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Rating: 
Summary: The Most COMPLETE Book Written About These Murders!
Review: "In the Wake of the Butcher" is the most complete book I have read regarding the topic of the Torso killings in Cleveland, Ohio. Not only can you uncover new details and new information about this case but James Badal has an uncanny way of putting "faces" on the victims and people involved. From Elliot Ness to Peter Merylo to Frank Dolezal...you'll walk away from this book feeling like you have gone back to the Thirties, have your Sherlock Holmes hat on and come up with your own theories of "Who Done It"! This book will not disappoint you.
Rating:
Summary: The Most COMPLETE Book Written About These Murders!
Review: "In the Wake of the Butcher" is the most complete book I have read regarding the topic of the Torso killings in Cleveland, Ohio. Not only can you uncover new details and new information about this case but James Badal has an uncanny way of putting "faces" on the victims and people involved. From Elliot Ness to Peter Merylo to Frank Dolezal...you'll walk away from this book feeling like you have gone back to the Thirties, have your Sherlock Holmes hat on and come up with your own theories of "Who Done It"! This book will not disappoint you.
Rating: 
Summary: Cleaverland
Review: I was working as an actor in the fair city of Cleveland, when a neighboring theatre presented a musical about the events described in this book. I will not comment on the show but it did spark a morbid curiousity about the facts. Blame it all on the restlessness of being away from home. So after reading series of articles about Badal in the local rags, I picked this up at first opportunity. While utterly thorough, I felt the same frustration Ness & the boys must have felt. The case is a baffling and horrific one and I suppose the point of writing this was to put an end to more sensationalist takes on the matter. Badal paints a vivid picture of Depression era Cleveland and very honorably does not seek to solve the mystery. What he succeeds in doing is giving the reader a guided tour of the murder sites coupled with all the false leads, rumors and suppositions that followed. Come here looking for drama and climax and you will be disappointed. For the curious, this is a concise account of a city gripped in fear and corruption. Enlightening, yet shedding no new light.
Rating:
Summary: The Definitive Account of the True Crime of the Century
Review: The Cleveland Torso Murders were among the first, accounted for, serial killings in America. Because of the gruesome details, not to mention that fact that the case is still open, they deserved much more attention. Criminologists, especially those interested in psychological profiling, would learn much from studying this case, than from other, more publicized murders, including the Sam Sheppard case. Though we have not seen each other recently, I knew Jim Badal many years ago when I lived in Cleveland. His expertise in the Torso case at that time merited, at least in my opinion, a book, but Badal held back until he could bring real additional knowledge to the discussion, not just rehash and theories. His wait was worth it. Not only was Badal able to track down and interview members of the victim's families (and thus put a real face on persons previously portrayed through stereotypes), but he was the first Torso case author to read through the extensive records left by the lead police investigator. Thus we have a book of superb accuracy and detail, that reads better than a good crime novel. The best part of the book is that Badal does not push his own theory of who was the Torso murderer. While some may find that disappointing, he instead takes the high road by giving the readers just the facts, and thus allows them to come up with their own theories. We will probably never know who did these awful crimes, and speculating for a little added notoriety would have only diminished the book's true horror.
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