Customer Reviews

Home Safe Home

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There is an introduction in one chapter of this book about Jeff Sulkin who was the son of a man who designed Top Secret construction and security buildings. Sulkin has drawn from this culture for designing high-end houses and from my viewpoint this must have been the first writing about safe rooms now called panic rooms.

I did not expect to read the depth of information that I found in some of the chapters, because Maxwell seemed to seek out varied and really interesting characters that no one ever reads about anywhere else. It ranged from a burglary detective off Boston P. D. to Sulkin to Edward Carson Beal, an architect in California, a tort expert who explained the law and dispelled rumors about newsworthy burglars. I am a crime victim myself and I too think that police departments are not up on everything. For instance, they teach that you should stop your newspapers and mail when you go on vacation. Good grief, that assumes that everybody who works at the post office and media corporations, and their pals and relatives who work at those businesses would never burgle your house. One thing that gets me, is how many security experts there are out there, especially now. And after you read this book you realize that the real thing is few and far between. This woman seems to be an expert and after reading the Preface and what happened to her, I feel really sorry about what she went through, that made her write a book like this one. But, it's good. Real good.

Home Safe Home, though it was published in the early 90's, I find to be far more up-to-date than Neighborhood Watch lectures I have attended on both the East and West Coasts. I was impressed by finding entire chapters on doors and locks. ...It is noted in the book that the statistics used by the Maxwells came from the most credible sources today, from major federal and urban police agencies. It may interest readers that the Maxwells, who have given lectures via television shows and on radio, are very critical of crime statistics and how they may be skewed for political reasons or to protect the image of a city. There was apparently scandal on this point, in two major American cities during the mid-Nineties. I found the book a Bible for being efficient about home security and its too bad Neighborhood Watch keeps photocopying the same sheets year after year, without what is shared in this book. I wish these people would put out a new volume and update what is already on fast-track.

This book is a must read for anyone concerned about home security/safety. The subject detail and sources are unreal. This lady really did her homework. I plan to send copies to loved ones.

No one book can cover everything one might like to know about household security, but Home Safe Home is written by someone "who has been there" and does not want to go "there" again. Helen Maxwell has become a real world expert, and covers a number subjects not seen elsewhere, including chapters for the blind and the deaf. While the Maxwells list of resources includes both Handgun Control and the NRA, they are extremely wary of the risk of having a gun in the home. For those who do have a gun, or are considering getting one for security, Keeping Your Family Safe is essential additional reading. In their book, Doctors Wheeler and Whipfler concisely lay out the subject of guns: from dispelling myths to selection and safety, from children and storage to first aid. Since just having a gun is no guarantee of being safe and effective in a crisis, the Doctors strongly encourage the gun owner to get advanced training from a list of schools run by recognized firearms experts, and suggest an extensive collection of books to read, every one of which is outstanding. Finally, since there are only eight pages of illustrations in the Maxwell book, Jim Grover's Street Smarts, Firearms & Personal Security would also be especially worthwhile for its suggestions on securing the home against a break-in.

The problem with this book is that its not really possible to implement many of the suggestions. You would need unlimited time, money and total control of your living space.

So really, all this does is make you aware of how vulnerable you are. Great.