Rating: 
Summary: A gripping, informative read.
Review: This book presented the facts in a unbiased, thourough manner. It seemed to me that every aspect of this very complex, intriguing case, was covered. Shiller and Brennan did a great job of showing the tension between the DA and the police departments.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book, but it could have been half the size
Review: The first 300 pages were very good and kept you on your toes the whole time. You just didn't want to put the book down but, towards the end it was dragging to the finish, it rambled on about how the Colorado police dept. did a bad job. Overall a good book if your into all that law stuff. The author is unbiased and lets you keep guessing on who killed Jonbenet Ramsey
Rating: 
Summary: Three Times Too Long !
Review: An interesting summary of the case , but far too long. Too much emphasis on the bickering between prosecutors and detectives. Too much detail on the media role. Worth reading if you're interested in the case, but skim the irrelevant parts. Looks like, short of a confession, this one is unsolvable. Too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing book - not recommended
Review: I expected far from better from Schiller. The book was overly detailed with no clear premise - just rambling facts interspersed with random interviews. Schiller provides no context or central premise. This book is simply a litany of semi-related facts strung together. The book itself acutally irritated me layout-wise because when Schiller quotes various people (which he does at least every 2 or 3 pages in this over 600 page book), the quote is set off in italics and are usually 1 to 2 pages long. But....the person quoted is not named until the END of the quote, making it impossible to understand the quote fully without flipping forward to the next page to see whose perspective one is reading, then flipping back a page to read it. {If you've already read this book, I'll be you've done the same thing. If you haven't, repeat this flip back and forth process 200+ times throughout the book and you'll see why I was annoyed.} This kind of editorial carelessness bespeaks a poor publisher/editor and a sloppy author. Bottom line: NOT ALL AT RECOMMENDED - despite the appeal of learning more about this very intruiging case.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much murder, not enough town
Review: It reads like a vast collection of newspaper articles, which isn't such a bad thing if you just want a broad overview of the case. To live up to his title, Schiller could have beefed up the 'town' component of the book. Apart from a token introduction that runs through your standard Boulder stereotypes, some namedropping of places like Mike's Camera and maybe some implications about Boulder because of some of the cops' attitudes, the book really doesn't say much about Boulder at all. In the end, I did develop a pretty good theory about the murder, and I don't necessarily feel as though I was led there by the author--though he does hit you over the head a bit with his own ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Amazingly dull for a story embraced by every tabloid
Review: It was nearly impossible not to get bogged down in the details in this book. The author really is not putting forth a thesis at all as to who did this murder. He is merely providing all of the infinite details of an investigation that really led nowhere. If you think you would enjoy reading 300 pages about the uncooperative behavior between the DA's office and the police, then you might think this is ok.
Rating:
Summary: very interesting book... Buy it everyone!!!!!!
Review: I will soon be a detective in homicide and I will work on this case till the day I die...I have all the information I need to see that this Angel recieves JUSTCE. To the parents "How can you sleep with yourself?" I am an criminologist who care's for this little Angel and trust me JUSTICE will be served!!!!! Book Buy it reveals information that will soon be used in court. I believe everyone should know the truth, this little girl didn't ask to loose, but to win in beauty and in life!!! Buy the BOOK!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: too many blind alleys
Review: I have not followed the JonBenet case, so the book provided me with a historical perspective. But too many threads are left undone. I also found a few inaccuracies: Steve Thomas starts and ends the book as 36 years old; at one point it says the pathologist informed JonBenet's parents of the results of the autopsy, but later on we are told John Ramsey's attorney told him; early in the case, when JonBenet's doctor reviews her medical history with a detective, we learn she once got hit with a golf club, but toward the end of the book the golf club incident is brought up as a new rumor for the detectives to investigate. Why didn't the police get a warrant to see her medical files? I would think that would be routine. The failure to obtain crucial search warrants is only addressed in a resignation letter by Steve Thomas (appendix). His letter also brings up a startling revelation about hidden video cameras in the Ramsey house. The explanation in the book - given twice for God knows what reason - is that he is referring to security cameras that had been installed. By whom and when? Why was that information left out? There are so many ways this book could have been better. There are pages of background on the Boulder detectives and the DA's office and even Boulder law enforcement history, but only two background paragraphs on John Ramsey and none on Patsy. We have no idea what their childhoods were like, or even how they ended up married.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the effort - book could have been 1/2 as long.
Review: You have to plough through lots of unnecessary and BORING passages to get to the 'good' parts where relevant information is revealed. Save your money and skip this one.
Rating:
Summary: It was like reading a student's research notes.
Review: There is some great research and reporting here. Too bad the author did not have time to sort his thoughts and organize some themes. It was absolutely maddening finding vital facts tossed together with details which a good editor would have removed.
| 
