Rating: 
Summary: The "justice" system--for the killer, not the victim
Review: I found this book doing a search for Kitty Genovese, a young woman murdered over several hours as many heard and watched--and did nothing. (...) He lived across the street with his girlfriend. The murderer,(...) used his "kindness" and "helpfulness" to ingratiate himself with the neighbors, and to explain why, at times, he appeared in places he had no business to be. His best friends were the local law enforcement. "Georgie couldn't do a thing like that," his family and friends insisted, though it appeared, after all, that none of them knew him very well.I refer college students to this book as a resource for discussions about ethics, crime, and sexual assault. The book provides an excellent description of the criminal justice system. The defense used the flashy attack-the-victim and diminish-the-victim techniques we came to know so well in the OJ Simpson case. Ms. Gregory's sister, Kim, was barred by the defense from entering the courtroom because she might emotionally sway the jury if she wept--under the pretext, of course, that she "might" be called as a witness. Yet the murderer was let out on bail and allowed to parade his toddler daughter and by-then wife in front of the jurors. During sentencing, dozens were allowed to talk about what a great guy the murderer was. No one was allowed to talk about the murdered woman (I believe this is not the case in Washington State, where I live; family members are allowed to state the effects of the crime on their lives). Unlike many crime books, this is extremely well-written. The language is straight-forward and simple, and therefore manages to convey a pathos that penetrates deeply. This title should be listed under "ethics" and "US courtroom practices" rather than simply "true crime." If you had heard Karen Gregory scream, would you have called the police?
Rating:
Summary: The "justice" system--for the killer, not the victim
Review: I found this book doing a search for Kitty Genovese, a young woman murdered over several hours as many heard and watched--and did nothing. (...) He lived across the street with his girlfriend. The murderer,(...) used his "kindness" and "helpfulness" to ingratiate himself with the neighbors, and to explain why, at times, he appeared in places he had no business to be. His best friends were the local law enforcement. "Georgie couldn't do a thing like that," his family and friends insisted, though it appeared, after all, that none of them knew him very well. I refer college students to this book as a resource for discussions about ethics, crime, and sexual assault. The book provides an excellent description of the criminal justice system. The defense used the flashy attack-the-victim and diminish-the-victim techniques we came to know so well in the OJ Simpson case. Ms. Gregory's sister, Kim, was barred by the defense from entering the courtroom because she might emotionally sway the jury if she wept--under the pretext, of course, that she "might" be called as a witness. Yet the murderer was let out on bail and allowed to parade his toddler daughter and by-then wife in front of the jurors. During sentencing, dozens were allowed to talk about what a great guy the murderer was. No one was allowed to talk about the murdered woman (I believe this is not the case in Washington State, where I live; family members are allowed to state the effects of the crime on their lives). Unlike many crime books, this is extremely well-written. The language is straight-forward and simple, and therefore manages to convey a pathos that penetrates deeply. This title should be listed under "ethics" and "US courtroom practices" rather than simply "true crime." If you had heard Karen Gregory scream, would you have called the police?
Rating:
Summary: How Well Do You Know Your Neighbor???
Review: I loved this book, I couldn't wite to find out who the killer was. When I did find out I was shocked! Not only was he the neighbor, but he was a fire fighter, someone you'de would think to be a trust worthy person. Wrong again! Even with all the mistakes made, like George getting out on bail, he was dumb enough not to run and they still got their man. I hope he will always be in jail, because I think he will do it again. It must have been really had for detective Tosi to descover that the murder who he has been surching for so long was always right there under his nose, a friend of his.
Rating: 
Summary: People Actually Liked This? *shivers*
Review: I tried reading this book a few years ago because I grew up in the town where it took place (mere blocks away.) I had always heard of the famous Gulfport Murder, but didn't really know a whole lot about it. I now live in Orlando. I got about a half an hour into the book--cringing of the poor writing all the way--and finally couldn't take it any more. The prose is extremely over-wrought and flowry; a true example of a journalist turning to fiction at its worse (no Dickens, Hiassen, or Wolfe here). The man aparently has no knowledge of the craft of writing whatsoever. Yes, I know what you are thinking--"But this is not fiction"--but it still resides under the same rules because it is presented in a chronological and fictionalized account even if the events are true. Anyway, if you have a much stronger stomach than I do for terrible writing, you might find the story worth reading; though I must admit, even what I was able to pick up from the story was pretty typical in its type. I would NOT advise this book.
Rating:
Summary: A student of Mr. Harper's at Troy State many years ago...
Review: I was pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Harper's review of this book - I took Criminal Justice at Troy State under Mr. Harper and the reading of this book was probably the highlight of his class. I picked up another copy about a year ago at a bookstore and it brought back some fond memories of school. Excellent book to read and it makes you think about the horrific crimes that could be committed just right next door without your knowledge or someone just ignoring that cry for help. I think a picture of the victim in this book would have cheapened the effect - the picture in your mind is set from the very beginning of the scene, the people in the story, and it would not be as a great read if everyone was pictured in the book.
Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING AND WELL WRITTEN BOOK
Review: Mr. French tells the story of Karen Gregory's murder by using a writing style that is able to pace a true story similar to a work of fiction. He is able to keep the reader interested while providing the necessary details demanded of a true story without losing the attention of the reader. This is very difficult to do with true stories, which is the reason that readers complain about the writing abilities of less talented writers than Mr. French. I would highly recommend this book to anyone because it is an intriguing story with little "smoking gun" evidence and no eye witnesses. The story also has the unusual twist of the killer being a friend of the main investigator of the crime. I can offer an update on the convicted killer of Karen Gregory. Three year ago, he was instrumental in developing a mobile crime lab vehicle that could perform various tests at the crime scene. He was applauded by the police officials that worked on the project for his tireless devotion to perfecting the crime lab and it seemed that he was somewhat content with his station in life.
Rating: 
Summary: What's that sound? Everybody look what's going down.
Review: On a May night in 1984, the residents in a Gulfport, Florida, neighborhood heard the dying screams of Karen Gregory. Most of them did nothing. One of them had already done too much. I just read the “St. Martin’s True Crime Classics” (2001) version of this book. It *is* a classic and the designation of “Classic” and the reprint is well justified. The writing style is quite good, it flows along within the conventions of the genre without getting in the way of the tale. Here’s a sample, which preceeds Part One in the “Classic” edition (Maybe not in the previous ed., as it is not included in the sample pages here on Amazon’s Item Page at the time I write this review): “She lay alone in the hall for a night and a day and another night. Finally someone saw her, and the police arrived and raised a circle of official yellow around the yard, and the neighbors stepped forward with their excuses, then retreated behind the walls of their front doors. The forensic experts came, and the forensic experts left, and at last the case was left in the hands of one who would not let go. During the day he would sit at his desk, examining and reexamining the photos of her on the floor, and ask her to help him see whatever he had missed. At night he would return to the house, wandering inside, hoping the empty rooms might reveal whatever they remembered. The weeks stretched into months. He eliminated one suspect after the other and ran down one blind alley after the other, and still he was no closer to understanding, until that day he stumbled across a single moment of stupid good luck. Then came the lie detector tests at the station, and the reenactments in the dark, and the anonymous phone calls that could not be traced, and the rounds of weary accusations and denials.
After all of that, he arrested a man and put him on trial for this life.
An investigator asked on of the neighbors:
“Does he look like a murdered to you?”
The neighbor said:
“What does a murdered look like?” The book includes photographs to answer that question. I feel cheated though, especially in these more enlightened days of “victims’ rights” and the shifting of all the focus away from the perpetrator, that there is not one picture of Karen.
Rating:
Summary: NICELY UNDERSTATED
Review: One of the nicest things about this book is its understatement: it's very level-headed & unexcitable ... one of those books that grows on you after you're done with it. French chose a crime that, on the face of it, might not leap out as fodder for a newspaper series, let alone the book it later became. It was grisly & no doubt devastating for everyone whose lives it directly touched (what murder isn't?) but it hardly seems sensational ... & that's French's achievement in "Unanswered Cries." He makes you care about the victim, the crime, the do-nothing neighbors &--yes--even about the murderer. French does a particularly good job of illuminating the victim & her friends & family without overdoing it. Murderers' actions have consequences far beyond the death of their victim ... & French documents that very well.
Rating:
Summary: Personally memorable and a revealing study of justice
Review: The young man, his manner so well described by French, asked me if his girlfriend, Karen Gregory, who he introduced to me, could sit in on my class so that she would know more about him and his major, criminal justice. I still have a vivid visual memory of them and where they sat-- "in the back" so they would not be intrusive, he said. Much later, her brutal rape and murder shocked me when I read about it in the first series in the St. Petersburg Times. It took place near where I had lived, too. And then, later, French did a 7 part series, which this book is based on, that captured not only the crime, but the slow and improbable way the case wound through the criminal justice system, so filled with human error and with human caring. Her artist friend's portrait of her in the first installment of that series was extraordinary. There are pictures in the book, but not of her. Since its publication, whenever I have taught the introductory criminal justice course at the University of South Florida and elsewhere, I have required my students to read the book and to write a critique of the system based on it. What do they think should have been done differently? What was done right? The students get caught up in the book, much as have the other reviewers on this page. And I recommend this book, as I know they would. But it is special to me, it haunts me as does my memory of Karen and her boyfriend, a decent guy who now has a Ph.D. in social work. French has now won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of another St. Petersburg murder tragedy; and his latest book might help you understand something of how the school boy murders at Colombine happened, though it is not about them. But read Unanswered Cries, it is real and it is revealing.
Rating:
Summary: Should be a movie.
Review: This is a great book about real life detective work. I think it should be made into a movie. It is about a crime and an unexpected criminal that was so close the detective could have reached out to touch him. In the aftermath, the structure of a small town is left scared and in disbelief. The author, Tom French, later won a Pulitzer for his reporting of another famous Florida murder case.
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