Under the Knife by Diane Fanning - A True Crime Book Review

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Dean Faiello had built a thriving beauty business. He was handsome, charming, and a fixture on the New York City club scene, but money was never enough for Dean Faiello. So he decided to work as a cosmetic surgeon, even though he had no medical degree, or any training for that matter. In the spring of 2003, a beautiful, successful woman named Maria Cruz went to Doctor Faiello for a relatively simple cosmetic procedure and died while under his care. Faiello allegedly buried her corpse beneath a concrete slab at his Newark, New Jersey home and then went on the run.

This is about Dean Faiello who pretended to be a doctor and performed laser surgery. One of his patients, Maria Cruz, had an adverse reaction to an anaesthetic he used and because Dean Faiello was already under investigation for performing medical duties without a medical license, he decided not to take her to hospital and she died instead. This is especially tragic as her reaction to the drug could have been treated easily if Dean had been a doctor.

The story outlines Dean Faiello's life as a gay, charming and handsome man and his relationships throughout his life until he was extradited from Costa Rica to stand trial in the USA for the murder of Maria Cruz.

I can usually work out how good a book is by how long I take to read it. If a book is really good I take half a day to finish it. Some books I do not even finish but I must say with true crime books this rarely happens. This book took me 3 days. I think it is well written. This is also the first book that I read that is written by Diane Fanning. I saw her website and promptly ordered 6 of her books. I personally prefer female authors so I decided to check out her style of writing. Not bad. I will read a few more of her books before I make my final decision.

The book goes into the history of Dean Faiello by delving into his early childhood up until the time of the murder. Diane Fanning provides insight into all of his relationships including his adult relationships in order to provide the reader with an idea of the kind of man that Dean Faiello was and succeeds in doing this very well. The book is easy reading and flows effortlessly. I was especially interested in the fact that he had an absent father as I analyze these true crime stories endlessly. I believe that this fact was a major contributor to his later criminal behavior.

If you enjoy reading true crime stories the web is an excellent spot to get up to date.

For more information on true crime stories and the books written about these true crime stories come browse though http://truecrimebookreviews.blogspot.com/

"America's Assassinations and Aspirations" by Robert Bruce Baird - Reader Review

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Secret societies and political involvement have both been topics of much debate throughout history. From the Illuminati, to the mafia, all the way through the KKK, people have been fascinated by their very existence. Various genres of literature have tackled these topics, leading to a peaked human interest carried on through this medium and right to big screen productions. It was only a matter of time that so-called connections were made between news-making events happening in daily society and prominent figures in the political arena. They are the people we look towards for direction and leadership, yet still they fall victim to character flaws and associations.

In "America's Assassinations and Aspirations", author Robert Bruce Baird reveals his own beliefs regarding many of our great historical figures and their involvement in shady organizations that still remain concealed today. Through his research, he shines the cold light of "truth" upon many events that we have come to know as our countries history and attempts to reveal the clockwork precision working behind them. Did Abraham Lincoln really free the slaves? Was Ben Franklin really trying to create electricity with his kite flying antic? Or where there bigger picture events swirling actively around these momentary stops along our perceived time line? As with any work of this nature it must be taken with a grain of salt...choose to believe what you will, research those that you don't. Whatever the case may be, you will certainly be exposed to new theories regarding people held in high prestige and the circumstances that befell them.

Far be it from me to argue for one side or the other as Mr. Baird makes his own opinions stand strong with his investigation into our past as a nation, and beyond. Even the skeptic is allowed "room and board" within this work as he encourages the reader from the beginning to seek further proof through his listed sources as well as their own study. Recommended mainly for history buffs, this text should allow your current historical views to be broadened while raising questions that may still be to this day unanswered. Allow your inner cynic to awaken, if just for a moment, and try on a few of the notions raised by a curiously creative mind.

Opposite Paths - A Serial Killer and an Architect of the Chicago World's Fair

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"A thousand trains a day entered or left Chicago." With that opening statement in Eric Larson's historical non-fiction book, The Devil in the White City, the reader is drawn into the compelling story of two men who traveled two diametrically opposite paths in life, one man achieving his greatest notoriety through the planning and overseeing of the infamous Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and one man achieving notoriety through cruel inhumane serial killing.

Both men lived in the second most populous city at a time when countless young people, in particular young women, left home and traveled by train in search of a bright future and employment, many as seamstresses and typists. Chicago was a city often thought of as the Black City because of the coal smoke hanging over the city, the raw sewage, lack of clean water and diseases. Chicago was also a city where many people died from not only accidental deaths but also murder. The author records there were approximately 800 violent murders during the first six months of 1892.

This is the story of Daniel Burnham, an architect, and the crowning achievement of his life, that of being the lead designer and overseer of the fascinating story of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. This is also the story of H. H. Holmes, a doctor, a licensed pharmacist and an infamous serial killer.

Daniel Burnham minutely planned and oversaw the extreme challenges, obstacles and frustrations that went into the one square mile construction of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair which became commonly known as the White City because all of the approximately two hundred buildings were painted white. The Chicago World's Fair introduced and showcased to the public many spectacular features such as: the gigantic 264-foot Ferris wheel, clean piped water, extensive electrical lighting and clean public restrooms. Much of the fair was a prototype of what Daniel Burnham thought Chicago should look like. This is the story of how thousands of hard-working individuals joined together and pushed themselves against deadlines, to build something magnificently exquisite, beautiful, exotic and positive in the lives of people.

This is also the story of one young man, H. H. Holmes, who walked an opposite path in life and whose actions resulted in cruel and painful death, many of the victims being young women. While the World's Fair was being planned and constructed, Holmes was building his own house a short distance away, which neighbors called a castle because of its immense size. The house contained soundproof rooms, a basement with a hot enough kiln to burn human bodies. Some of the rooms were turned into apartments and other rooms became hotel rooms for people attending the fair.

This is a story that leads the reader to ponder the psyche of human beings. What is there about the human psyche and the environment that will cause some men to follow a path that leads to the negative legacy of serial killing but leads another man to achieving greatness that leaves a positive imprint on the world?

The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson Vantage Books
A Division of Random House, Inc., New York, 2003, 432 pages