True Crime for the Beach or Vacation Reader

Just because I said that this book's contents-- "story" is three stars does not mean that I didn't enjoy listening to it. The reader was fairly good and I learned something that I've often wondered about-- are books from the US translated fro the UK market. The answer, at least for this one is yes.

This is a compendium of true crimes. Many of them do have bits of the bizarre about them. Others are fairly banal. Some are well known, others I had never heard of before and I thought I was fairly well versed in at least historic crime. It made for undemanding listening while I was cutting out some winter killed vines from the front flower beds and doing some other chores. The accounts seem to mainly have been retold from secondary sources. The one that really bore that out was the retelling of the events in Vince Bugliosi's Till Death Us Do Part. Bugliosi for whatever reason used fake names for both the victims and perpetrators in his book. The real names are now readily available on the internet and the facts are a matter of public record so repeating this doesn't

Now for my favorite bit on the perils of translation. The Thomas Capano/Fahey trial was a bit of an internet sensation in part due to the fact that Capano was a well connected lawyer and political figure in Delaware. He killed Fahey in his own residence and then with his brother's assistance transported her body in a large plastic cooler to his brother's boat and tossed the cooler overboard. What happened then definitely put it's in the category of bizarre as the cooler just wouldn't sink. However, it becomes even more surreal when the cooler is called a refrigerator. The mental image of two men hauling a refrigerator out of a car and onto a boat, throwing it overboard then shooting at it because it won't sink and having to haul it back aboard made me wonder a bit about the facts as laid out in some of the other accounts.

At over 19 hours this is a solid listen.

33 people found this helpful

Quick stories, fun listening, cant get anybetter

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

As long as they are a nut like me who loves crime stories

Any additional comments?

This is a good book to be able to pick up, listen to a couple of stories and put down. I't not like one story, it's many stories.

13 people found this helpful

a crime that I did not like this book!

I should have liked this book, I love true crime. There just wasn't enough detail to surround myself in each case, the conclusion was there before I had gotten interested. You have to listen very carefully every second or you will miss something important, if you can do this you may find this book to your liking.

17 people found this helpful

Not All Bizarre, But Still a Great Read!!

If you could sum up The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes in three words, what would they be?

Fun, fast-paced, informative.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The narrator does a great job telling the gruesome stories in the most light-hearted way that he can. I wasn't sure I liked him at the start of the book, but I grew quite fond of him quickly. He's also one of the best I've heard at doing accents, he was pretty amazing!

Have you listened to any of David Shaw-Parker’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Nope, this was the first one. And will probably be the only one, unless he adds more books to his resumé. Of the 14 or so books he's got on Audible, this is the only one that interested me.

If you could give The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes a new subtitle, what would it be?

Or, The Depravity of Human Beings

Any additional comments?

I wish we could give half stars. 4 stars isn't enough, and 5 stars is too much. I'd have given it a full 5 stars, but I skipped a whole section on contract killings, mafia hits and assassins. That kind of stuff has never really interested me. But everything else was a wonderful, albeit sometimes gruesome, read.

7 people found this helpful

too superficial to be satisfying

This book is a series of brief summaries of interesting cases. My preference is for detailed description of the crime as it unfolds, the characters involved, and the process of detection and prosecution. Succint descriptions organised by theme doesn't do it for me, but anyone interested in an overview of (mainly) murder would probably find it interesting. David Shaw-Parker does a good job with the narration - a good voice and presentation for the subject matter.

7 people found this helpful

Great compilation!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, if the person is interested in basic facts about many different weird crimes. These are not in-depth, nor does the writer always give all salient facts; overall, though, it's a great compilation of bizarre crimes.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The sheer amount of research done and obvious interest in the subject that the author has.

Any additional comments?

Some stories have apocryphal or urban legend-type "facts" added, which are not always true. For instance, the electric chair that killed Albert Fish did not malfunction. Also, Fish's victim Grace Budd was 10, not 12 years old. While not a great difference, there is in the public's perception of the victim and goes a bit to the horror the public felt at the time.

2 people found this helpful

Complete waste of time

What would have made The Mammoth Book of Bizarre Crimes better?

Nothing would have made this book better. It was like listening to a bunch of boring stories told from someone who only knew a little about the subject then before you realize it, the story is over and he's on to the next one.

What could Robin Odell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

If the development of the stories was a little better, you could get interested in them. Unfortunately, all of them are passed over so quickly, you can't. The author could have tried focusing more on the details and quality of each story, not the quantity of them.

How could the performance have been better?

The man reading this book had a weird English accent and cadence that sounded like he was trying to sound British but wasn't. It was so distracting, I could barely focus on how bad the stories were!!

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was greatly disappointed in this book after listening to several others and finding them all quite good.

Any additional comments?

Skip this if you value your time at all.

8 people found this helpful

Fun listen

Okay it's not really fun to listen to books about murder but the narrator made good and interesting. Very long so good on the long drives home.

1 person found this helpful

Stay away from this endless parade of vignettes...

if you don’t care to be lectured by an author who clearly has an agenda against capital punishment and guns in America...but also has nothing against celebrating criminal depravity. The stories are interesting- even to someone (like this reviewer) who has practiced criminal law for 32 years - and the author should be applauded for the varied historical rendering. Yet their is something disturbingly contradictory about an author who, with apparent relish, describes children being slaughtered in the most heinous fashion, or families raped tortured and burned alive, while simultaneously condemning American jurisprudence (capital punishment) and our lack of gun control as an apparent part of the murder problem. Worse, the “American” accents rendered by the British narrator are almost laughable parodies.

1 person found this helpful

O.K.

although based on true crime events from all over... no real story line. just a quick summary of the crime and a brief detail of the criminal sentencing.

1 person found this helpful