Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Another Manson book. Not sure I need to read any more. True crime is becoming a bit repetitive with various retellings of the same story.

Essential reading for fans of the 60s counter-culture, CIA conspiracy theories and the Manson family - a really fascinating look at the oft-told story that we all know by now...or do we? If you've only read Helter Skelter, then this should be prescribed to read as well.

I love books on the Manson Family, and this one helps put that remarkable era into historical context. Dense with detail and highly recommended.

This is quite a lengthy book and asks questions seemingly not previously raised during other very well known accounts of Manson's reign of terror and charm. It seems like just when you think that everything there is to know has been laid bare over the intervening decades, this book brings up lots more. Very interesting but be prepared to invest a good chunk of your reading time and you won't be disappointed.

For many years now “Helter Skelter” by prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi has been the go to book about the Manson case. Surely no one was better placed than Bugliosi to write a book about these infamous murders, he knew the case details inside out, he spoke with Manson and the Family members on several occasions and he had access to all the files. That’s what Tom O’Neill thought when he first started writing a magazine article for Premiere magazine to mark 25 years since the murders that spelt the end of the peace and love era of the 60s. Then, something strange started happening. Calls to those in Roman Polanksi’s inner circle at the time went unreturned or were met with a flat ‘no’. O’Neill started digging a little deeper and when he found some inconsistencies that he questioned an initially friendly Bugliosi about, the retired prosecutor flipped like a switch and aggressively turned on O’Neill. Convinced that he was onto something big, O’Neill would spend the next few years of his life obsessed with the Manson murders. The magazine article deadline was missed several time and mushroomed into the book we have before us. There is no doubt that Manson and his Family members were behind the murders, but what O’Neill’s extensive digging shows us is that various statements and witnesses were suppressed or manipulated to give the prosecution the result they needed. There’s also the question of why Manson was allowed to run amok in Death Valley when the most casual observer could have seen he was up to no good. O’Neill goes on a real journey while chasing down this story and by his own admission becomes obsessed to the exclusion of all else. I’m pleased for him that his dogged determination came to fruition in the form of a book and his story also acts as a how to guide for old style reporting as he chases down leads, makes repeated phone calls and trawls through reams of paperwork.

It’s a different take on a story that’s been told many times before. A must read for anyone with a passing interest in this case, this really was a fascinating read.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

A lengthy book, full of detail about the horrific murders and the investigation that followed, including interviews and statements from witnesses this is perfect for true crime fans.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read.

I've read alot about Charles Manson and the Manson Family over the years as well as watching documentarys. But this book has everything and more things that have never been told before Are in this book, what really happened the night of the murders was there a cover up could the murders have been prevented if Manson and Susan Atkins was arrested for their other crimes. What I found intresting is that the many chances the police had to arrest Charles Manson and the Manson Family but the police kept letting them go, the big thing in this book is was there a cover up was someone in law enforcement protecting Manson and who else was involved..

I really enjoyed this book.. but it is a very long book and does go onto a lot of detail about the crimes but that's a good thing, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who's interested in true crime books and Charles Manson

The title of this book is misleading. Although Charles Manson and the reasons for the horrific murders his followers carried out on his orders is described in detail, large parts of the story are merely a regurgitation of facts already known about the 1960's, such as the CIA's "Operation CHAOS" and FBI's Cointelpro - aimed at disrupting and discrediting various protest organisations of the time, the incredible tale of Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West - a noted psychiatrist who was involved the CIA's mind control program, Project MKUltra and who may possibly have met Charles Manson because he was in San Francisco at the same time as the cult leader. O'Neill even ventures into the murky world of the multitude of conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and provides a wealth of detail about various counterculture events which shaped the latter half of the 1960's.
The author's scattergun approach to reporting becomes steadily more wearing and having waded through three quarters of this book, I found myself skipping pages in a bid to finish what had become a tedious job of trying to give a comprehensive review O'Neill's work. He admits that his investigation became an obsession with 190 volumes of notes on witness interviews and thousands of legal documents he studied over a 20 year period.
One the plus side, he does reveal many discrepancies surrounding the trial of Charles Manson and "The Family" as his followers were known. For example, Shahrokh Hatami, personal photographer to the murder victim, actress Sharon Tate, tells O’Neill that he learned of the murders by telephone, from an an alleged intelligence agent named Reeve Whitson, 90 minutes before the police were called to the murder scene. Hatami - an Iranian immigrant - alleges that Whitson and prosecution attorney Vincent Bugliosi then coerced his testimony by threatening him with deportation.
A deputy District Attorney discloses that was ordered to ensure Manson’s name did not come up in evidence in the murder trial of Bobby Beausoleil several weeks before Manson was implicated in the Tate-La Bianca killings. Beausoleil was found guilty of the murder of his friend Gary Hinman, an associate of Manson who, Manson claimed, had stolen money from him.
He also uncovers interviews with witnesses that were withheld from Manson's defence lawyers and statements from Los Angeles police detectives who insist that vital evidence in the case was destroyed. I believe this book would be a far better read if it had been properly edited to remove some of the blind alleys which O'Neill drags the reader down and many of the pointless interviews with witnesses who contradict his allegations or can't remember events from 40 or 50 years ago. The author also seems to have some sort of vendetta against prosecutor Bugliosi who wrote a book, "Helter Skelter" about the Manson Family murders which became the best selling true crime book of all time. To be fair, O'Neill does show up many glaring deficiencies in the prosecution case as well as puzzling failures of police and social workers to have Manson returned to jail after he committed several criminal acts while on probation.
For anyone who has no knowledge of Charles Manson, the Tate-La Bianca murders, various conspiracy theories and the drug culture and sexual mores of the 1960's, "Chaos" would be a good place to start. But the book is still far too long and, despite O'Neill's best efforts, there's no satisfactory conclusion to his investigation.

There is an awful lot to take in here, but ultimately I found the book pretty unsatisfying because as the author asks himself frequently throughout, where does it all go? This details the investigation into Charles Manson and the Family following the brutal Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, but also looks at the various inconsistencies in the prosecution's case, the possible links between Manson and the CIA and consequently the Kennedy Assassination. For me, while the author has clearly dedicated two decades to gathering the information contained in the book, there doesn't seem to be a narrative thread that effectively links all of the disparate pieces together. As a result, it reads like several different chapters about different things rather than a cohesive argument. Similarly, I was a little disappointed that the focus is so diffuse. Rather than zero in on one inconsistency and create a narrative around that, O'Neill tries too hard to include everything, which just makes for a bit of an outfacing read. Overall, there is definitely some very interesting stuff here - the chapters on MKULTRA and LSD were particularly fascinating - but it just doesn't hang together very well.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is a lot of fun to read. I don't know if there's something concrete or it's just a bunch of conspiracy theories but I had a lot of fun.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.