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74 reviews for:
The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases
Deborah Halber
3.18 AVERAGE
74 reviews for:
The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases
Deborah Halber
3.18 AVERAGE
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.
Interesting look at amateur online investigators. A bit too much jumping around between cases/stories but overall an interesting read.
I found this book fascinating. It's horrifying that the US is so bad at connecting unidentified human remains with missing persons reports, and the bureaucratic and political reasons for the lag are frustrating, if not surprising. The human interest stories highlighted are the most interesting aspects of this story. People get territorial about the fact that they have helped solve missing persons cases. They call each other nasty names online and lock each other out of web forums. Some human remains cause people to feel sympathy, while others inspire local ghost stories.
Trigger warning: The book describes some scenes of violence and death in detail. It is not gratuitous, but the subject is not one everyone cares to explore.
Also, the narrator mispronounces words throughout the audiobook. It's extraordinarily obnoxious.
Trigger warning: The book describes some scenes of violence and death in detail. It is not gratuitous, but the subject is not one everyone cares to explore.
Also, the narrator mispronounces words throughout the audiobook. It's extraordinarily obnoxious.
slow-paced
Disappointing. Since I volunteer with Unclaimed Persons--a group of genealogists that assists coroners with finding the NOK of unclaimed people--I thought this book might give me some new ideas on searches or clues to new sources I have never looked at.
Instead, this book is largely about the crimes themselves (TMI!) and the personalities of a few selected searchers. There is little about how they search (But it's tedious!And frustrating!). Too sensationalist for the true crime crowd, not enough search details, which would probably be boring to most--but it also means the subtitle is not really accurate.
Meh.
Instead, this book is largely about the crimes themselves (TMI!) and the personalities of a few selected searchers. There is little about how they search (But it's tedious!And frustrating!). Too sensationalist for the true crime crowd, not enough search details, which would probably be boring to most--but it also means the subtitle is not really accurate.
Meh.
The storytelling style didn't fit the subject matter. Too much jumping around when with true crime most of us want a linear narrative. It was still a great book. Fascinating subject. Lots of cultural references. Great listen on audio.
I found the subject matter to be quite interesting, the writing style made it difficult to follow at times. The author jumps around from person to person and there isn't a real timeline to follow. She goes back and forth between present and past with no real rhyme or reason it seems. Especially since I am not able to read every day, it became difficult to remember who was who and when they factored into the story. Overall good story, but the constant jumping between times and characters and characters in different time periods was difficult to follow.