Customer Reviews

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

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'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.

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.

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.

It seemed that the ashes of the fire that claimed the lives of David Koresh and his followers had not even cooled when this book about the Branch Davidians, their Living Prophet Koresh, and the tense siege with law enforcement officers appeared on bookshelves at drug stores and supermarkets everywhere. Because of this, Clifford Linedecker's narrative clearly favors the law enforcement side of the tragic events and what inside information into the compound life seems to come from former members with understandly negative opinions about their experience at the compound. Linedecker does relate the fascinating history of the Seventh-Day Adventist splinter group and their long line of Living Prophets, for this the book might prove interesting to True Crime fans, but many of the facts and the characterization of life in the compound has, over time, come into question.

I picked this up, I suppose two months ago, because I enjoy tales of true crimes and various infamy, and the subject of Waco appealed to me. I was a little too young to remember it clearly, but I remembered the big fire incident, so figured I may as well learn what the whole thing was about. This book was a great launching point for the endeavor.

This is no masterpiece of literature or amazing retelling of the events. Everything is presented in a fairly straightforward fashion, with the history that led up to Waco and a basic retelling of the events themselves, a good deal of which still remains shrouded in mystery.

I'll be honest: I thought the book was simplistic. But its simplicity is part of its beauty. Because the facts were unfettered by any poetry, I remember them, and I find I've suddenly accumulated a decent amount of knowledge about the whole affair and its history. The history was the most interesting part for me, with the various splits off from the Seventh Day Adventists and bizarre leadership changes really putting the whole event into context. I had trouble keeping some of the names straight and found a few details potentially conflicting (and not adequately explained) but for a quick, easy run-down, the book succeeds.

This is by no means a great piece of modern historical literature, or even a particularly great overview of Waco, but it is informative and easy. If you're just curious without wanting to be inundated or overwhelmed, the book works. It's a quick enough read that its rather lackluster properties are forgivable in view of the greater purpose of accumulating a bit of extra knowledge.

Before this book is even picked up, the reader should be aware that it was written by a journalist. Journalistic writing has its own set of stengths and weaknesses. It is good at dispensing a lot of material quickly and clearly, but usually lacks analysis and detachment. What it has in breadth, it lacks in depth. Linedecker's piece, written during the tragedy and just after it, is a clear example of this.

I liked the book's support of law enforcement. Too many critics have lambasted the ATF and Janet Reno for the raid, likening the authorities to a police state. But even if only half the charges made against Koresh were true, a raid was in order. And in any event, the ATF could hardly send everyone home following the bloody shootout, nor wait a full year for the cult to run out of food.

The author's contempt for conservative, religious, rural America hurt his understanding of the event. He seems to think of Christians as simple minded fools who are all much like Koresh. I suppose this is what one should expect from a contemporary journalist.

Ever since the Waco tragedy happend years ago, I've always wanted to know more about what happend there. This is the very first book that I picked up concerning the subject. While it never really went in depth with things, it did give me an understanding of what happend. I finished this book in one night, believe it or not, but I really enjoyed reading it. Since that time, I've picked up several other books concerning the subject (and you should too after reading this one). Even moreso, check out the documentary.."Rules of Engagement". Each one offers several different sides of the tragedy so you can understand what happend there better.
Overall, this is a good place to start to find out about it. This book is a good read. Definitely. Check it out.

I thought that "Massacre at Waco, Texas" was the best account of the events at Ranch Apocalypse that I've ever read. It is a simple, straightforward description of the beginning of the Branch Davidian Cult, the rise of David Koresh as their leader, and the eventual showdown with the ATF. Most importantly, Linedecker tells the story in an unbiased way, in contrast to the numerous versions that have been produced by conservatives and anti-government extremists. Now it is true that the book was rushed into publication shortly after the siege, and consequently contains a small number of factual errors. However, it is overall a well-researched and documented work. For example, consider Linedecker's approach to the issue of Koresh's alleged abuse of children. It is true that he includes the incident with the eight-month-old baby, a story that later proved to be questionable. However, Koresh did regularly beat children and have sexual relations with underaged girls, and Linedeckers backs up these assertions with an impressive array of court documents and testimony from former cult members. Since some of Koresh's defenders have attempted to downplay the reports about his abuse of children, it's obviously important to get the facts straight on this issue. The author also documents the process by which the Branch Davidians obtained and constructed illegal firearms and their plans for a major terrorist attack against the city of Waco.

With that said, I can't pretend that the book is well written. The writing is quite mediocre, with immature word choice, frequent grammar mistakes, and paragraphs that have just one sentence. Linedecker sometimes goes off on tangents that don't really contribute to the story for several pages. He provides long lists of people who were part of the cult, but doesn't really get into their heads to make us understand why they joined the cult. Also, the eight-page photo section doesn't really serve any purpose. Even so, I still recommend this book because I think that it's important for people to understand the truth about the tragic events that took place in Waco in 1993.