Customer Reviews

Evil Among Us: The Texas Mormon Missionary Murders

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In EVIL AMONG US, author Ken Driggs provides us with a glimpse into the seriously deranged mind of Robert E. Cleason - forger, con man, gun nut, murderer. Cleason is a dyed-in-the-wool sociopath, commonplace in the world of true crime, but he brings a breath of fresh air to the table in that he is schizophrenic as well.
Cleason, though unaccomplished, made his way through the world by lying to people, presenting himself as a ranking member of the Mormon Church and a former CIA agent whose life was in constant danger because he "knew too much." And this is only a partial listing.
Along the way, he obtained drivers licenses in a variety of names, physically abused his wife, forged documents, shot up a hospital emergency room, and did a number of stints in jail. He was as well an avid hunter who, while he killed animals for meat, also just plain enjoyed killing. And during one of his periodic Mormon episodes, Cleason, for no other apparent reason other than it just seemed like the right thing to do, shot and killed two young Mormon missionaries who had come, at his invitation, to visit him.

Driggs does a fine job of research in EVIL AMONG US, and the depth of his investigation into the mind of Robert Cleason is outstanding. What I found particularly interesting is that apparently Cleason had episodes, which became more frequent and longer lasting as he got older, during which he lost contact with reality, increasingly believing his delusions to be real. While the CIA man thing seems to have originally been part of Cleason's con, he came to believe it himself due to his steadily worsening schizophrenia.
Driggs' writing is adult and professional, eschewing the lazy drama in which the hacks (you know who you are) indulge in their eternal quest to turn true crime into marginally true soap opera. I had a little trouble following the time line due to Driggs' tendency to jump around early on in the book, but after the first 100 pages or so this ceased to be a problem.

This is a good true crimer, well written, and with a slightly different feel than most.
Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

Just wanted to add my two cents about this book. It was an interesting murder story, but as the book was so poorly written, I could barely get through it. It just seemed to me that the author was struggling to make his words flow smoothly, the tone was kinda jerky if you know what I mean. I also thought his use of language was a little childish.

this book is very good and yet very scary to think of how there is many wicked ness around us especialy to know how the mind of the person that commit this murder think's. I meet the father of one of the young men killed. He is a very strong man. Even if he had his son taken a way. This book gives in detail how this young men were killed. If you are intrested in seen how evil and wicked people can be then this is the book for you. It made me think of how thing's have changed so much. To see how now it is more comon to kill and be ok with it. This book will make you think, it will scare you and even want to make you be over protective of you'r children. But as i meet the father of this young man ,it was so amazing for me to see how much faith this man has.To know his son died serving the lord. peace comes to him.He fear's more for the person that commited the murder. To know he will have to answer to the savior. This book will also explain to you on how , and why this young man gave, their every thing to go and serve a mission . I recommend this book to every one

Ken Driggs went to great lengths to check and recheck his facts, and to overcome the cultural differences between England and the USA. It is an extraordinary story and has resulted in changes in English gun laws. It was because we had the early draft of the book that Police in England took the story of Kleasen seriously and he was brought to justice here. He is now serving a 3 year sentence for firearms offences and will return to the USA at the end of that period. He wants to go to Southern Germany but will be denied that access under European deportation regulations. His first choice of destination in the US is Austin Texas - the scene of his worst crimes. If Texas declines to have him then he will alomost certainly return to Buffalo NYS. Be warned Kleasen is every inch the predator he always was, he still craves guns and the excitement of the kill. He will look for a lonely older woman with a house and pension of her own and then move in. Then like all his other wives he will physically abuse and rob her. This is not a "slasher" book, but a very salutory cautionary tale. Who am I within the story?- You will find me under my pseudonym of Vera Fawden.

Ken Driggs has crafted a non-fiction spell-binder of true crime. What he chronicles is so evil and so bizarre that you will wish it to be fiction - but it is not. Not only is Driggs an excellent writer, but he knows of what he writes. I know, because I worked with him on several murder cases and Ken Driggs doesn't stop researching and investigating until he gets to the truth. Here, he has presented the truth in a very readable book which I recommend not only for true crime buffs, but for those who enjoy a good how-done-it murder mystery.