the most well known books on the Tate-LaBianca murders in all of history. He also says he doesn't understand why news media will bring further attention to the anniversary of the murders, when he published a revised copy of this book 20 years after the original publishing to capitalize on the anniversary of the original publishing date.
He glazes over the conversations he and Manson had privately and definitely paints himself (Bugliosi) as the hero of the tale because he got 4 convictions for the people in this case. He spends the first 25% of the book criticizing the police and how they conducted the initial investigation and then when we arrive at the trial he emphasizes that he doesn't want to embarrass LAPD officers in how they conducted themselves.
Overall it's very wordy, leading to its almost 700 pages of just writing (the page count does not include the pages that contain images). He paints a great picture of how to conduct a murder trial from the side of the prosecution, but a lot of the time, the trial is the most boring part of true crime. A defense lawyer going missing mid trial spices this up as does Manson's attorney Kenarek but for the most part I found it long winded and unnecessary.
First of all the spoiler free review/recommendation.
If you are newly getting into true crime, and know some details of the Manson case, this book is very informative about the investigation, the trial and the following events for the facts of what happened. If you want the prosecuting attorneys take on how he conducted his research, that's exactly what this is. Point blank. Period.
If you want something that is insight into his emotions and feelings regarding how he was doing during the investigation, that is not included. If you are curious about the psychology of Charles Manson, it is in here but from a third party perspective and not diagnosed by any professional.
This is in essence a transcript of interviews, testimony, and court proceedings of this case, nothing more, nothing less.
My feelings about this book is that it left a lot to be desired. Bugliosi didn't insert himself as far as his feelings regarding anything to do with the case. Because of this I didn't feel any sort of connection to him, or any of the players in the investigation. Thus, it lacked interest. My incentive to get through this book is that it would tick off multiple reading challenges I'm currently apart of and really, nothing more.
I have read other true crime books that i have felt far more connected to the Author, those being The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule and I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara.
Now for some spoilers if a 60 year old murder case can have spoilers.
At times the narrative of the trial got very confusing because Bugliosi used the Family names and the given names of the defendents, interchangeably. Katie, and Sadie are Patricia and Susan and he uses all 4 names rather than just using the names while being members of the family or their birth names.
In the Afterward published in 1994, he criticizes people who profit off of true crime, which I found to be extremely hypocritical as he's written one of the most well known books on the Tate-LaBianca murders in all of history. He also says he doesn't understand why news media will bring further attention to the anniversary of the murders, when he published a revised copy of this book 20 years after the original publishing to capitalize on the anniversary of the original publishing date.
He glazes over the conversations he and Manson had privately and definitely paints himself (Bugliosi) as the hero of the tale because he got 4 convictions for the people in this case. He spends the first 25% of the book criticizing the police and how they conducted the initial investigation and then when we arrive at the trial he emphasizes that he doesn't want to embarrass LAPD officers in how they conducted themselves.
Overall it's very wordy, leading to its almost 700 pages of just writing (the page count does not include the pages that contain images). He paints a great picture of how to conduct a murder trial from the side of the prosecution, but a lot of the time, the trial is the most boring part of true crime. A defense lawyer going missing mid trial spices this up as does Manson's attorney Kenarek but for the most part I found it long winded and unnecessary.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism
Minor: Drug use, Sexual assault, Alcohol
dark
informative
medium-paced