Fatal Vision | Joe McGinniss

Fatal Vision | Joe McGinniss | Not McGinniss's best but a classic of the genre

books:

Fatal Vision

	Fatal Vision Joe McGinniss Signet, 1984 - 704 pages average customer review:based on 74 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

A study of a brutal multiple murder and its bizarre aftermath focuses on Jeffrey MacDonald, convicted in 1979 of the murders of his pregnant wife and two small daughters. Book available.

Brilliant

One of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. I continue to recommend it to everyone I know who reads journalism or true crime, and they've all been impressed by it.

In the first half of the book, McGinniss presents the history of the case and lets Jeffrey MacDonald present himself, via transcripts of cassette-tape recordings he sent the author. As the falseness and the inconsistencies in MacDonald's version of events, small in themselves, begin to accumulate, the reader begins to wonder.

Most of the second half covers the grand jury hearings and the trial in detail, including the years-long work of MacDonald's (step)father-in-law to have the case tried. Again, the inconsistencies and improbabilities continue to mount, and the reader's uncertainty grows.

In the last section, after the trial, McGinniss begins to research the case and its defendant more closely, looking for answers, feeling his own uncertainty and discomfort. By the end, whether one agrees with his deductions and speculations regarding motive and inciting circumstances, he's done a masterful job of picking apart the thin story MacDonald hid behind for a decade.

for more information click here

Not McGinniss's best but a classic of the genre

I finished rereading Fatal Vision yesterday and it still packs a wallop 18 years after I first read it. What starts out as a by the numbers retelling of the investigation is enhanced by first hand recollections by the man who became the prime suspect in the murders of his wife and two daughters: Jeffrey MacDonald. At first those recollections seem like the warm nostalgia anyone has of a happy past, how Jeff and his wife met, the birth of their children, etc. MacDonald does come across as a bit self-enchanted but no more so than any other once-upon-a-time golden boy I've known personally.

Because much of what is presented are transcripts from the grand jury and Article 32 hearing, the reader gets a sense of both sides of the story. But McGinniss ended up believing that MacDonald was guilty of the murders and he tells the story in a way that builds to that conclusion. So we see the Kassabs become first disenchanted with their son-in-law and then come to believe in his guilt, for example. Along with that MacDonald's recollections become increasingly more shallow and more egocentric. More than anything, MacDonald is damned by his own, endless words.

I became convinced of MacDonald's guilt reading this book, mainly because of the physical evidence (the pajama top especially) but in part because of the sheer unbelievability of MacDonald's version of events. Having seen him interviewed several times since, I'm always struck how perfect he appears to be, eerily too perfect.

for more information click here

Brilliant, Sad, Truthful, and Painful!

I still can't imagine how he did it but I think Dr. Jeffrey Macdonald will never be free again. The book written by Joe McGinnis who wrote Cruel Doubt and Blind Faith examines the Macdonald's case using Jeffrey Macdonald as a prime resource. I keep thinking of how a military doctor could brutally kill his lovely pregnant wife, and two adorable daughters. The tragedy was even worse when he claimed that hippies were the ones responsible for the crime. Even though at first, he appears as the victim. We learn how involved he was. But my question is why he would destroy his family's life? Doesn't he wish that they killed him too? I don't know what he was thinking and I don't want to know. I keep thinking of two little girls and a beautiful pregnant mother, young and vibrant and full of life. They had a lot to live for but Macdonald took it away and why? That's my question is the motive behind such brutal crimes. Most times, the father would have committed suicide as well rather than live with himself. Is Macdonald that vain, conceited, selfish to do such a brutal crime and live with himself? I guess you can't judge him because he's a soldier and a doctor. The crimes are often done by somebody close by. The doubts must have devastated Colette's family who have removed the Macdonald name from their gravestones. I also feel sorry for Jeffrey's family as well who probably believe or don't. In crimes like this, nobody wins and everybody loses.

for more information click here

Best true crime I've ever read

I'm huge fan of "true crime" Maybe because in some way, I get taken to a place I will hopefully never be, this book is no exception, even to this day it still haunts me, I think only of the victims in this story and every Feb 17th I pause and think about where this family might be today had they been given the chance to live, Most surley the girls would be married with lives of their own and would their brother who would have been around my age. I hope they've been resting in peace knowing their killer was caught.

From the first page to the last page, I wasn't able to put the book down, the movie actually did the book justice, not always easy for a true crime book to do.

I will never forget this book, ever.........

for more information click here

The best true crime book ever written

I followed the MacDonald family murders from day one, hearing the broadcast on my friend's transistor radio on Feb 17, 1970. Seeing the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and handsome, grieving Jeffrey MacDonald at his family's funeral service was overwhelming. To find him charged with the murders himself was unbelievable. As the years passed and the trial was postponed for one reason after another, it seemed implausible that he could actually be guilty. MacDonald grew more handsome with age, was incredibly respected by his colleagues, was a brilliant doctor. The true Golden Boy. When "Fatal Vision" was printed it changed my belief in MacDonald completely. I wrote to Freddy Kassab and got a quick response, he was grateful to anyone wanting to keep MacDonald from receiving an early parole. Colette, Kimberly and Kristen have never left my mind in the past 38 years. "Fatal Vision" is the true crime masterpiece of all time. For anyone wanting to read MacDonald's court transcript, see family photos (a warning, graphic autopsy photos are also posted) and learn more about this case, Christina Masewicz has put together an amazing website-[...]. Christina is constantly updating her website with help from Bob Stevenson, Colette's brother. MacDonald's own website: [...] is rarely updated.

for more information click here