A great read about the Boston bombings of 2013.
583390
What can you say about a book about the Boston bombings by two Boston Globe writers.  The storyline is good and it maintains your interest throughout the book.  I thought the authors structured the book in such a way as to show the effects on the Boston population. Sixteen people lost limbs and four people lost their lives.  The one criticism that I have on this book (minor) is they didn't go into detail about why the two Chechen immigrants did what they did.  They might have been losers, but what was their ultimate goal, and the book is fuzzy about this.  It has great stories about what the state and local leadership did in making decisions, and how individual on the ground affected those decisions.  This is a solid book about the Boston bombings and their aftermath. A nice suspenseful book.
3069294
This book does an excellent job of bringing together the various revelations regarding FBI collusion with Bulger and other mobsters. It makes it clear that the Boston FBI and other agents across the country were responsible for the intimidation and murder of innocent people. I read this as the Bulger trial was taking place and it explained things that trial itself glossed over. I can recommend this book.
1246461
The year is 1865.  The nation is beginning to recover from the Civil War and the shocking assassination of President Lincoln.  Boston is the center of American culture, the home of Harvard University where the popular poets of the day -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes have banded together with other like minded friends to form a society dedicated to the translation and study of Dante's epic poem, The Inferno.  A stimulating intellectual activity that turns to horror when the group realizes that someone has been committing a series of murders based on the torments Dante has described.  Aided by Boston's first black police officer the group races to find and stop the killer before he strikes again.

This is the debut novel by Matthew Pearl who has gone on to write three others (to date) following the same format -real life famous figures from the nineteenth century  investigating crimes using means that actually would have been been available to them.  Pearl blends fact and fiction together to craft his challenging mysteries.  I first discovered this author through his latest work, THE TECHNOLOGISTS, which, in my opinion, is a much better story.  The concepts and settings of both novels is similar but the DANTE CLUB is a much slower paced story, one that I had to force myself to continue reading in a couple places unlike the TECHNOLOGISTS that I had a difficult time putting down.  This is an interesting story by an author that can definitely tell a great story.  I will be reading the rest of his novels, although if I had begun with this one I might not be so enthusiastic about doing so.
2933497
I was wondering when somebody was going to put something out about this tragedy that wasn't a self-serving glorification or woe-is-us pablum. This book tells it like it was, in the hours and days after this horrible event, in the words of the people who were there, and elsewhere. DiMarco has done an incredible job of deciding what to include in this as each first person account is different, with different emotions and reasons for being. Some people you want to smack in the head for some of the things they say, like this one NY detective who talks about the ways of the street and how to get suspected terrorists to talk and how much he thinks the FBI is useless, and yet you also side with him because he seems to get results-- in his own limited world-view scope. Others break your heart with their stories of loss-- like the lead singer of the New York band The Bogmen whose wife Kristy perished in the Towers, and who years earlier had started the charity Secret Smiles,(to which DiMarco has pledged a portion of the royalties) and the husband of a flight attendant who was on the plane that went down in PA. He tells an incredible story of his incredibly life-loving wife-- you get to know her in his few page contribution that you end up crying your eyes out when it's finally revealed what he goes through when her fate is revealed. And that's predominantly what it's like to read Tower Stories. My wife is a pretty hard-nosed New Yorker but she spent an entire night sobbing and laughing while reading this book. It really captures the history of that horrible day as best I can tell, at least from what I imagine. Like the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission Tom Kean says in the foreword, this book continues the tradition of The Grapes of Wrath and The Disinherited and most of Stud's Terkel's work in that it creates a time-capsule for all eternity. Thankfully someone has done it. Let's just hope it's never again needed.
1154245
This is an excellent read.  The details that Larson adds are amazing.  What struck me the most is any slight change in some of the facts, and this ship probably safely docks in port.

The strange feeling I got was that this tragedy somewhat mirrors the 9/11 terrorist attacks: there are ruthless, merciless attackers in the form of U-20 who pull off a logistical nightmare of death against civilians; there is an inept government that was warned of this exact scenario happening; there was a confluence of data points that, had they been put together and shared by the different government officials, could have likely prevented this tragedy and lastly, there are a myriad of victims, especially children, sailing to their doom that deserved better.
4744745
This books provides horrific details of the bombing.  Although the account is poorly written in some parts, the story is compelling and hard to put down.
4749914
Great insight to the mass murders committed on 9/11. The Background and detail provided surrounding the grave threat of "Islamic Fundamentalism" was extremely enlightening and unnerving.  It appears to be a worldwide threat with no solution.  I fear for my children and grandchildren!
3388975
This is a very well written novel on terrorism and the possibility of a terrorist-inspired atomic attack.  The grammar is excellent.  The characters are believable, although some of the actions are a little overboard.  Darnell Clevenger, author of The Shootings at Echo Creek High, on Kindle.
2815177
The explosion of an ammunitiion ship in Halifax Harbor in 1917 is one of the most compelling disasters on record.  It combines the danger and excitement of an explosive volcanic eruption or a atomic blast, yet unoike comparable stories (The destruction of St. Pierre on Martiniques, the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the disasters most closely related in scale and scope), the story of Halifax occurreed not only in a 'mdern' era, but there were survibvors who recorded their exxperiences.

Exploded Idenity combines the memories and exoeriences of a survibor with her dilligent research and truly insightful writing.  Catherine Mildon captures the terror levoivng the horrific details with a genuine love of her native city.  The book is readable, informative and gives the reader a window on to a distant era.  The only thing that the reader would want is more photos.  Aside from that, this is a great read for those who draw inspiration from tales of disaster.<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Exploded-Identity-A-Saga-of-the-Halifax-Explosion/dp/1412072395/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Exploded Identity : A Saga of the Halifax Explosion</a>

Odd Note: This Book, this story is not simply for Canadians.  The City of Boston was involved in helping Halifax, and the scope of the distaer is compelling across national lines.  This is truly a great book.
4044244
An excellent recounting of the Boston Marathon for posterity's sake. Hal Higdon, a longtime contributing editor to Runner's World magazine, was already preparing to write and blog about the marathon's activities and invited others to share on social media with him. After the bombing, he elicited even more help with documentation of the incident. The result is a straightforward, moving account of that day from 75 runners who ran in the Marathon that day. What a great way to solidify history and document the situation. It is an emotional, overwhelming read one won't soon forget.
3109277
This book is told through the eyes of several characters.  We first meet Jon Jaxon who is a nationally ranked rifle shooter and a boy count volunteer.  He wanted to be in the military, but never made it.  He did train a large amount of officers in shooting though.  We then meet the terrorist in the next section talking about the nuclear bombs he is going to set off in three cities around the world on 9/11.  The last major character is Colonel Walt Wolfe who is leading the home security team once the incident breaks out.  All of the characters help to create a complete picture of what is going on as well as how we ended up in this situation.

I felt like the author did a large amount of research on this book.  It felt very life like and that it could really happen. The author did a great job with the storyline as well as the descriptions used in the book.  The pace of the book was perfect it kept me hooked and I needed to know what was going to happen next.  Since the timing would start each chapter you knew how much time you had left until the bomb could go off.  The author did a great job describing injuries as well, I didn't think it was to gruesome, but readable in my opinion.

The ending of the book was great because it summed everything up nicely.  We got a look at exactly what the author was trying to portray to the reader and after reading it I felt the entire book made complete sense.  I was questioning why the author added in the random journalist, but after the comments on journalism as a whole it made complete sense.

I would suggest this as a weekend read when you have a lot of time to digest what you are reading.  The author brings up some powerful ideas and the topic he presented of nuclear war felt very real so it was a harder read for me.

I received a copy of this book from J. Bowers for the purpose of providing an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
3923286
I am a sucker for anything set in Boston and this really caught a lot of Boston from upper crust Beacon Hill to once gritty, becoming trendy neighborhoods like SOWA. The Gardner Heist is a wound to the Boston psyche that will probably never heal. The main characters are all people I would like to know.  The plot is intriguing.  The twists are unexpected without being unrealistic.  I really liked it.
933760
The author has compiled a collection of synopses of high profile murder cases.  The facts are presented in an unemotional way, which I appreciated.  I was able to have my own emotions rather than be led by the author.  I enjoyed remembering some cases, and discovering a few new ones.

The last chapter is a departure from the rest of the book.  The author uses this chapter to vent some of her passion for Asian women who are victims of the acid attacks.  She uses the high profile Pakistani victim, who brought the issue to world-wide attention.  She references the Oscar-winning documentary, and that director's emotional connections to the subject.  Having seen that documentary, I highly recommend it.

If you are a student of criminology, this book is "murder light."  If you want a glancing overview, this is an excellent reference source for that.
1179593
I liked this book so much, I started a discussion list about it (Iraq911 at yahoogroups.com). I think it ought to be read in conjunction with Simon Reeve's THE NEW JACKALS, which contains a biography of Ramzi Yousef, the 1993 World Trade Center bomber. Mylroie argues that Yousef is an Iraqi agent, and that Reeve has fallen for his cover story. I'm not quite persuaded, but she does make a good circumstantial case for Iraqi sponsorship of the original attack.
685748
Recently, I purchased the Ghosts of Boston by Sam Baltrusis. His accounts of the historical haunts from a journalist point of view were very thorough and well written. I really enjoyed learning about the history of some of Boston's best haunt spot and the personal interviews in the book gave it a very "real" feeling. As an avid reader of paranormal books, and magazines, I always look for the stories that are most informative and Sam gave just that. I'm looking forward to reading more of Sam's books in the future and hopefully visiting the city of Boston in future travels. This is a great read!
3018887
Fantastic read and real page turner! I loved learning a little about Boston in the 60s and the Combat Zone. I would highly recommend!
3119568
I bought this book excited to learn something new about the war on terrorism, particularly through a case involving US citizens.  Living in a city where homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building to prove a point, it hits home with me.

Though this book reads quickly, I agree with another reviewer that it does jump around a bit and never really focuses on one thing.  People who aren't versed in the history of the case but are interested in learning something, this is not the book for you.  To me, it seems like it's more about the injustices that are happening in the post-9/11 days but the author just hints at it, rather that focusing on it.  I'd recommend "The Looming Tower: Al-Queda and the Road to 9/11" for true insight into the motivations behind terrorists intent of destroying America.