Book Review-The Burn Journals

I read this book back in July. This is an autobiography of a fourteen year old named Brent Runyon. He seemed to be a normal kid but was secretly suffering from depression. Runyon had tried to commit suicide many times before. After a school prank had gotten out of hand he came home doused his robe in gasoline put the robe on and lit a match. Runyon experienced third degree burns over eighty-five percent of his body.

I read this book in a day and a half. The author's description of his injuries isn't particularly gruesome but is vivid enough that when I would get up to move around I would feel relieved that I was not wrapped up in gauze or be in that much pain.

Runyon goes through a fair amount of introspection during the book. The book indicates he goes through a lot more than I felt he did. Although he does question why he burns himself I do think there was still a lot of avoidance behavior going on as well.

Something else he doesn't do is seek the help of any of the available psychologists. I side with him on this. All but one of them seemed pompous.

This book isn't for the faint of heart. The writer went through a near death experience at such a young age and at his own hands. Even though this event took place in 1991 suicide is still a very delicate subject and this book is a testament to that ( aside from his family only the nursing staff and psychologists knew how he came to be burned).

I work with people with mental illness and I also run a crisis line and I encounter suicidal people on a regular basis. This book made me see that people can hide (or deny) their depression even after such a blatant attempt in this case self immolation.

I have not read anything else authored by Brent Runyon but I certainly would.

Brent Runyon has made appearances on This American Life on NPR. His website is: burnjournals.com. In addition there is also a myspace: myspace.com/burnjournals.

Book Review-Cruel Sacrifice

This is a very sad book. The book begins a few hours before the crime itself and then goes back in time to tell the story of the perpetrators. The girls in this crime all had difficult lives. The mastermind behind the crime, Melinda Loveless, wanted to kill Shanda Sharer because of another girl, Amanda Heavrin. Loveless had an upbringing that few would envy. There were allegations of incest between Loveless and her father. Loveless was a lesbian who had her heartbroken by Amanda Heavrin.

Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey and Toni Lawrence were the other teens involved in this crime.

Laurie Tackett was a girl who had a controlling mother and a passive father. Laurie was also a lesbian with a chip on her shoulder. Toni Lawrence, a quiet girl, didn't have a clue as to the other arrangements planned. Lawrence was of the understanding that the four of them were only going to a punk show in a neighboring area. When she got into the car she learned there was more than a show in store for the evening. Hope Rippey was an acquaintance to Laurie Tackett. A passive girl but completely aware of the events to take place.

The victim, Shandra Sharer, was thirteen. The relationship between Sharer and Heavrin began during detention. It wasn't long after that the typical teenage letters were being exchanged. Heavrin eventually broke up with Loveless and began seeing Sharer exclusively. Sharer had a horrific death that spanned several of the early morning hours on January 11, 1992. She got into the car willingly but under false pretenses.

Aphrodite Jones does a great job of telling this story. This story is told in a narrative manor versus the journalistic tone that is sometimes seen with true crime books. She has done well with her research on each person. A lot of background information had to told to fully understand (but not justify) what was going on with all of the girls.

This is the first book I have read authored by Aphrodite Jones and I enjoyed it. I am currently reading another of her books at this time.

There is a myspace page dedicated to Shanda Sharer at: www.myspace.com/shandashearer.

Are they fucking serious?

(CNN) -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will close a criminal investigation into former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley on Friday without filing charges, two law enforcement sources said Thursday.

Authorities were investigating whether Foley might have used computers in Florida to engage or solicit minors in any illegal activities.

The Republican, who represented Florida's 16th District in Congress, resigned in September 2006 after suggestive e-mails and instant messages he had written to teenage House pages surfaced in the media.

Florida agency spokeswoman Heather Smith said last month that investigators hoped to finish their work within two weeks and that results of the investigation would be turned over to State Attorney Bill Eddins in Pensacola, Florida, where Foley was at the time he is said to have communicated with a young man.

But the agency said the House of Representatives had blocked efforts to review files on computers Foley used in his congressional office. Smith said the agency was working with the FBI and Foley's lawyers to review the contents of those computers, which are federally owned.

Foley's attorneys had denied that he ever engaged in sexual activity with minors.

"I have no comment," Foley's attorney David Roth said Thursday when asked about the reported closure of the Florida investigation. "I cannot confirm or deny your report."

A federal investigation of Foley has been closed for some time, according to sources.

Foley entered a treatment facility for alcoholism shortly after he resigned and revealed that he is gay and was molested by a priest when he was between the ages of 13 and 15.

A House Ethics Committee investigation of the scandal concluded in December 2006 that House GOP leaders were negligent in not protecting male teenage pages from possible improper advances by Foley. But the panel said there were no violations of the House Code of Official Conduct and decided that no one would be reprimanded.

A Justice Department report issued a month later said the FBI should have notified the House or other officials when members first learned of inappropriate e-mails. The FBI acted within its "range of discretion" when it initially decided not to open a criminal investigation in the case, the Justice Department said. But the internal watchdog's investigation concluded that simply filing away the complaint from a public interest group was an inadequate response.


This is amazing to me. Absolutely amazing. So in other words, I can be an alcoholic that has been molested by a priest and provided I am in politics be federally protected. All I need to do to top it all off is "get treatment for my alcoholism". Ahh, fuck off. I am very angry about this. It is irrelevant to me whether he is a Republican or a Democrat but I am sure that is how some will see this turn of events. My political knowledge and opinions are not used to defend or excuse sending suggestive e-mails and text messages to an under-aged boy. How is it possible that the investigation is closing because people are not co-operating? Do subpoena's not work in Florida? Is the HOR immune to subpoenas? Cause if so that is fantastic (sarcasm). Thrilling (more sarcasm). Too bad Michael Jackson didn't have that kind of protection. I know he was found not guilty but he would have been saved a lot of (Jesus Juice) embarassment.

And no one is going to be "reprimanded" for keeping this quiet? If only I knew co-workers who were as tight lipped as these people are.

Oh, and how is this not a violation? So, let me get this straight, it is okay for adults to make advances on those that are underage? Because I thought we had a sex offender registry for those particular adults. I think somebody better be suing somebody else if this is acceptable afterall. I would think that the creators of the sex offender list would be in danger of having infringed the civil rights of several thousand people.

"...no violations of the House Code of Official Conduct..." I wonder what would be a violation since getting drunk and hitting on underage boys is not a violation.

I am interested to know why the HOR wouldn't co-operate with the investigation. Something to hide? Did they not want the Republican party compared to the Catholic church? Too late, I mean Foley brought the Catholic church into this. Being molested does not make you a molester. Getting drunk does not excuse your behavior. Going to rehab doesn't absolve one of responsibility either. He jumped on the bandwagon like everyone else who has fucked up recently. He didn't appear to take personal responsibility for his actions. He came up with excuses and then went into hiding.

How many kids has Foley hit on? And why isn't protecting them a priority? Does anyone care how this kid feels? No. Probably not. He can't vote or go off to war yet.

If this were an ordinary citizen Chris Hansen would be on them like white on rice.
And I am certain that they would be on that sex offender registry that I mentioned earlier. Foley is free to do whatever he wants now. I wonder what he is up to these days. The recidivism rate is very high among these type of offenders. It took Michael Jackson awhile but he eventually acted out again (or was finally caught). There is a statistic (but I can't remember the exact numbers) it has something to do with for each time a child molester is apprehended there are (insert number) victims that are not known about.

*sigh*

I realize physical contact isn't an issue in this particular case but don't be so naive to think that this isn't serious or that it couldn't happen. One doesn't wake up one day and decide to be a child molester or a serial murderer. These things take time to happen. And Foley broke a boundary by contacting this kid. I doubt things will get better for him.

Book Review-Deadly Obsessions

This reads like a traditional true crime story. When I reached the trial segment of the narrative it seemed as though most of the information was gathered through the court records. Some of the information that I had read before was being restated but it wasn't enough to think I was rereading the beginning of the book. This was confirmed when I read the epilogue and saw that of everyone involved only a few of the police officers agreed to be interviewed. Given the nature of this particular crime and the history of the more notorious Wisconsin criminals it is not that difficult to understand why.The story is written without it being gruesome. Some parts, however, are pretty intense.

I learned a few more things about forensic anthropology while reading this and I have a few questions about personality disorders that I plan to get answered soon. My only criticism with this book (and this is more of a personal preference) is chronology. Once the protagonist was arrested the writer tells of what jail was like for him due to the relevance at the hearing. Then he goes back to tell how the cops investigated the case which is simultaneous to the main character being locked up. I often get irritated trying to get the sequence of events back in order. But this particular author made references to things the suspect was doing in jail so I didn't have to flip back and forth as much to figure out the sequence of events. Kudos to Mr. Linedecker!

This was the first book authored by Clifford Linedecker that I have read and I enjoyed it. I would read another book written by him.