Rating: 
Summary: Journal of the Dead
Review: I wish I understood what "Reader from Cairo" was rambling on about. What harrassment? how does someone in the USA harrass an Egyptian?
Anyway, I found this a fascinating read. I read it in 5 hours at one sitting as I couldn't put it down. It is a pity that the author didn't interview the family of the victim or Raffi - it surely would have added to it. The end of the book also left me with many questions that were not addressed such as how did Raffi manage to lift his friend's body, bury it and move very heavy rocks to cover the body when he was seemingly so dehydrated. Why did David give up so fast - he was stronger and bigger than his friend and surely could have survived.
It's a fascinating tale, and I would definitely recommend it to all true crime fans. Anyone know where Raffi is now and what he's been up to? That would be interesting....
Rating: 
Summary: one of the best true crime novels I have ever read
Review: If you like true crime books, this is one for you. The author does a great job of giving you the tales of the trials, and evidence, and lets you form your own conclusion of guilt or innocence.
This is a true crime story that does not give a black and white conclution. Even when the judge finishes the trial, you are not quite sure if it is an appropriate judgment. I personaly don't know if the person (Raffie) commited the crime out of mercey or not, so I relly don't have my own oppinion of innocence or guilt, but the stroy itself is done professionaly as well as interesting. I couldn't put this book down!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Padded Magazine Article
Review: Jason Kersten's "Journal of the Dead," an account of Raffi Kodikian's murder of David Coughlin in the New Mexico desert, was expanded from a feature magazine article that he wrote about the same subject. Kodikian claimed that Coughlin asked him to kill him as the two lay dying from dehydration, but he ultimately pled guilty to murder. While the book is a mildly interesting foray into the true crime genre, it doesn't really provide much more information or understanding about this notorious incident than the article it was based upon.The book lacks endnotes or a list of sources, which caused me to wonder how much of it is fact and how much is purely speculation. Kersten provides a first hand account of the pair's misfortune in the desert, but since he apparently never interviewed Kodikian, the account itself is suspect. Additionally, though the book runs to a mere 230 pages of text, it is quite obvioulsy padded with irrelevant historical anecdotes and a verbatim transcript of the murderer's sentencing hearing. All of this wouldn't really be important, however, if the story iteself were compelling beyond the circumstances of the crime. Prior to the tragedy, neither Kodikian nor Coughlin led anything other than mundane lives, and their blunder into the desert, rather than being some epic struggle, was really pretty pathetic. Coughlin died only a few miles from where the two had parked their car, with a National Park visitor center clearly visible from a nearby hilltop. Whether Kodikian acted malicously or whether he and Coughlin were merely stupendously incompotent, their grim story is ultimately just not that interesting. Also, I caught at least one major factual error as Kersten states that Calvin Coolidge was President in 1930, when he in fact left office in March 1929. Overall, a readable but not memorable true crime book.
Rating:
Summary: Padded Magazine Article
Review: Jason Kersten's "Journal of the Dead," an account of Raffi Kodikian's murder of David Coughlin in the New Mexico desert, was expanded from a feature magazine article that he wrote about the same subject. Kodikian claimed that Coughlin asked him to kill him as the two lay dying from dehydration, but he ultimately pled guilty to murder. While the book is a mildly interesting foray into the true crime genre, it doesn't really provide much more information or understanding about this notorious incident than the article it was based upon. The book lacks endnotes or a list of sources, which caused me to wonder how much of it is fact and how much is purely speculation. Kersten provides a first hand account of the pair's misfortune in the desert, but since he apparently never interviewed Kodikian, the account itself is suspect. Additionally, though the book runs to a mere 230 pages of text, it is quite obvioulsy padded with irrelevant historical anecdotes and a verbatim transcript of the murderer's sentencing hearing. All of this wouldn't really be important, however, if the story iteself were compelling beyond the circumstances of the crime. Prior to the tragedy, neither Kodikian nor Coughlin led anything other than mundane lives, and their blunder into the desert, rather than being some epic struggle, was really pretty pathetic. Coughlin died only a few miles from where the two had parked their car, with a National Park visitor center clearly visible from a nearby hilltop. Whether Kodikian acted malicously or whether he and Coughlin were merely stupendously incompotent, their grim story is ultimately just not that interesting. Also, I caught at least one major factual error as Kersten states that Calvin Coolidge was President in 1930, when he in fact left office in March 1929. Overall, a readable but not memorable true crime book.
Rating: 
Summary: This work is unreasearched and spurious
Review: Kersten is an author who would be better off sticking with writing little articles for his immature men's magazine. Living in New York (I was surprised he'd even been to New Mexico for his reasearch) Kersten could not have been less qualified to write this story nor have given a more innaccurate portrayal of South East N.M. I am a resident of N.M. living no less than one hour away from the area concerned in the book, and I myself have visited many of the canyonlands around this area for much of my life; contrary to what the author makes it seem the Chihuahuan desert is not a virtual gehenna with danger lurking everywhere, the yucca plant cannot tear through denim like it is "paper mache" despite what Kersten's extensive desert experience would tell you; tumbleweeds(a trade mark of the West) which the author refers to being present here in the 16th cent. in one of his multiple, partially accurate historical anecdotes, are a variety of Russian thistle, not brought to the U.S. until much later. Also contrary to one of Kersten's ridiculous stereotypical references, most people in N.M. DO NOT carry firearms in their vehicles. These are just a few of the many spurious accusations made by the author. I think Kersten should take a few history lessons, research what he attempts to assert, and learn better grammar before he tries to write another book.
Rating:
Summary: This work is unreasearched and spurious
Review: Kersten is an author who would be better off sticking with writing little articles for his immature men's magazine. Living in New York (I was surprised he'd even been to New Mexico for his reasearch) Kersten could not have been less qualified to write this story nor have given a more innaccurate portrayal of South East N.M. I am a resident of N.M. living no less than one hour away from the area concerned in the book, and I myself have visited many of the canyonlands around this area for much of my life; contrary to what the author makes it seem the Chihuahuan desert is not a virtual gehenna with danger lurking everywhere, the yucca plant cannot tear through denim like it is "paper mache" despite what Kersten's extensive desert experience would tell you; tumbleweeds(a trade mark of the West) which the author refers to being present here in the 16th cent. in one of his multiple, partially accurate historical anecdotes, are a variety of Russian thistle, not brought to the U.S. until much later. Also contrary to one of Kersten's ridiculous stereotypical references, most people in N.M. DO NOT carry firearms in their vehicles. These are just a few of the many spurious accusations made by the author. I think Kersten should take a few history lessons, research what he attempts to assert, and learn better grammar before he tries to write another book.
Rating:
Summary: Destined for the remainder bin
Review: This book is a complete bore. Since the author didn't get any interviews with Mr. Kodikian or the victim's families, he has very little insight into what happened. It is pretentiously written and irritating to read. I stopped reading after the first hundred pages when it was obvious it wasn't going anywhere. Skip it and read Krakauer's new book. At least Krakauer did some real research.
Rating: 
Summary: Ultimately unsatisfying - but that's real!
Review: This book was ultimately unsatisfying . . . two young men go out into the desert, being so DUMB it is hard to believe. Almost no water, inadequate supplies, no trail smarts. They get lost. One of them dies, and the survivor's story is not very believable.
Did he kill his "friend"? If so, why? The law has spoken, the survivor got, as one reviewer put it, "a slap on the wrist," and the young man is still dead.
The book has to be unsatisfying, because only the survivor knows the truth. However, as a real-life mystery, the story is interesting. As a window into the stupidity that sometimes overtakes even relatively intelligent human beings, it's worth your reading time.
That said, I've only given it 3 stars, because I wanted more: The writer has obviously done a lot of primary research, but the difference between an okay book and a really good one would have been more analysis; more speculation; more conclusions. To be fair, the survivor is alive and free, and there may be legal restrictions on what can be said . . . but I wanted more from the writer. And so the star level stays at 3.
Rating:
Summary: A Nail-Biting but Thin Report
Review: This rather insubstantial book covers the case of two friends from back east who got lost while camping in the New Mexico desert. Just half a mile from their car, Raffi Kodikian and David Coughlin succumbed to dehydration and heatstroke, and then Kodikian supposedly murdered his best friend Coughlin out of mercy. Jason Kersten has done little actual investigation of his own, and mostly rehashes court testimony and existing reports, often at great length. Kersten also badly needs a fact checker, who would have caught some frequent errors like the implication that the Potomac River flows through Philadelphia (only two states off). A calendar would have also helped. At one point, Kersten says that August 13th of the year in question was on Friday, then later in the same paragraph he says that the previous Friday was the 4th. Later in the book, August 6th is given as a Wednesday. These careless slip-ups don't exactly inspire confidence in the rest of the book. Kersten also raises some important mysteries about the case but doesn't bother exploring them in depth, such as how the two friends were able to carry 50-pound rocks around their campsite when they were supposedly near death from dehydration. The fact that the lawyers didn't dwell too much on this and other mysteries in court apparently eliminated Kersten's interest in investigating further. The basic story of friendship and suffering leads to some real page-turning drama, and you really feel for all the people involved in the tragedy. But ultimately, Kersten's account just feels like a long feature article for a certain type of men's magazine. [~doomsdayer520~]
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Read
Review: This was truly a page-turner. I read it in the span of two evenings. I literally could not put it down. As a lover of true crime books, I especially liked the way Jason did not inflict his opinions on what he thought actually happened and only put the facts of the case out there for the reader to interpret. After finishing it I am still unsure of what I believe actually happened. One of the things that I liked most was the way Jason incorporated the history of the desert. As a new teacher, these facts were quite interesting to me. The histories of people trying to make passage through the desert makes the book come to life. You can see the suffering that can occur out there. Congratulations on your first book and I cannot wait for the next!
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