Bringing Adam Home

by Les Standiford and Joe Matthews

[violetpeanut]

The kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh happened when I was just a baby but I've learned bits and pieces about the case throughout my life while watching interviews with John Walsh, and of course, America's Most Wanted. Until I read this book I never knew the whole story and the impact it had had on the country and the way future crimes against children would be handled.

The book was tough to read on multiple levels. The details of the abduction and murder itself are horrid and heartbreaking. The photos included are not overtly bloody or gory but are chilling nonetheless. What was almost worse for me, though, was the way the case was mishandled from the beginning. The ineptitude of all but a couple of the people involved in that case is another tragedy that the poor Walsh family had to deal with. It really made me angry while reading it.

The book as a whole was a little choppy in places but I find that that's the nature of many true-crime books because there are so many parallel stories - various investigators, perpetrators, families, etc. In spite of that, I found it hard to put down. It was interesting and even knowing what the outcome of the story was, I still wanted to know the details.

Although the material is not something I enjoyed, I did enjoy the reading experience that this book offered.