Three Weeks in October: The Manhunt for the Serial Sniper

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: About the only two things one can conclude from this book are Moose is a racist, and Moose is a moron. It is a tale, told by an idiot, and not much of one at that.

It is clear from the book that Moose is not a particularly adept policeman. He displays a penchant for suing people, possesses the aura of an "angry black man," and on top of everything else can't write a coherent narrative, even with a co-author's help.

I wonder if Mr. Moose is going to sue Charles Fleming when the critics pan this abysmal book.

Rating:
Summary: Should be an autobiography
Review: For all the information about Mr. Moose instead of the sniper killers. Mr. Moose is too hung up on his own accomplishments and racism and only gives out tidbits of information concerning the sniper killers. Again, if this were supposed to be an autobiography, this approach would be fine.

Rating:
Summary: Class or Trash?
Review: Greed is what led Chief Moose to write this book. He quit his job as chief of police to write it, because ethics/rules prohibited his writing a book about those terrifying days in October. So, he quit his job. He goes on and on in this book about all his problems and racism, but this man quit his job as chief of police to write this book. Am I missing something here? A black man who is chief of police in an area near Washington DC, and I'm supposed to feel sorry for him?

It wouldn't matter the race of this police chief. If they showed such a willingness to throw ethics to the wind, and showed they really didn't care about their job, wrote a book, half about the tragic days in October, half personal whine, that is a huge turn-off. Its no wonder this book is on the bargain tables.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: Having lived in the area during the shootings...this book was terrible.

This "Chief" did not "solve" anything. The suspects were stopped numerous times, but he was too busy focusing on suspects that perhaps looked different, or more what he wanted them to look like.

He is extrememly self-serving, and honestly wasn't very articulate (as people often say) or organized while dealing with the media...he was hostile and not very likeable actually. Not sure what the big deal with this guy is.

Rating:
Summary: It was a good read
Review: I bought the book after a friend told me about it. I knew the whole book would be written in Moose's perspective. I actually liked the bio chapters because they really let me see what Moose was all about. I also liked that Moose wasn't afraid to put down alot of his real thoughts on paper.

Rating:
Summary: self-serving bunk
Review: Moose has succeeded only in confirming what we already knew of him-- that he is a self-serving, whining, ineffective public servant willing to sell out his men and the cause of law enforcement for a few bucks. Get the shredder humming for this one.

Rating:
Summary: Class or Trash?
Review: The only reason I am not too mad at my self with this book purchase is that I picked it up on a sale table and spent only a few dollars on it. That happens to also be one of the nicest things I can say about the book. This review is really the tail of two books, the first book is the one I was interested in reading, which covered the Washington DC area sniper case. The second book is a history of the author, which I honestly did not care about. I will give the editor credit, he did keep the two sections in separate chapters, which made it easy as I got into the book to pass by the personal history parts. So on the section I wanted to read, well to say the writing was wooden would unfairly give trees a bad name. I have no idea how these two guys, the police chief and the ghost writer, managed to reduce an exciting and interesting story into a cure for insomnia, but they did it. Pfizer needs to bottle this and call it Sleep Fast because it was brutal to get through. To top off the dullness overload they provided less info then I could get from a single newspaper report of the incident. I bought this book to get all the good inside info, not white washed info that was already provided to the public.

The sections of the book that dealt with the personal history of the author actually were written with a bit more spunk then the rest of the book. The only problem was that this guy is the most race aware public figure this side of Al Sharpton. Everything in the world is seen through a white black lens for this guy. It got so old reading about every slight or problem he ever had in his life that he could somehow link to racism. I have no doubt there have been events that he has been disadvantaged due to race, but it got to be too much. I really got the feeling that he was mad at every white man in the country and that he felt there was no way that a white man and black man could come together on any issue. His views on the subject were overbearing and rude. It was so much that he even went out of his way to identify every black person he writes about yet not the race of any of the other people. I have no idea why.

So here is a book that I felt was about 50% bait and switch, I dare you to find on the cover or dust jacket any mention that over half of the book is this guys life story. What disappointed me even more about the content is that the authors could have given us so much more detail of the investigation. No pictures, no reprints of any of the messages, no transcripts of the recorded calls, the lack of detail was very disappointing. Overall I am very disappointed by this book. The author did detail out the case, but in almost a cliff notes fashion. The section of the book that details his life are written with such a chip on his shoulder that it makes this half of the book tiresome and distasteful. Overall I would not recommend this book other then the author says part of the proceeds are sent to a fund for the victims.

Rating:
Summary: It's Not Just About the 23 Days
Review: The situation of October 2002 touches people at their core - which explains for polarity of the reviews. Sadly I feel many either read the book already prepared to vilify Chief Moose, or they didn't read it at all. Just in case you may think I was too geographically removed to feel the terror of those days, I was in the DC area for much of the siege.

When I started reading the book I wasn't sure what to expect, inside details into the investigation - explaining people's concern it may jeopardize the trails, or just a fluff piece.

I will agree that he isn't the best writer. But, he isn't a professional author and we should not have expected it.

During and after the investigation Chief Moose was placed in an impossible situation. When reading, you could tell throughout the book that he wanted to set the record straight, as he saw it, if only to rebut the merciless press needing a new story or new angle every day. I don't blame him for wanting to do it. The saying in Hollywood may be at work here, "They build you up to tear you down."

Something I found really interesting was his continual discussion of his managerial approach - what happened in his life for him recognize and develop his techniques. It is an unexpected study in the development of a managerial style that obviously has served him well over the years. It is something that I wish more managers would read and implement into their own styles.

I would recommend this book to people curious about whom the man was behind the microphone during those days in October. But I would also recommend this book to those interested in learning about the development of a successful administrator whose talents and strengths took him to the top of his profession.

Rating:
Summary: In ore of a brave man
Review: THREE WEEKS IN OCTOBER was about the most inspiring book i have ever read and i have read over 300 books. it gives an interesting insight into the police work involved when dealing with such an appalling case as this was, and gives you the chance to step into the shoes of Chief Moose - the man in charge of cracking the case.The book was very well written and flickes between Moose`s life as a child, and the present day.