Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: A Cold Case by Philip Gourevitch ISBN: 0-312-42002-1 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: July, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.53 (19 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Inaccurate Adjectives
Comment: The review of this book on its inside flap is what got me. The review said the book is "intensely dramatic" (it's not) and "mesmerizing" (it's not). The flap says the book "carries us deep into the lives and minds" of the bad guy and the good guy. It doesn't.
This book actually reads like an abstract. As a result, I didn't find any the characters interesting, and I didn't feel particularly good or bad about any of them.
The reason I give this book three stars rather than one or two is that 1) it included pictures, and 2) the pictures weren't all stuck in the middle of the book but were each placed in its appropriate spot in the text.
Rating: 4
Summary: The good guy and the bad guy.
Comment: "A Cold Case" is a gripping profile of two men on opposite sides of the law: Andy Rosenzweig, a good cop and Frank Koehler, a cold-blooded killer. The title refers to a low-profile, long-buried 27 year-old homicide case that the system "let slip through the cracks": the double murder of Pete McGinn and Ritchie Glennon, shot dead in cold blood by small-time gangster Frank Koehler on 18Feb1970 in New York. Koehler vamoosed and did not surface again for the next 27 years. The shootings followed a violent bust-up earlier that fateful day when McGinn, backed by Glennon, set about Koehler for messing around with the wife of a friend of McGinn who was doing time in the can.
As the case-file grew cold and Koehler wasn't picked up, a false assumption gained credence in the NYPD that Koehler must be dead: given his lengthy rap-sheet and predilection for violence, it was beyond belief that no further crimes of his had come to light if he were still alive to commit them. On the basis of this flawed thinking, Closure of the case was wrongfully authorised in 1992 and the hunt for Koehler wholly abandoned. Rosenzweig (who knew Glennon) re-activated the case in 1997 and tenacious investigation soon brought positive results when Koehler was traced, flushed out and finally apprehended without fuss in Penn Station, returning to New York.
Enter Koehler's top criminal defence lawyer, the flamboyant, fast-talking, (Don't Worry) Murray Richman, totally free of scruples when it comes to representing mob-connected hoodlums so long as he receives a cheque. ("Reasonable doubt begins with the payment of a reasonable fee") Richman provides a colourful, comical digression as he expounds on crime, punishment and justice.
Gourevitch's book is unusual in so far as there is no mystery as to the identity of the killer which is known to us from the outset; no doubt about how the killings occurred and no great drama surrounding Koehler's capture. Gourevitch's focus rather, centres on building profiles of Rosenzweig and Koehler, the key players in the drama, opening up their minds and lives, tapping into the forces that drove these men to be who (and what) they are: Andy Rosenzweig, the dedicated cop who'll always go the extra yard but refused to go "on the take"; Frank Koehler, the "connected" hoodlum with a track record of armed robbery and a previous killing to boot. Gourevitch's portrayal of Koehler's criminal mentality and Rosenzweig's dedication to upholding the law, fascinating in itself, vividly depicts the criminal underbelly of New York as it existed in the 60's.
Rating: 3
Summary: It is all in the details
Comment: Philip Gourevitch attempts to flesh out the human details that remain from a thirty year old murder. Frankie Koehler killed two adversaries after a confrontation in a New York City bar, but then he disappeared. Gourevitch interviews the set of investigators who make it their last duty to find him. The author goes on to explore how the crime has affected the families of both the victims and the killer.
The biggest surprise comes from Koehler himself. With age, Koehler has turned a new leaf and become as much of a contributing member to society as could be imagined.
The author extracts some compelling personal revelations from his subjects. It is surprising how much people were willing to tell the author. In fact, the only problem with this story is that it doesn't lead to any conclusions about justice or crime that might be replicable to other situations. The book's narrow focus leads nowhere. Its just one case. In all, I finished the book wishing that the author had used this story as a stepping stone to editorialize about our system of justice.
 |
Title: We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch ISBN: 0312243359 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: The Rackets by Thomas Kelly ISBN: 0452283264 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: 28 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: Facing the Wind: A True Story of Tragedy and Reconciliation by Julie Salamon ISBN: 0375759409 Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: Final Affair: The Shocking True Story of Marriage and Murder (Berkley True Crime) by Frank McAdams, Timothy Carney ISBN: 0425183084 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
 |
Title: The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell ISBN: 0452283302 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: July, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
