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A review by books_tea_and_laura
Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Curt Gentry, Vincent Bugliosi
5.0
Someone recommended this book to me after I read In Cold Blood and loved that. And they were definitely right this was even better!
It's not a book for the faint of heart though, the murders get described in detail and these were some of the most brutal killings in American history. So seriously, you've been warned.
I knew enough about the Manson Family and the Tate-LaBianca murders before hand to know this wasn't going to be easy reading. The book is written by Vincent Bugliosi, the DA who led the prosecution on this case, so you get a lot of details about what happened and how all the evidence was gathered and put together. And if you think you know just how insane these people were, think again. There were parts in this book where I had to reread paragraphs because I thought I couldn't possibly have read that right or when I just had to put the book down and go do something else.
What I hadn't expected though was that there are also pretty funny bits in this book. Don't get me wrong there is absolutely nothing even remotely funny about the Family and these murders, but the more Bugliosi gets fed up with the LAPD or the defence lawyers or even at times the judge at the trial the more his sense of sarcasm came out. And that made for some pretty funny commentary.
My personal favourite: "As much as possible I tried to avoid embarrassing the LAPD. This wasn't always possible." (spoiler alert: they mess up. A LOT)
It's not a book for the faint of heart though, the murders get described in detail and these were some of the most brutal killings in American history. So seriously, you've been warned.
I knew enough about the Manson Family and the Tate-LaBianca murders before hand to know this wasn't going to be easy reading. The book is written by Vincent Bugliosi, the DA who led the prosecution on this case, so you get a lot of details about what happened and how all the evidence was gathered and put together. And if you think you know just how insane these people were, think again. There were parts in this book where I had to reread paragraphs because I thought I couldn't possibly have read that right or when I just had to put the book down and go do something else.
What I hadn't expected though was that there are also pretty funny bits in this book. Don't get me wrong there is absolutely nothing even remotely funny about the Family and these murders, but the more Bugliosi gets fed up with the LAPD or the defence lawyers or even at times the judge at the trial the more his sense of sarcasm came out. And that made for some pretty funny commentary.
My personal favourite: "As much as possible I tried to avoid embarrassing the LAPD. This wasn't always possible." (spoiler alert: they mess up. A LOT)