Rating: 
Summary: Case Closed Book II
Review: After more than 30 years the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and possible conspiracy still weigh heavily on our collective national consciousness. Enter journalist Gerald Posner and his book, Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. published by Random House. Posner, author of the controversial best seller Case Closed which found Lee Harvey Oswald to be the lone assassin of JFK, sets out to close the book on the King case as well. Readers familiar with Case Closed will recognize the layout, style, and conclusions in Posner's new book, although he does leave the door to conspiracy open this time around. Another similarity is Posner's ability to gain access to information. In Case Closed, he was able to study of the files of Edward Wagmann, an attorney for Clay Shaw. This time around, Posner and his wife were the first researchers to examine the archives of George McMillan, who gained the trust of the Ray family during research for his book, The Making of an Assassin. ... So does the book "close the case" on the assassination of Martin Luther King? As in Case Closed, conspiracy theorists should find plenty of material in the book that can be disputed. One such issue is Ray's purchase of expensive camera equipment, which Posner contends that he planned to use in a porn venture. His source for the porn statement is Ray's brother, Jerry, who is hardly a Gibraltar of truth. Aside from a few issues that may never be resolved, Posner has done an admirable job of showing motive, means, and opportunity for James Earl Ray to kill Dr. King. He has demonstrated again his ability to find new information and gain access to sources that others can not. This book will probably not do much to help Posner vacate the title of "The man conspiracy buffs love to hate". It will, if readers keep an open mind, answer the question, "Who killed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?"
Rating:
Summary: Definitive Study of the Martin Luther King Jr Assassination
Review: Oliver Stone, meet your nemesis, Gerald Posner. As the director of "JFK" may well know, Posner has made his reputation debunking fashionable conspiracy theories. His previous book "Case Closed" proved definitively that, Stone's fanciful drivel aside, lone lunatic Lee Harvey Oswald killed John F. Kennedy, aided only by chance and a U.S. Marine's sharpshooting skill. Not one to shy from controversy, Posner now turns his attention to another 60s hero laid low tragically young by another assassin's bullet. Conspiracy theories about MLK's death have long been fashionable among the African American community; of late even King's family have bought into the notion that James Earl Ray was innocent. Posner once again sifts through the facts and speculation and concludes that Ray was the lone assassin. In reviewing the case, Posner brings to light a surprisingly complete picture of the assassin's life. Ray grew up in a dirt poor family of criminals and cut his teeth on petty crimes before settling into his life's calling as a robber. His increasing tendency toward violence and continued brushed with the law finally resulted in a long prison sentence. Ray escaped prison and set his sights on one more criminal goal, one guaranteed to make him a hero amongst the underworld--the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Posner takes the reader through the events of that terrible day in 1968, weaving a masterful tragedy made more tragic by those unwilling to lay the blame for this hideous crime where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of James Earl Ray. Posner delivers yet again, and in so doing shines the light of truth on an incident almost submerged in the murk of paranoia and denial. I only hope that Coretta Scott King and the rest of her family take time to read this book. While nothing can dim their sorrow, they could at least gain some measure of comfort in knowing that King's murderer was brought to justice.
Rating:
Summary: Silences the conspiracy theorists!
Review: This excellent book quickly and effortlessly silences the conspiracy theorists who believe that James Earl Ray was not involved in the King assassination. While conceding that Ray may have been motivated by outstanding bountys on King's head, the author does a great job of proving, without a doubt, that James Earl Ray and Ray alone fired the shots that killed Martin Luther King, Jr. This excellent book is recommended for all people open-minded enough to accept the truth about this political murder.
Rating: 
Summary: Balanced examination of a controversial subject
Review: I haven't ever given a lot of thought to James Earl Ray as Martin Luther King's lone assassin, despite the press that has been given to it over the past few months. I assumed, like many others, that the truth about his death was locked up in some government vault somewhere. Only in the future, would we know the truth.
I saw Mr. Posner on one of the early morning talk shows, and found him to be one of the most articulate and straightforward guests I had seen in a while, who offered some thought provoking views on the current conspiracy theories relating to King's death. I was so intrigued by this short interview that I purchased the book. I was not disappointed. I soon learned that the truth about the King Assassination was complex, but available to those who had an open mind.
Posner's clear, efficient writing style, and straight ahead delivery of the facts, as he has discovered them, were facinating. What I appreciated most about his work was the balanced and objective manner in which the facts in this case were presented. In an era when conspiracy theories abound, it is refreshing to read something where rational thought, common sense and exemplary research are found on every page.
I think Posner has done our country a valuable service by setting the record straight on such an important social issue.
Not only has this book contributed to clarifying history, once started, I couldn't set it down.
Bill Cronin
Rating:
Summary: Another Posner Masterpiece
Review: All of Posner's books have one thing in common - they are painstakenly researched and presented to the reader in a no-nonsence, matter-of-fact manner. This one is no different. Like "Case Closed" (about Lee Harvey Oswald), Killing the Dream spends nearly the first third of the book introducing the reader to James Earl Ray. This lets the reader in on the motives and the history of this loser. The evidence is laid out to the reader piece after piece and totally anialates the conspiracy theory wackos and exposes them as greedy, manipulate panick mongors who think that the government is a killing machine. I have to go now, my CIA handlers are going to train me in torture techniques.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite killer, not quite dreamy
Review: Gerald Posner has created a rather odd genre - debunking conspiracy theories by telling assassins' stories. His first, better book, CASE CLOSED, was a welcomed counter to the volumes of loony JFK conspiracy books. KILLING THE DREAM takes on the more contemporary theories about Martin Luther King's killing. As strange and implausible theories begin to shape the way history is recorded about this incident, a book like this is also needed. But it could be done better. CASE CLOSED was at its best when it methodically debunked various JFK theories, and some common elements shared by various JFK theories. There aren't as many theories about the killing of King, so Posner can't use the same technique. Moreover, in the King case, most of the conspiracy theories originate from the assassin himself, James Earl Ray. More than he did with Oswald, Posner here is really debunking Ray more than he is commonly believed plot scenarios. The weak halves of both of Posners books are the first halves, where the author basically sketches the life stories of two losers, Oswald and Ray. Their lives really are not terribly interesting. Posner's purpose in doing this has to do with his making the case that these lone gunmen were not patsies in the plots of larger forces. Point well taken, but there's a greater need to do this with Oswald, whose life has been the subject of so many bizarre rumors. Ray is much less of a mystery because he lived. Consequently, he sowed the seeds of paranoia for most of the rest of his life in jail. The seeds took root relatively recently as he and his lawyers drew new attention to his revised conspiracy theories in the wake of Oliver Stone's JFK. Sadly, the King family seemed to buy into what Ray was saying, thus giving him a sheen of credibility. When Posner gets around to the debunking part of his book, he wisely focuses on the theories that took hold in the 1990's as a result of the renewed interest. This probably should have been the singular focus of Posner's book. I listened to this book in an abridged form in its audiocassette version, so perhaps something important is missing. It was certainly enjoyable and made my long drive more interesting. But KILLING THE DREAM doesn't live up to its potential.
Rating:
Summary: A great read and the conspiracy you never heard of
Review: Contrary to what you might have heard elsewhere, Posner does not discount the possibility of Martin Luther King having been killed as the result of a conspiracy. But he makes it clear that if such a conspiracy existed--and if it did, it was likely concocted by a racist St. Louis businessman--James Earl Ray was at the heart of it. As in his "Case Closed," it is the life story of the assassin himself that emerges from this book as the most compelling tale. Ray, the oldest son of a dirt poor Illinois family, is mercilessly teased as the "smelly, dirty" kid in his grade school class when his family moves to Missouri. He begins a life of petty crime as a teenager, graduates to armed robbery and spends most of his adult life in jail. He is virulently racist, though this is not what drives his crime spree. Ray simply wants to make money, to hustle his way through life, drifting from one flophouse and brothel to another until he is caught, inevitably, by the police. Soon, he is a "four-time loser." By the time he makes it to one of the toughest prisons in America--the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City--he is a smart, seasoned criminal. It is in Jeff City that he likely hears about the $50,000 bounty being offered by a St. Louis segregationist to kill King. When he breaks out of Jeff City at the bottom of a large cart filled with bread loaves (after trying unsuccessfully twice before), he roams the country trying out a variety of schemes to make money, including buying hundreds of dollars worth of film equipment and sex manuals with the idea of making porn flicks. At some point he latches on to the idea of killing King and travels to Atlanta to stake him out--whether the assassination was a concrete plan to collect the bounty, or just another half-thought-out Ray scheme to make money, or simply Ray's attempt to make himself famous, remains unclear. When Ray gets caught in Canada, he does what he's done time and again in his life: he makes up a story to cover his tracks. After reading 100 pages of Ray's life story, you come to see his invention of "Raoul" for what it is--an elaborate hoax, crafted from disparate elements of truth, meant to confuse the police. In a certain sense, the hoax was a failure: Ray was quickly persuaded to plead guilty. But in another, it was wildly successful: investigators, official and self-appointed, spent years trying to track down Raul, not pursuing Ray's brothers (who may or may not have had a hand in the St. Louis conspiracy) and the shadowy businessman who offered the King bounty to at least one other Jeff City inmate. In its last section, "Killing the Dream" becomes a farce, as a few conspiracy theorists and attorneys--some with an eye, it seems, to making a killing on the movie rights--concoct a series of increasingnly unlikely assassination scenarios involving the FBI, the Green Berets and others.
Rating:
Summary: Brings James Earl Ray to life
Review: Hurrah, Gerald Posner did it again! Did a great service to this country by exposing the conspiracy theories for what they are: great webs of unfalsifiable humbug spun out of anecdotal evidence and the minor glitches that are attendant to even well-done criminal investigations. I came into the book believing that there might well have been a conspiracy in the killing of Dr. King. I came away believing that the only conspiracy was an after-the-fact conspiracy among the Rays to assist James Earl's getaway. As a criminal attorney, I was fascinated by Posner's superdetailed description of Ray's life. In place of the impossibly malleable "pansy" of conspiracy theories, Posner presents someone who couldn't be more common; someone whose morality and attention span lag far behind their ambition. Ray was not a genius, but he was also not the hillbilly moron he has usually been described as, who would have pushed his lawbreaking talents to the limit with a liquor store stickup. Ray was an extremely mobile criminal, moving from place to place in the country and into Canada with ease as advantage dictated. His takes were not spectacular but they were significant. At the same time, he was not totally unsocialized. He fancied himself "going straight", and the Ray family kept in close contact with one another, and indeed, fed the both the legitimate and illegitimate ambitions of each other. Most of all, Posner exposes Ray as a master liar, who carefully gaged every response in light of what he thought the questioner knew about him. After the assasination, Ray would promptly work details of each new conspiracy theory into his story of what he was doing the evening of the crime. I have met quite a few Rays in my practice, for it is quite common for a criminal suspect to tell his lawyer: "I've been framed by a conspiracy, now go out and find a conspiracy for me." Ray was just a harder working in this regard than most. Cannot be recommended too highly.
Rating:
Summary: read Case Closed too
Review: Gerald Posner, with this book and with the excellent Case Closed : Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK, is doing the country an enormous service. He has effectively answered every asinine conspiracy theory surrounding the JFK and MLK assassinations. No honest person could read these two books without coming to the conclusion that the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence indicates that Oswald and Ray were lone whackos and not members of some enormous political conspiracy. GRADE: B
Rating: 
Summary: Conveniently ignores much info.
Review: Gerald Posner doesn't tell the readers that several black fireman, (and he glosses over)..at least one Black Detective were removed just before the Assassination. Now I would like to ask Mr. Posner..if James Earl Ray removed these men? Two Trials have vindicated Ray not being the shooter-HBO & King family Vs. Jowers. There is no solid evidence Ray fired a weapon in the several years before the Assassination- No one saw anyone shoot from the Bathroom window, yet several people saw a mysterious figure in the bushes right after the shots- no fingerprints of Ray in the Bathroom or Rooming House...Just on that Bundle left behind.It wasn't Ray who wrote an anonymous letter to Dr. King coercing him to commit suicide..It was done under the auspices of J. Edgar Hoover Read Orders To Kill..there's far too much to deny.
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