Lisa D. (CrazyBabies) reviewed Tears of Rage - From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice: The Untold Story of the Adam Walsh Case on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Amazon.com
In this aptly titled book, John Walsh traces the steps that led him from being a grieving father to becoming a grieving father who hosts TV's America's Most Wanted, the Fox true-crime show that hunts down bad guys every week through a toll-free tip line. Walsh, however, seems ambivalent about the fame he's been granted. He presents a somewhat halting, uncertain narrative in this autobiography (cowritten with Susan Schindehette), and he makes it clear all the way through that his life is really only driven by one thing: the still-unsolved 1981 abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son, Adam.
Walsh's anger and frustration over a "bumbling" police investigation of his son's murder is evident throughout. According to Walsh, the Hollywood, Florida, Police Department should have arrested a drifter named Ottis Toole--a convicted serial killer who played sidekick for many years to the notorious killer Henry Lee Lucas. Walsh speculates that the police had "formed their own ideas" about who killed Adam and didn't want to believe Toole could have been responsible. But Walsh is convinced, and he presents a large amount of evidence to support his case. Unfortunately, it's too late: Ottis Toole died several years ago in prison.
This is not an easy book to read, and one imagines it wasn't an easy book for John Walsh to write, as he describes, with a staccato style reminiscent of Jack Webb, the probable sequence of events of Adam's disappearance as well as the manner of his death. The bulk of Tears of Rage concerns Adam's abduction and its aftermath and the impact the Walsh family has had since in helping to pass various victims' and children's rights legislation. --Tjames Madison--
In this aptly titled book, John Walsh traces the steps that led him from being a grieving father to becoming a grieving father who hosts TV's America's Most Wanted, the Fox true-crime show that hunts down bad guys every week through a toll-free tip line. Walsh, however, seems ambivalent about the fame he's been granted. He presents a somewhat halting, uncertain narrative in this autobiography (cowritten with Susan Schindehette), and he makes it clear all the way through that his life is really only driven by one thing: the still-unsolved 1981 abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son, Adam.
Walsh's anger and frustration over a "bumbling" police investigation of his son's murder is evident throughout. According to Walsh, the Hollywood, Florida, Police Department should have arrested a drifter named Ottis Toole--a convicted serial killer who played sidekick for many years to the notorious killer Henry Lee Lucas. Walsh speculates that the police had "formed their own ideas" about who killed Adam and didn't want to believe Toole could have been responsible. But Walsh is convinced, and he presents a large amount of evidence to support his case. Unfortunately, it's too late: Ottis Toole died several years ago in prison.
This is not an easy book to read, and one imagines it wasn't an easy book for John Walsh to write, as he describes, with a staccato style reminiscent of Jack Webb, the probable sequence of events of Adam's disappearance as well as the manner of his death. The bulk of Tears of Rage concerns Adam's abduction and its aftermath and the impact the Walsh family has had since in helping to pass various victims' and children's rights legislation. --Tjames Madison--
David V. (dcval) reviewed Tears of Rage - From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice: The Untold Story of the Adam Walsh Case on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This was an interesting look into John Walsh's life and how he went from a real estate business partner to the voice of victims and their families; from Hollywood, Florida to Washington D.C. From the grieving father to host of FOX's America's Most Wanted. His early pages sounded like the bragging of someone trying to write to make himself out as a machismo, party-guy who could do no wrong. When he reached the part of his life about Adam's abduction and how his life changed, he book takes a whole different tone and he truly does become an important hero in American history, in my opinion. A tragic tale, but a man with so much guts and desire, which changed so much about the legal system and how law enforcement was done in the 1980s.
Todd L. reviewed Tears of Rage - From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice: The Untold Story of the Adam Walsh Case on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Grueling story that pulls at your heart the entire time you read it
Shanna V. (shanna71) -
Helpful Score: 1
I found this book to be very slow & slightly boring. I understand Mr. Walsh's pain, but his prose is lacking.
Cheryl P. (cherylandtoto2) reviewed Tears of Rage - From Grieving Father to Crusader for Justice: The Untold Story of the Adam Walsh Case on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
John Walsh was an average family man. Worked to provide for his wife and son - trusted in the American dream. His world was shattered by the abduction of his son and he is candid in sharing his emotions through the whole experience. The really interesting part of his story is how he realized the "professionals" - the police - didn't really know what to do. As a reader, you'll share his sense of outrage and helplessness when trusted institutions fail. You'll see how he stepped up to take charge, the hope, and the tragedy. You'll see how his pain was transformed into action on behalf of other missing children. Heartbreaking. Inspiring.
