Rating: 
Summary: better than "dead reckoning"
Review: i felt like "dead reckoning" was glossed over with flowery phrases and didn't really reflect michael baden's own voice. i enjoyed "unnatural death" not only for it's true-to-life rhetoric, but also for it's liberal slant as fall as to the politics of death. baden has opinions, and he's not afraid to share them. although he does occaisonally wax poetic about his own accomplishments, i thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Rating: 
Summary: If only every book was this good!
Review: I have waded through my fair share (or unfair share) of thick books that have barely enough in them to fill a thin book. Haven't we all? Well, here is a book that packs so much into its 215 pages that it drips like a saturated sponge. Two words . . . READ IT! And I assure you, once will not be enough. This is not only a great read for any true crime fan, it is a valuable reference tool that you will go back to time and time again. How long does it take for rigor mortis to set in and how long do the effects last? How can time of death be determined by examining a victim's stomach contents? How can an infant death by suffocation be distinguish from SIDS? You will know all this and much, much more by the time you get to page 215. To say more would be to spoil the fun you will have diving into these engrossing pages. Thank you, Dr. Baden!
Rating:
Summary: Page Gripping
Review: i met Dr. Baden in june of 2001, he came to work on a case in my town, i am a funeral director, and had the chance to visit with him. the book was very gripping and from my vantage point, it really shead some light on things. Dr. Baden stated he was working on another book, i will buy it also. i was not happy with the condition of the book, each page has fallen out as i read it! as if it were years old. i was planning on putting it in my libary, but now i cant...the publisher should be ashamed.
Rating:
Summary: If you're a forensics fan...
Review: I myself am hooked on the genre. I watch the Tuesday nite forensics shows on the Discovery Channel like a dog watching fire trucks roll by. So I probably would have liked this book regardless.
But, Dr. Michael Baden DOES spin a good yarn. I fully understand and appreciate his unique abilities to spot details of a crime scene, and link them to his experiences and past cases, that help shed light on a crime scene. With uncanny consistency, he will identify the who, what, when, where, how, and (sometimes!) why of otherwise unsolved crimes.
He does lay on his ego a little thick at times, but not to the point where it detracts from the story.
Dead Reckoning is Baden's best work, b/c it really opens up the readers' eyes and mind to the various aspects of forensic science. Confessions is a good follow-up for readers, b/c it tells some good stories about how forensic science, and in particular, Dr. Michael Baden's expertise in forensic science, has triumphed over cases that are plagued by incompetence, politics, and lack of understanding of what the crime scene facts really mean.
I think the book reads best as a series of short stories -- reading one chapter at a time, flipping around for stories that capture your interest the most.
If you have already read Dead Reckoning, give this one a try.
Rating:
Summary: If you're a forensics fan...
Review: I myself am hooked on the genre. I watch the Tuesday nite forensics shows on the Discovery Channel like a dog watching fire trucks roll by. So I probably would have like this book regardless.
But, Dr. Michael Baden DOES spin a good yard. I fully understand and appreciate his unique abilities to spot details of a crime scene, and link them to his experiences and past cases, that help shed light on a crime scene. With uncanny consistency, he will identify the who, what, when, where, how, and (sometimes!) why of otherwise unsolved crimes.
He does lay on his ego a little thick at times, but not to the point where it detracts from the story.
Dead Reckoning is Baden's best work, b/c it really opens up the readers' eyes and mind to the various aspects of forensic science. Confessions is a good follow-up for readers, b/c it tells some good stories about how forensic science, and in particular, Dr. Michael Baden's expertise in forensic science, has triumphed over cases that are plagued by incompetence, politics, and lack of understanding of what the crime scene facts really mean.
I think the book reads best as a series of short stories -- reading one chapter at a time, flipping around for stories that capture your interest the most.
If you have already read Dead Reckoning, give this one a try.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the two . . .
Review: I thought this book was better than Michael Baden's other book "Dead Reckoning." This was a very interesting read. I learned a few things about the industry of medical examiners and forensics. I wouldn't recommend this book to those who have a weak stomach, because the author doesn't hold back the details in quite a few areas of the book. For those people who love C.S.I. (you know, that popular forensic television show?) or are simply curious about the industry this book will be an interesting read! I even gave this book to some friends of mine and they enjoyed it just as much as I did. The style of writing makes the topic easy to understand for the average Joe Smoe. Good book, I like it!
Rating:
Summary: The best of the two . . .
Review: I thought this book was better than Michael Baden's other book "Dead Reckoning." This was a very interesting read. I learned a few things about the industry of medical examiners and forensics. I wouldn't recommend this book to those who have a weak stomach, because the author doesn't hold back the details in quite a few areas of the book. For those people who love C.S.I. (you know, that popular forensic television show?) or are simply curious about the industry this book will be an interesting read! I even gave this book to some friends of mine and they enjoyed it just as much as I did. The style of writing makes the topic easy to understand for the average Joe Smoe. Good book, I like it!
Rating: 
Summary: You've got to be kidding
Review: I've been a fan of Michael Baden ever since watching my first HBO special. I've seen several of them. I decided to buy a book by Baden even though I don't read many books. I knew he was involved with the HSCA investigation of Kennedy, which comprises over 90% of the books I have read, and was aware of his conclusions at the time. I would have figured by 1989 he would have somewhat changed his tune. He hadn't and as far as I know still hasn't. Any respect I had for this man as an expert in the field is now tainted by what I read in the beginning of this book. Dr. Baden makes several statements that when not cross-examined seem compelling but are if fact grossly mis-representative or unbelievable false. I can't believe someone of his caliber would stoop as low as he did. He provides his "opinion" but not the cross-examination that his opinion warrants. If he did then he would have to explain himself and based on SEVERAL comments he made it is simply not possible. Someone of his esteem should have been decent enough to make an attempt to examine both sides. An example would be his opinion that the reason Kennedy was thrown back and to the left was because the car accelerated at that precise moment. What a joke! Can you explain Dr. Baden why NONE of the other occupants of the car were not forced back and to the left as well. Based on the way Jackie was sitting she would have been thrown around more than her husband, but that didn't happen. Further explain why the head was thrown back and to the left with much greater force than the rest of the body. The video evidence clearly shows that the head was thrown back first, and with greater force, with the body following simply because it was attached. This is not speculation based on faulty evidence which Mr. Baden gives. This is fact based on hard and fast evidence that anyone viewing the Zapruder film can see. Unfortunately when someone with an ego such as Baden's he has to maintain his ridiculous opinion. The Kennedy assassination is fascinating in that it is really the only event where conspiracy can be proved by watching a very short film. Any hunter or marksman, not to mention scientist, will tell you when you shoot something the force of the projectile will propel that something in the same direction the projectile is traveling. It is that simple. Scientifically as well as logically what you see on the Zapruder film cleary shows the direction the bullet that killed the president was traveling. You can dispute that all you want but run a million tests and 1 million times the results will all be the same. Oh yeah Dr. Baden also contradicts himself by vehemently stating that bullets simply don't fall out of a wound. Then later he speculates that in fact that very thing did happen. Did he bother to proof read what he wrote?
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: If you are an avid reader of true crime, this is a hard to put down book. And if the HBO special "autopsy" held you on the edge of your seat, this is just a continuation. It has everything in here, from celebrity autopsies, to everyday people. It is not morbid and creepy, although some aspects may make the weak queasy, its realism and therefore compelling. It amazes as to how a medical examiner can solve a crime and pin point time and cause of death. Just a interest-keeper of a read, not only for anyone in the medical field, or forensics, but simply everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting But Jaded
Review: In 1977, Congress set up the Select Committee on Assassinations to look into JFK's assassination. Baden was in charge of the forensic pathology investigation and set up a panel of nine medical examiners. Others investigated the non-forensic areas. Baden feels that the conspiracy theories abounded due to a poor medical-legal autopsy performed on the president by Commander Humes who'd never done one before. Baden feels these theories still abound because he was not allowed to testify about the committee's forensic findings. The Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that theirs was a second gunman based on acoustical evidence.
I think the book was poorly organized. In his Introduction, Baden explains the science of forensic pathology. He followed this with a chapter on Heroes and Conspiracies possibly for the sensationalism. It makes more sense to follow the explanation of forensic pathology with the following chapter order History, The Education of a Medical Examiner, Autopsy, Manhattan Postmortem (about city politics and how they interfere with ability of the ME to do his job), Earthly Remains, Time of Death then Heroes and Conspiracies with the remaining chapters in the same order. The book provides a lot of valuable information on the profession however I recommend reading Cause of Death (which I also reviewed) by Cyril Wecht, M.D., J.D. with Mark Curriden and Benjamin Wecht for the story behind JFK's assassination. Wecht was also on the Select Committee on Assassinations.
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