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Rating: 
Summary: Biased Beyond a Reasonable Doubt!
Review: Besides being boring and tedious, it is so biased as to render the book unbelievable on many levels.Anyone who follows true crime - crime scenes, forensics, etc - can easily see that the writer has hand picked his information to support his conclusion.Not worth reading if you want a balanced view of this case.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book on the Hendricks' Murders
Review: Couldn't put this book down! A definite read for those true crime fans who like to think for themselves. An update to the book is in order since much has happened since it was first published. Still worth it to own! Bravo to the author for not letting anyone sway his opinions in this case. He is truly objective in this book, giving both sides their time to "present their cases"... Pick it up, you won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book on the Hendricks' Murders
Review: Couldn't put this book down! A definite read for those true crime fans who like to think for themselves. An update to the book is in order since much has happened since it was first published. Still worth it to own! Bravo to the author for not letting anyone sway his opinions in this case. He is truly objective in this book, giving both sides their time to "present their cases"... Pick it up, you won't be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Book
Review: I found this book to be a very well written account of the horrific murder of four very innocent people. The book contains considerable detail of the crime, the investigation, the trial of David Hendricks, the accused. Although most of the evidence is circumstanual and there is certainly a "reasonable doubt" as to the true guilt or innocence of the accused, the book is excellent for those who crave only the true stories of life. I for one am an avid reader of only those stories that are in fact true in nature. I have never cared for fiction. This book is worth the purchase and reading. The only thing I did not care for is that the print is rather small in the paperback edition and was for me difficult to read. Otherwise the book is tops.
Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars
Review: I read this book while I was a college student at Illinois State University in Normal/Bloomington during the early 90's. Since the murders took place in Bloomington, this was very interesting to me since this had occurred right in my own backyard, so to speak, while down there (a decade or more earlier, though. This would have been a very interesting book, even if I wasn't a student down there. Soon after reading this book, David Hendrick's was trying to get paroled. He was on Oprah and after having read this book it was quite fascinating. I can't remember, what the outcome was; it was about 10 years ago, after all. But I'd have to say this was a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Reviewed from Local Perspective
Review: I'm a resident of Bloomington, Illinois and vividly remember these murders. I personally know people involved in the investigation and followed it closely. We've visited the grave site and find it odd that there's not a space reserved for David. Even though I don't think he did it, who else could have? A good one for Unsolved Mysteries!!
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling Trial, Objective Presentation
Review: Steve Vogel's accounting of the horrid Hendricks family murder was laced with controversy when it first came out. At the time, those following the crime believed David Hendricks was guilty, but Vogel's book challenged the thoroughness of the police, questioned their biases and their understanding of religious matters. The story details the events surrounding the murder of three children and their mother, and whether or not the father was guilty. The father, out of town when the police discovered the bodies, claimed an alibi. The police determined, through statements from models he used for his catalog for his company, that perhaps David Hendricks was not faithful to his wife. No affairs were discovered, but the model statements still showed a poor light on Hendrick's commitment to his wife. Hendricks was a lay leader in a relatively small, conservative group of evangelical Christians called the "Plymouth Brethren". The police did not realize that this group, though small, shared its basic theology with many Baptist denominations, as well as other better-known Christian groups. Instead, the police surmised that since divorce was discouraged in the Plymouth Brethren, Hendricks felt he needed to kill his family in order to be free of the marriage. Vogel describes the small-town ignorance of the police detectives and prosecutors by using their own trial testimoy. The prosecutor's logical jump was proposterous, but it played heavily into the trial. The town, in a near OJ Simpson trial like frenzy, fed off the news, and the story became both local scandal and national news. Confusing the matter was Hendrick's intense demeanor. He was well-read, and well-thought out, and by no means a man to react over-emotionally. His seemingly calm response, which may have been based on his faith or general personality, caused the police to see Hendricks cynically. Though they weren't country bumpkins, they weren't on the intellectual caliber of Hendricks, a star graduate of Northwestern University and inventor of a top-selling piece of medical equipment. At issue in the trial was if Hendricks had the opportunity to have been at home at the time of the murders. He claimed no, the police claimed yes. The key evidence was the time of death as determined by the digestion of food the children ate. If that could be verified, then the suspect Hendricks was either cleared or very likely the culprit. I fully recommend "Reasonable Doubt" for readers looking to think in this older, yet continually popular true crime book. Anthony Trendl
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