Books

The Dog Dialed 911: A Book of Lists from The Smoking Gun

Average customer rating:

ick
Mostly Boring
Between lame and bad
The Smoking Gun strikes back
Not near as funny as I thought it would be.

The Dog Dialed 911: A Book of Lists from The Smoking Gun
The Smoking Gun
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316611115

Book Description

The most hilarious and outrageous true stories collected in 10 years (almost) of the world's funniest investigative reporting. Proof that truth really is stranger than fiction! This wildly entertaining book features excerpts from a wide array of public documents--court transcripts, FBI files, contract riders, morgue and police reports, etc.--that hilariously illuminate some of the most important, scandalous, or bizarre news stories to make headlines in recent years. Wittily and ingeniously organized as a book of lists, THE DOG DIALED 911 reveals, among many other things:

7 things you should never tell a cop

3 ineffective ways to kill your spouse

5 dumb things to steal

2 tales of terrifying toilets

4 of Bill O'Reilly's favorite pick-up lines

3 gay wedding registries

5 of the most embarrassing Bush family arrests

6 really bad bosses

4 reasons why man is not a dog's best friend The brilliant creators of the highly popular Web site TheSmokingGun.com have combed their archives to produce a book that will make readers laugh, and laugh again, on virtually every page. • THE DOG DIALED 911 rivals the best of the Onion and Darwin Awards collections, and is sure to be embraced by readers who propelled those books into long-term bestsellerdom. • Not only did the Smoking Gun shatter James Frey's literary career into a million little pieces, but TSG consistently makes headlines with its revelations about celebrities and political leaders behaving badly.

Customer Reviews:

ick.......2007-02-21

This is nothing like I expected...

the entire first chapter (which is entitled: "Adult Entertainment") is full of nothing but sex jokes. This goes on for 30 pages befor you get into the Human waste, celebreties and "the creative uses of the word 'fag' by novelist Terry McMillan".

The third chapter is filled with Drunks and druggies, while the Fourth is about Bill O'Reilly.

The fifth gets slightly more interesting with slurs in Kid's puzzles, prison photos and half naked women.

The sixth deals with wierd things in papers children bring home from school or have on tests.

The seventh was the only non-trash chapter in the book. This dealt with the govenment/Politicians and funny/horrible things they did... like "Tips for Al-Qaeda Detainees".

The eighth is when you finally hear about the "Dog who dialed 911" but it is almost lost among the other trash about animals.

The ninth chapter entitled"Law and Order" deals with wierd laws and punishments. and while some is clean most has at least a hint of dirt about it.

The Tenth chapter is entitled "Freak Show" and is almost entirely about sex... with both yourself and animals.

The eleventh and last chapter (Thank God!) is about all the horiid things people say... three quarters of which deal with sex.

The most interesting thing in the book (besides the 7th chapter) are the prison photos of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, which take up 2 pages in this 216 pages of trash.

I wouldn't mind so much if this was what they advertised it was, but this was nothing like the description...and I bought this as a Christmas present...imagine my shock when I flipped though and found these things...I had to get a different present!

Mostly Boring.......2007-02-19

"The Dog Dailed 911" is drawn from public records, largely thanks to the "Freedom of Information" act. Included are such "gems" as Senator Kerry's Navy fitness report (the authors note that his KIA record exceeds that of Bush, Cheney, Limbaugh, Scalia, DeLay, etc. - combined!), and "oral history" of Bush's Vietnam-era service (a copy of his dental record), Kobe Bryant's testimony to a detective regarding his Colorado rape charge, the DUI arrest report for NASCAR driver Busch, etc.

As for the dog who dialed 911, we learn that a dog accidentally stepped on a man's cell phone and speed-dialed 911 - operators, hearing a crying baby but unable to talk to anyone, dispatched officers to the owner's address where they found 150 marijuana plants.

Definitely less than I had hoped for.

Between lame and bad.......2007-02-15

I was very disappointed in this book. Much of the material was rather lame although I liked the "stupid criminal" material.

Particularly offensive to me was the celebrity information, which was largely stuff that would not intrest anyone in the least if it involved an 'ordinary' citizen. It struck me as rather intrusive and rude to make money putting into print things that are technically public domain but is really stuff that isn't anyone's business or of intrest except to the celebrity-obessed. This is a philosophical point that not everyone shares. But even if you like celebrity dirty laundry, most of this was the equivalent of once-worn plain white tshirts, not tawdry lace undies or blood-splattered clothing.

The Smoking Gun strikes back.......2007-01-18

A brand new collection of disjointed speech, absurdities, hilarious clues, wise sayings, diabolic findings: the ultimate handbook for the successful comedian? No, it's all true.
The most powerful imagination can't compare with what crude facts have in store. Pure entertainment directly from everyday life. Police reports that seem to come from the pen of an inspired Mark Twain; court transcripts pervaded with peerless drama. With "The dog dialed 911", human nature tops the heap of comedy. Once again, reality meets fantasy. And wins.

Not near as funny as I thought it would be........2007-01-17

I bought this book as a gift for X-mas, before wrapping it I read through it and i was amazed at how different it was from the description that I had heard. This book was not funny, there were a couple of pages that were semi funny but the entire book wasn't worth the $12 or so, and i feel bad about giving it as a gift.

The Smoking Gun: A Dossier of Secret, Surprising, and Salacious Documents

Average customer rating:

Tedium and Boredom: Now Available in Handy Book Form!
A Gallery of the Weird
Funny as all hell!
Can you handle the truth?
outrageous!

The Smoking Gun: A Dossier of Secret, Surprising, and Salacious Documents
William Bastone , Daniel Green , and Barbara Glauber
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316611107

Book Description

From the creators of the highly popular website thesmokinggun.coma wildly entertaining collection of previously unpublished documents (court transcripts, FBI files, morgue and police reports, etc.) that hilariously illuminate some of the most important, scandalous, or bizarre news stories of recent years.

Customer Reviews:

Tedium and Boredom: Now Available in Handy Book Form!.......2002-04-22

In case [URL} is not sufficient, you can now get an additional dose in convenient paperback! The premise is enticing enough: secret, surprising and salacious documents - a veritable treasure chest of dirt, sleaze, and slime! Who could resist the temptation? But, if the reviews of other readers are the basis, I may be alone in finding "The Smoking Gun" boring and tedious. About as compelling, I guess, as reading unedited police reports and law suits - which is exactly what it is. I guess when it comes right down to it, I really don't find a letter from Sean "Puffy" Combs' doctor - as an excuse for a canceled tour - all that interesting. The contract Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman require their household help sign? Wow - how have I managed to live without knowing the extent of liabilities associated with release of Cruise/Kidman personal information, in detail by the type of media deployed! And the details of loser Parker Stevenson's alimony from estranged wife Kirstie Alley, insuring Stevenson continuance of their lavish life style? ("FAO Schwartz would keep a staff and the store open for two hours exclusively for Kirstie and me. We spared no expense, as we enjoyed our "private" shopping spree. Our FAO Schwartz jaunts would cost us approximately $15,000.") Um, fascinating, I guess?

I'll concede - the book has it moments. The last chapter, "Patently Absurd" includes some gems like the "human gas filter pad for wearing in the underwear" and a method for bar coding humans. And the "strap secured condom". Glad to see the US patent attorneys hard at work.

On balance, I should have realized that we're already overexposed to the excesses and absurdities of life in America - especially where celebrities are involved. The additional manifestation in raw legal documents, police reports, and court transcripts is simply more than I care about knowing, and frankly is not all that revealing, anyway.

A Gallery of the Weird.......2001-12-17

If there's that one person on your Christmas list for whom it's impossible to buy a gift - say, your conspiracy-theorist, rubber-necking, fascinated-by-the-strange kind of friend - the search for the perfect present may be over. The Smoking Gun, a website dedicated to bringing people actual copies of government documents about celebrities and normal people involved in a variety of strange situations, released a "best-of" book, The Smoking Gun: A Dossier of Secret, Surprising, and Salacious Documents from the Files of the Smoking Gun. Chock-full of all kinds of dirt, human stupidity, and general hilariousness, this is exactly the book for the person who has "everything."

Want to know the details of Marilyn Monroe's autopsy? What about Martha Stewart's attempt to run down a gardener who refused to take her advice? The police report of the first officer on the scene of Kurt Cobain's suicide? President Nixon's background check from when he was thinking of joining the FBI? Tim Allen's sobriety test from 1997? The details of every attempt Dennis Rodman made to force himself on a woman? It's all here, in its original black-and-white glory, ready for your perusal.

Like a train wreck, you just can't tear your eyes away from The Smoking Gun's insane offering of all that makes our species better than the monkeys - or so we think, anyway. It's amazing, sick, and fascinating all at the same time. And, you've got the stocking stuffer for the person who has it all - because, chances are, they don't have Mike Tyson's arrest report. Just don't stay up all night reading it yourself.

Funny as all hell!.......2001-10-13

This book is pretty dam slick. I liked it mostly because I have been a fan of the website for a few years and its pretty good to have the material right in front of you.

Can you handle the truth?.......2001-10-09

Bastone, Green & Glauber's book enters the leagues of Ripley's Believe It or Not, Ricky Jay's examination of con artists and circus folks, and Woodword & Bernstein's investigation into Watergate. In other words, it's fun, outrageous and incredibly revealing. Meticulously researched and entertainingly presented, the team paints a decidedly different picture of what we know and what we think we know. Fans of the web site will not be disappointed with what they find here; a must for muckrakers, malcontents and truth seekers.

outrageous!.......2001-10-04

Sorry to gush but I absolutely loved this book. The smoking gun gives you the inside skinny on all sorts of things you didn't even know you wanted to know about. It's a book that is made up of documents: arrest reports on the famous, infamous and simply bizarre, contracts, memos, all sorts of stuff. I laughed out loud and my jaw dropped several times. A very fun read.

Without Smoking Gun: Was the Death of Lt. Cmdr. William Pitzer Part of the JFK Assassination Cover-up Conspiracy?

Average customer rating:

Without something...
lot's of promise- no pay off.
Good, but ULTIMATE SACRIFICE the best book ever
A good primer on the Pitzer case
A redundant question

Without Smoking Gun: Was the Death of Lt. Cmdr. William Pitzer Part of the JFK Assassination Cover-up Conspiracy?
Kent Heiner
Manufacturer: Trine Day
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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In the Eye of History: Disclosures in the JFK Assassination Medical Evidence
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The Radical Right And The Murder Of John F. Kennedy: Stunning Evidence In The Assassination Of The President
Flight from Dallas: New Evidence of CIA Involvement in the Murder of President John F. Kennedy

ASIN: 0972020799

Book Description

This shocking account of intrigue, lies, and governmental complicity provides dramatic evidence that suggests a larger conspiracy behind JFK's assassination. Three years after Kennedy's assassination, Lieutenant Commander William Bruce Pitzer, who was reputed to have in his possession documents and film that refuted the conclusions of JFK's official autopsy, was found dead in his office at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1995, a retired special forces captain claimed that a representative of the CIA recruited him to assassinate Pitzer. This, as well as the mysterious circumstances of Pitzer's death and the official and nonofficial investigations that followed, are outlined. These revelations of a possible conspiracy within a conspiracy raise larger questions of the measures taken to suppress the truth and the potential dangers of a government that operates outside the law.

Customer Reviews:

Without something..........2006-06-29

Basic questions remain. If the CIA was so intent on terminating the Lt.Cmdr.'s command, why did they wait FIFTEEN months after approaching Marvin in August of '65 to murder Pitzer? One would think that the CIA must have been on pins and needles until October of '66 when they could finally rest assured that Pitzer would not spill the beans about the truth of the JFK autopsy. A much simpler scenario would simply have been to steal, alter or otherwise make disappear the dreaded film shot by Pitzer. Since he did not die until nearly three years after JFK, and there could be no real assurance that he had not made a copy of the film, nor shown it to anyone in the meantime, the conspirators must have been drinking Pepto Bismol by the gallon for years. This is not to say that President Kennedy was not murdered by a conspiracy. He was. Rather, the key figure in this book, Daniel Marvin, needs to explain the aforementioned problems with the scenario he has been pushing for over a decade. It is not enough for him to assert that his own credibility speaks for itself. Kent Heiner may be a professional writer, but he has selected a subject and a theory that is simply not believable. If there are answers to the above questions, Heiner has a duty to ferret them out from Marvin. I don't think it can be done.

lot's of promise- no pay off........2006-02-02

I'm certainly not a JFK assassination buff to the extent of many potential readers reading these reviews, however I've read perhaps 75-100 books on the subject over the past 35 years and this one was one of the most unsatisfying. It's a short book (just 120 pages) so you can read it cover to cover in one long sitting. That said, it seemed the author worked hard to extend it to that length. He gets off on tangents that seem irrelevant to the primary focus of his topic. He spends a lot of time and words building up the credibiliy of his primary witness, only to reveal near the end that this witness has credibility issues. A few interesting questions are raised but the author has only supposition and conflicting evidence to reveal. When I finished I was frustrated...and thinking that all of this could have easily been distilled into a medium length magazine article

Good, but ULTIMATE SACRIFICE the best book ever.......2005-12-09

Good, but ULTIMATE SACRIFICE the best book ever
While I thought this book was worthwhile in many respects, ULTIMATE SACRIFICE is simply the best book ever on the JFK assassination.Still, worth your time.

Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

A good primer on the Pitzer case.......2005-05-20

In essence, this book is about three men. The main character is-as the title suggests-William B. Pitzer, who died of a gunshot wound to the head on October 29, 1966, at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland. The second character-again as suggested by the title-is John F. Kennedy who died of a gunshot wound to the head on November 22, 1963, in downtown Dallas, Texas. The third character is Daniel Marvin, who is alive in his seventies despite (frequent claims of) having his life threatened. Pitzer is said by one witness to have had, within a few days of the JFK assassination, possession of a movie film of the Kennedy autopsy that showed a bullet entry in the right forehead, hence not inflicted by Lee Oswald. Marvin is said by one witness (himself) to have been solicited by the CIA to murder William Pitzer; it is thought by some that Pitzer had kept possession of a copy of that movie film and was about to spill the beans by making the movie public.

In the preface, Mr. Heiner states, "This book is in large part a result of Marvin's ten-year effort to close a dark chapter in his past by fighting for truth and justice in the Pitzer case." This is an odd statement since, beyond the contribution of obtaining in 1997 FBI documents on the investigation of Pitzer's death then writing an article in the Fourth Decade shortly thereafter, Marvin has contributed little to efforts to understand how William Pitzer died. Hounding local politicians with demands for action and talking in grand terms of congressional investigations is just so much hot air. The fundamental question, "Was William Pitzer murdered?" has not figured in Marvin's vocabulary. Having claimed that he was asked to assassinate Pitzer in August of 1965, he has made up his mind that the lieutenant commander was murdered in October of 1966.

Kent Heiner covers a lot of territory in this short book (120 pages of text). And with a clear and concise writing style, he does it well. Scanning the index turns up the following names, inter alia: Fidel Castro, Edward Cutolo, Edward Jay Epstein, David Ferrie, Pierre Finck, Gaeton Fonzi, Sam Giancana, Bo Gritz, Daniel Hopsicker, James Jenkins, Lyndon Johnson, Khun Sa, Ed Lansdale, David Lifton, John McCarthy, Charles Nicoletti, Thomas Noguchi, Nugan Hand Bank, Paul O'Connor, William Pepper, Fletcher Prouty, Johnny Roselli, Michael Ruppert, Richard Secord, Ted Shackley, Sirhan Sirhan, John Stockwell, Frank Terpil, Bill Tyree and Edwin Wilson. It's an easy and absorbing read, and with one caveat (see below) I recommend it.

A pretty comprehensive description of the historical context of the assassination of President Kennedy and its aftermath is provided. And there is good coverage of the salient aspects of the FBI FOIA-released information on the investigation of William Pitzer's death with the notable exception of the autopsy report, the only reference to which is: "In fact the complete autopsy report shows nothing which would contradict the conclusion that Pitzer had taken his own life with a single pistol shot." Actually the autopsy report describes three defects in the skull-on the face of it rather odd from a "single pistol shot." (And only a passing reference is made to the autopsy photographs on Pitzer's body, released under FOIA in 2002.)

This book's weakness lies in its kid-gloves treatment of Dan Marvin and his claims. Although to some extent Heiner keeps the controversial assertions at arm's length with phrases like "Marvin says," "evidently," "what he saw as," "according to Marvin," etc., any benefit of any doubt is given to Marvin. On the other hand, to be fair, if the author had not treated Marvin as favorably as possible there may have been no reason to write this book, or at least it would have been a different book. Not that it did not evolve during writing; it started out as a Heiner-Marvin jointly authored project titled Smoking Gun: The Conspiracy to Kill LCDR William Bruce Pitzer. Obviously, as shown by the final title, some fundamental rethinking occurred in the mind of Mr. Heiner. It must have troubled him to admit, "Marvin has only been caught in-and has admitted to-only one untruth, that being the number of officers who had volunteered for the assassination training course." (Marvin changed the number from half a dozen to over thirty. Heiner misses the reason for this change. It occurred after "Captain Vance" denied recognizing Marvin, hence Marvin had to bump up the number who took the course to rationalize this lack of recognition.) The operative words in the quote are "and has admitted to," because Marvin has been caught in other "untruths." But that is outside the scope of this review.

I have to take issue also with this sentence: "The grievances Eaglesham has publicly aired regarding Marvin seem less a matter of Marvin's exact truth or falsehood than a failure on Marvin's part to function within Eaglesham's expectations of how a truthful Dan Marvin ought to behave." The word "seem" may be operative here, but I reject the notion that my standards are somehow more stringent than those of others when it comes to judging truthfulness. For example, the back cover of Without Smoking Gun describes Marvin is a "veteran of two wars." Vietnam and Korea presumably. Lieutenant Colonel Marvin served with honor in Vietnam, but in fact he arrived in Korea six months after the armistice was signed. Is it nitpicking on my part to cry foul?
My criticism of Dan Marvin since mid-1997 is characterized by Heiner as a continuation of long-standing difficulties: "The relationship between Dan and Allan Eaglesham had been strained by discord and mutual suspicion from the beginning" and "Always citing the demands of principle, Eaglesham had often found himself at odds with Marvin." Perhaps the implication here is that I was out to get Marvin from the beginning, which would not be true. In early 1995 I withdrew my name from the Fourth Decade version of Marvin's article "Bits and Pieces" because he insisted on discussing his telephone conversations with Mrs. Pitzer although she had made it clear to him that she wanted no association with any reappraisal of the case. The editor of Unclassified agreed with me and deleted that passage from "Bits and Pieces," therefore my name is on the byline of that version of the article. It was an ethical issue, dealt with openly without discord. Later in 1995 I withdrew my support from his efforts to get the case reopened because-having learned of William Pitzer's extramarital affair-I was afraid that we might prove only that he had committed suicide, with sad consequences for Mrs. Pitzer. If Marvin interprets this as undermining his credibility-as is claimed in Without Smoking Gun-he isn't thinking clearly. At that time I wrote letters exhorting him to concentrate on the generic issue of the CIA contracts on US citizens and to leave the specifics of the Pitzer case in abeyance until Mrs. Pitzer's death. Thus, claims of "discord and mutual suspicion" constitute revisionist history, albeit in a tiny teacup. When, as a result of a face-to-face meeting in my kitchen in February 1997, it seemed that Marvin's story was flawed, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and invited a written explanation, to which he provided fudge words; therefore, I terminated our working relationship. Eighteen months later in a public apology to Robin Palmer and me he claimed that his family had been threatened. Funny, he mentioned no threat in February 1997.

I could go on, but enough said for current purposes. This is a worthy primer on the deaths of William Pitzer and John Kennedy.

A redundant question.......2005-03-13

There is no doubt that Lt. Cmdr. Pitzer had a wealth of knowledge concerning the death of JFK. The work by Heiner is excellent and well documented. With the veil of secrecy surrounding this case it was probably very difficult for the author to get as much information as he did. There are still many unanswered questions: who knew his role and had the means to gain access to his office, who gave the order, and who covered it up? These are familiar questions to all aspects of this case. Still a great read and highly recommended. Chris Petit

Smoking Guns & Other Accessories: Tyler's Tide

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Smoking Guns & Other Accessories: Tyler's Tide
Edward D Padilla
Manufacturer: Lulu.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nonfiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books

Book Description

What if you accidentally started the gay mafia? Lawrence Michaels made the choice to join his friends in Tyler's Tide. Before long, he's chasing down a shadowy figure, fighting bashers, and falling in love with his best friend's brother, who happens to be straight. Coming to his hometown of Tyler for a weekend gay party, he realizes the simplest plans can go awry when the straight community declares war on the gay community. "On Target Gay Satire...It screams for a separation of church and state to help the gay community move forward." "Gently barbed and refreshingly unpredictable." "A diverting, delicious and finally damning story. With crisp dialogue and a dynamic use of language, Edward creates characters who evoke both desire and disgust." 2007 Lambda Literary Award Nominee

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Smoking Guns (Leisure Western)
Max Brand
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Smoking Gun (Neil Matthews Mysteries)

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three's the charm...
Exploration of character
Intellectual Intrigue
A thinking person's mystery

The Smoking Gun (Neil Matthews Mysteries)
Eve K. Sandstrom
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451199766

Book Description

A shootout at a woman's shelter leaves officer Mike Svenson holding the gun--and lures reporter Nell Matthews into the crosshairs of a cunning and savage killer on the loose....

Sandstrom's Nell Matthews Mysteries are...

"Strong and unique."--Sue Henry

"Beguiling and wicked."--Boston Herald

"Hooks you on the first page and never lets go."--William Bernhardt

The third installment in Eve K. Sandstrom's acclaimed series

Customer Reviews:

three's the charm..........2000-08-22

Reporter Nell Mathews and her boyfriend Mike Svenson are back in their third mystery, and an outstanding one it is.

Nell Matthew and Mike Svenson are helping out at a Women's Shelter. While there, a man arrives and forces past Nell to see Patsy who runs the Shelter. In an attempt to stab Patsy, Mike is forced to shoot the intruder. This leads to problems for Mike since the person he just shot isn't your ordinary wife abuser and his wife isn't your ordinary abused spouse. Mike is traumatized from the shooting, so Nell takes to sleuthing on her own. This leads her to suspect the shelter director of some shady, extra-curricular business and Mike's mother might be of covering it up.

I know spousal abuse has been used many times in mysteries, but Ms. Sandstrom takes it a step further with some informative information and I found this fascinating. Readers can expect a storyline with a reporter's insight, some interesting facts about women's shelters, and a mystery that will take them in many directions to one superb conclusion.

Exploration of character.......2000-05-19

The third in a series, this book takes a look at the consequences of the shooting by an off duty police officer who is forced to kill to prevent another from being killed. While I enjoyed the mystery of what exactly happened and why the attack occurred, the truly fascinating part of this book was the look at the consequences of the shooting by the off duty officer and how it impacted on him and the people who cared about him. Usually the focus of a mystery is on the capture of the killer. I felt that this book focused on the character of the policeman caught up in the tragedy of another. I could not put this book down and highly recommend it to all.

Intellectual Intrigue.......2000-04-22

Nell Matthews and Mike Svenson have a complicated love relationship. Both are adept at trickery in order to survive in their professions. Nell works as a newspaper reporter and Mike is a policeman. Sometimes their quest for information and promises of confidentiality conflict with the natural expectation of honesty within a relationship.

In The Smoking Gun, Sandstrom does a superb job of weaving enough clues to create a page turner that keeps the reader guessing "who done it" until the very end. Issues of old money versus labor, domestic violence committed by law enforcement officers, right versus the law, and the effects of the trauma of killing a person in the line of duty engage the intellectual reader.

A thinking person's mystery.......2000-03-05

Grantham Gazette reporter Nell Mathias and her boyfriend police officer Mike Svenson help honor the opening of the new women's shelter when a tragedy occurs. A man wielding a knife attacks the shelter director Patsy Raymond forcing Mike to kill the culprit. The renowned hostage negotiator has had to kill someone for the first time in over a decade. Mike and Nell are shocked by the incident. However Neil's shock turns to fear for Mike when the deceased is identified as the son of Enid Philpott Howard, the most powerful individual in town. She expects the matriarch to cause trouble for Mike.

Instead, Mrs. Philpott blames Patsy for her son Paul's death, blaming the woman for harassing her son and daring him to kill her. The next day someone kills Paul's wife Cherilyn. Patsy blames herself for the woman's death, as she never returned Cherilyn's frantic call. Patsy denies calling Paul while there is no evidence that Cherilyn called the shelter. Nell begins her own sleuthing, which places her in danger from the killer.

THE SMOKING GUN deals with two major social issues. They are the need for women's shelters and the traumatic aftermath of a police officer using his weapon. The two issues excitingly intertwine into the main story line. That, along with excellent characters, makes Eve K. Sandstrom's mystery a triumphant and educational tale deserving best seller status.

Harriet Klausner

The Smoking Gun: Day by Day Through a Shocking Murder Trial with Gerry Spence

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Gives Lawyers a Good Name
A Gerry Spence masterpiece
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The Smoking Gun: Day by Day Through a Shocking Murder Trial with Gerry Spence
Gerry Spence
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0743470524

Book Description

The prosecutor had a photograph that showed defendant Sandy Jones with a smoking gun in her hands. And the prosecutor had an eyewitness who said she saw Sandy Jones shoot the man the instant the photograph was taken.

But did Sandy Jones actually commit murder?

The Smoking Gun is a true story, a murder mystery that takes you inside the actual trial. Famed defense attorney Gerry Spence invites you behind the scenes, into the judge's chambers, and into the conversations that formed the strategies for each day of the trial until the truth is revealed: Whose smoking gun really did the killing?

How does the justice system really work? The Smoking Gun is a searing firsthand indictment of the law and the good old boys who wield its power.

Download Description

"From America's foremost criminal defense lawyer and author of the bestselling How to Argue and Win Every Time comes this riveting, true account of a trial that adeptly exposes the unrelenting power of the state, which so often crushes those -- guilty or innocent -- who come before the bar of justice. It could happen to you. When Sandy Jones and her teenage son were accused of murdering a real estate developer on their hardscrabble Oregon farm, the prosecution had an eyewitness to the shooting and a photograph of Sandy holding a smoking rifle. County officials kept Sandy in jail while they awaited the trial, despite ballistic evidence that strongly suggested she hadn't fired the fatal shot. The case erupted into an epic struggle between Sandy -- who was poor, different, and a woman -- and the ""good old boys"" of Lincoln County, Oregon, who held all the power. Though the Joneses' guilt seemed eminently clear to the county and the prosecution, Gerry Spence, renowned for his work on the cases of Karen Silkwood and Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, took the case pro bono and the courtroom battle exploded into three years of intensely moving jury trials, recounted here from the record of the case. The Smoking Gun follows Gerry Spence through his passionate arguments with two different judges and two different prosecutorial teams, his exacting jury selection, his expert questioning of the witnesses, and his incredible rapport with the jury as he fights for the rights of Sandy and her son. With a superb sense of drama and an intimate knowledge of the court system, Spence highlights the pitfalls that every defendant faces, making The Smoking Gun extremely relevant today, when our rights are being eroded and when the average American, even if innocent, is hard-pressed to obtain a fair trial. "

Customer Reviews:

Gives Lawyers a Good Name.......2007-05-31

There was a photo of a young woman holding a smoking gun, and a witness who said the picture was taken right after the woman, Sandy Jones, shot her husband. But was Sandy really guilty of the crime she was accused of?

Enter colorful and brilliant Gerry Spence, who for four years defended Sandy Jones pro-bono, gained her freedom, and later wrote this fascinating book. "The Smoking Gun" is a riveting account of Sandy Jones' trial and an in-depth look at our flawed justice system.

A Gerry Spence masterpiece.......2005-12-22

Gerry Spence has succeeded Robert Traver (John Voelker), Louis Nizer, Jake Ehrlich, and Francis Wellman as the popular author of real life legal battles. Spence writes his own stuff - unlike Vincent Bugliosi who's had collaborators - and Spence is as candid as Pepys was to his diary. If you're not put off by Spence telling, in every other book, the anguish and ecstacy of his personal life, or how good he is, no legal work, fiction, non-fiction, and certainly not the case reports, can match Gerry's writings. Despite what you star givers write, "The Making of a Country Lawyer," Spence's autobiography, is his best book. Only Reginald Hine's "Confessions of an Uncommon Atorney" can compete. Read Spence's story and, if you've ever gone into business for yourself or tried to bang a buck out of the law while maintaining those "hostages to fortune" at home and yet still struggled to get ahead, see if you don't agree. With the "The Smoking Gun" Spence got it all right again. This one's not as well-known as "Helter Skelter" was nor as riveting but I can't think of an "ordinary" murder case that's been so absorbing story as "The Smoking Gun." Not "An American Tragedy," not "Compulsion," not any of Bugliosi's minor books and certainly nothing by Ann Rule or any of those Texas murder trial accounts. For one, "A Smoking Gun" is a story about a fear that slithers though everyone's subconsciousness and sometimes surfaces in nightmares: being charged with a serious crime one didn't commit and being prosecuted by over zealous DAs who seem to want a conviction more than justice. In addition there's the uncooperative defendant, the courageous judge (Harl Haas of Portland, Oregon), and, of course, Superman to the rescue. But Superman does write masterfully, it's a great story, and I highly recommend it.

The Truth about Gerry Spence.......2005-10-31

Celebrity trial lawyer Gerry Spence has offered up the 13th in his series of allegedly non-fiction books about his trials and triumphs. The Smoking Gun (Scribner, 448 pages, $30) reaches back more than 15 years to recount Spence's part in two trials in Oregon-first, of 15-year-old Michael Jones Jr. (convicted and then overturned on appeal) and then of his mother, Sandy Jones (acquitted), on murder charges for the death of Wilfred Gertulla.
The prosecutor in Sandy's trial, former Oregon state attorney general James Brown, has described Spence's trial practices as "strip-mining" a jurisdiction. Indeed, Spence rarely returns to the same courthouse (outside of his home state). The Oregonian reporter who covered the second trial felt strongly enough about what he had seen to write an opinion piece entitled "Jones' lawyer sought only victory, not truth." And Spence candidly admits in The Smoking Gun, "If I've learned one thing, it was that trials do not seek the truth, nor are they always intended to deliver justice . . . .Trials are wars."

Long, Lugubrious Journey to Justice.......2005-03-19

Gerry Spence, self-described Wyoming "Country Lawyer," has a lot to teach - his book on OJ's criminal trial, "O.J. The Last Word: the Death of Justice" is the definitive work on that Circus, and his fictional Half-Moon and Empty Stars is Dead On.

In Smoking Gun, his day by day play by play memoir of a murder trial, Gerry has set forth a sometimes brilliant bible on How to (or in the case of the State/prosecution - how Not to) Try a Case, Voir Dire (jury pickin') etc - but at times it is laborious wading through the chaff to get to the kernels at the heart of the wheat here. In the end, Truth and Justice are one and won, justice prevails, truth triumphs, and everyone lives happily ever after - or not. /TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

Who COASTDA really is.......2004-09-08

I, for one, thought the book was true to the account. Especially of what Ulys Stapleton and Josh Marquis were telling the public in Newport Oregon at the time. As a long time resident of Newport, to this day I'm appalled at the lack of responsibilty on the part of these two men and this book brought all that back to life. COASTDA is one of them, the latter if I'm not mistaken. In fact, I think it's pathetic that his only recourse is to attack Gerry Spence in this forum after already FAILING in all other attempts to bar him from speaking his piece in this case. I say to these men only, it's been 19yrs...isn't it time to grow up and take responsibility for your actions?

Average customer rating:

Iraq's Smoking gun
Not for Ostriches
A HISTORICAL VIEWPOINT
Not a book that holds back!

Iraq's Smoking Gun
Sam Pender
Manufacturer: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Saddam's Ties To Al Queda

ASIN: 1589395379

Book Description

Why did America invade Iraq? It's the question of the 21st Century, and no one seems to provide a straight answer-until now! There have been conservative claims, liberal claims, an abundance of lies, and international conspiracy theories that make techno-thrillers or spy novels look boring. This book collects each of the Bush Administration's claims about WMD in Iraq, and then it exposes the truth, the lies, and the real conspiracies that lead to the War in Iraq! Information is collected from UN inspection reports, WMD inspectors, historical facts, and hundreds of direct quotations, then it is all paired with President Bush's Iraqi WMD charges, terrorist ties, and so-on. These pairs and more are all compiled to give the real reason for the war-Iraq's Smoking Gun.

WARNING: This book is not conservative, liberal, or even bi-partisan in its perspective methods, or conclusions. It is an ANTI-PARTISAN examination of the cold, hard facts provided by history, the documented results of the UN inspection program, and more. Baseless rhetoric and lies have been left to other books written for politically-partisan proponents and not readers who are: interested in finding the truth, and willing to accept the facts even when they are difficult or too uncomfortable for people of either political party to accept. People who are interested in rhetoric instead of such facts should buy a different book!

Customer Reviews:

Iraq's Smoking gun.......2005-04-08

This book opened up a new appoach to understanding what brought America into the war. It was informative and stylish and got me to read other works by Sam Pender.

Not for Ostriches.......2004-05-05

This book is not for the faint of heart. As the description says, it is not partisan. It is chock full of primary source material, including quotes and photos. For example, it has a photo of the airliner at Salman Pak where it is said terrorists trained (with the full knowledge and support of Saddam). It has copies of some critical documents in their entirety in the appendix. Was Saddam a threat to the United States? Absolutely! Not because he had a mighty army, but because of his capability of supplying weapons to terrorists, and his ties to them. We were lucky that we had people who understood how to defeat Saddam's army with a minimum of bloodshed, and who did their best to protect civilians. But that has nothing to do with whether Saddam wanted to rule the world, or whether he had the capability to bring the world economy to its knees, resulting in the deaths of billions. He did. He would have.

Did President Bush lie? No, for several reasons. First of all, he believes what he says. A liar knows he is lying. Secondly, just about everyone with any power in government supported our actions in Iraq, so leveling blame at Bush simply ignores reality. Thirdly, the intelligence on which Bush based his statements was, and remains, sound. This book is not for the faint of heart, because it shows why the war was inevitable. It gives all the facts that the media have been trying to sweep under the rug. Some people care more for partisan politics than the safety of the American people and protecting Americans from terrorists. They will even twist the truth, as one reviewer here has done. This book is an essential antidote.

The amount of research that went into this book was phenomenal. It lays everything right out on the table. Yes, mistakes were made, but our overall course was necessary, and the documentation needed to understand why is right here in this book. This book is seminal. You cannot understand the situation without having these facts, and Mr. Pender has done us a wonderful favor by putting it all together for us. If you never read another book on the war in Iraq, read this one! And if you do read another, read this one anyway. It is desperately needed to counteract all the lies of people who would willingly sell America down the river, and aid and abet the morale of the terrorists so that they will continue to kill our young troops. Back where I came from, we call that "treason." And if we don't put a stop to it, then freedom for us will become a distant memory. This book is an antidote. Read it. Urgently.

A HISTORICAL VIEWPOINT.......2004-05-04

I liked the book. It's certainly not a political talking points list for either party, and I was shocked to see so many quotes and facts. The author does a nice job of putting the 13 year Iraqi/US relationship into a historical perspective. I was surprised to see that it didn't really try to sway a for or against the war opinion like so many others. Instead, Pender seems to make a case that the war was almost inevitable since the US didn't demonstrate the resolve to deal with Iraq seriously, and Iraq never really made an effort toward peace or cooperation with the UN-at least not a very substantive one. I've read Dr. Blix' book on the war, and a few others, and this is easily the coldest and most numbing in terms of the reality checks. I was also surprised to see so many of what I thought were WMD lies compared to Dr. Blix' report. If you've read his book, and any of the personal accounts of the war that are coming out now, it's pretty clear that Bush was essentially just parroting the UN. I was also saddened to see the concerted effort by so many Presidential candidates to politicize the war instead of to genuinely provide a better option-like the Biden Luger authorization instead of the Edwards-Lieberman one. The book is also very good in that it takes some of the pictures from after the 1998 attack and shows that, yeah, Iraq really was re-building its facilities. This is also what was in Dr. Blix book (which I also recommend buying!).

If you want to learn the facts about the war-not the rhetoric, then this is a great book. If you want an anti-war rah rah rah, or a Vote for Dubya book, this is NOT for you. Personally, I thought it was very well written, very logical, a bit cold in its rationalizations, and well worth the time and money!

Not a book that holds back!.......2004-01-11

This book takes the numerous WMD allegations from the Bush Administration and shows that almost all of them were repeated by the UN inspectors just days before the war. It then describes many as legitimate concerns and hardly lies because of the UNMOVIC 3/6/03 Unresolved Disarmament Issues report and how it supported so many of the Bush WMD claims. It is also the first book to really consolidate all of the known facts about Iraq's ties to Al Queda. People who are convinced that "Bush lied" or that the war was somehow created will be disappointed by those quotes. The same is true for many Democrats supporting a handful of presidential candidates as there are literally hundreds of quotes showing their justification for authorizing the war, and then paired with their "anti-war" quotes from after declaring their candidacy. On the other hand, the book also slams the Bush Administration for intelligence failures that are apparently losing the War on Terror. It also comes down hard on the first Bush Administration for failing to support the Iraqi Democratic uprisings after Desert Storm. Yep. No one escapes blame for the war in this book. Even the American people catch it for their lack of support for anything but airstrikes and quick raids since 1968! I did like the way that the book brings reason to the many conspiracy theories, proves one I hadn't thought of, and describes the reason for the war in a historical context and not a political one. The author claims to be anti-partisan, and that is abundantly clear! "Bleeding-heart" liberals and "neo-cons" beware. You will be offended-though you will also be pleased. This book is for those who are fed up with the partisan at all costs ideals of so many turncoat and fair-weather leaders. In the end, the conclusions were so anti-partisan and historical in context, that the real reasons for the war-the ones that people will look at 20 and 50yrs from now seem clear, and-although embarassing-they seem to be the truth. I thought it was GREAT!

Average customer rating:

Looking Forward to Another Jack Neuman Western
Very Well Writen Western
I recommend this book if you'd like a pleasant read.

Hot Lead & Smoking Guns
Jack Neuman
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Featuring a post-Civil War setting, this action-packed story holds four mini-stories within it. The stories are intertwined together into one epic adventure, from a tornado hitting a wagon train in Kansas, to the classic good-against-bad struggle over land in the Arizona Territory, ending in an all-out, lead-flying shoot-out! A man they call Big Iron, because of the big gun he wears; a man with strong moral values is fighting against overwhelming odds, as he is leading a wagon train, formed together by two wagon trains that had fallen upon hard times. They journey westward, battling the elements of Mother Nature, along with wild animals and outlaw gunslingers. After reaching their destination, they find themselves facing professional gunfighters. It's one thing after another, complete with Indian attacks and cavalry soldiers. This story will truly have the spirit of the old Wild West erupting in your mind.

Customer Reviews:

Looking Forward to Another Jack Neuman Western.......2007-02-02

I was pleasantly surprised to find a western that kept my attention throughout the whole book. My husband and I are both looking forward to the next one by Jack Neuman. It was written with compassion and a love for family ties, which I felt made for easy reading and plenty of characters to draw my interest and yet enough excitement to warrant the title "Hot Lead & Smoking Guns.

Very Well Writen Western.......2007-01-22

You almost feel yourself on the trails with Big Iron because of the explicit description of the action taking place. Very well writen with feeling for the avid western-gun slinging reader without alot of killing and gore. For a night of good reading i reccomend this book for all.

I recommend this book if you'd like a pleasant read........2007-01-19

I really have enjoyed reading this tale! I don't normally like westerns because of the graphic bloodshed descriptions and foul language but this book is a very pleasant read, not offensive. I appreciate his subtle humor with the lack of vulgarity and could really put myself into the story. Jack does a nice job of painting word pictures. I look forward to his next book!

Education's Smoking Gun: How Teachers' Colleges Have Destroyed Education in America

Average customer rating:

One man's discovery of ed school silliness
An Excellent Intro to What's Wrong with America's Schools
Cultural origins of education difficulties

Education's Smoking Gun: How Teachers' Colleges Have Destroyed Education in America
Reginald Damerell
Manufacturer: Freundlich Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Pedagogy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0881910252

Customer Reviews:

One man's discovery of ed school silliness.......2004-08-08

The "smoking gun" in the title refers to the search for the ultimate cause of the anti-intellectual, fun and games approach to education. Damerell (like many others) pins the rap firmly on ed schools. He was a top creative person in a large New York ad agency, who was lured to join the faculty of an ed school. What he found was a shocking lack of scholarship.

Damerell is at his most entertaining when telling the first person story of Bill Cosby's acquiring of an Ed.D. degree. It becomes clear that Cosby's work for the degree was pathetically shallow, but not much more so than many other Ed.D. efforts.

Much of this book is devoted to specifics (events, methods, personalities) that Damerell encountered in his own ed school. As such, it's an interesting slice-of-life as yet another person discovers the truth behind American education.

But overall, Rita Kramer's "Ed School Follies" is a wonderful and much more complete dissection of the problem (and a joy to read!), and Maureen Stout's "The Feel-Good Curriculum" more directly challenges the shallowness and affective teaching mantras of ed schools today.

An Excellent Intro to What's Wrong with America's Schools.......2002-05-15

I read this book several years ago, and it completely changed the way I understood the profession of teaching to be. Ever wondered why a high school diploma was once considered a real achievement and today is hardly worth anything? It's become simply a ticket to get into college, where you then can earn the right to say you're educated and can hold a "real" job. Even now the bar is being raised to a graduate degree as a measure of one's employability or potential for success- just a bachelor's degree is no longer anything special. The reason why is that students are not taught how to think before they reach college. It is assumed that, before a child enters the first grade, that he should already be able to read and know his letters and numbers. And why is this, when most people of my generation learned all this in kindergarten or first grade? Because the child WILL NOT learn to read in school. Primary, Middle and even High School are now only glorified forms of day-care. Much of the blame lies with our social values and with the parents; the teachers can only bear a small part of the responsibility. While Mr. Damerell spends a lot of time writing about the paucity of the teachable knowledge pool in university education programs [he says there basically isn't one], these programs do administrate the process of training teachers to teach, even if only arranging for practice teaching. Teaching is a vocation, and it requires a gift. You can't teach someone those things, but you can nourish their development. Unfortunately, modern American society hardly nourishes anything at all, and values only money-- no respect is given to teaching as either a profession or as a vocation. Unfortunately, simply paying teachers more will not solve the underlying problem of our attitude towards them. Very many of the most "called" and gifted teachers get driven out of the profession by the end of the first three to five years.

And of course, there is the bare and unpleasant fact that America is a place where only the strongest and the most aggressive survive. The very young, the old, the weak or infirm or less-able are hourly trampeled on, abused and marginalized. The weirdness of America is that we are in complete denial that we're doing it. The problem with education today is that we have this weird schizophrenia about what the real value of our children is and do we really care about the future. If we really cared about either of those things, we would sacrifice, save and plan- something Americans are not noted for doing for very long. I recommend this book to get you thinking about who we are as Americans today, and where we should try to go as we move into a new century.

Cultural origins of education difficulties.......1999-03-17

Damerell writes an engaging story about his experiences as an outsider when a teacher. He presents some evidence that cultural pressures on minority students may reduce their chances for success. This is an interesting book that asks penetrating questions.

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