Murder by scripture dominates this compelling if unevenly told story about kidnapping and mass murder performed by an extremist faction of Latter-day Saints. SassÇ prosecuted the case; Widder is an Ohio attorney. Jeff Lundgren was a consummate religious demagogue, with charisma, physical prowess, a talent for seducing the insecure, and the zeal to be ``carnal, sensual and devilish'' under a holy guise. An avid follower of Mormon teachings, he eventually concocted his own theology, sect, and military arsenal to fulfill an apocalyptic mission: to sacrifice a family of recalcitrant followers in preparation for Christ's Second Coming to Zion, which would take place not in Jerusalem but near Lundgren's headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio. SassÇ and Widder spin this ``baroque tale of religious and sexual perversion'' with legal savvy and a dominant tone of objective professionalism, but they indulge in graphic detail as a couple and their three young daughters are lured, blindfolded, bound, dragged into a barn, pushed into a pit, shot, and buried beneath piles of debris. The crime occurs at the book's midpoint, and is followed by an informative but anticlimactic account of subsequent arrests, exhumations, and the ``frantic scramble'' for evidence and other ``legal maneuvering.'' The narration becomes asymmetrical as SassÇ breaks into the first- person to confess how her personal biases (especially a dislike of organized religion) affected her prosecution efforts. Stranger still was the defense, which attempted to show Lundgren not so much as a thief, wife-abuser, coprophile, and killer but as a misguided fanatic whose actions were ``logical extensions'' of Mormon doctrine. Ironically, this argument is obliquely reinforced by SassÇ and Widder's digression into the history of Mormonism and its founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., who advocated ``blood atonement'' for sins. Choppily told, but well-researched and sufficiently bolstered by SassÇ's insider's view of the case to appeal to anyone interested in keeping up with America's continuing cult-murder saga. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1991
ISBN: 1-55611-309-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Donald Fine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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