Bodies We've Buried: Inside the National Forensic Academy, the World's Top CSI TrainingSchool (Paperback)

by Jarrett Hallcox (Author), Amy Welch (Author), Bill Bass (Foreword) "It's always interesting to meet a new class on the first day..." (more)
Key Phrases: major case prints, mock crime scene, forensic light source, Body Farm, Jarrett Hallcox, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The latest authors to capitalize on the CSI craze are well situated to add something new to the literature. Hallcox and Welch run the National Forensic Academy, a state-of-the-art, hands-on crime scene investigation school for people in law enforcement, but those impressive credentials do not translate into a good read. Despite some interesting war stories, the bulk of the book is an overly technical, step-by-step description of the course of study given to academy students ("The problem, however, is that ninhydrin is not reliable when it comes to the zinc chloride process"), which is likely to glaze the eyes of all but the most die-hard fans of the genre. In addition, the authors' failed efforts at sardonic humor ("Though there are probably a few people we could think of to stick in front of a moving vehicle, our grant does not allow us to kill anybody"), and clunky, florid phrasing ("With the first lightning strike of a tree witnessed by man, he has forever been obsessed with this primordial heat") make what should have been a fascinating insider account a hard slog. B&w photos. (Jan. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
With CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and its spin-offs dominating television ratings, interest in forensic science has been on the rise. When the National Forensic Academy opened its doors, administrators Hallcox and Welch were desperate for students; now they admit only police officers and have three-year-long waiting lists. Their book outlines the 10-week program and shares with readers the gritty reality of forensic work. The authors caution that the actual work is a lot less glamorous than it looks on TV and often involves crawling through the mud or examining putrid corpses. And nothing is as simple as it seems, from photographing crime scenes--where the details, from film speed to lighting, are crucial--to processing evidence, which is selectively sent off to a state lab to be dealt with. Students in the course also pay a visit to the infamous Body Farm, where they examine and analyze decomposing corpses. Given the popularity of CSI and its many imitators, many will find reading about the real science enlightening and engrossing. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425215091
• ISBN-13: 978-0425215098
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #146,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed but good reading, January 26, 2006

By	Fred Bortz "Dr. Fred" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bodies We've Buried: Inside the National Forensic Academy, the World's Top CSI Training School (Hardcover)

I reviewed this book for several newspapers and have my full published review posted at my online Science Shelf book review archive, where you can find details to support my conclusion.

The authors (Jarrett Hallcox and Amy Welch, not Bill Bass who only wrote the foreword) manage the world's premier CSI training program, but they are not trained scientists and sometimes misstate the science. Despite obvious errors (at least to someone with some scientific training), the book is good reading when the authors stick to their personal observations of the famed "Body Farm" and other venues of the ten-week hands-on training course.

They are also not professional authors, and better editing could have helped them avoid some lapses into self-promotion as well the above noted problems with the science. If you like watching the CSI franchise on TV and you're looking for entertainment without absolute accuracy, this book is a good choice.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great as a reference book too!, April 22, 2007

By	Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bodies We've Buried: Inside the National Forensic Academy, the World's Top CSI Training School (Hardcover)

This gem gives readers a look inside the National Forensic Science Institute. This is where students are trained in burial recovery with actual human/animal remains. These are the things that are normally off-limits to anyone outside of law enforcements, medical fields, scientists, and the like.

***** Within these pages are detailed studies, complete with photos, on blood spatters, arson, organic decomposition, photo evidence, DNA, and so much more. It was written by two instructors, so all the information is dead on (no pun intended) and quite unnerving at times. I found this book to be so intense that I could have almost used it as a textbook. With the photos to show me exactly what was being explained (in text) to me, I could easily see everything being played out in my mind's eye.

This is all VERY realistic and hard-hitting even though I was never (physically) at any real crime scene. One thing is for sure, I will never look at the world in the same way again. This book is going onto my Keeper Shelf and, I have no doubts, I will be referring back to it during many TV or movie scenes. (Why? To see if the evidence and the recovery of all the evidence, were really researched or simply thrown together in hope that no one above the intelligence of a slug would check behind the makers.) Highly recommended as a beginners reference or simply for those who want to know the truth. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A detailed peek inside the National Forensic Academy, May 11, 2007

By	Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The College Of Carnage. The Harvard Of Hellish Violence. The National Forensic Academy has earned many nicknames from its students. In this book, you'll find out why.

'Bodies We've Buried' takes us from day one of classes at this esteemed institution through all ten intensive weeks (two and a half months) of the program. From how to properly use a camera through an extremely detailed description of an actual autopsy (put on a glove and come feel this), the steps of a CSI investigator are outlined chapter by chapter.

Down On The Farm, Diggin Up Bones, It's A Rigorous Job But Someone's Got To Do It, Vinyl Resting Place, Heart Strings, and Spatter Up! are the best chapters in the book, gruesome and filled with extremely grisly details. These are the chapters that focus on dead bodies, blood splatter, bones, and "human effluence" of crime scenes.

There are also chapters on arson and bombings. (Did you know that there are five degrees of burns and not just three? The last two occur after death) The leading chapters tend to be the most boring, like the authors were warming up to a subject. Stick through the details of photography and fingerprinting to get to the "meat" of the subject. The authors themselves tend to become more relaxed as the subjects get gorier. There's lots of pictures, though very few are of the gruesome nature (but look out, some of them are!).

The details of this book show the tremendous impact that a good CSI can have on a crime scene, and the problems that an untrained CSI can inadvertently cause. I can hardly imagine spending two and a half months in the intensive training program that these dedicated people go through. Though close to being a technical novel, I ate this book up in a single day - it's that interesting.

There's a detailed Glossary of terms, a "Who's Who In Forensic Investigation" giving specific titles of who handles what evidence, a Resources bibliography, Acknowledgements, and an extensive Index. If your truly into the field of dead bodies, then this book is worth the hardcover price, otherwise wait for the paperback. Also, check out 'Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers' by Mary Roach. Enjoy!