The End Of The Dream The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up : Ann Rules Crime Files Volume 5

Rating:
Summary: an utterly forgettable Ann Rule effort...
Review: 'The End of The Dream' is another installment of Ann Rule's Crime Files, and it happens to be the final in the series for me ... I've read them all. Unfortunately this one is decidedly average. The main story is about a young man, evidently an attractive man (as Ann Rule points out on every page or so), who seems to have a magnetic personality. Unfortunately this personable chap clearly has some character deficiencies which ultimately drives him, and his friends who he sucks in, into robbing banks. Of course fate catches up with him and ... well, you can imagine. Oh, I should add the book has a couple of other stories in the end which amount to little more than true crime fodder. Very forgettable stuff.

I suppose Ann Rule was drawn in the psychological element of our daring studpuppy turned bankrobber. It is curious how someone who is so popular can be such a rotten character, with very few individuals understanding his true (nasty) self. Yes, I agree this element of the story was interesting. But it didn't exactly sustain my interest for the entire four hundred pages. And unlike Ann Rule's better books there are no sensational courtroom dramas or abhorent violence to ponder over. Yet Ann Rule, if nothing else, produces very readable material. I gobbled down the pages like junk food.


Bottom line: Ann Rule on a bad day. There are better ways of killing time.

Rating:
Summary: What A Book!
Review: A reader-friendly, well-written account of a unique brand of bank robber(s) in the Seattle area. This book covers a recent, notorious crime spree, that took place in the Seattle area within the last five years: mid to late 1990's. "Hollywood," and his dedicated friends' lives were just as intriguing as the main focus of the book. From start to finish, a great book, that describes some interesting facets of the green Pacific Northwest. Scott, the brains and guts behind these capers, could have become successful in many different area of life. He did appear to have a selfish side. He certainly led an interesting life, and he was successful at the things he set out to do. He liked to live the high life, and that required a lot of money. Luck cannot last forever. Saying anything else will ruin the outcome for someone wanting to read this book, which is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: This guy is not so special...he was lucky!
Review: I absolutely love everything Ann Rule writes but this one's a dud...Scott Scurlock is no one special, his crimes at best mediocre and unthrilling. He is a humanistic type of guy that appears to truely care about his victims (most often more than his friends)...but he doesn't warrent a book about him. I believe Ann Rule is riding on here laurels on this one. Way too much written about his past boring life, sure he had some fun, smoked some dope, and lived in a great treehouse, but nothing more. HOWEVER, I will continue to read her future books...hoping she runs into an interesting criminal next time.

Rating:
Summary: review for "The end of the dream"
Review: I am 51 years old and I live in St.Peters, Mo. I am an avid reader and love Ann Rule's books on true crime. Most of her books take place in the northwest states of Washington and Oregon. I have traveled several times to this region which I call "Ann Rule Country". I work for myself in the lawn mowing business and I have plenty of time from December to April in which to read and also to travel. I have a wife and 9 year old daughter who accompany me on many of my journeys. On my last trip, we visited the Columbia River Gorge area and climbed up to the top of Beacon Rock, about 600 feet tall. It was one of the most amazing and eerie things I've ever done. This is a lava dome, or the inside of a long ago volcano and also the site of a famous murder. The case is written about by Ann Rule in her book, "A Rose For Her Grave". The murderer threw his wife off of this rock and collected insurance money. This was my favorite Ann Rule Book until I picked up a copy of "The End Of The Dream". This is now my favorite of her books. I plan to go up to the northwest in a year or two and investigate the place where Scott Scurlock called home. He was the subject of the book and was one of the most fascinating people you could ever read about. He lived in maybe the biggest and tallest treehouse in the world near Olympia Wa. Scott Scurlock and the other important characters were free spirit people who enjoyed adventure and living on the edge. We all have known a guy like Scott Scurlock at some time in our lives; the guy that everyone likes and admires; the guy who might get you in serious trouble but also the guy who just might give you some of the most fun and exciting times of your life. Most people like this turn out fine and become fine people, but a few like the subject of this book take a dark path. They use their charm and charisma in a negative way. Scott Scurlock could have been successful in any thing he tried, but instead he became maybe the northwest's most infamous and successful bank robber. His name that FBI and local police gave him was "Hollywood". He and his accomplices were finally nabbed in what was to be the last robbery. They stole over 1 million dollars, but were apprehended. The story ends tragically, but this story was different from other Ann Rule books because there were no murders in it, but from an adventure standpoint, it was her most interesting story. You will like it, I could almost guarantee it. Happy Reading.

Rating:
Summary: Paying the Price
Review: I'm quite surprised by the number of rave reviews this book has. I've read at least eight of Anne Rule's books and I loved most, but this was incredibly boring. A lot of time is spent describing the earlier carefree lives of several characters and apparently little happened then that was worth reading about. And I was totally put off by the assignment of blame onto one character and even his family. Even if he was the brains behind the crimes his friends joined him of their own free will. They had plenty of other options and were grown men who chose for themselves their eventual fate.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: It was interesting to pick up a book and read about things that have gone on in my own backyard. I'm from Seattle Washington, the setting of this book is based in the area. I can't describe why it is that people get so interested in such odd subjects as True Crime, killers, bank robbers, rapists, why do they do the things they do? Forensic physchologists.. do they have night lights in their homes, in every room? I would. This book is definately one of Ann's best. Very captivating. I borrowed the book from my mother, and read through the 3 short stories first ( I was only visiting her home for a weekend) I finished those 3 in a day (reading on and off) and was intrigued. I took the book home, and dug right into the The End of a Dream. The characters went through so many exciting adventures, even dangerous and times (most of the time) but they sure did live "The dream"... but it had to end sometime didn't it?

Rating:
Summary: DON"T BOTHER
Review: Pathetic.....nothing more than National Enquirer garb.
How much did these maggots make giving information on
people they "thought" they knew? tsk tsk....

Rating:
Summary: DON"T BOTHER
Review: Pathetic.....nothing more than National Enquirer garb.
How much did these maggots make giving information on
people they "thought" they knew? tsk tsk....

Rating:
Summary: Scott Scurlock
Review: The End of the Dream, by Ann Rule is about the adventures of a man named Scott Scurlock. It seems as though Scott was constantly seeking danger. He is the kind of person who felt that he always had to out-do everyone else. Scott lived in Washington State in an enourmous tree house. He has a mass of curly almost-black hair and he dresses like a bum, but the girls love him. Scott lived in a dream world but his thirst for danger would aventually overcome him. He had made money in the drug dealing business by growing and selling marijuanna in Hawaii and later producing methamphetamines. Scott soon found the ultimate adrenaline rush, which happened to be robbing banks.
Scott stole well over one million dollars and eventually earned himself the nickname,"Hollywood". He had great disguises and remarkable getaways. He was living like a king and getting away with everything. Scott's dream came to an end in a shoot-out with the police.
This book came to my attention because Scott Scurlock had graduated from Herndon High School which is where I go to school now. Although Scott made some bad decisions, he was really an amazing person and I wish I could have met him.

Rating:
Summary: not that interesting
Review: This is another great Ann Rule read. I was amazed at how easily things came to this man (Scott) and how easily he threw it all away. It seemed he had everything but it was never enough. To blow through all the money he had stolen so quickly while living in a tree house was wild. I found myself blaming both his friends who were stupid enough to go along with him and eventually ruin their lives and families and him for dragging his friends into his greedy warped life. The updates about these men on Ann Rule's website also tells that he and his friends "stalked" the agent in charge of his case. That really gave me the creeps.