'The Ride' by Brian MacQuarrie is about the '97 abduction & murder of a 10yr old boy in Massachusetts. His father, Bob Curley, gets involved in one of the well-known campaigns amongst MA libs about capital punishment and is seized upon to promote the pro-death penalty side of the argument in the legislature. Actually the author writes one good true crime book and one tepid lib puff-piece all in one volume. His description of the crime is chilling, his picture of the working-class parents is on target, and his skepticism about how politics is probably not the way to deal with grief is interesting. The father (as he descends into first manic activity, then alcoholism) changes his mind about the issue due to continued assaults by both sides on his reason. He then starts working equally hard for the anti-cap punishment side. Of course, the author doesn't view the people on that side as 'exploitative.' Wonder why? Well, we quickly see as the author's viewpoints & ideas poison what he writes. This isn't the story of a guy who manages to forgive his son's killers. I's a depressing tale of how easily someone ravaged by grief can have his mind played with by people who have very little concern about crime in society. I didn't like it, but it made me think!

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