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Helter Skelter

the True Story of the Manson Murders
Nov 21, 2017vickmeister rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
As a teen I casually picked up a copy of this book at a thrift store, my attention caught by the Beatles' lyric title and vague memories of the Manson story drifting around me as a child in 1970s California. From the first sentence, I was utterly hooked; fascinated, terrified. To this day I always put this book high on the list of the best books I have ever read. In our current era of mass shootings occurring practically every day, we forget the heart-stopping terror that accompanied the unfolding story of these bloody, bizarre crimes, accomplished by no-longer benign hippies and girls next door gone murderously bad. Bugliosi does a fantastic job of pulling you right into the center of events: from the shock of discovery of the first murder scene, the confusion, terror, and frustratingly incompetent attempts to find the killers, and the intriguing story of how a charismatic small-time criminal managed to build a circle around him of utterly devoted followers; so devoted that they were willing to kill. Of particular interest to me were the backstories of the people who came to surround Manson. So many disaffected young people came to California in the late 1960s, looking for freedom, love, music, a wise guru. What was it about these individuals that drew them to Manson, and kept them by his side when the peace and love eventually imploded into rage and murder? Better than any fictional crime novel, the true story of the Tate/LaBianca killings is a thrilling, terrifying read.