***DISCLAIMER: I READ THIS BOOK UNDER THE CONSTANT INFLUENCE OF THE WHITE ALBUM BY THE BEATLES.***Hello Charlie! You crazy F (expletive has been deleted because for some crazy reason I’ve got a bunch of kids following my reviews) R!!!”’How are you going to get the establishment? You can’t sing to them. I tried that. I tried to save them, but they wouldn’t listen. Now we got to destroy them.”’---Charlie Manson to a friend in the summer of 1969The number of people killed by the Manso [...]

On the afternoon of Friday, August 8, 1969, Manson told the Family: “Now is the time for Helter Skelter.”This is probably the darkest review I've ever written. Beware, ye of little courage.Gaze upon this gif. So innocent, so sweet. There is nothing sinister about it. Right?Well, guess again. The carefree girls in this gif are members of the Manson family singing and laughing as they entered the courtroom. Who knew a murder trial could make someone so happy? But let’s go back a bit.Crazy [...]

So the simple fact is: this man is crazier than a sh•t house rat! He's disturbing and sick. And is his 80 + year old nasty self still married to some 20 something year old? I'm not showing pictures. I don't even want to do a review thinking some freaks are still out there and will come for us all! And don't get me started on those crazy girls of his, well the whole crew, but still! We are off to be charged with murder, and we don't care at all. <--- like my little jingle. The book is filled [...]

It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down in the canyon.The canyons above Hollywood and Beverly Hills play tricks with sounds.  A noise clearly audible a mile away may be indistinguishable at a few hundred feet.It was hot that night.Before the sun rose on August 9, 1969 in Bel Air at 10050 Cielo Drive five people lay horrifically and brutally slain.  Some would say that since one of the victims [...]

My high school US history class textbook was Bloodletters and Badmen: A Narrative Encyclopedia of American Criminals from the Pilgrims to the Present. It was an interesting, yet very enlightening, way to study the development of the US. Think about it. I also attribute this one course for my insatiable desire to read crime novels - fiction or non. For our final grade we had to read Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi. It's banned in many high schools now but [...]

Exciting news - we're joining the Manson Family!Today is a very big day for all of us at P Bryant Reviews Inc. As you may have seen on our blog, we are joining the Manson family. I wanted to take this opportunity to say that we always appreciate your feedback here at P Bryant Reviews. Thank you for caring enough about us to tell us what you think! Also, I wanted to assure you that P Bryant Reviews Inc and the team behind it are not going away. We have no plans to change the P Bryant Review exper [...]

The Book of Books about one of the most shocking crimes ever committed. Written in simple, clear, almost surgical language, it demands the reader's full attention and leads us right into the hell of one of the most evil minds to have walked this Earth, the mind of Charles Manson.Although everyone knows the particulars of the massacres committed by the Family, the lack of remorse, the sheer power of all the brain-washing done to the Girls of Manson's sect never fails to shock me and amaze me. How [...]

“My father is the jailhouse. My father is your system…I am only what you made me. I am only a reflection of you.”- Testimony of Charles Manson, November 20, 1970 (given outside the presence of the jury)When I started Helter Skelter, it did not have an ending; by the time I finished, by an odd quirk of timing, it did. On November 19, 2017, with about a hundred pages left in my paperback chronicle of his infamous deeds, Charles Manson – cult leader, convicted murderer, synonym of charismat [...]

Charles Manson and "his family" reigned terror throughout an affluent LA community back in 1969 after the brutal mass murder of more than seven people unforgettable time if you grew up in the sixties. Prosecuting Attorney, Vincent Bugliosi gives the reader a technically detailed and vividly descriptive account of the true-crime murder trial, and the motivation (view spoiler)[ (to instill fear in the establishment and cause paranoia) (hide spoiler)] behind the mind of a killer.And while all the m [...]

A classic in the true crime genre, this is a fascinating account of the Charles Manson family and the murders they committed in the summer of 1969. Written by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, the reader learns the details as the police detectives do. We watch them investigate the murders, interview witnesses and follow up on leads. Bugliosi also shares his perspective on the case, which was interesting. I listened to this on audio and was riveted throughout. But when it came time to write this revie [...]

This is one of the scariest things I have ever read--it kept me up a few nights, to be sure. However, it was really cool (and oddly reassuring) reading how the prosecuting attorney helped the LAPD close in on these people and bring them to justice. After reading this I understand why people often say that the Manson killings for them represented the death of the hippie era of peace and love. Despite the fact that the Manson Family was not comprised of hippies, people were much more fearful and s [...]

I don’t understand the continued appeal of Charles Manson or his family, but I do understand the appeal of this book. It leads through the events as they are placed back together by the prosecution during the trial of Manson and his accomplices, and does so in an interesting way. Helter Skelter reads fast and kept my attention until the defendants are sentenced. At that point, I felt I knew everything I needed to know about Manson — he was a delusional racist who preyed on weak and needy sou [...]

One of the most fascinating things about Jesus, if you ask me, isn't how he could have walked on water or was born of a virgin. Whether I believe that those thing happened or not is a different story. What is amazing (and completely proven) is that thousands of years ago Jesus was able to attract the attention of Jews and convince them that he was their savior -- and today, thousands of years later, that legend has survived. The question is, what exactly did Jesus do to make such an impact? The [...]

If you're interested in the Manson family or True Crime you need to read this. It is so well done and just very comprehensive and very interesting. I'm not sure when I first heard about the Manson family and the murders but once I did learn about them, I was fascinated. I'm very interested in cults, true crime stories and deeply disturbed killers but I rarely read books on those subjects because it's very hard to find a good book. Reading this was an amazing reading experience and I'll explain w [...]

I have always had an interest in Charles Manson and, more specifically, the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders. Although that might seem odd and possibly a bit unsavoury, I believe my morbid interest in serial killers and things of that ilk are a result of my complete and utter amazement and horror that people could commit such acts. I want to know more about them, try to understand what goes through their minds and their motives. The Manson trial in particular was one of the strangest, and most hig [...]

I actually finished my genre challenge on the very last day!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!Saying this book was insane is understatement.I usually stay far away from True Crime for a reason. It scares the shit out of me. Unlike Horror, where you can distance yourself since you know the story is not real, True Crime forces the reader to face real monsters with no safety net or ejection button. The Manson murders took place back in the late 1960s, during height of the hippy lifestyle. Free love, acceptance, break [...]

there're times, are times keep on going. you love me, babeyou know that it is truea folk singer, a racist. a junkie, another self-negotiating loser[image error]with Afton Elaine Burton

My friend is obsessed with Charles Manson, so much so that I decided I needed to understand what the hell was going on. I got this book for my trip to New Hampshire with my family to stimulate myself while sitting in a condo wishing I had nine dollars to go see Harry Potter alone due to my sorta sick crush on the character who plays Ron Weasley.I am learning about my new interest in terrible but insanely interrelated crimes committed by and against high-profile persons. I don't know what I am re [...]

Second greatest true crime novel of all time!Behind 'In Cold Blood', of course.

This one goes straight to my "all time favorite" shelf. Phenomenal! I couldn't stop listening to it.

This true crime classic was published in 1974. The author, Victor Bugliosi, was Deputy District Attorney in L.A. and responsible for prosecuting the Tate-LaBianca murders. As this book was published a fairly short time after the actual events, it has a real immediacy, and Bugliosi’s insider knowledge makes the reading experience extremely interesting. The book opens with the murders, which are difficult to read about even after so long. On Saturday 9th August, 1969, screams and gunshots were h [...]

An interesting account of the Manson case but a bit outdated now. A lot more has happened since Manson's incarceration and most of the info in this book I have learned over time so I didn't feel like I really learned much. Well written though.

So have you ever read a book where there is all this hype and everyone seems to like/have on their reading list and you read it and are like "It was okay, I guess?" That was this book to me. How the author made an interesting story and topic so boring is beyond me The author was the persecutor for this case and I guess all the reading and writing of boring legal documents bled into his writing style for this book. He was repetitive at times which made it confusing and hard to follow at times. He [...]

(view spoiler)[Bettie's BooksThe rating, any status updates, and those bookshelves, indicate my feelings for this book. (hide spoiler)]

This one’s not for the faint of heart, y’all: it’s exactly 8 million pages long in teeny, tiny little font. Ahem. Anyway, it is, as the title says, the true story of the Manson Murders. I vaguely remember seeing this book on my parents’ shelves when I was a kid, which wouldn’t be surprising: my mom is from California, and she would have been a young woman during the Manson trial, if not the murders. So I grew up with this book, and I grew up with the whole idea of “Charles Manson” [...]

So, here's my weird connection to Charles Manson: my mom very briefly knew Linda Kasabian. Linda was the key witness for the prosecution. She moved to my small hometown after the trial and that's how my mom got to know her a bit. She even came to our house once. Apparently, I met her too, though I was just a baby. My mom did not realize who she was until some time later - Linda had changed her last name to hide/protect her identity. She only lived in our town a short time before moving out of st [...]

This book has stayed with me since I read it in 1976. I was a teenager and do not know what I was thinking even reading it. It has haunted me with the details that filled every page. To know that such evil was out there actively terrorizing innocent people. The writing was vivid and graphic and it painted pictures that I would just as soon forget. the fear in that time of the Manson family was real and on the news. The writing by Vincent Bugliosi was gripping. The tension of the police and the c [...]

Edit: I'm re-posting this review on the admittedly flimsy pretext that I read a headline a few days ago that made it sound like they were actually letting Manson go. Was it a Trump executive order, maybe? Were they going to make Charlie the new Press Secretary? Turns out it was one of the minor Family members, Bruce Davis- Manson remains in prison, for now.----------------I told him, "I've enjoyed talking to you Charlie, but it would be much more interesting if we did it with you on the stand. I [...]

"Truth is stranger than fiction" is a truism made so frequently it verges on becoming a platitude. Yet, there is a logic behind the maxim - fiction, by the very nature of it's unreality, must make a certain claim to believability. This rules out certain levels of absurdity, which would cause the fiction to be written off as fantasy. The real world, on the other hand, has no such restrictions.Nothing illustrates this better than Helter Skelter, an account of the investigation of the Tate-LeBianca [...]

I ate up this audiobook in one full work day, even listening to it during my lunch break, which makes for an inappropriate listening party for others. But whateves. =)I am a true crime addict, and the Manson murders are the quintessential example, in my opinion. This account, written by the prosecutor, doesn't disappoint. A must read for true crime fans.