TEARS OF RAGE

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Summary: John Walsh: An American Hero by Tricia Marrapodi
Review: "Tears of Rage" is a compelling look at John Walsh's tragedy and triumph as an advocate for missing children: the legal and personal heart break he and his family had to endure after his only son, Adam,6, was kidnapped from a Florida shopping mall and murdered. The charismatic Walsh proved that one person can make a difference. As host of "America's Most Wanted" he has been a crusader for children and adults alike, making this a safer world for all of us. "Tears of Rage" will remind you just how important it is to stay close to your children and family, remind them how much you love them and always be there for them and to protect them. John Walsh is an exemplary role model and a man's man, as he has proven in keeping America safer for all of us. One man who made a difference through his own personal tragedy and has gone on to triumph.

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Summary: This book struck a cord with me
Review: Being a parent of a 5 year old, this book touched me and terrified me. It really delves into what a parent goes through after losing a child. It absolutely broke my heart to read what happened to that innocent little boy. It was easy to see by reading John Walsh's words how much he and his wife adored Adam and how devastated they were over his kidnapping and murder.

I didn't realize how much John and Reve have done for the familes of missing children. It angered me how hard it was for them to get things done. It's as if, according to some of the [people] Walsh came across, children aren't even people...yet they are the most important people in this world and must be protected.

Very well-written book, heartbreaking and hard to read, not to mention hard to put down. The night I finished reading it, I stood and watched my kids sleeping safe in their beds. I will never take that for granted again.

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Summary: Heartbreaking, Disturbing And Informing.
Review: Few memoirs can have the kind of honesty, self-examination and disturbing insight into a horrific type of crime as found in "Tears Of Rage." Though John Walsh, best known as the host of "America's Most Wanted," has written recent books that deal with capturing wanted felons, this is his most stellar work because it is him stripping himself bare to show us the horror of losing a child and the heartbreaking struggle to move on. This is the story of the disappearance of 6-year old Adam Walsh, abducted in a department store and later found decapitated. Walsh describes in wrenching detail the anguish him and his wife Reve endured while searching for their son and wondering what had happened as well as dealing with a police force which in 1981, was ill-equipped when it came to finding missing children. It is fair to say that there might be no better book that tells the story of a family's loss of this nature, Walsh writes with a truth and bluntness that keeps the reader emotionally gripped onto the pages. But yet aside from a powerful story, "Tears Of Rage" also informs us with the evolution of missing children programs in America, it took the Walsh tragedy to wake-up America to the monster that is child murder and abduction. Beasts prowled the fields and no one noticed while many suffered in silence, not knowing where their sons or daughters were. Walsh takes us on an in-depth look at his own efforts which have taken him to congress to help the mothers of the disappeared. But the interesting thing here is the haunting story of Adam Walsh, when John Walsh describes in detail how he believes the murder took place one is surprised at the courage this father has to describe how the horrific murder of his son might have taken place. In essence Walsh takes us on a journey through emotions and scenarios many of us hope we will never have to live through, but the lesson here is that in his baptism of fire, Walsh came out a wiser, stronger man and from his story we learn we must all be careful, especially with something as precious as our children.

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Summary: Best book I've read in years.
Review: I'm not really a fan of John Walsh (I've probably only watched America's Most Wanted 5 times in it's entire run), but when I was stuck on a 12 hour trip with nothing to read but this book, it was pretty hard to pass up. I think I made the right decision in picking it up because it really is a good read.

While this book does in fact tell about John Walsh, it's much more than that. The first couple of chapters are pretty average, telling about the life of John and his wife, about the things his son, Adam, would do, and everything else that describes the Walsh family.

"Book Two" goes into great detail how Adam was kidnapped, the long and exhausting search, and more. The book really does a good job in describing the unbearable pain that the Walsh family was feeling, and how the local police seemed to not show very much interest in the case.

The part of the book that I find most interesting/disturbing is after John starts hosting America's Most Wanted and we learn about some of the very sick individuals that AMW (thankfully) captured.

Overall, I think this is an excellent book and would recommend it to everyone, including those who aren't fans of John Walsh. This book really teaches you the value of life and how we can take so much for granted.

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Summary: A Great Read!
Review: Most of us open the mailbox and barely glance through the junk and flyers that clutter our letters and bills. But sometimes a chilling picture stares back at you from the top of the mail stack. "Have You Seen Me?" It asks. And that alone is enough to make me stop in my tracks and stare right back. In those eyes there is no crime. There's no reason that something so horrible should happen to anyone. In this book, Tears of Rage, by John Walsh, there is little that compares to the horror and sadness of murder.

John Walsh and his wife Reve had a beautiful son, Adam. They were a happy family, and just as normal as can be. This book broke my heart as John described when his son Adam was abducted from a department store and murdered. No one should have to ever go through something like that, and it's really important to me that people, who are faced with that pain, show others what happened. It's like when you trip over a tree root or something. It's important that you tell the other kids in the playground what happened so that they won't overlook it too.

People nowadays are growing more and more careless, and books like this one are all it took for me to appreciate what I have and look at things more carefully. It not only made me sad, but it also enraged me. The police were described in this book in such a way that made me feel unsafe. They looked at the abduction of this little boy, and were hesitant to even lift a finger, leaving John and his family to do the dirty work. When someone's hurting, I think everyone should work together to solve the problem, instead of leaving the burden on that one person.

I suppose this book is not intended for younger readers, and even though I don't have kids or younger siblings, it is still heart wrenching to think of murder and loss. We're all human, and hearing other people's painful stories is always going to affect us. This is very different from the books I'd normally read, but I was inspired by a TV documentary on the Adam Walsh case, to read this book. If I had one thing to say to John Walsh, it would be "Good for you, John. Good for you." If he hadn't written such an honest and powerful book, I think a lot of us would be victims, because of carelessness. Additionally, John Walsh was invited to host America's Most Wanted, which helps locate more and more missing children every year.

In a nutshell, I highly recommend this book to anyone. You won't find a true story like this one anywhere else, so take advantage of it. I have to warn you that it's a very deep and moving story that you have to be prepared for. Some of the parts made me really emotional, so please remember that this is the true story of the murder of a child, and a father's coping. This book is real, and strong, but I'm really glad I read it. I give it five stars because it really hit me, and it is very well written in my opinion.

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Summary: A story of an amazing man
Review: Tears of Rage by John Walsh (with Susan Schindehette)

TEARS OF RAGE by John Walsh is a first hand look into the man behind the television show AMERICA'S MOST WANTED and what makes him tick. Yes, it is mostly about the murder of his young son Adam Walsh, and John's obsessive search for the murderer, but it is also a book about John's life so far.

John's life reads like a novel. He's never done anything on a small scale; he's done everything big. He started life after college working as a cabana boy at Florida resorts, enjoying the tips and the sun and the sand, and spent a lot of time in the water scuba diving, which was his first love. With the right connections, he moved on to bigger things, becoming a big hotel marketing bigwig, using his skills as a scuba diver to bring in clients.

Things were going pretty well for him. He had by that time met and married Reve, and soon they had their first child, Adam. When Adam was abducted and murdered at the age of 9, their good fortune turned a quick 180, and soon their life became a nightmare.

What this book shows is how this single tragic event changed the life of John and Reve Walsh. It motivated them to do something about the fact that there were no government agencies, local or national, which aided in the search of missing children. Adam's death made them realize that there were hundreds of kids that go missing or are abducted every day, and no one was out there that could help the parents locate these missing children. What is so amazing is how the Walshes turned a tragedy into something wonderful. If anyone could truly be said to have made a difference in this world, it is John and Reve Walsh. This book showed that Adam Walsh did not die for nothing.

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Summary: The book is intense, honest, inspiring.
Review: TEARS OF RAGE is the compelling story told by John Walsh of the trauma he and his wife Reve and family experienced when their 6-year-old Adam disappeared from a store. Walsh describes the agonizing days of the search for Adam; the torture of knowing Adam had been kidnapped and murdered; and the frustration of inept law enforcement agencies to coordinate their efforts. The reader is taken through the saga of the Walshs' struggles which finally led John Walsh to host the highly successful "America's Most Wanted." Few books have captured the intense emotion experienced by the family of a murdered child. Walsh pulls no punches. His raw honesty is refreshing. He attacks apathy and hypocrisy with ample justification: we cannot ignore the needs of helpless children. The reader is drawn into the realism of a world where evil co-exists with good, and anyone naive enough to ignore that fact may become a victim. He clearly shows that the efforts to work for the benefit of children and other victims has paid off and is continuing. Walsh is clearly a fighter who will not give up his battle to get murderers and other criminals off the streets. He urges support for victims' rights laws and support of various organizations that are helping victims. He advocates support for the proposed "The Crime Victims' Rights Constitutional Amendment." The reader is left with the feeling that in spite of everything, good people can make a difference.

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Summary: one of the best
Review: This book is one of the best books I have ever read. He really let you into his heart and the hearts of everyone else. Aslo it inspriered me to go out there and help people. I know this mayu be short but it has moved my heart and I thank hime for that.

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Summary: Amazing!
Review: This book truly amazed me. I read it because I was bored over the Summer (I'm 13), and I picked it up because I saw a kid on hte cover. "the kid" turned out to be six-year-old Adam Walsh, a murdered child in 1981. Mr. Walsh amazed me with his style of writing, it captured me in and I felt as if it was 1981 and I was re-living the Walsh case even though I wasn't alive to actually live it in the first place.

It's nice to know someone used his grief for good, instead of taking it out on the rest of his family or someone else, or killing himself. John Walsh fought for other children's rights as his son's case remained unsolved, when most people would dwell on the case related to him.

It's also scary to know that that beautiful boy would be murdered...What about me and my loud, middle-school friends? If someone could snatch a sweet littel boy what would they do with kids wild?

I've read this book three times, and each time I get more emotional at the emotions John portrays as he begins to realize what has happened to him and Rieve', and especially to Adam.

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Summary: I Have No Idea How This Man Survived
Review: This is one of those books that stick with you forever. One minute John Walsh's son Adam was in the mall, the next minute he was gone. John and his wife basically used all the money they had to search for Adam, all the while hardly receiving any help from the authorities. If you have children, this is one book that you need to read.
Because of what happened, John's actions have sparked an international victim's rights movement that gives a voice to the millions each year whose lives are touched by violent crime.