Product Description

Pediatric homicide investigations are clouded by a number of factors, not the least of which is a lack of straightforward resources. The cause of death in infants and children is often subtle and difficult to establish. Designed for quick access, Pediatric Homicide: Medical Investigation provides an invaluable resource for medical examiners, police, child abuse investigators, and attorneys charged with either making or ruling out the diagnosis of homicide.

Focusing on forensic pathology aspects, this book covers the causes of death which are most difficult to determine, including:

• head injury
• asphyxiation
• drowning
• abdominal trauma
• poisoning
• starvation and dehydration

With contributions by a team of expert pathologists, the book provides a scientific foundation for diagnosing homicide, discusses methods to determine the timing of injuries and death, and reviews the legal requirements for presenting evidence in court. More than 100 photographs enhance the text and clarify the source of injury in these difficult cases.

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on September 1, 2003. The length of the article is 892 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Old world news.
Author: Richard H. Nicholson
Publication: The Hastings Center Report (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 2003
Publisher: Hastings Center
Volume: 33Issue: 5Page: 10(1)

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Hastings Center Report, published by Hastings Center on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 2414 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Covert video surveillance in pediatric care. (case study).
Publication: The Hastings Center Report (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: Hastings Center
Volume: 32Issue: 6Page: 10(3)

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Product Description

The “Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders” is a comprehensive two-volume set providing detailed information on mental disorders and conditions, in an easy-to-use format. It includes entries for all 150 disorders classified in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,” and also features entries for prescription, alternative and over-the-counter drugs, as well as the various therapies used to treat mental disorders.

Product Description
This digital document is an article from The Varieties of Homicide and its Research, published by Federal Bureau of Investigation on January 1, 2000. The length of the article is 4385 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Fabricated illness and homicide of children: solving complex medical problems with the help of a computerized database system.(Chapter three: homicide perpetrators and victims)
Author: Donna Rosenberg
Publication: The Varieties of Homicide and its Research (Report)
Date: January 1, 2000
Publisher: Federal Bureau of Investigation
Page: 147

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Customer Reviews (28)

No flow to the book!
I've read many, many true crime books.I was disappointed with Cruel Deception by Gregg Olsen.The flow of the book was terrible; he jumps through time back and forth, back and forth.He focuses more on the prosecutor than the family.He introduces so many doctors, from so many states from so many time periods it was greatly confusing.I got the feeling that several of the chapters were already discussed in other parts of the book and I was rereading the book again.

The story itself was intriguing, but again the author focused too much on the prosecutor than on the people who were involved with Tanya and her family.I can barely stand to finish the book.It has been putting me to sleep on the train while I read heading to work.

The unraveling of blody facts
Cruel Deception: A Mother's Deadly Game, a Prosecutor's Crusade for Justice (St. Martin's True Crime Library)This book tkes us threw a terible history of deception and lies and from who,the mother of 3 children,one died befor any one could take notes of it but befor the second child was on the verg of deing som body in the hospital,a neighbour and freinds they all found it at ods with reality and after a hard work from staf and ditectives,it came clear the fact that this mother should be stoped.it is a very good book that keeps you away from evrything until you finish it.

Not one I'd read again
The subject is sad but interesting.Mothers hurting their own children for attention.I think that is why some people have a hard time believing Tara Reid could be guilty because it is such an odd disorder.That doesn't mean she didn't do it.I also found how taken the author was with Prosecuter Hanes quite comical to the extent of putting a pic of her in her ballerina outfit in the photo's section.I gave this book a low star rating due to the fact I tried to reread it again today and could not do it.It was okay the first time but it is not one of my faves for sure!

Disturbing
Having some familiarity with Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy in both my undergraduate and graduate work, I was interested to read about a true case.Knowing that Gregg Olsen is an accomplished writer of true crime based on other book I have read by him, I had high expectations about this book.I was not disappointed.

In the scope of true crime, violence against one's own children is far more disturbing than a random act of violence.With surprises revealed throughout the book, the story of Tanya Reid is unsettling.Her second child, a daughter named Morgan, would die under the guise of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.Her third child, a son named Brandon Michael, would begin showing many of the same symptoms that preceeded Morgan's death.Was it a mysterious genetic seizure disorder, or was there a more obvious explanation?Being difficult to prove, many professional are reluctant to label a case a Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.But a mountain of evidence began growing against Tanya Reid, with Perry Mason-like surprises occurring during the case.

Not only is the storyline interesting in "Cruel Deception", but it is also well written.The book teaches about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy as it tells the story of Tanya Reid.Olsen is more than an opportunistic true crime writer, but is among the top writers in his genre.

Tonto is crazy, Kemo Sabe
Cruel Deception succeeds in the face of two significant challenges. First, as topics go, "Mothers who kill" is depressing. Second, any book on the topic of Munchausen By Proxy stands in the shadow of Nancy Wright's great "A Mother's Trial. In the hands of true crime master Gregg Olsen this tale, while still full of horror, is downright uplifting and a worthy successor to Wright's book.

Tanya Thaxted Reid - Tonto to her family - appears to be a typical small town girl at the start of the book. She wants nothing more than to live in the town she grew up in, have a doting husband and two perfect children. Under the surface things weren't so simple or typical. Tanya was the youngest of four girls raised by strict parents. Like many teens, Tanya wanted to stand out AND fit in. But Tanya lacks the will or personality or inner strength to make and stick to tough decisions. At times she seems unable to make any decisions.

Except when there is a crisis. In the glare of ambulance lights and surrounded by concerned onlookers Tanya is pillar of calm, decisive strength. She isn't just at her best during a health crisis, she's most alive. At first it's impressive, then it's creepy and then it's scary. When her baby daughter has repeated episodes of apnea which ultimately take her life, it's a tragedy. Then her sons starts to have a have similar spells. EMTs, doctors and nurses, even neighbors all slowly come to the conclusion that something is wrong but none can articulate it. Or maybe they can't bring themselves to say it out loud: Tanya is purposely causing her children to stop breathing. That last sentence is tough even to type. It makes you want to take a shower just reading it so how impossible would it be to believe that someone who could do that would look and act normal. She should look like a monster. She should be a complete enigma. Gregg Olsen doesn't let us get off that easy.

Olsen is unique among true crime writers in that he writes about the criminals not sympathy or admiration masquerading as disgust/details (you know you've read a few true crimes books where the author spends way too much time detailing the crimes themselves and the murderer's "brilliance" at evading capture) but with empathy. He tries to view events from their point of view. As a reader you find yourself not understanding Tanya but truly seeing her. She's lonely, she's desperate for attention - of the parental approval kind - and she's angry. Angry at her husband's lack of attention, angry that she's been dragged away from the only place she's ever wanted to live, angry that she's not accepted, angry that she can't have the career she wants, angry that she just can seem to crack the code of human interaction. Tanya is furious. She just can't show it.

What keeps this from being unrelentingly depressing is the way Olsen balances Tanya's story with that of the people trying to stop her. Melodee Hardin is the anti-Tanya of the story. She's a successful attorney with a daughter she dotes on. At first I wondered if Olsen wasn't just a little too impressed with the fact that Melodee used to be a ballerina. When the courtroom scenes come along, you get it: there may be a tutu in her closet but Melodee is a street-fighting kinda gal. Try to evade a question on the stand and Melodee will mess you up. All in the name of justice for abused children, no less.

This is another great true crime entry from Gregg Olsen who's become as reliable as Ann Rule, Kathryn Casey and late-greats Jack Olsen and Shana Alexander at delivering the goods. A must for serious true crime fans.

Kindle note: there are photographs but no table of contents in the Kindle edition. ... Read more

Product Description
When every mother's worst nightmare becomes Grace's reality, she must examine her entire life -- from the wrong choices to the right mistakes.

Grace's son Jack is a miracle. At three years old, he's fighting a mysterious, deadly disease that his doctors predicted would kill him as a baby. Even though it was determined to be mitochondrial disease, the little-known illness remains a mystery to medicine. Grace has sat by his bedside every minute he has been in the hospital, questioned every diagnosis, every medicine -- even poring over medical journals and books at home late into the night. To the world, Grace's fierce dedication is the sole reason for her son's survival. But someone suspects that perhaps Jack's disease is not what it seems.

When an allegation of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is leveled against Grace, she begins to live in constant suspicion of everyone -- from the doctors and nurses surrounding her son in the hospital to her own husband. Who could possibly think that she has been purposely making her son ill to gain attention for herself?

Although her husband believes their life is exactly as it seems to the outside world, Grace knows differently. She is harboring a secret -- the adulterous affair she's having with her first love. But perhaps her biggest betrayal of all is her shameful uncertainty about whether she's chosen the right path, the right husband, the right life.

In this compelling and heartbreaking novel, critically acclaimed author Maribeth Fischer addresses how the choices we made yesterday can affect everything that lies before us. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Remarkably hostile and close-minded to a real form of child abuse
Clearly, the author's friends and/or her personal book club have posted all the wonderful reviews about this book.She is also extremely selective about what she includes in the book vis-a-vis the outside reviews from Booklist, etc.--they are "damning with faint praise" at best.The author's comparison of the reality of Munchausen by proxy maltreatment to the Salem witch hunts literally nauseated me--I have seen videotapes of MBP mothers suffocating and otherwise sickening their children, so there is simply NO DOUBT that this treacherous form of child abuse exists in startling numbers.On the other hand, experts are divided about whether mitochondrial illnesses exist and, if they do, whether they affect more than a very, very small number of people.The author, who is not as talented as she thinks she is, has done an immense disservice to the field of child protection.She should be ashamed.

Manipulative
I almost CHOKED when I saw this thing averaged five stars!I almost gave it ONE star, but I save that for books that bore me.This didn't, but it made me angry.It gave such a lopsided case - nobody's going to accuse a parent whose kid has A KNOWN DIAGNOSIS of a fatal disease, of Munchausen's. The whole thing was just so tipped to try to say that anybody can be accused, these poor moms are such victims. I found it very unrealistic, and stretching to support one side of the argument...don't know if this author has a chip on her shoulder about this issue, or not... I'm sure there have been false accusations, but this book really went out on a limb to play up how the system is messed up.

Then, in order prop up the poor accused mom in the book it turns out it's the DAD's fault that the accusation was made.How convenient for her victimhood (yeah, yeah, not a word - I never said I had any writing talent!)

Also, somebody actually complimented her use of 9/11.I find it so manipulative when people use that REAL-LIFE TRAGEDY, to bring about a heart-warming happy ending to their book.ugh.

I agree with another reviewer who found the italicized pages pretencious.Totally!They were so NOT deep.I started skipping those near the end, I was in such a rush to be done with the book (not in a good way, I just feel compelled to finish books I start, and this one was leaving a bad taste...)
I really don't recommend this one.

Disappointing
I was disappointed with this book.The protagonist was unlikeable (surprisingly, since she was the mother of a terminally ill child).The author equates Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy cases with the Salem witch trials, and apparently doesn't believe that there are any "real" cases.This is provocative, but disingenuous when there are actually cases where mothers have been secretly taped in hospital rooms doing things to make their children sick.Each section starts with a pretentious introduction written in italics which is apparently placed there to show how thoughtful and philosophical the author is, but comes off as pretentious and does little to move the story along.

Best novel I've read in ten years.
A few years back I read and taught The Language of Good-bye, Fischer's first novel, in the MFA in Writing Program where I teach.The students (and I) were impressed with Fischer's beautiful style and ability to juggle plots lines and viewpoints, particularly because her two main characters came from such different cultures.TLOGB is a book I've read more than once and truly enjoyed, so naturally I looked forward to her next book, which was a while in coming.But SO worth the wait.There is nothing uneven about this book, so pay no attention to the Kirkus review.Having finished The Life You Longed For just moments ago, I felt compelled to write this review. It is an astonishing book.This is the best kind of story there is--involving, complex, raw in places, a peek into a world that could slip right by.The characters are imperfect and human and so real it gives you the shivers.The amount of scientific information, the weaving of 9/11, the denoument, wow.Another reviewer said it would make a great movie, and while that's true, I am satisfied that it is a book because I know I will read it again and again.TLYLF belongs on the New York Times bestseller's list.I plan to buy copies for my reader/writer friends and spread the word.Just a tremendous read.I hope Fischer has another book in the hopper so I can read more of her stories soon.Loved it.

Maribeth Fischer is a genius
This is one of the best books that I have ever read.Maribeth Fischer is now one of my favorite authors.You must read this story! ... Read more

Product Description

Lynn Hightower's novels have tackled such diverse subjects as female serial killers and lethal debt collectors. Now, in her most explosive and controversial thriller to date, she exposes the hidden secrets of hospital pathology labs, the darkest mysteries of motherhood, and the most unthinkable crime of all.

Private investigator Lena Padgett has been approached by a single mother with a stunning tale to tell. Emma Marsden, still grieving over the death of her infant son from an inexplicable illness, has been dealt another devastating blow. Her pediatrician, Theodore Tundridge, has accused Emma of poisoning her son in a psychotic bid for attention. Emma wants to counter his charges by accusing Tundridge of keeping a shocking chamber of horrors in his pathology lab -- all the more frightening because it is entirely legal. Lena agrees to take on Emma's case and uncovers other suspicious deaths under the doctor's care. But when a secretly taped video incriminates Emma in the most intimate of ways -- and Emma's teenage daughter disappears -- even Lena isn't prepared for where the truth will take her. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Only If Your Standards Are Low
The premise is hard to swallow. A prestigious doctor and his research clinic publicly accuse a mother of killing her own child. They make the accusation despite the fact that they can't prove it and her husband is an attorney.

When the attorney asks Lena Padgett to find out what evidence the clinic has, she indignantly refuses. However, she's willing to work for the wife, out of female solidarity. She still refuses to find out why the clinic says her client is a murderer.

The story crawls. Every time the author introduces a new character, we get ten pages of dull, irrelevant backstory. The snail-paced narrative grinds to a dead halt. By page 100 (out of 300) the investigation hasn't begun. If an author isn't interested enough to get on with her own story, how can a reader trust that it's worth reading?

Originally Posted on Romance Junkies in 2005
I started reading Lynn Hightower's books only last year, and each and every one is an absolute gem. For fans of suspense thrillers, Ms. Hightower is definitely an author that should go on your auto-buy list, as her series starring private investigator Lena Padget only gets better and better as time goes on.

In WHEN SECRETS DIE, Lena is faced with a case that truly has her baffled. Emma Marsden is still grieving over her young son's death from what she believes to be some type of rare liver disease. Trying to piece her life back together for both her sake and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Blaine, Emma attempts to deal with infant Ned's death as best she can. Her temporary reprieve is shattered, however, when her son's pediatrician, Dr. Theodore Tundridge, accuses Emma of killing her son herself-of secretly poisoning him in a crazy bid for attention as a sufferer of Munchausen by Proxy.

Still reeling from her son's death, Emma must now deal with the charges brought against her. Blaine, Ned's half-sister, may now be taken away from her mother due to the investigation by the Department of Children and Family services. With nowhere else to turn, Emma enlists the help of P.I. Lena Padget to disprove the allegations against her.

Lena finds other suspicious deaths that have happened under Dr. Tundridge's care, most specifically two SIDS deaths of children of one of his employees, Amaryllis Burton. Then there's more incriminating evidence against the pediatrician-the doctor has sold, for millions of dollars, an unusual, patented genetic material that was found in Ned Marsden's blood. When it looks like the doctor himself might possibly be behind Ned's death, Lena discovers a video-tape that shows, almost without a doubt, that maybe Emma Marsden isn't the innocent, grieving woman she appears to be.

But then Blaine goes missing, and no one knows what to do. Is the doctor behind her disappearance, a man who wants nothing more than to get his hands on more genetic material? Is Emma Marsden really suffering from the horrible and unexplainable Munchausen by Proxy? What really happened to Amaryllis Burton's children? And most importantly, can Lena get to the bottom of the mystery before any more innocent children die?
WHEN SECRETS DIE is Lynn Hightower at her best. Although Lena Padget isn't the main character of this book in the series, I was thoroughly immersed in the story from start to finish. I've always been interested in the machinations of Munchausen by Proxy, wondering exactly what must be missing in a person's brain chemistry to make them harm their own children for attention. WHEN SECRETS DIE explores not only this dreadful disease, but the fact that power, in the wrong hands, can be a deadly weapon.

I can't wait for the next book in the series, and can only hope that Ms. Hightower delves into another interesting subject!

Confused about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
The story was compelling enough, though many of the characters are deeply unlikable, but the term Munchausen syndrome by proxy is used incorrectly.It is not a "psychosis," nor does the main villain "have" it.She is psychotic and a serial killer to be sure, but not a Munchausen syndrome by proxy perpetrator.If the author was going to wade into the waters of MSBP, she did have a responsibility to get thoroughly educated about it.

Informative and Pleasing.
I can say the book was an overall success but I can say that I knew where I was when reading the book except in the first two chapters. The dialogue is easy to sort through and the characters at times are complex but worth it. The story started to lag around the middle but quickly picked up paced. One disappointing thing about this book is that by the last 3 chapters you already figured out most of the plot. It's a fun read and worth the time reading.

Great Book, Great Series
Heartsick over the loss of her toddler son, Emma Marsden faces another devastating challenge. She's been accused by pediatrician Theodore Tundridge of poisoning her son. Now the department of children's services is involved, accusing Emma of Munchausen by proxy and seeking to take her teenage daughter, Blaine, away from her. But Emma has a counter-complaint against Dr. Tundridge: he's keeping body parts in the basement of his clinic. Although private investigator Lena Padget is broke, she agrees to take Emma's case in exchange for her BMW Roadster. Lena's investigation leads her into the mountains of East Tennessee and on a desperate search to find Emma's teenage daughter, who has been kidnapped.

This is one of those books you do not want to put down. Entertaining, informative, and packed with suspense. In-depth characterization, realistic dialogue, and a galvanizing plot. It is my opinion that the Lena Padget series is perhaps the best series being written today. This PI is down-to-earth, gutsy, and a woman with a compassionate soul. Great series, great book.




... Read more

Product Description
This groundbreaking new book is a major contribution to ongoing development which will safeguard and promote the welfare of the children who have illness fabricated or induced (FII), previously known as 'Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy'. Promoting a multi-disciplinary and multi-agency approach with a parent and carer focus, this book is the ideal ready reference for the busy children's services professional. It includes reports from both healthcare professionals and victims of FII, and features tables, case studies, examples, appendices, an index, a glossary of terms and is referenced for further reading. The information is wide-ranging and is a collaboration from professionals with varied backgrounds. This book supports national guidance on FII and is vital for all health, social care and education professionals and the Police. It will also be invaluable for therapists including psychologists, psychiatrists and mental healthcare workers. ... Read more

Product Description
Unraveling a twenty-five-year tale of multiple murder and medical deception, The Death of Innocents is a work of first-rate journalism told with the compelling narrative drive of a mystery novel. More than just a true-crime story, it is the stunning expose of spurious science that sent medical researchers in the wrong direction--and nearly allowed a murderer to go unpunished.

On July 28, 1971, a two-and-a-half-month-old baby named Noah Hoyt died in his trailer home in a rural hamlet of upstate New York. He was the fifth child of Waneta and Tim Hoyt to die suddenly in the space of seven years. People certainly talked, but Waneta spoke vaguely of "crib death," and over time the talk faded.

Nearly two decades later a district attorney in Syracuse, New York, was alerted to a landmark paper in the literature on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome--SIDS--that had been published in a prestigious medical journal back in 1972. Written by a prominent researcher at a Syracuse medical center, the article described a family in which five children had died suddenly without explanation. The D.A. was convinced that something about this account was very wrong. An intensive quest by a team of investigators came to a climax in the spring of 1995, in a dramatic multiple-murder trial that made headlines nationwide.

But this book is not only a vivid account of infanticide revealed; it is also a riveting medical detective story. That journal article had legitimized the deaths of the last two babies by theorizing a cause for the mystery of SIDS, suggesting it could be predicted and prevented, and fostering the presumption that SIDS runs in families. More than two decades of multimillion-dollar studies have failed to confirm any of these widely accepted premises. How all this happened--could have happened--is a compelling story of high-stakes medical research in action. And the enigma of familial SIDS has given rise to a special and terrible irony. There is today a maxim in forensic pathology: One unexplained infant death in a family is SIDS. Two is very suspicious. Three is homicide.

Amazon.com Review
A rule of thumb in forensics: one dead baby is SuddenInfant Death Syndrome(SIDS); two dead babies is suspicious; three deadbabies is murder. The Death of Innocents starts off a bit slow, but as soon as anew district attorney decides to pursue an old case of fivesiblings whose deaths were attributed to SIDS, the story kicks into high gear.There are two villains: the quietlyfurious mother who admitted to smothering her children--one of whomwas 2 years old, and kicked and flailed as he died--and the arrogantmedical researcher who was so eager to make a name for himself that he waswillfully blind to the warnings of danger. Richard Firstman and JamieTalan, a husband-wife team, write about abuse of the scientific methodas suspensefully as they write about parental abuse of babies. TheDeath of Innocents was named a 1997 Notable Book of the Year bythe New York Times. The NYT writes, The Death of Innocents "...seamlessly weaves the tales of theearlier and later murder cases, separated by two decades, with thecomplicated scientific and social issues, the many disparatepersonalities, documents, interviews and dramatic moments. The book ispaced like a thriller, and it will be read like one." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Too redundant.
I'm with the other person who gave the book 3 stars.This book was way too redundant.A Criminal Injustice is starting out much, much better.

A sad masterpiece...
The details of the Hoyt case, in particular, left me both sad and angry. I was not, however, shocked. America has a history of undervaluing children; we indentured them, enslaved them and now we abort them. To me, this book is a sad commentary on how the American medical establishment functioned, or didn't, during the rise of something labeled as 'SIDS'. Children were exploited--are exploited. By their parents, their doctors, etc. Have we learned much from the cases Firstman and Talan recite? Probably not enough but thank you, anyway. Waneta Hoyt, in my unprofessional estimation, was a calculating, manipulative selfish bitch. We need to quit finding labels to excuse the aberrant behavior of individuals among us. I'm convinced she knew exactly what she was doing until her ego completely got in the way and she was sentenced to five life terms. At least the judge had the balls to do something. Better late than never. Responsibility for the deaths of Ms. Hoyt's last three children should be shared by Tim Hoyt's family who knew what a monster Waneta was but in their stupidity kept silent. It is also shared by Dr. Steinschneider--who also shares responsibility for hundreds more innocents.

A new title on my "must read list" for physicians
A very important book that I found cited in a recent Family Practice Joural article reviewing SIDS.
A must-read for doctors.
The middle part drags a little but can be skimmed.
Mostly fascinating and important.

I was thinking about why prosecute a 30 year old murder case... but the implications to science and medicine and the medical equipment industry are enormous.
I thank this rural county in New York for revealing the truth and these authors for describing the journey towards truth in such detail and even suspense.

Still thinking about it after one year
I read this a year ago and am still reeling. I'm in the mental health/child welfare field and this story hammers home the need for professionals of all stripes to maintain skepticism and personally evaluate the quality of new research before relying on findings in practice. Shameful. We should all know better.

Literature of American Fluoropoisoning Terrorism's Black Propaganda
Two very interesting suspects are portrayed in this book, the first, Vandersluys, was an already convicted statutory rapist who fooled around extramaritally (a great deal) with a flirtatious hussy teenager next door, then apparently cashed in his life insurance policies on one SIDs child after the next.Crime happens, but by then there were some 10,000 + cases of SIDS per year in the United States (Where exactly are the statistics, or has the CDC removed those government records as well as Autism's?); you know, making an opportunity of drinking water poisoning going on where you live to collect AD&D policies is still the fault of the water utility--it has no indemnity.The man's words sound more like the brainwashing of the already guilt ridden into accepting coaching he was negligent whether he was or not.Wiping your baby's face with a wash cloth could be used to prove you tried to smother them right before their cyanic apnea nap, then SIDS diagnosis. I don't see the wave of insurance fraud claim these fools are trying to confabulate, and I definitely take issue with the unconstitutional framing of Wanneta Hoyt.There's a woman with profound, unexplained illness, nearly complete balding, osteoporosis, who made every effort to seek medical attention for her infants.Not a killer, a victim who never had an affirmative defense, much else a civic government with the backbone to forensically investigate, prosecute and hang premeditated water poisoners.Why don't we just insist on the Death of the Guilty?Or are they all `Arab males of military age' in Iraq?Is it al Qaida or is it AL COA?

Not only the flagrant police misconduct to which authors Firstman and Talan remained completely, passively complacent, I mean actually coercing a confession without the accused having an attorney, and under emotional duress like a gulag plus her ill health disorienting, confusing and exhausting her (clear indication of severe environmental toxic poisoning in her home), but also the forging of written confession, not once, but redrafted again on her behalf with no counsel.That's not supposed to happen in America, but it does.And worse, books like this that attempt a crude cover for clandestine fluoropoisoning, going around manufacturing alibis and framing victim suspects are not supposed to be well received either, nor escape exposure and stiff public censure.No wonder they had to stick a silly award on it just to make it seem even more unquestionably respectable.I think this book is condemnable, it's authors thenceforth essentially unpublishable, crony hack writers of ill repute assisting a criminal evasion and the bowling over of the justice system--imminently denunciated.They have helped to mainstream and manufacture an alibi for a big killer and mutilator by anoxic brain injury.

Court appointed defense for Vandersluys, when loosely throwing together a few cross examination questions to screen for toxic hazards in the home, inquired about risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in some indirect questions regarding a heater and a metal treatment, (not wanting to mention chemicals in the context of air or water other than any solvent the victims might've used in the home), inquired about painting in the home, but made no inquiry as to what was coming out of the household water tap--none.In other words a bogus, court appointed defense counsel and understudy of the prosecution--marsupial justice complete with a pouch for the defense counsel and state's employee.

For the other case there was no toxicology screening of Wanetta Hoyt's household nor what was drawn from the tap and fed to her infants--conviction based solely on staged, coerced, and forged confession.Judicial malpractice like that only points to official corruption and cover-up of the government and utility's premeditated mass murder, murder one, `in the first degree', and the automatic finger pointing framing of the guardian in closest proximity to the deaths: aggravated offenses of perjury, misprison, obstruction of justice, and manufacturing false charges and statements to frame another for the purpose of criminal evasion, i.e. racketeering conspiracy, violating transportation and commerce, undue influence, and all of them in office.

That is what the un-clever, idiotic in fact, ruse of fluoridating drinking water achieves for its perpetrators, it appears to be a crime they can blithely pipe into their victims' homes from miles away with *legerdemain*.Therefore, (in their hare brained, euphoric March naiveté) they haven't done anything wrong.They have every duty, right and responsibility to make every effort to protect your teeth for you--whether you brush them or not.And besides, nobody's going to put their picture up on a most wanted list, nobody knows who they are or what those magoos really do.That's real immunity.See how long it lasts, or who cares if `history will have to judge'; the public has judged fluoridation, so has Toxicology, the Institute of Medicine has judged the proxy misdiagnosis of vaccine injury, and epidemiologists and geneticists have judged the autism epidemic as a pandemic actually, and not genetic.Something's disguises aren't holding together are they--and trying to rope in wheat gluten, food allergies, streptococcus-meningitis or dyslexia for a broad spectrum of anoxic brain injury ain't gonna work for an alibi either.BUSTED!!A sheer equivocation catastrophe is in progress, make popcorn.

---review coninues with the book "While Innocents Slept"
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Product Description
Josh Goldin's happy yet unexamined existence is shattered one morning when his wife, Dori, rushes their eight-month- old son to the emergency room in severe distress. Dr. Darlene Stokes, an African-American physician and single mother, suspects Munchausen by proxy, a rarely diagnosed and controversial phenomenon where a mother intentionally harms her baby. As each of them is forced to confront a reality that has become a nightmare, Darlene, Dori, and Josh are pushed to their breaking points.

Darin Strauss's extraordinary novel is set in a world turned upside down-where doctors try to save babies from their parents, police use the law to tear families apart, and the people you think you know best end up surprising you the most. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

Something happened...

Somewhere in this novel...I haven't figured out just where...something happened. The 'oomph' that it had previously...

...vanished.

And it became less the great writer's novel it had been, and more a story being told about a story. And therefore, was almost entirely without 'oomph'.

I tend to dog-foot great reads; when I'm in the middle of a really good writer's efforts, there's tons of folded-back pages, bits I want to go back and re-read, or post for friends, for whom I publish these reviews concurrently found here on Amazon. In 'More Than It Hurts You', the 'oomph'-rich portion of the novel is rife with these triangles. The 'oomph'-deficient portion? It's just about intact, the bottom of the pages pristine.

Regardless of wherever it is that Mr. Struss's third novel loses its 'oomph', the fact is that my attachment to it, my need to read on, to get to the end...vanished. And I have to wonder if going just-that-much-deeper into the style he'd clearly decided on...a kind of super-omniscient third-person narrative...was the story's downfall. There was something about this approach that changed things entirely for me, really turned my opinion entirely upside down.

Despite this, I've given 'More Than It Hurts You' a reasonable rating...which might seem a little bizarre, given how disappointed I am. Maybe I'm still lost in the delirium that the first part of the novel promised, and so haven't quite recovered my objectivity.

No matter; I still want to read whatever he's going to publish next. But as I've now read two of the three novels he has to his name and neither has delivered the goods, I'll confess to a little wariness.

Personal rating: 7/10

Don't Miss This Book
I often go to Amazon to see reader ratings before I invest time in reading a novel. This time I didn't and I am glad I didn't. If I had I might have decided to pass and wouldn't have read this work of near genius.

One well received review says that what happened in this novel couldn't have happened. That the family in this novel could not have fallen through the cracks of the child protection system. I am not in that profession so maybe the reviewer is correct, maybe it could not have happened. But I argue two things: one is that one reads the newspapers and knows that families *have* fallen through the cracks of the child protection system, the other is that this particular detail is a small part of the experience of reading this novel.

In this book you're treated to easily absorbed yet sophisticated insights about race, status, education and self assumptions peculiar to contemporary life on the east coast of the United States. These insights ring true. But the great thing about this book is that this is a book of horror. The reader is soon in the room when the horrible thing occurs and then is soon in the mind of the villain as she justifies and rationalizes her actions.

I would have regretted missing this book. I recommend that you not make that mistake based on the negative reviews posted here.

Skip It
The entire time I was reading this novel, I kept waiting for the big climax that would make trudging through hundreds of pages of boring, nonsensical prose all worth it. That climax never came. This book was a disappointment from start to finish. The characters were dull and unlikable, and always thinking these twisted little thoughts that are written in a way that the writer apparently thinks is profound and enlightening, but make little sense. I'm actually a little shocked that this got published. Another reviewer stated that the same story could have been accomplished in a hundred pages if the author lost all the crap that really had no bearing on the story, and I concur with that opinion. This is a case where less would definitely have been more. About a hundred pages from the end I just gave up and started skimming, only reading a few bits here and there, and actually think I missed nothing of the story. It was that badly written.

Awash in Racism
I kept getting distracted from the story by the prevailing theme of race throughout the book.I kept thinking there must be a reason for it, but at the conclusion I could not find any.
The story is mired in minute details that add nothing to the plotline or character development.Serious editing would have made this a more enjoyable read.
I do not recommend this book.

Potential Never Quite Reached
This book has enormous potential for a compelling storyline.However, it puts unnecessary emphasis on characters that are not interesting and not even influential to the central plot.There are some random tangents, and an irritatingly high number of typographical errors. ... Read more

Product Description
In those days, there were no words to describe the nature of my mother's tales. No diagnosis for her tendency toward fiction. No names for women who make accidents happen to their children.No terms for imaginary heroes. And so we listened to my mother's stories in silence and tried to believe.

Indie Brown is a woman haunted by a childhood she'd rather forget in T. Greenwood's luminous and terrifying second novel.

As an adult, Indie has moved far away from her parents, and created a new life with her long time companion, Peter, a sensitive and steadfast partner. Together they have forged a simple and happy life in the back woods of Maine. But one autumn evening, a late night phone call from her younger sister sends Indie reeling back into the chaos of her troubled family, and she reluctantly returns home.

It is there, back in the mountains of Arizona, that events from her past are suddenly and painfully illuminated. From her mother's disturbing relationship with her younger sister to the death of her brother, Indie is assaulted by the nightmares of her childhood. And after a sudden and unpredictable turn of events, she is ultimately forced to reevaluate her relationships with her mother, her sister, and with Peter.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, the elusive and horrific mental disorder which causes afflicted mothers to make their own children ill, comes to life in this tragic yet beautiful story. With the same lyrical prose displayed in her award-winning debut novel, Breathing Water, Greenwood once again takes on brutal subject matter with sensitivity and grace.
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Customer Reviews (20)

Nearer Than the Sky
Wanted to give this book 3.5 stars, but that is not an option, so I rounded up.
I enjoy T. Greenwood's style of writing - I typically thoroughly enjoy her books.However, I found myself becoming frustrated with "Nearer Than the Sky."I wanted to learn more of the mother's relationship with her children, and what exactly she was doing to them and why.However, the book focused more on the main character's present-day life.What was revealed of the mother and the children, however, did pull at my heart - I felt for the characters.

Also, my copy had several typos, including the misplacement of "the" several times.

Ok book. Not highly recommended but somewhat interesting....
I was excited to read this book because I knew it dealt with Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) and thought it would be fascinating. It was indeed somewhat interesting and certainly well-written, but I was hoping for more insight into the ways in which the mother and subsequently her daughter handled this disease and the ways in which it impacted on their own lives. I guess my only disappointment was that I was looking for more information and insight into the condition/disease itself and the ways in which the characters harmed their children and how they each of them dealt with it on an emotional level, than just how it impacted the family on a larger scale.

While I don't highly recommend this book, I thought it was certainly interesting and a good overall book. It could make an interesting book club selection too.

SUCH A GREAT BOOK ~~~~
NEARER THAN THE SKY

Meet Indie Brown, who lives in the backwoods of Maine with her long-time boyfriend, Peter.Peter runs a restaurant and Indie is recently unemployed.Indie has built a happy, loving life and relationship with Peter.All is going well for them, until Indie receives a phone call from Arizona where her mom and sister are living.

Indie's mom is a victim of Munchausen syndrome, which, if you are not familiar with this scary, unexplained disease, is a mental disorder that causes women to make their own children ill, at any cost.This, in their minds, gives THEM attention.The moms are the afflicted, the kids are the victims.In Indie's case, her mom turns her attention to Indie's kid sister, Lily.Indie also has a mentally handicapped brother, Benny.

Indie's childhood is a living hell. However, she is a good little kid and a loving sister to Benny and Lily.The stories told of their childhood are funny and sweet.Indie and Benny are pretty much on their own, as their mom is so busy with Lily, who, as you will quickly figure out, is constantly ill.What I really liked about the format of the book is that it jumps from present to past and back again.This is good reading, a format I truly enjoy.We get sneaks into Indie, Lily, and Benny's miserable childhood at the hands of their mom.

Indie has to return to Arizona as her mom has been 'self-poisoning' herself.So, Indie is thrown back into the past while dealing with her mom and her sister.We also meet her newborn niece, Violet.Indie's radar goes on high alert when she sees her sister Lily with her own daughter.

Indie's memories coming flooding back -- her mom's illness and treatment of all her children, her dad, who owns a bar and is not around much, and how Indie breaks away from this sad/sick situation only to be drawn back into it as an adult.

I loved how the book deals with this sad and tragic illness and lets the reader see how this affects not only the victim/child, but the entire family.All of the characters were genuine and the story is very, very interesting and exciting.I read this book in one day and when I wasn't reading it, I could not stop thinking about it.

Check out this book.It will not only give you a greater understanding of Munchausen syndrome, but is also filled with great characters, a very interesting story line, and love.I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Thank you!
Pam

Good read
"Nearer Than the Sky" was well written.
I would recommend this book.
Some of the food and eating scenes were slightly dragged out, but still it's a good book.

Hard to read, but very well done...
Greenwood's prose is subtle and sensitive in this novel...I found myself completely absorbed in the story and its characters, and would highly recommend it to anyone.While this book was heart-wrenching in many places, Indie's story is at the same time quite inspirational and beautifully told. ... Read more

Product Description

Lynn Hightower's novels have tackled such diverse subjects as female serial killers and lethal debt collectors. Now, in her most explosive and controversial thriller to date, she exposes the hidden secrets of hospital pathology labs, the darkest mysteries of motherhood, and the most unthinkable crime of all.

Private investigator Lena Padgett has been approached by a single mother with a stunning tale to tell. Emma Marsden, still grieving over the death of her infant son from an inexplicable illness, has been dealt another devastating blow. Her pediatrician, Theodore Tundridge, has accused Emma of poisoning her son in a psychotic bid for attention. Emma wants to counter his charges by accusing Tundridge of keeping a shocking chamber of horrors in his pathology lab -- all the more frightening because it is entirely legal. Lena agrees to take on Emma's case and uncovers other suspicious deaths under the doctor's care. But when a secretly taped video incriminates Emma in the most intimate of ways -- and Emma's teenage daughter disappears -- even Lena isn't prepared for where the truth will take her. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Only If Your Standards Are Low
The premise is hard to swallow. A prestigious doctor and his research clinic publicly accuse a mother of killing her own child. They make the accusation despite the fact that they can't prove it and her husband is an attorney.

When the attorney asks Lena Padgett to find out what evidence the clinic has, she indignantly refuses. However, she's willing to work for the wife, out of female solidarity. She still refuses to find out why the clinic says her client is a murderer.

The story crawls. Every time the author introduces a new character, we get ten pages of dull, irrelevant backstory. The snail-paced narrative grinds to a dead halt. By page 100 (out of 300) the investigation hasn't begun. If an author isn't interested enough to get on with her own story, how can a reader trust that it's worth reading?

Originally Posted on Romance Junkies in 2005
I started reading Lynn Hightower's books only last year, and each and every one is an absolute gem. For fans of suspense thrillers, Ms. Hightower is definitely an author that should go on your auto-buy list, as her series starring private investigator Lena Padget only gets better and better as time goes on.

In WHEN SECRETS DIE, Lena is faced with a case that truly has her baffled. Emma Marsden is still grieving over her young son's death from what she believes to be some type of rare liver disease. Trying to piece her life back together for both her sake and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Blaine, Emma attempts to deal with infant Ned's death as best she can. Her temporary reprieve is shattered, however, when her son's pediatrician, Dr. Theodore Tundridge, accuses Emma of killing her son herself-of secretly poisoning him in a crazy bid for attention as a sufferer of Munchausen by Proxy.

Still reeling from her son's death, Emma must now deal with the charges brought against her. Blaine, Ned's half-sister, may now be taken away from her mother due to the investigation by the Department of Children and Family services. With nowhere else to turn, Emma enlists the help of P.I. Lena Padget to disprove the allegations against her.

Lena finds other suspicious deaths that have happened under Dr. Tundridge's care, most specifically two SIDS deaths of children of one of his employees, Amaryllis Burton. Then there's more incriminating evidence against the pediatrician-the doctor has sold, for millions of dollars, an unusual, patented genetic material that was found in Ned Marsden's blood. When it looks like the doctor himself might possibly be behind Ned's death, Lena discovers a video-tape that shows, almost without a doubt, that maybe Emma Marsden isn't the innocent, grieving woman she appears to be.

But then Blaine goes missing, and no one knows what to do. Is the doctor behind her disappearance, a man who wants nothing more than to get his hands on more genetic material? Is Emma Marsden really suffering from the horrible and unexplainable Munchausen by Proxy? What really happened to Amaryllis Burton's children? And most importantly, can Lena get to the bottom of the mystery before any more innocent children die?
WHEN SECRETS DIE is Lynn Hightower at her best. Although Lena Padget isn't the main character of this book in the series, I was thoroughly immersed in the story from start to finish. I've always been interested in the machinations of Munchausen by Proxy, wondering exactly what must be missing in a person's brain chemistry to make them harm their own children for attention. WHEN SECRETS DIE explores not only this dreadful disease, but the fact that power, in the wrong hands, can be a deadly weapon.

I can't wait for the next book in the series, and can only hope that Ms. Hightower delves into another interesting subject!

Confused about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
The story was compelling enough, though many of the characters are deeply unlikable, but the term Munchausen syndrome by proxy is used incorrectly.It is not a "psychosis," nor does the main villain "have" it.She is psychotic and a serial killer to be sure, but not a Munchausen syndrome by proxy perpetrator.If the author was going to wade into the waters of MSBP, she did have a responsibility to get thoroughly educated about it.

Informative and Pleasing.
I can say the book was an overall success but I can say that I knew where I was when reading the book except in the first two chapters. The dialogue is easy to sort through and the characters at times are complex but worth it. The story started to lag around the middle but quickly picked up paced. One disappointing thing about this book is that by the last 3 chapters you already figured out most of the plot. It's a fun read and worth the time reading.

Great Book, Great Series
Heartsick over the loss of her toddler son, Emma Marsden faces another devastating challenge. She's been accused by pediatrician Theodore Tundridge of poisoning her son. Now the department of children's services is involved, accusing Emma of Munchausen by proxy and seeking to take her teenage daughter, Blaine, away from her. But Emma has a counter-complaint against Dr. Tundridge: he's keeping body parts in the basement of his clinic. Although private investigator Lena Padget is broke, she agrees to take Emma's case in exchange for her BMW Roadster. Lena's investigation leads her into the mountains of East Tennessee and on a desperate search to find Emma's teenage daughter, who has been kidnapped.

This is one of those books you do not want to put down. Entertaining, informative, and packed with suspense. In-depth characterization, realistic dialogue, and a galvanizing plot. It is my opinion that the Lena Padget series is perhaps the best series being written today. This PI is down-to-earth, gutsy, and a woman with a compassionate soul. Great series, great book.




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Product Description
Parents are supposed to protect their children; spouses are supposed to protect and love their significant other; friends are suppose to be supportive.Not in this woman's life.
A "memoir" of abuse from a woman who survived; although suicidal thoughts went through her head, she chose to stay alive to see her abusers die.
From as early as she could remember to present day, she kept these secrets, secrets of abuse, but not anymore.
Read about some of the sick and demented things people did to her.Their death is what freed her from thier abuse.
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