Laci : Inside the Laci Peterson Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

Rating:
Summary: Rush To Publish
Review: As "rush to judgment" is the mantra chanted by defenders of the "presumption of innocence" and skeptics of law enforcement, so could "rush to publish" be a criticism leveled at authors who have penned premature books on the Laci Peterson case.

Fleeman's, "Laci - Inside the Laci Peterson Murder," a pulp paperback mass produced by St. Martin's Press in December of 2003, is an accounting of the case from the "disappearance" Christmas Eve of 2002 to the burial of Laci and Conner in August 2003, two months before the preliminary hearing where many clarifying, enlightening and alarming facts would be presented. Fleeman, currently on the staff of People magazine and formerly with the Associated Press, attempts to portray a fairly balanced treatise, based heavily on articles from The Modesto Bee and press conferences, along with selected quotes and opinions from the Peterson family which have not, to my knowledge, appeared in print before.

From this observation, I conclude that the Peterson family was consulted during the research of this book and were compensated for it. Notably absent are statements from the Rocha side that were not derived from previously broadcast or printed media.
Whether because of inaccurate sources, ignorance, careless editing, or deliberate spin, the book contains an extraordinary amount of errors.

I am surprised that a professional such as Fleeman would allow this book to go to press without having someone with an informed background in this case proof read it first. To Mr. Fleeman's credit, interspersed as a sort of bucolic relief between recounting the chronology of the grim investigation, a few of his anecdotes about the history of Modesto are amusing. However, Mr. Fleeman's somewhat bland narrative is eclipsed by quotes from the major players in the story, and what few laughs and tears I experienced reading this book were all elicited by Laci or her family, who remain the heart and soul of this tragedy.

Fleeman's main source of information was obviously local news reports generated daily throughout the case by the Modesto Bee, some of which we now know were incorrect in many of the details, based on the flurry of activity and originally accepting much of Scott Peterson's explanations for events as fact. Various recurring descriptions of Peterson "crying, blubbering, incomprehensible," and "focused on the search for his wife," were no doubt contributed by his family, as any overt demonstrations of grief, credible emotional displays, or participation in active searches were nonexistent to the rest of the world. Fleeman relies on Peterson's timeline and other unreliable references for his activities of the 24th, the weather, the number and times of his phone calls, McKenzie's behavior, and Laci's plans that morning.


In his efforts to present Peterson's side of the story, Fleeman traps the defendant in numerous areas of disbelief.

Similar to the articles in People Magazine about the Petersons, Fleeman blatantly misrepresents the clan as "another blended family. Both his parents had three children from previous marriages and, like the Brady Bunch, this brood somehow formed a family when Lee and Jacqueline Peterson got married...He [Scott] was the baby of the family and the joke among the seven Peterson children - five boys, two girls - was that Scott never had to walk anywhere until he was at least age two..." Apparently Mr. Fleeman isn't privy to the fact that Jacqueline's first two children, Don and Anne, were given up for adoption and never met Scott until they were adults; and that Jacqueline, by all accounts was never married prior to Lee.

Other important (or incriminating) details that were omitted in the book include reports of Scott golfing during the searches, visiting the Berkeley area in rented cars only to stare out at the water for a few minutes and leave; and the revelation that a neighbor, Kim McGregor, was responsible for the burglary of Peterson's house while he was in L.A, which were all common knowledge before the preliminary hearing. Curiously, the 8-page photo archive in the center of the book includes no pictures of Laci, not even the ubiquitous "missing" poster. Any biographical information about Laci is derived from her family and friend's interviews with the press and television personalities. If I were writing a book about a murder, using the victim's name as the title, I would make a concerted effort to flesh out her life and history to portray her as a multi-dimensional person, and not merely rely on what has already been written about her.

The philandering and fraudulent Scott, on the other hand, warranted much more illustration, including several references to a golf scholarship to Arizona State that has yet to be confirmed as anything but Peterson family legend.
Regardless of the attempts to swing the anti-Scott pendulum more toward the center, Fleeman's cozying up to the Petersons is glaringly evident in the amount of ink he devotes to their point of view. Besides his propensity to revisit already trampled territory, the author fails to penetrate any source in the investigation on either side, which may be attributed to the fact that most insiders were strictly adhering to the gag order (despite what the defense and Peterson supporters allege), or just didn't trust Mr. Fleeman. After seeing how Fleeman misrepresented some of the salient details that were shared with him by people peripherally involved in the investigation, I'd be surprised if he gets any more opportunities for future interviews with key players (other than the Petersons) when the results of the trial are known and he wants to write another book. Perhaps he should title his next one "Scott."

Rating:
Summary: Such a tragedy....
Review: I have just finished reading this book and I personally feel it was a well researched project.There are fond memories of Laci that I hadn't heard or read about and all I can do is shake my head when I visualise Laci and think of how much fun she was with her sense of humour and that smile.I am wondering why there are no photos of Laci inside the book?
The cover is even different from the photo used advertising the book.The author chose the photo taken of Laci and Scott standing infront of the Christmas tree with a tear running through the middle of the photo as the cover photo.It is placed at the bottom where the photo of Laci should be.Inside the book are pages of black and white photos of Scott,their home,Amber Frey,etc but there is not one single photo of Laci.That was the only thing that upset me.Mr.Fleeman titled his book Laci:Inside the Laci Peterson Murder but yet does not even honour her with a photo.There are many photos of Scott and it makes me wonder why he didn't title the book Scott: Inside the Laci Peterson Murder.Aside from that,this book is very informative and seems to be much more accurate and researched in comparison to the one National Enquirer released.I know there are always two sides to every story and I tried to keep an open mind with regards to the allegations and charges against Scott but after reading that book,there is so many incriminating details that the author dug around to find that is hard to imagine a SANE man killing his innocent wife and unborn son.I know Laci and Connor were the innocent victims in this case.If Scott is responsible,the motive is explained in the book clearly and that is the money from the life insurance policy and relieving him of feeling "tied down" with a wife and a child on the way.He likely thought he would collect the life insurance and mosey on his merry way in life as a "bachelor" never in a million years thinking the media would make this an international news story.It has already been proven that Scott is a spoiled brat amongst other things with his affair with Amber,selling Laci's SUV and other cold things that just make one question his true love for Laci.It has also been proven he has a history of lying by telling Amber he "lost" his wife the year before and how ironic is that tale when he DOES lose his wife just a week or so later?
I do smell something "fishy" with his alibi,demeanor and the way he carried on during the investigation and searches and I can tell you that the "fishy" smell is not sturgeon by the way.
I recommend this book,especially if you haven't followed the case much because it gives you all the information and then you can make your own judgement based upon the facts.

Rating:
Summary: Not to great, save your money.
Review: I read it at the book store, because I don't want Amber to have a dime of my money. She isn't worth it. I followed this case slowly at the beginning, but then kinda lost interest in it. I did learn things that I had not heard heard in the media, and we did get tidbids of Amber's *somewhat* juicy encounters with Scott. I think Amber is pretty pathetic to be honest with you, she saw a million red flags, and decided to ignore them. She also has conflicting information her here and there. There are about 10 pages in the book where she talks about her life, which is very boring. To be honest, if read Jenna Jameson's autobiography, you will find similarities. To be honest, I'm surprised Amber didn't land up making adult films.(If you read Jenna's book you would understand) Amber portrays herself her herself as a hero, and she she thinks America feels the same way. The book itself is around 210 pages, there are about 10 pages of pics. 10 pages of dialog between her and Scott. 10 pages of uninteresting info about her personal life. And probably 60-70 of info we already new, if you followed the case somewhat closely. So that leaves about 100 pages. I think the book retails for $25.95, save your money. Look forward to a FOX special between her and Tonya Harding in Celebrity boxing.

Rating:
Summary: Left wanting more...
Review: I really enjoy reading books about real life events. This book was great. I learned new information about the case and I have followed the case closely.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I really enjoy reading books about real life events. This book was great. I learned new information about the case and I have followed the case closely.

Rating:
Summary: A book with hardly any info! Unsatisfied!
Review: There is only a small amount of information here. Almost all the information is already public and can be gotten on the internet or on the news. The pictures were not private and included no secret interviews. I followed the case, and I didn't add a lot more to my knowledge about this case after reading this book. It is just cheap and dull.

Rating:
Summary: Left wanting more...
Review: There's really not a lot of inside information here. The book is basically an account of all public information. The pictures included are nothing personal, no interviews with family or others tied to the case. There is no closure with this book. It was interesting, as I had not followed the case closely, but I was definitely left wanting more. If I had it to do over, I would not buy this book. I actually threw it away when I finished reading.