Customer Reviews

Blood Secrets: Chronicles of a Crime Scene Reconstructionist

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Blood Secrets" follows author Englert's police career, summarizing some of his cases and how he became a consultant on blood evidence. Readers also get a good overview on interpreting blood evidence. It's OK reading, but not particularly illuminating or spellbinding.

Blood Secrets is not only about blood spatter analysis and crime scenes, it is about the extraordinary life of Mr. Englert. It is this style of storytelling that keeps the reader engaged and interested in every turn of the 268 page hardcover. Along with his co-author Kathy Passero, Englert walks readers through what drew him to law enforcement as a kid, the mistake he made as a rookie cop that led him to blood spatter analysis and the celebrity cases that he has been involved in.

Not only was Englert involved in modern America's best known crime case, the O.J. Simpson trial, he was also worked on celebrity cases such as Robert Blake, Bob Crane, and Selena Quintanilla-Perez. This portion of the book presents details that you have never heard from the media.

It isn't just the celebrity cases that really make this book. It wasn't even the details of the other fascinating cases that Englert has worked on. It was the little things like the tale of being arrested as a kid that ultimately lead to his career in law enforcement, and the story of a Portland area high school student that helped solved a key puzzle in a celebrity trial and cementing her interest in detective work. Those personal details take Blood Secrets from being a text book like technical true crime script and elevate it up to a popular memoir about an interesting life and career.

There is one slow section of the book while the author describes the details and intricacies of blood spatter evidence. Unless you are in law enforcement or have a deep interest in crime scene analysis, you may struggle in these pages. This detail, however, is necessary and I applaud Englert for including it. Not only does this knowledge help the reader understand the details of crimes Englert describes in later chapters, it shows would-be CSI's that detective work isn't always high tech sexy as TV shows would like us to believe.

I strongly recommend this book to many different types of readers.

Off the bat, I was unduly impressed by Ann Rule's Foreward to the book. Even without her high praises, the book stands on its own.
The case studies were fascinating, and it was extremely informational without being preachy.
The only times the book dragged a bit was when he talked about his work trips. I was more interested in the crime element of the book versus the autobiographical aspect.
I was really surprised about his findings in the OJ Simpson case. I don't understand why they never introduced that evidence at the trial. It seems like with the author's findings, there's no way any jury would have voted to not convict.
Anyways, if you are a true crime fanatic like me, you'll find this book a captivating read!

A very good read, really kept my interest. Most of the stories had a human interest slant and showed the progress of detective work. Most interesting was the man who killed his entire family and then drove to the dessert and killed himself showing how a man who seemed to have it all became unhinged and took his loved one with him. Am looking for more like this. Cover art really gets your attention.

Want to really know how some really bad guys get caught red-handed? This books shows you exactly how--from a blood evidence perspective. Far more than just a clinical case by case recount, this book provides tons of behind-the-scenes details and accuracy than any glamorized, edited-for-TV depictions. Moreover, Blood Secrets presents the story of arguably the founding father of this crime work genre. You couldn't make this stuff up even if you tried, and just how Englert gets his start to how he proves the O.J's of the world are drop-dead guilty is both a fascinating and enthralling read. Englert dedicates his book "to the victims." That alone shows you there are still some good guys left in this world.

As a practicing forensic pathologist who also teaches students, I like books like Blood Secrets. The author gives a good, popularized overview of blood spatter analysis that I can understand and explain to students. As I am NOT a crime reconstructionist, I don't want too much detail--nor do I want too much theory.

Mr. Englert gives plenty of cases as examples, and this teaching technique is at least 2000 years old. It works, as giving a framework of persons to hang examples on makes for clearer explanation and more retention. The author also provides enough autobiographical information to make it interesting. The chapter on being an expert witness I found interesting, as I have been accredited as an expert many times. My experience has been much more benign than the authors--people want to believe professors know what they are talking about.

[...]

As one who loves a good mystery it was fantastic getting to read the real lowdown in this book by Rod Englert. I really enjoyed how he was able to marry the scientific detail with the excitement and grime of real cases. Rod did a great job sharing about his personal and professional life. Anyone who knows him personally would tell you he is the kindest, most warm hearted man you'll ever meet. He has given many families the great gift of discovering the cause of their loved ones death.

Awesome book and wonderfully written. Great to actually learn about and how Englert grew up and lerned to be a Blood Spatter expert.

If you ever wanted to know a bit more information about Dexter's day job, or about forensics in general, read this book. The cases that the author worked on were very interesting. His analysis of the OJ Simpson case makes you really think about how crazy it is he was acquitted. Highly recommend to anyone with interests in true crime or forensics.

I really enjoy true crime and forensic science but this book lacks interesting case stories and is almost devoid of any forensic specifics.

I was looking forward to reading this as it is my home town and the places he notes were my stomping grounds as a youth. Unfortunately it is awkwardly written and inconsistencies build until it is such a distraction its no longer interesting or fun to read.