Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott [Paperback]

James Jeffrey Paul (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2008

A young man kidnaps his own nephew and makes him his servant and sex slave. He abducts young boys, has his way with them, and, if they "know too much," kills them. He forces his nephew to participate in his crimes and to consign these little victims, sometimes still living, to their graves. His father is afraid of his own son. His son mocks and abuses him, falsely accuses him of incest and child abuse-and still he supports his son. His mother loves her boy and will do anything to help him-even commit murder. The Gordon Stewart Northcott case-a part of which is fictionalized in the major new Clint Eastwood film CHANGELING, starring Angelina Jolie-is still, eight decades later, one of the most nightmarish in American criminal annals. This book-nearly two decades in the research and writing-tells the whole story for the first time. Disclaimer: It should be noted that the film CHANGELING is not based upon this book, nor this book upon it. Both are entirely separate works, and one had no influence upon the other´s creation.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

JAMES JEFFREY PAUL was born in 1963. He is a native of Orlando, Florida and a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His play about Jack the Ripper and his last victim, Miller's Court, has been produced professionally and is available as an audio CD from Actors Scene Unseen. He spent nearly two decades researching and writing Nothing is Strange With You. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina

Product Details

• Paperback: 278 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris; 1st edition (September 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1436366267
• ISBN-13: 978-1436366267
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chilling, Well-researched, and As Real as it Gets, October 28, 2008

By 

J. Swope (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott (Paperback)

Clint Eastwood's movie, Changeling, is an examination of some very unusual circumstances whose occurrence hinges upon a crime committed by Gordon Stewart Northcott; but Changling only tells half of the story, the relatively sane half of the story. It is the other half of the story that James Jeffrey Paul brings to us so effectively in this work.

Cold and unfeeling as only a tiny percentage of our society's misfits could be without collective social reason breaking down, Northcott is revealed in a stunningly matter-of-fact style, allowing readers to be rational witnesses to true horrors irrationally committed. Paul doesn't sensationalize, doesn't titillate, doesn't exaggerate...and that is the genius of his style for this particular topic. It enables us to recognize how very damaged Northcott's personality must have been to enable his coldhearted commission of such foul acts.

This book is not drama, not formula, not engineered terror. It is historical reality horror revealing a personality the likes of which each of us can only hope we never run across. I recommend this book highly. Can't wait to see what they do with the movie.

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, slightly unpolished, November 4, 2008

By 

MCG (Los Angeles, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. Paul obviously spent a great deal of time and energy researching his subject, and his dedication shows. However, in his zeal to show us all of his research, he occasionally (sp?) seems to forget that he is writing for an audience.

The author does have certain viewpoints which he holds but in my opinion doesn't ever really substantiate. For instance, he is very clear that he doesn't believe Stewart's claims that his father raped his sister, (making her his mother), and that he doesn't beleive Stewart was sexually abused by his father. Aside from one 'eyewitness', Paul seems to base his opinion soley on his impression of the father from the court record (i.e. someone who lied repeatedly to help his son, despite vocal and probably physical abuse.) Now, I don't know that I believe this claim myself - it seems that nearly every family member in the Northcott clan was a compulsive liar - but I also don't see any real evidence to disprove it either.

All this to say that although in most cases Paul does a good job of just presenting the evidence, I felt that there were times he had clear opinions, which I was interested in because he obviously knows a great deal about the case, but in those instances I didn't feel he presented compelling evidence to back them up.

Because he wants to present the whole story, a good deal of the book is very repetitive (as the case was.) Also interesting is that while the Christine Collins case receives almost no mention (a paragraph), there are a number of pages dedicated to Clinton Duffy who, while a compelling historical figure, has almost nothing to do with the case.

Anyway - at times the book felt a little unpolished (like this review) but overall I felt I learned a lot about the case and was given a great deal of information in an interesting and easy to read manner. Well done.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Interesting Study, Well Researched, November 6, 2008

By 

C. TOLMIE (Queens, New York) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott (Paperback)

I was interested in reading up on G.S. Northcott after hearing about the movie coming out based loosely on his life and crimes. Of course there is very little out there, and much of it is inaccurate. This book has turned out to be a great, thorough resource. The story of this family and their crimes is compelling and I couldn't put the book down. The author did an amazing job researching this now nearly forgotten case, that shocked America in 1928. GS Northcott is a disturbing individual his story really makes you think about the horrors that man is capable of. Every member of this family is like a character in a movie, it's hard to believe this story was almost lost to history. The author has done a great job, and I highly recommend.