This is not a story for the faint hearted, or it has to be said anyone with only a passing interest in true crime tales. This book extends to over the nine hour mark, and is the most detailed account of a murderer and those he preyed upon that I have ever experienced. At times the actions, thoughts and desires of Field are very hard to listen to, especially when detailing the more sadistic parts of his crimes and although I do not consider myself squeamish I did struggle with the cruelty depicted. The narration itself is not especially expressive, and could be considered to be a bit on the monotonous side by some, but in view of the subject matter I actually found the laying out of events in a factual way helped to make it more believable - grim, but true. In any case, there is no doubt that Smith has done an incredible amount of research into this case. It's harrowing and not an easy read at all. There are many moments I had to stop reading and literally take a walk, cuddle my cat or just take a breather. Its not that I'm naive to the abhorrent crimes of human beings at all - it was just simply awful to take in, it puts a heartbreaking image in your mind of a helpless 2 year old boy crying for his mum whilst reading. I can't possibly begin to imagine what any parent would feel reading this, or james's parents who lived this nightmare.

He wrote that he could go for a late night stroll around Maids Moreton “suffocating or beating neighbours and have 50 in one night…”. If you're newer to the case than I am, David James Smith will do a great job of bringing you up to speed on it. It covers most of the important facts in a fairly straightforward way. There are three types of true crime books – absolute classics like Homicide by David Simon or The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer; there is complete trash like Body Dump by Fred Rosen; and there are the decent thorough accounts like Defending Gary by Mark Prothero. This book is in the top half of division two. Towards the end of this book the author tries to fathom intent. Surely this is the heart of the matter. When they lured James away what was their intention? Smith says : Within a few weeks of this exchange, in 2017, Ann Moore-Martin would fall ill, and the police would be informed for the first time that Field was up to no good.

Young Mandela released in paperback in the UK

David James Smith. This could not be said as an easy read, mainly due to the content. It was fairly overwhelming given I did not follow the case at the time, so the whole account was brand new to me. Although I am very glad I read this book, I didn't love the writing style. For my tastes, it was dry in places. The time line occasionally jumped around and I sometimes had trouble understanding what the author was writing. While I enjoyed the writing in parts, other parts seemed choppy and confusing. To me, it was an uneven effort. Of course, this could reflect a deficiency of the reader rather than the writer. Ben moved on to a neighbour in the same street, Ann Moore-Martin, who also fell helplessly in love with him. All the time Ben was setting her up to redraft her will so that Ben would benefit on her death.

Typos aside, I also took issue with some grammatical issues. That is probably only a personal issue, though.It seems surprising that Field's deviousness and expert level machinations almost allowed him to get away with murder, as no one suspected this outwardly charming young man of any wrongdoing at the time of Farquhar's death, instead falling hook line and sinker for the picture of his victim as a chronic alcoholic that he had created. However, Field was not content with what he had gained from his victim and decided to move on to prey on another resident of the small village of Maids Moreton - the elderly Ann Moore-Martin, who fell in love with Field. Keen to repeat the process that had been so successful with his first victim, Field got to work on Moore-Martin, but eventually her family became suspicious after she fell ill and when Field was arrested his past misdeeds were uncovered. Sadly Moore-Martin later died of natural illness, but her life had been deeply affected by her experience with Field. Like with Farquhar before, Smith gives us a look at the life of this lonely woman to show how she also fell under the charismatic Field's spell. In a new Preface (which considers the re-arrest of Jon Venables in February 2010) David James Smith writes: ‘It is as true now as it was then that the murder has never really been explained and the motive for the crime remains a mystery. This book, the result of considerable research and a painstaking, sometimes distressing assembly of the facts, was my attempt to offer some insight and understanding.’ The crime was a tragedy. James’ death should never have happened. The crime was also a tragedy for the two boys involved and their families. Hard to put any stars on this because it seems sensationalist to do so. You wouldn't say this is a great read and I'd find it hard to recommend it, even though I read it in its entirety I did find I was asking myself why I wanted to read this or continue reading it.

David has a close interest in criminal justice and served five years (2013-2018) as a Commissioner at The Criminal Cases Review Commission, appointed by HM The Queen to oversee investigations into miscarriages of justice. He was a local newspaper reporter and wrote for the monthly magazine Esquire before joining The Sunday Times Magazine, for whom he travelled around the world writing cover stories, investigative articles, reportage and profiles. It was an article for the Magazine that led to his second book, ALL ABOUT JILL: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JILL DANDO, which was published by Little Brown in 2002. Barry George was convicted and later acquitted of the infamous 1999 shooting of the television presenter on the doorstep of her London home.

He proves that child murderers are not as unique as we believe by citing historical cases from Victorian times to present day, 1992. This was really an area I knew nothing about so was surprising. The actual abduction of James is chilling. It is very hard to read but the research and detail makes this book skip along at a fast pace. He was driven by the bloodless sport of malice and degradation that he inflicted on those two old people who fell for him, for the person they thought he was. It came down to the simple fact that I have heard about James Bulger all my life as a fear mongering tactic to stay close when out with my own parents. I didn't know enough about the crime even though I've grown up listening to this tragedy, besides the heartbreak of the crime reading this book allowed me to know the real facts, not the rumours I had been led to believe were true about certain parts of this case. David Smith has clearly spent a lot of time on this case and he does an admirable job of delving beyond the trite 'demon,' 'monster,' 'beyond evil' trope that is thrown around by the gutter press.

Nelson Mandela is no Steve Biko, as far as I'm concerned, but this book intrigued me because it claims to be a real-to-life portrayal of Mandela rather than a mythical depiction--I've never thought Mandela to be the great hero that everyone thinks he is. Besides, it was a Christmas gift.However, there are questions the author doesn’t answer, such as, was the body under the cellar really that of Belle Elmore? To what extent did Ethel know about her lover’s plans, and why did Inspector Dew resign from the police force immediately following Crippen’s unsuccessful appeal? The answers may not be known and even if they were, might not make any difference to the conclusion, but the fact Crippen never admitted to the murder is a little troubling.