I know some other[s] have suggested that the morgue pictures are truly horrible. Well, I must be very thick-skinned because they really weren't. The black-and-white photos in this book have been all over the internet already, so they weren't anything I hadn't seen before. ...
This book itself is "just okay". ...

Those looking for books on the Tate-LaBianca Murders should by all means pick up Helter Skelter, Greg King's Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders and this book. This is the book that provides uncensored crime photos, unlike Bugliosi's book. It is a good read, but will keep you up at night.

Now, a word of warning:

IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT LOOKING AT THE SAMPLE PAGES PROVIDED HERE, THINK TWICE. ONE OF THEM IS THE BACK COVER, WHICH PROVIDES AN UNCENSORED PHOTO FROM THE CRIME SCENE OF TATE AND SEBRING, ALBEIT BATHED IN ORANGE.

Beware.

This book is an exploration into the world that was created by Charles Manson. The writer, John Gilmore (Los Angeles Times says of Gilmore's book, COLD-BLOODED, "An essential masterpiece in the true crime genre"), has created a window to Charlie Manson's world by close involvement not only with Manson but with all facets of this incredible, terrifying mise en scene. One reviewer has seemingly faulted this book for not being "entertainment," and sites Helter Skelter as their choice of entertainment. No, Gilmore's book is not "entertainment," but rather ENLIGHTENMENT. Helter Skelter was an excellent offering from the author's point of view, that of the prosecutor in the case against Manson and the girls accused of murder. Helter Skelter is told exclusively from that point of view, examining Manson and the Family at a safe distance, as beasts in cages, much as we observe animals at the zoo. That is entertainment. John Gilmore's examination of this case has no bars separating us from the beasts. We are accompany them on their lives, are placed right in with them. We share life with them, we watch their heads ticking, and we kill with them. This is a terrifying place to be. Gilmore's book was one of the earliest books to be published on the Manson case. There have been a number of imitations, trying to lead us into this twisted world so effortlessly accompolished by Gilmore. He has lived inside Manson's head, and his book stands alone in taking us into a warped world that will remain as timeless as the Holocaust. So, no, this is not "entertainment." For entertainment, one must visit the tube for a sitcom or a movie made for TV. For education, for enlightenment, though, Gilmore's book is the one to read. It dark, yes. It is shocking, yes. Helter Skelter gives us a broad and worthwhile study of the legalities and the case from the prosecution's personal, bestseller-style, perspective. In fairness, I suggest reading Gilmore's book and Helter Skelter, to gain as much insight as possible into this mindboggling horror that seems right at our fingertips. I was smelling the blood in Gilmore's book, and yet I could not turn away.

As for the photographs of the victims from the murder scene and at the morgue, this was the first time these photographs were published in a book dealing with this case. What appears online were "borrowed" from Mr. Gilmore's book. They are now world-wide, and nonetheless disturbing, frightening, or unforgettable. Gilmore's book is not "entertainment," unless you subscribe to the same nightmare view created by Charles Manson. This book and these photographs remind us that true evil is very close, so close, in fact, it can reach out and touch us at any time.

Books about conditions in the hereafter generally promise more than they can deliver because the Bible tells us much less about heaven and hell than we would really like to know. The fact that the Scriptures reveal so little indicates that we don't need to know, but that reduces neither our curiosity nor the prolixity of Christian authors. Gilmore, although filling his study with intriguing chapter titles such as "Humor in Heaven?", "Memory in Heaven?", and "Recognition in Heaven?", would really have better served us to have written a commentary on the Biblical book of Revelation. He draws heavily from that portion of Scripture for his theses; nonetheless he has a difficult time answering the questions which he poses in his chapter titles, since the answers just aren't there to the depth nor the extent that we would like to have. Gilmore's eschatology is amillennial, which will make his views acceptable to many in the Reformed camp. His writing style is not always easy to follow, and this was a book I had to put down and take up again many times before I finished it. Dr. Gilmore is a Baptist pastor in Cincinnati, a graduate of Reformed Episcopal Seminary, and the uncle of Jim Gilmore, whom many of us know. His credentials are good, but as far as probing heaven is concerned, I have long since decided to wait and experience it first hand. Whatever it will be like, I am sure that it is infinitely preferable to the alternative, and that those of us who trust Christ will go through eternity without ever having the thought that we missed out on anything by having done so.

Don't attempt to try to track down Garbage People. It has been released under "Manson: The Unholy Trail of Charlie and the Family by John Gilmore, Ron Kenner".

Save your money. Don't bother with this book. See my review of "Manson: The unholy trail" for more information.

I suppose a fascination with this kind of thing tends to brand one as a sicko, but I'll wear that label with pride, as I am unlikely to shrug it off. One of the better books around on Charlie and those famous family values that so fatally skewered the peace and love generation, though scattered with some strange errors. Written by an outsider to the case, unlike such offerings as Helter Skelter and is a rather more distanced and unsensationalized read as a result. The photos supplied by our author are certainly grisly, and are a further sobering reminder of just how unglamourous such violence is. Not for the squeamish, but then would you be here if you were?