Rating: 
Summary: NOT Fatal Viision or Cruel Doubt!
Review: I found this book inferior to Fatal Vision (which I read with much appreciation on 5 Jan 1985) and to Cruel Doubt (which I read 11 Nov 2002). Many of the names of the people involved in this case have been changed. One can get the actual names of the people, including the girlfriend, by reading the legal opinions concerning the case. The conviction was affirmed in a 175-page opinion by the New Jersey Supreme Court in State v. Marshall, 586 A. 2nd 85 (1991). The most recent decision in the case is Marshall v. Hendricks, 307 F. 3rd 36, decided Sept 11, 2002, which ordered a further hearing in regard to effectiveness of counsel in the penalty phase of the trial, which readers will remember was handled somewhat lackadaisically according to the book. The book spends a lot of time repeating the whining of the murderer, which surely grew old and tiresome. I think the book deviated too much from the truth and made up a lot of stuff and I prefer true crime accounts to be as accurate and factual as possible. This one flunks the veracity test.
Rating:
Summary: NOT Fatal Viision or Cruel Doubt!
Review: I found this book inferior to Fatal Vision (which I read with much appreciation on 5 Jan 1985) and to Cruel Doubt (which I read 11 Nov 2002). Many of the names of the people involved in this case have been changed. One can get the actual names of the people, including the girlfriend, by reading the legal opinions concerning the case. The conviction was affirmed in a 175-page opinion by the New Jersey Supreme Court in State v. Marshall, 586 A. 2nd 85 (1991). The most recent decision in the case is Marshall v. Hendricks, 307 F. 3rd 36, decided Sept 11, 2002, which ordered a further hearing in regard to effectiveness of counsel in the penalty phase of the trial, which readers will remember was handled somewhat lackadaisically according to the book. The book spends a lot of time repeating the whining of the murderer, which surely grew old and tiresome. I think the book deviated too much from the truth and made up a lot of stuff and I prefer true crime accounts to be as accurate and factual as possible. This one flunks the veracity test.
Rating: 
Summary: where are the boys?
Review: i jst finished watching the movie "Blind Faith" on tv. It was a great moving story much better than the book I just want to know what happened to the 3 boys, sine Mr Marshall is here on deathrow in N.J.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great True Crime Page Turner
Review: I read this when it was first published 10 years ago and recently read it again, it is still one of the best of Joe McGinnis' books. Reads like a novel and you hate to put it down. The story takes off from the beginning and doesn't let go til the last page. If you collect true crime books this is a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: A Great True Crime Page Turner
Review: I read this when it was first published 10 years ago and recently read it again, it is still one of the best of Joe McGinnis' books. Reads like a novel and you hate to put it down. The story takes off from the beginning and doesn't let go til the last page. If you collect true crime books this is a must-have.
Rating: 
Summary: touchy feely interpretation
Review: I was disappointed that within the first few pages, you KNOW who did it. After that, it's interesting, but it could have been written to keep the "mystery" alive for more than the first chapter. It also delved way to far into the mundane mechanics of a family torn by murder (who slept where, who drove the kids where, etc)rather than analysis of the personalities of the family.As for the author's characterizations of the sons and family..... Man, NO GUYS cry and whimper and whine and hug like that. At least not to the extent he has them doing it. They sound like a bunch of cast offs from a group therapy session. And even if they DID act like that, they certainly wouldn't want to tell the author that, and become the objects of derision they are portrayed as in the book. I too get the impression that the author made up most of the dialouge. After all, he wasn't there, was he? Please, " Just the facts, sir" Perhaps he also made up a lot of "Fatal Vision" , as others have claimed. Makes one wonder.
Rating:
Summary: Wrenching saga of lust, greed, murder, and betrayal.
Review: Joe McGinniss's excellent follow up to "Fatal Vision" is one of his best yet. "Blind Faith" takes us into the home of Rob and Maria Marshall and their 3 sons, a family in the "Leave It To Beaver" mould whose idyllic life was the envy of all who knew them. But the tragic murder of Maria in September 1984 revealed a twisted underbelly of asociality where the life of a beloved daughter and loving mother could be traded for a sum as measly and paltry as 1.5 million dollars. Joe McGinniss slowly draws the reader in to the complicated investigation which is littered with people who seem to be direct from the central casting of an Alfred Hitchcock film as the police and the district attorney quietly and resolutely hunt down their quarry - Maria's "loving" husband, Rob Marshall, who in court was finally revealed for the avaricious and cunning sociopath that he is. Although this tragic, cautionary tale transports the reader on a journey into the dark side of the American dream which will haunt us long after the last page is finished, the true success of this book lies with McGinniss's depiction of 3 grieving boys who went from initially believing totally in their father's innocence to finally angrily acknowledging his guilt.
Rating:
Summary: Wrenching saga of lust, greed, murder, and betrayal.
Review: Joe McGinniss's excellent follow up to "Fatal Vision" is one of his best yet. "Blind Faith" takes us into the home of Rob and Maria Marshall and their 3 sons, a family in the "Leave It To Beaver" mould whose idyllic life was the envy of all who knew them. But the tragic murder of Maria in September 1984 revealed a twisted underbelly of asociality where the life of a beloved daughter and loving mother could be traded for a sum as measly and paltry as 1.5 million dollars. Joe McGinniss slowly draws the reader in to the complicated investigation which is littered with people who seem to be direct from the central casting of an Alfred Hitchcock film as the police and the district attorney quietly and resolutely hunt down their quarry - Maria's "loving" husband, Rob Marshall, who in court was finally revealed for the avaricious and cunning sociopath that he is. Although this tragic, cautionary tale transports the reader on a journey into the dark side of the American dream which will haunt us long after the last page is finished, the true success of this book lies with McGinniss's depiction of 3 grieving boys who went from initially believing totally in their father's innocence to finally angrily acknowledging his guilt.
Rating:
Summary: Wrenching saga of lust, greed, murder, and betrayal.
Review: Joe McGinniss's excellent follow up to "Fatal Vision" is one of his best yet. "Blind Faith" takes us into the home of Rob and Maria Marshall and their 3 sons, a family in the "Leave It To Beaver" mould whose idyllic life was the envy of all who knew them. But the tragic murder of Maria in September 1984 revealed a twisted underbelly of asociality where the life of a beloved daughter and loving mother could be traded for a sum as measly and paltry as 1.5 million dollars. Joe McGinniss slowly draws the reader in to the complicated investigation which is littered with people who seem to be direct from the central casting of an Alfred Hitchcock film as the police and the district attorney quietly and resolutely hunt down their quarry - Maria's "loving" husband, Rob Marshall, who in court was finally revealed for the avaricious and cunning sociopath that he is. Although this tragic, cautionary tale transports the reader on a journey into the dark side of the American dream which will haunt us long after the last page is finished, the true success of this book lies with McGinniss's depiction of 3 grieving boys who went from initially believing totally in their father's innocence to finally angrily acknowledging his guilt.
Rating:
Summary: No mere mystery
Review: Looking for a who-done-it? Then you can skip Blind Faith, the story of the 1984 murder of Toms River, N.J. housewife, Maria Marshall, and the prosecution of her insurance salesman husband Robert O. Marshall for the crime. Author Joe McGinniss portrays Rob O. as such a pig, with his slutty married mistress and flashy ways, you don't doubt for a moment that he is capable of murdering his wife. The only mystery here is why Rob expected anyone to believe his ludicrous alibi in the first place, especially his three teenaged sons, who cling desperately to the belief that Rob is innocent. But mystery isn't the point. This is a book about illuisons. Seems the Marshall boys weren't alone in clinging to them. McGinniss paints Toms River as a Mecca for phonies who maintain the mutual illusion that they're all hot tycoons and socialites, when in reality they're just small town posers, with nothing more going for them than a few credit cards and a full set of teeth. McGinniss suggests that the quest to maintain those illusions, especially concerning the reputations of certain powerful citizens, perverted the prosecution of Rob Marshall, obscuring the true motive for Maria's murder. He hints that it may even be what cost her her life in the first place. Blind Faith is neither as sophisticated as Echoes in the Darkness, nor as suspenseful as Cruel Doubt, but it's marvelous sociology and a good read.
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