Customer Reviews

Killer with a Badge

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I live not only in New Orleans, but close to this incident. The victims are now my neighbors. I know most of the people involved. I was stunned at the care this author took to accurately relay the facts of this case, without unduly dramatizing anything. He perfectly described New Orleans East - the atmosphere - the lingo our natives use - and it makes the story real to me. I was worried since I was so close to the people and the event (I had coffee with the first 2 officers on the scene prior to the incident) I would be annoyed at the author's creative liberty. He did no such thing. He got to the heart of the NOPD at that time, to the individual police officers. And believe me, this is a real review, from a real person, with no tie to this book. (Unlike, possibly, the 'I bought 10 copies as gifts' reviewer). I tried to email the author to relay my thoughts (and memories of the characters in the book) and was unable to locate his email address.

Very impressive.

I live in New Orleans and remember when this crime happened. I am also a big true crime reader. The author did a fine job in telling this story. Antoinette is one of the most cold hearted killers I have ever read about. I could not put this book down.
I highly recommend this book!

Chuck Hustmyre, a retired ATF agent, is unusual among law enforcement professionals in that he is also an excellent writer. In KILLER WITH A BADGE, he has written a fast paced, thorough, and highly compelling true crime book about the mass murders in a New Orleans Vietnamese restaurant of two of the owners' children, Ha and Cuong Vu, and New Orleans Police Officer Ronnie Williams by seriously mentally ill New Orleans Police Officer Antoinette Frank and her younger felon boyfriend Rogers LaCaze.
Hustmyre not only reports the practically minute by minute action of the 24 hour period following the killings from crime scene to interviews to arrests, but he also weaves in the telling history of Frank's abysmal job performance on the force for the previous year as well as succinct summaries of both Franks' and LaCaze's trials.
Franks' childhood and young adulthood are discussed in sufficient detail that the reader begins to understand that something had been wrong with her for a long time, and one of the main stories here is that Frank, a woman who failed numerous NOPD psychological tests and interviews and who was deemed emotionally unsuitable for police work, was hired anyway by a force that ignored its own recommendations.

The only problem I had with the book - and it's minor - is that the only picture of Frank is grainy and it's hard to tell what she looks like. This would seem to be relatively simple and should have been better.
But KILLER WITH A BADGE is a fast paced, intense and outstanding book. Unreservedly recommended

Cover to cover, this is simply the best true crime book I've read. A story of a "Cop Killing Cop", kept me turning the pages in total disbelief and shock. Good work Agent Hustmyre. Thanks for writing this story.

Chuck Hustmyre's new book, Killer With A Badge, marks him as a new star author who will quickly become the darling of booksellers across the nation. This man can tell a story and he can write!

Killer With A Badge is the true story of a New Orleans Police Officer who, with her crack dealing boy friend, robbed a restaurant and shot and killed three people. One of them was another police officer! She is now the only woman on death row in Louisiana.

Those who like true, non-fiction books will love Killer With A Badge, and those who like novels will love Killer With A Badge. Hustmyre manages to bring this book alive in ways that show him to be a natural born story-teller right up there with the likes of Stephen King or John Grisham. Hustmyre is a major new talent and I predict his name will be all over the bestseller lists.

My advice is to grab a first edition and be like those who just happened to get an early copy of The Hunt For Red October and now have a fortune sitting on their shelf! I've ordered ten as Christmas presents and know I'm going to be a hero Santa --- Hustmyre's book is THAT good.

This is absolutely the best written true crime book I have ever read. Usually I never read a book but once, but this one I have read three times! And I thought "Body Dump" was a head above the rest, but this reigns supreme! The author makes it very real for you. He never lets you forget that these are human beings, at least the victims were! I can't wait for more from this author.

I bought this story because I saw Franks being profiled on Investigation Discovery's Deadly Women. I thought the book did a very good job of showing how manipulative Franks could be (forging signatures, doctor shopping to get an acceptable psych evaluation and then forging it when that was not achievable, etc.) The author also did an interesting job in showing how there were so many ways the death of Ronald Williams and the members of the Vu family could have been avoided. Franks was given a bad psych evaluation more than three times and forged and falsified the majority of her police application but was still hired and then showed gross inability to do the job and was retained. The book also does a good job of telling the story from multiple perspectives, using the detectives interviews, newspaper reports, court transcripts,etc. to really flesh out the story. The story is truly fascinating. I just regret that it's non-fiction and not just the product of someone's crazy imagination.

I readed this book in about two weeks. It is very well written and easy to follow along. The story it self is very sad. You have a cop who is not right in the head and plays on a young black guy who has no sense himself and commit a crime. The sad apart about it is that the kid is serving a long sentence for a confusing act.

Fast shipping....good book to read...book arrive as described...will order from company for all my reading needs Book arrived few days earlier

I got this book because the price was right and it was an interesting sounding case. The writer does an excellent job of setting up the characters involved. The book did seem to kind of bog down once the opening scene was complete but, then about halfway through it really got my attention. The author really does an excellent job with the relatives of the victims. You feel anger and frustration at the loss of life and the careless idiocy of the criminals. I don't read a lot of true crime. Mainly, because it stings knowing the events are not "just a story." But, if you enjoy true crime books then this one is a well written and appears to be a well researched story.