joyliminal 's review for:

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Curt Gentry, Vincent Bugliosi

4.0

---

I absolutely devoured the first half of the book. Prior to this, I really only knew the most basic headlines of the Manson story so I was able to read the book genuinely having no idea what would happen next. I found it to be accessible, well written and interesting. I’ll admit that reading everything after Part 6, the beginning of the trial, in this long and detailed book, started to feel a little bit more like work. And by the time I got to the lengthy Epilogue and the Afterword, I was definitely dragging myself through just to finish; the Epilogue in particular, I think, didn’t add much of substance at all and probably could have been cut down to a third of its size. Overall, a fascinating and well told story that I’m glad I took the time to read, but also a bit of an exercise in endurance.