Customer Reviews

The MANHUNTER

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Mr. Pascucci makes you believe he is this unstoppable, law breaking, law enforcement officer. While I was down at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Glynco, Ga, I got to meet a couple of Senior Deputy U.S. Marshals who knew Mr. Pascussi. They basically told me that he was a slime ball and lied about alot of the book. If you want to read an interesting book read this one, but don't believe everything you read. Mr. Pascussi was arrested by the F.B.I for bribing elected officials and was embarrassed in front of a large gathering with Safir's(NYC Police Commissioner) approval. But, you have to do what you have to do, and Mr. Pascussi did. The U.S. Marshals Service will stab you in the back, so it is right for Mr. Pascussi to take a few stabs at them. Thanks to Chief Larry Parker(Eastern District of NY),Inspector Thomas Spillane(OIA),and Assistant Director Wayne"Duke" Smith.

Personally I'd rather read about this sort of thing than do it. Pretty provocative stuff. If someone is going to publish a biography, they'd better have a life worth reading about. Pascucci fills that bill several times over. The book let me ride along on an intense and enthralling career, giving me second-hand experience and lingo to throw around, and fuel for imagination. There are some downsides. The writing is distractingly mediocre. Pascucci has an ego so obese that it leaves little room for the reader, but a good deal of room for skepticism. Sometimes I wanted to yell at the book, "okay, you're God's gift to truth, justice and the American way. Shut up, already." but I kept reading, anyway, to the credit of the book. But the ego is part of the package. After a little surfing, I didn't find any evidence to argue that he really was the greatest modern manhunter. The only substantial criticism I'd level against the book was that it spent too much time on numbers, names, statistics, and bureaucratic run-downs and showed almost nothing of his supposed genius for "getting inside the heads" of the men he hunted, how he went about it, or the details of how it adversely affected him. That was why I'd gotten the book in the first place. But I still don't feel it was a wasted read (and my reading time is about as thin as it could be). If you watch cop shows or crime movies, I'd recommend it. But as I said in the title, if you work in a law enforcement capacity, avoid it. It will only annoy you. Cops are as bad as women, if you know what I mean.

I liked this book, but am seeing from other reviews that a lot of it is made up. I have to say, I was wondering if some of it was made up when I read it. That he alone got Christopher Boyce to confess to robbing banks seemed a little too easy. Maybe he did. But, actually, I didn't even KNOW Christopher Boyce (the Falcon "spy" in the movie FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN) had escaped prison and robbed banks, so was interested in that section of the book for that. But I thought Pascucci was spot on when he states that Boyce didn't sell secrets to the Soviets for idealogical reasons, as he claimed, but because Boyce is a purely immoral sociopath. The one problem I really had with the book is Pascucci states so blithely how he would sign his own search warrants, without ever getting a judge's approval, so he was making all these illegal searches, but figures the ends justifies the means. Uh, the laws were written for a reason. That he so cavalierly forged search warrants--and he does it throughout the book--appalled me.

I will keep this short. Being a police officer with over twelve years of experience, having worked with U.S. Marshals, and having been assigned to a Federal Task Force, I can assure you there is more fiction than truth in this book. I read this garbage and immediately gave it away to a charitable organization as soon as I finished it. I wasted money on this one.

I met and worked with Pascucci years ago and the ego and arrogance he portrayed in the book are very accurate. However the details of his career are full of fiction. Although he did rise up high in the Marshals Service, he ended his career in disgrace when he was arrested by the FBI for extortion. (a subject which he just glossed over at the end of the book). He was convicted of that crime and did time in the federal prison system. As I read this book years ago, I got disgusted with his twisting of the truth and his self-glorification, because I knew better. Pascucci might spin a good action tale, but he is absolutely not a hero. With that being said, the book is full of action and is not a bad read if taken with a grain of salt.

While the other reviewers may call the author names, none dispute that he actually was a US Marshal etc.
If you had to read only one cop-autobio, I think you'll get more enlightenment from John Douglas' MINDHUNTER. But having read that, you would get a broader picture by reading Pascucci, rather than getting more-of-the-same from say one of Douglas's sequels.
EITHER of these quality-cop-autobios can be had for less than a dollar used - great bargains, relative to say pure fiction.

I actually enjoyed some of this book. That is only because I blanked out the fact this book was written as non-fiction. As a dime novel, this book was only lacking good artwork! I'm not sure if this book was written in Pascucci's own words, or ghostwritten by Stauth. For Pascucci's sake, I hope it was simply embellishment by an enthusiastic co-author. Phrases such as, "I like to blow big holes in bad people," had me cringing. This guy should be writing scripts in B-movies. Unfortunately, the cartoonish dialogue detracted from what might have been an interesting read.

Basically Pascucci was one hardcore marshal, and did things most of us will never do. He went into great detail about his adventures, but he also tried to B.S. his away around the reasons he was kicked out of the Marshals Svc. Other than that the book was a decent read. The only other complaint was his rip-off of John Douglas' "The Mindhunter" cover. Was it just a coincidence..Manhunter...Mindhunter..the cover of the books are to similar to be accidental.

John Pascucci may very well have been one of the most decorated Marshals in the history of the service, but he also has one of the biggest egos as well. The seedy truth of what the Marshals go through day by day is presented in a pure, unvarnished fashion, and that is the shining quality of this book. However, Pascucci's arrogance, egotism and self-absorption serves as a severe detriment to the overall enjoyment it. His "look at me and the things I have done" attitude surfaces much too often. He tells about his being able to cross the Mexico-U.S. border in a special lane because he is a "federale." Elsewhere, he points out that, as a senior U.S. Marshal, he reserves an executive-type suite, while his underlings while away their hours in your run-of-the-mill Motel 6. His justification for this is that the government "owes him one." Don't misunderstand me. The book is very engrossing and undeniably realistic, but it is marred by Pascucci's constant self-glorification.

Not that thats a bad thing. In that line of work, you need to the HMFIC or at least a bad MF to get some of that crap done. Quite a journey this fella had. Whats he do now for a rush, shock himself with a defribillator? It seems the book goes from one rush to the next. Dedication to the job.......thats it.