Rating:  Summary: Ehh... it's okay Review: This book is a good read, but it still doesn't say that Courtney Love for sure murdered Kurt in one way or another. After all, this is just a "conspiracy theory." Sure, Halperin, Wallace, and Grant offer some "damning" new evidence, it's still unconvincing. Grant hides most of the dialogue in his tapes saying that he won't release them so that whoever was involved won't cover their footsteps. Can't argue with that but the evidence he supported here isn't convincing enough. Even the investigative journalists point that out.
The undeveloped photos taken at the crime scene are the other crucial point. They would tell what really happened but unfortunately, the snobby Seattle police don't want to admit mistakes, so the photos remain as negatives locked away in a storage room or wherever.
The damning new evidence these journalists claimed to have are off-limits for now. Most of the book relies on people's memory of what they witnessed at the crime scene and what evidences they possessed. Other times, it's just a bunch of opinions, some may be true and some may be false, one can't be too sure.
And the amount of drugs that was found in Kurt's body is a bit far-fetched. They say that it would render even the most hardcore drug addict unconscious in just mere seconds. What boggles my mind is that even if the drugs knocked Kurt out stone cold, the fact is that he's just "knocked out." He could've awaken hours later, put the needles back nicely, then finish the job. Has that crossed anyone's mind?
The suicide note... also bugs me. They say that someone else wrote the last part of it and that the note doesn't specifically mention suicide. I don't know how they came to conclude that someone else wrote the last half even if they found a piece of paper that seemed to show that. That last part is just written bigger, what's so unusual about that? The whole letter is written like you were supposed to interpret that it was about suicide. Since Kurt was so drugged up, his mind isn't clear (maybe that's why the last part of the letter is irrelevant to the rest of the note). His normal functions isn't the same (maybe that's why the handwriting isn't the same).
The book is quite a read and Halperin and Wallace did go through many days, weeks, months, years of hard work to bring us something that may convince people (fans, police, and most important, the FBI) that it may indeed be a murder. It is strong enough to maybe change the ruling from "suicide" to "undetermined," but Halperin and Wallace have a long way to go for this case to get reopened.
So don't be too sure to think that Courtney murdered Kurt (and for that matter, Kristen Marie Pfaff). There's still holes that need to be filled...
Rating:  Summary: Another Conspiracy Theory and More Courtney Bashing Review: This book is basically a sequel to "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" Kurt's suicide is a brutal fact to accept. Evidence to the contrary of facts can always be manufactured in any similar situation. The facts are: Kurt wrote a suicide note in his own handwriting...he even jotted down additional lines to Courtney and Francis Bean before he stuck the barrel of a shotgun in his mouth...he loaded up on enough Mexican black heroin to kill a horse...then he pulled the trigger...he was not forced or coerced...a brutal fact...Yes. Murder? No. The authors and many others want to pin Kurt's death on Courtney Love, saying that she had motives to murder Kurt. Courtney Love may be many things, but she is not a murderer. This book is silly and creepy. The so-called evidence the authors provide do not add up to murder...there are still too many gaps for a sufficient explanation. All this book accomplishes is finger pointing, needless blaming, and ad hominem attack.
Rating:  Summary: Mostly a re-hash of the last book, but worth the read Review: This book is largely a repeat of the 1999 "Who Killed Kurt Cobain," minus the long Cobain biography. In this edition, you'll still find some biographic information, but not so much that it takes up half the book - here it is only a chapter or two. This book tends to focus more on the theory that Kurt did not commit suicide, which makes the book more interesting and saves it from being too redundant. It seeks to prove, by rehashing the evidence from the last book in greater detail as well as by explicating new evidence, that Cobain's "suicide" was staged and even goes so far as to specifically imply who may have killed Cobain and why. There are only a few new revelations in this book, but it is worth the read to hear them. Because it is largely redundant, I give it the 3 star rating. However, if you are even slightly interested in the Cobain mystery, I strongly recommend this and the 1999 book.
Rating:  Summary: The cold hearted bitch did it Review: This book makes you really open your eyes to who did it. I couldnt put it down from start to finish. I thought I was reading a script to a movie. Im just glad that these two guys were not affraid to point out who really did it, and I hope and pray that those idiots in Seattle open the case back up and give Kurt what he deserves
Rating:  Summary: Well done Halperin and Wallace. I salute you! Review: This book may not go in chronological order(...) This is not meant to be written like a fiction novel, but to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding Kurt's death. I'll let the quotes speak for themselves and let future reviewers who, after reading the book may still believe Kurt suicided, tangle with them. Crime scene and the note: Denise Marshall, a deputy coroner in Colorado says the body was touched when it should not have been and the judgement was rushed since it was reached at the death scene (78). She also complains that the note can hardly be classified as a suicide note(78). "Nowhere in the note does he say he wants to die. He just doesn't like what he is doing, and he wants to change his life...I think it was really unprofessional for them to judge on it so early."(78) The note is also examined in the latter half of the sixth chapter. Rosemary Carroll, who thought Kurt didn't write the note (Tom Grant has his own theory), found a piece of paper in Courtney's backpack where she had been practicing different handwriting styles: "It sure looked to us like she had been practicing how to forge a letter." (150) Heroin: Kurt's body had 1.52 milligrams per litre of morphine in it (79). Heroin almost immediately turns into morphine in the bloodstream. Denise Marshall could not find a single case that paralleled this amount (79). Although Nikolas Hartshorne (who knew Courtney and had a conflict of interest as one will see in the book), invoked the high tolerance argument, Marshall says, "I've seen some amazing amounts...but I've never seen anybody with his levels...If tolerance was that important, you wouldn't have so many heroin addicts overdosing all the time, and with levels significantly lower than what Cobain had in his blood." (80) This level is enough to kill a severe 150 pound heroin addict three times over, but Kurt didn't weigh that much so in his case, the maximal lethal dose is more than three times. (82) A study in 1996 showed that a "user experiences a state of acute shock 'WITHIN SECONDS' after injecting the fatal dose. In all of the 26 known cases where the morphine levels were close or equal to Cobain's level, "the tourniquets were still in place when the body was discovered, and the syringe was still affixed in the victim's arm of lying on the floor next to the body...yet...the police reports describe no such scenario when Kurt's body was found...'I do not see how he could have injected himself with the amount of heroin to cause those levels, put the syringe and other drug paraphernalia away, folded his sleeve down, grabbed the gun, positioned it backwards in his mouth and pulled the trigger.'"(84) Also discussed is how Broomfield's film "Kurt and Courtney" does a terrible job of showing how someone can function with the amount of morphine Cobain had (85-87). When Halperin and Wallace break it down and show its errors, it brings one to laughter. Courtney: She has lied and behaved strangely. Cali, the male nanny saw Kurt at the house on the morning of April 2. Afterwards, he stayed at his girlfriend's house (116). Love's phone records show she made several calls to Cali at the girlfriend's house in the week of April 8. "She knew Kurt had been to the house, she knew Cali was no longer staying there, yet she wouldn't let us set up surveillance there. It doesn't make any sense."(116) On the morning of April 8, Love told the world for the first time that Rome was a suicide attempt (126) when it wasn't as is later shown. There is a startling tape conversation where even Courtney didn't think Kurt was suicidal after Rome and it stands in contrast to what she told the media for months after Kurt died about his alleged suicidal tendencies (211). Carroll mentions that Kurt before he died asked Courtney to be taken out of his will (136). If he divorced her, she would get none of his money due to a prenuptial agreement. There was also a former nanny who was shocked at Courtney's constant will talk before Kurt died. "There was just way too much will talk...what a thing to talk about...What do you think he wanted? To get away from Courtney."(136-137) Courtney always said she never heard from Kurt after he escaped from the rehab centre but Kurt left a message for her at the hotel proving he had contacted her (151). Tom Grant wonders why Courtney never mentioned this since she just hired Tom to find her missing husband (153). Charles Cross' book HTH is criticized very well later in the book and HTH states that Courtney was on the phone every moment trying to find someone who had seen Kurt Saturday; however, her phone records prove she made repeated anonymous calls to the request line of a radio station in LA to play the single from her upcoming album (153). There are many other great and important details about the case that I can not touch upon due to my limited space for a review. I recommend seeking out Roger Lewis' essay "Dead Men Don't Pull Triggers" on the internet. By the way, the book also has an excellent refutation of a criticism of Lewis' essay (89-91). For anyone who wants to call these two authors money hungry conspiracy nuts capitalizing on Kurt's death, keep in mind that Cross sold the rights to his book HTH for an upcoming movie about Kurt's life (http://launch.yahoo.com/read/news.asp?contentID=217818) and that Courtney sold his journals for $4.5 million. I better not see either of these two parties saying H & W are only doing this to profit from Kurt's memory because they will render themselves hypocrites.
Rating:  Summary: Whoa Review: This book shocked me. I am totally convinced Cobain was murdered now. I wasn't before I read this though! If the suspect didn't have millions of dollars the case would have been reopened years ago. Come on - a handwriting practice sheet is found in C.Love's backpack. There are no fingerprints on the shotgun or the shells. Kurt's own lawyer says she suspects his suicide note was forged and the authors have her saying so on tape. And that's just the start of it. It's a travesty this hasn't been reopened. If the suspect were poor she would've been jailed years ago.
Rating:  Summary: True Crime Reporting At It's Best Review: This book surprised me. It doesn't cater to teeny bopper Cobain fans. It is intelligent and objective. The evidence presented by the authors is astounding. Cobain was self destructive, true, but I am convinced he was murdered now. Only a dimwit would think otherwise after learning about the evidence. The handwriting practice sheet in the photograph section shocked the hell out of me! It's terrible this case wasn't reopened. If nothing else you'd think the police would want to prevent further copycat suicides.
Rating:  Summary: Don't dismiss this book Review: This is a very interesting and compelling book.I have always had a problem with the triple dose of heroin.This is not a National Enquirer type book.It is logically based with the facts. The case should be reopened and this book states the case why.
Rating:  Summary: An Excellent read! Shocking and thought-provoking. Review: This well-researched and well-written book puts forward a very plausible scenario whereby Courtney Love hired a killer to murder Kurt Cobain and make it look like suicide. The evidence is plentiful and the motive is substantial. Kurt had begun the process of removing Courtney from his will and they were heading for divorce. Had he been able to follow-through, she would have been entitled to none of his millions. As a result of his 'suicide' she received everything. No fingerprints at the scene, a man with a triple-lethal dose of heroin in his body rolling down his sleeves, tidily putting away his paraphenalia and then shooting himself in the mouth is simply not a plausible scenario. Far more likely is that someone injected him (whoever brought him the stuff), killed him and then made it look like suicide. Read this book and the truth will be self-evident. Hopefully enough to reopen the case. The authors are investigative journalists, not Nirvana fan- fanatics. A very credible book that will surely cause great controversy. Buy it and read it - you won't be disappointed. This is serious journalism and a reminder that people do often get away with murder...
Rating:  Summary: Open this book and reopen the case Review: Wallace and Halperin are award winning investigative journalist who have now written a second book on this subject. I applaud their tenaciousness in searching for facts and in getting this story out. "Love and Death: The Murder of Kurt Cobain" is very clearly written, and although it reiterates much from their first book, "Who Killed Kurt Cobain?" it serves as another necessary correction to the reams of misinformation that has been printed about Cobain's death. If you're interested in documented truth, read this book and come to your own conclusions.
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