Customer Reviews

A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson Investigation

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This work is excellent! Was hard to "put down." Brings to light much more than has been defined and described in other works and reports on the case. The book is very well written and the many transcripts of the case provided are an excellent way to understand the real depth of the case. It is very investigative and legal in many parts, but, the author does a wonderful job of making Laci Peterson real to the reader and you come away understanding more who Laci was. The author also did an excellent job describing the pain and suffering of the familes that were destroyed by this event; and so Catherine Crier has mastered the "weaving" of both the factual and the emotional sides of the case. There is a significant amount of information provided, and new information including transcripts of conversations and facts that the jury did not hear. If you have followed this case at all, this is "a must read." If you have not followed the case then this is the book that covers it all. A real work of authority on all facets of the case. Very highly recommended! 5 stars +

This book is far better than Amber Frey's book "Witness to the Prosecution" mainly because it's not "gossipy" and it's written by a former judge who understands the total package of evidence -circumstantial and direct. She takes a reader through a linear time-line of behavior and documents it with credible sources. Unlike other sensational journalistic accounts of case law I think Crier does a great job of compartmentalizing emotional aspects that are only relevant in an ancillary way but do shed light on intent.

I still think that typically juries do the right thing and trust the process, so I think this book is a reliable testament that justice unfolds most of the time. Great book. Well done.

A Deadly Game lives up to Crier's reptuation in the legal and reporting fields and uncovers countless details of the case that even avid followers do not know. We are taken from the first day through and get a behind the scenes perspective from law enforcement's point of view. Plus we hear from witnesses and read reports never covered in the trial or in reporting. This case has fascinated the nation but I think a few have had some sort of doubt about Peterson's guilt due to lack of forensic evidence. This detailed account will put any doubts to rest. Plus, it finally gives readers a hold on who Scott Peterson really is and the approach he took toward life (and women) from where he is coming in his psyche. I found it interesting that he didn't just have "affairs" as if that wouldn't be bad enough. The truly remarkable thing about his extramarital ramblings is that he approached these relationships as one might do if he was single, with all out gusto. This is a must read for anyone interested in the case.

Now that Judge Delucchi imposed the formal death sentence on Scott Peterson, many intrigued by the case will be looking for books to recap the investigation and trial that led to Peterson receiving the harshest penalty for killing his wife Laci and unborn son Conner. Catherine Crier's A Deadly Game is the most detailed and informative Peterson book out right now. It certainly blows Amber Frey's scant and fluffy book out of the water. Crier's work is 436 pages of text with details from the investigation previously unseen by the media and jury, including a photo section in the back of previously unpublished evidence files. Crier uses her vast resources as a Court TV journalist to provide an important work that will impress even the most devoted Peterson case follower.

First Crier covers Peterson's early deceit with other girlfriends that set the stage for the many lies to come, then she plunges into the investigation demonstrating reasons why officer Al Brocchini became suspicious of Scott from the start. Little details that would have been missed by most observers (i.e. the oddly located indentation left in the Peterson bed, pg. 19) were red flags to Brocchini. In the early chapters, I, as the reader, could sense Peterson's assumptions of getting away with the crime crumble before his eyes. Peterson obviously did not anticipate the case taking on a life of its own, with the massive search parties looking for Laci and his house and office being closed to him for a time for investigative purposes. Conversations between Peterson and the investigators are revealed here with some details published for the first time (Scott wanted a receipt for items of his and Laci to be used by search dogs) as well as information considered prejudicial for the jury (one porno site on Scott's laptop was entitled "Raping the Teacher"). This book focuses on the investigators in the case and clearly shows how their work in the first twenty-four hours were one of the key elements in the ultimate conviction (for example, Scott moved a lot of evidence from his truck and around his house after the initial meeting with Brocchini).

The one qualm I have is that there is a lot of repetition in this book, even in the first chapters. I lost count at how many times Crier noted that the dog McKenzie was given to Scott as a present from Laci. It probably could be condensed to a less bulky work and be just, if not more, revealing. Still, this book is rich in information that anyone considering a career in police investigation should read. Catherine Crier knows her stuff.

WOW!! If you have any interest in this case - you should definitely read this book - it is absolutely riveting!
There are tons of things we hadn't even known about - details that didn't come out in the media or in the trial.
Reading this book is like watching a compelling thriller with tons of drama, twists and turns, and surprises.........sadly, the fact that it really happened makes the case that much more chilling and tragic.
It is truly an examination of a cold-blooded sociopath........and how he used his charm and charisma for evil.

I couldn't put this book down. What I found most intriguing was the way Scott and Jackie and Lee Peterson responded to the growing evidence against him. Instead of being concerned, or scared, all three of them developed this bizarre rage, arrogance and cattiness toward the police and, most distastefully, toward the Rocha family. Though I don't blame Jackie or Lee Peterson for the crimes of their son, this book does shed an interesting light on their own very dysfunctional personalities and how a sociopath could blossom in such an environment. Lee Peterson is a man who muttered "F*#K you" to Ron Grantski after Scott was sentenced to death. Jackie Peterson referred to Sharon Rocha, in the midst of all this tragedy, as a "bi#@h". When Scott told his dad he was wrong to have had the affair with Amber while Laci was pregnant, his dad's response was "two-thirds of people have affairs,it's no big deal." Really, this is a family primed for a study in total psychological dysfunction. The book offers firm evidence of Scott's guilt (for anyone out there with any lingering doubt) and shows the hard work that went into this investigation. The police were on top of this from the moment Laci went missing and this is refreshing for us, the public,to know. The book was highly readable except for the plethora of typing errors (a rush to print, perhaps?).The one thing I came away not really understanding is Scott's sociopathy. Crier offers some convincing evidence that this mental illness was at work in Scott for many, many years but does not help us to understand how he was able to hide it for so long. How did Laci, who spent so much time with him, not see this? Was Laci not a perceptive person? We just don't know. What we do know is that no one seems to have known Scott Peterson, including his parents who don't seem to know much of anything it turns out.

There is almost a bombshell per page in this riveting, intelligent, and horrifying book by Court TV legal analyst Catherine Crier, whom I have always found fair-minded, even and measured in her television broadcasts.

In the same even-handed way, but with a definite point of view, which she tells us immediately, Crier meticulously lays out the chilling profile of a sociopath and the crime he committed without, seemingly, any guilt or feeling. The author tells us almost from the start that she believes Scott Peterson to be a classic sociopath. And then she simply lets the story tell itself, using reams of material never allowed in court, and never publicized before now.

The case, for those of us who followed it from Day One, comes alive again as we follow the detectives from their initial response to an anguised family's phone call (Scott never called the police about his missing wife; he left that to his frantic mother- and father-in-law) to the web of increasingly bizarre and contradictory lies that Scott told with impunity.

As becomes obvious in very short order, despite Geragos' claims to the contrary, it was not the police who suspected Scott from Day 1, but rather Scott himself, with his bizarre, flat behavior and endlessly ridiculous lies, who put himself in their faces as the likely suspect. And their meticulous behind-the-scenes fitting of the pieces of the puzzle only strengthened what Scott all but told them from the first.

I mentioned above that the book is horrifying; in terms of what a sociopath can do, the lies that come so easily, the complete lack of human feeling or remorse, the intense narcisism that these people display and for which Peterson was the poster boy, is really scary. And of course the crime he committed was completely vile.

As for bombshells, those of us riveted to the case didn't know everything. I kept finding myself saying, WHAT? WHAT? I didn't know that! He's so much guiltier than I ever thought!

The Rochas come across in the book as more human--yes, Sharon Rocha can use the F word--and more tragic than they ever appeared on television, if such a thing is possible. As for the Petersons, as in Anne Bird's book, they do not fare well. At least not in my opinion. While I have complete sympathy for their own bewilderment and grief, they were scarcely likeable people behind the scenes, particularly Jackie.

This book is well-written (although it has its share of grammatical errors and typos; a rush to print?), intelligent, meticulous, and completely mesmerizing. Even if one had lived on another planet and never heard of the Peterson case, it reads like a first-rate True Crime tale, worthy of the best of them. Read it and see!

This is better than the books on this same subject that preceded it, because there is substance. And Catherine takes the readers on a very detailed journey of the investigation, and through the penalty hearing.

I chose to read this because I wanted to know what was different from the detailed televised interviews and printed media.

The Scott Peterson case represents problems in how many people are too busy living their lives, without being connected enough with others - they have forgotten the importance of earning one another's trust, during each interaction.

The deadly game that Scott defined himself by, and everyone in his life bought into, was the ability to disown his emotions and his thoughts in a way that forces others to perceive him as being more of what they lacked.

And as the investigation developed, Scott was confronted with parts of himself that he had spent his entire life disowning. His reaction was always to lie, and to try to force his interlocutors to question themselves.

When you put a salesperson up against seasoned police detectives the deadly game can no longer be played, because generally speaking, cops are experts in reading everyone who they come into contact with - their careers depend upon this.

It was also great to read from this book about many details about Laci Peterson's habits and expectations.

For those who still claim that there was no evidence, I invite you to read this book, and be honest about the thoughts that rise up from within yourself.

It's easy to actually chart reasons why he is guilty as you read this book.

I bought this book a couple of days ago and could not put it down. There is so much more insight into this horriable crime. That we never seen or heard on the news. If you had doubt about the Horny Basterd (which is how he names himself).You are sure not to now!!! excellent Job Catherine. I still am wondering though how Laci reacted when she found Scott and that other women in bed together. It would have been nice to of had that girls input on Laci's and Scott's reaction so we would know her reaction to Amber Fry if she indeed did know about her and how he reacted did he go after her yell at her or what. What a chilling tell!!!

A Deadly Game is an excellent, in-depth look at one particular sociopathic type. It is detailed and as close to objective as any book thus far on the case and yet written so vividly that it is near impossible to put down.
The author's reasoning is solid and backed up by actual transcipts which shed light on the whole case. I came away with a real sense of loss for Laci's family as well as a deeper awareness of how and why Scott could have done it.
In all honesty, I was so overwhelmed by all the media hoopla that I didn't even intend to buy this book but I actually read some sections of it while waiting for a friend to purchase another book in a bookstore...by the time, she got through the checkout line, I HAD to buy this book. It was simply that well written.
After you finish it, I'd suggest you try reading The Sociopath Next Door. If you do, you'll realize how easily sociopaths fit in to society (most aren't even in jail!) and the information from both books may very well save your life and/or help you identify the next person who could commit such a crime.