Massacre at Waco: The Shocking True Story of Cult Leader David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (St. Martin's True Crime Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

Clifford L. Linedecker (Author)

Book Description

Series: St. Martin's True Crime Library | Publication Date: June 15, 1993

He loved God. He loved guns. He was the Evil Messiah. "I am Christ," said self-proclaimed Messiah David Koresh, to his followers. He promised them Heaven...instead, he took them to Hell....

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (June 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312952260
• ISBN-13: 978-0312952266
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,256,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Biased and poorly sourced, but interesting., May 13, 2000

By 

Kenny Unferth - See all my reviews

This review is from: Massacre at Waco: The Shocking True Story of Cult Leader David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

'Massacre at Waco' was one of several that came out almost immediately after the burning of Mt. Carmel on April 19, 1993. In essence this book covers the events leading up to and including the fiery end of the Davidians.

The most glaring fault with this book is its extreme bias. When reading about the Davidian "cultists" you almost feel like you are reading of Cthulhu worshippers in an H.P. Lovecraft horror novel. On the other hand the section on the history of the ATF has the feel of being plagiarized from an ATF publicity pamphlet. Perhaps because he is the author of several 'true crime' books Mr. Linedecker does not seem able to look past the simple crime scene aspect of what went on at Waco. He covers Waco as if it had been bank robbery, and seems oblivious to any greater picture.

Other problems with this book are a result of when it was written. Coming out so soon after the fire, many of the myths had not yet been exposed. The apparently untrue myths propagated in this book include: the babies being beaten during the siege, tunnels under and around Mt. Carmel, the brave FBI agent running into the burning building to save Majorie Thomas, and the FBI agents seeing the fires being lit. Events that have come under dispute, such as who fired first in the initial raid, are reported with only the government's perspective, possibly because other viewpoints were not available when this book came out.

This book also has no footnoting, or even a solid sources section. To the extent that sources are made known they are stated in the text and it is often very difficult to figure out where Mr. Linedecker got what piece of information. When you can determine the sources, they appear to all be either mainstream media, government spokesmen, or people with a real anti Davidian axe to grind.

On the plus side, the book is well written. The writing is almost conversational, uncluttered with obscure phrases or references, and it makes for a quick and enjoyable read. Even in its coverage of events it has some good points. If you can get past the astonishingly biased account of the initial raid in chapter one, its history of the early Davidians in chapter two is as good as that given in other books, and more clearly written. The book's main strength, however, lies in its coverage of the intents and methods of government agencies. It does a pretty good job of explaining what the official motivations of the ATF's initial raid were, how the negotiation teams were set up, and it examines the motives (if uncritically) behind the various tactics employed by law enforcement throughout.

Although it has some interesting aspects, because of its deficiencies, I cannot recommend 'Massacre at Waco.' Instead I suggest 'The Ashes of Waco' by Dick Reavis.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible book, October 12, 2006

By 

Miss Hater "Avid Reader" (Kentucky,USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Massacre at Waco: The Shocking True Story of Cult Leader David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

I hate to leave a bad review on a Clifford LineDecker book because I like his writing style in general and I enjoy the true crime books he writes that seem to be his speciality,but I have to because this book is frankly awful.
It is probably the worst book he has ever written.
First of all,this book came out in June 1993,less than two months after the tragedy . Not much time for research on a subject as involved and complex as this one. In fact , knowing as much about this as I do, I can say with confidence that Mr. LineDecker did little if any independent research for this book. The entire thing consists mainly of information cobbled together from various newspaper articles and TV shows. The Author is also extremely biased against the Davidians. His prejudice against them shows on every page.
The book was slanted in support of the government. Throughout the book, I don't believe I saw even one instance where the Author took a less than hostile stance towards David Koresh & the Davidians or tried to see their side of the story. The Author also made a huge mistake in presenting and writing the book in the flashy, sensationalistic style in which he writes most of his books. That works well for many true crime books, but if you wish to have more than a surface understanding into the beliefs, history, experiences , faith and motivations of the people in a serious, devoted religious group like this,you can't write about them the same way you would a serial killer.It doesn't work. Its a shame that Mr. LineDecker didn't do more of his own research on a deeper level over a longer period of time instead of relying on media sources alone.I think he missed an opportunity to write a decent book on the tragedy and one of the biggest examples of government abuse of power in US History. Instead this book comes across mainly as a quickie,exploitive book designed to cash in on the interest in the aftermath of a huge tragedy. If you want to read everything you can about Waco, sure go ahead and read this book. Just don't let this book be the only book on Waco that you read.
For those interested, I suggested starting out with The Ashes of Waco by Dick Revis and A place called Waco by David Thibodeau.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed, October 5, 2006

By 

William J. Moyle (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Massacre at Waco: The Shocking True Story of Cult Leader David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you are looking for an open minded approach to the Branch Davidian tragedy, this is not the book to read. Linedecker does little more than regurgitate the status quo. He basically demonizes David Koresh and the Branch Davidians and upholds the, in my opinion, out of touch ATF and FBI agents of the raid. I didn't enjoy the book at all.