Take a photo of a barcode or cover
71 reviews for:
The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases
Deborah Halber
3.17 AVERAGE
71 reviews for:
The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases
Deborah Halber
3.17 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
I enjoyed this book a bit more than the other reviewers. I truthfully did not have a horrible time keeping track of timelines, people, and stories like others noted. Yes, the author bounced around, but I still found the stories interesting and as interesting as they could be given the topic at hand. I also understand why people found that the stories were not super engaging, but I think it is important to consider that web sleuthing isn’t really all that exciting to begin with. It involves a lot of sitting at your computer looking for clues while your eyes dry up from looking at your screen. Not exactly the most exciting and engaging thing! I think this book served its purpose. It’s about how web sleuths do what they do and those rare times when cases are actually solved and/or a person is finally identified.
I will say the thing I disliked the most about the book is the author’s choices in describing people. She uses descriptors that make these people sound ugly or dumb or simply any negative connotations based on their appearance or personality. It made me uncomfortable. I would hate to be that lady she said was “a troll of a woman”!
I will say the thing I disliked the most about the book is the author’s choices in describing people. She uses descriptors that make these people sound ugly or dumb or simply any negative connotations based on their appearance or personality. It made me uncomfortable. I would hate to be that lady she said was “a troll of a woman”!
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
I had this on my TBR forever and finally got a copy. The first third or so was incredibly interesting but the story slowly fell more and more flat. I finished it but barely.
Bummed to report this was kind of a mess. Most of the stories were interested, but they were mixed up together in a very difficult-to-follow fashion.
unique read but lost my interest mid way. would have liked it more as vignettes about specific cases and sleuths. got bored with the historical perspective of how the development of the Internet led to the eventual identification of victims long unidentified.
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/adult-nonfiction-roundup-august-2017/
The Federal Government estimates there are 40,000 people who are unaccounted for. Many of them are dead. The government officials who oversaw the long overdue establishment of a federal database to track the missing think it could be more than 70,000.
Before the disappearance of Adam Walsh, there was no centralized record of the missing. His parents helped spearhead the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but that was, and still is, just for children. Also it is a private agency, unaffiliated with the government.
To fill in the gap, amateur sleuths started investigating. The exploded with the arrival of the internet. Very often, they are responsible for identifying unknown remains.
Deborah Halber dives into the world of these amateurs, tracing the rise of their involvement and looks at their success. She introduces us to some of the people and to some of the missing.
This is a very well-written exploration of a group of people who have their own sub-culture here in America. I had heard of some of the sites she discusses, but I did not know how active these people are and what sort of success they have had.
Halber is also not afraid to look at the dramas that can happen in a small community of people like this. This was an excellent and insightful read.
Before the disappearance of Adam Walsh, there was no centralized record of the missing. His parents helped spearhead the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but that was, and still is, just for children. Also it is a private agency, unaffiliated with the government.
To fill in the gap, amateur sleuths started investigating. The exploded with the arrival of the internet. Very often, they are responsible for identifying unknown remains.
Deborah Halber dives into the world of these amateurs, tracing the rise of their involvement and looks at their success. She introduces us to some of the people and to some of the missing.
This is a very well-written exploration of a group of people who have their own sub-culture here in America. I had heard of some of the sites she discusses, but I did not know how active these people are and what sort of success they have had.
Halber is also not afraid to look at the dramas that can happen in a small community of people like this. This was an excellent and insightful read.