Customer Reviews

The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro

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Danny Casolaro was a relatively wealthy individual who decided he wanted to become a writer. He already had a few articles published in various magazines when he first learned about the PROMIS software. Basically, PROMIS is a database program with amazing flexibility and statistical abilities and can also be used to predict future trends, submarine locations, etc. This software was developed by private individuals with some help in funding by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, the government decided to [take] the program instead of paying for it and began to market it as their own. This information is widely known and well-accepted and much documentation of this exists (including a successful lawsuit by the software developers that was later overturned on the flimsiest of grounds through the interference of the powers that be). However, when Casolaro set out to write an article about the robbery of the PROMIS program by the government, potentially to sell it to a computer magazine, the deeper he dug, the more sinister things became.

First of all, he learned that the DOJ had a backdoor added into the program so that the U.S. could access the files of whoever they sold the PROMIS program to, including the governments of Israel and Canada. This led to further revelations and meetings with various informants that further revealed a complex web of deceit leading down some surprising avenues. Casolaro now changed his plans to writing a novel, perhaps even presenting it as fiction in order to avoid scaring off publishers. But before this happened, Casolaro was found dead from what was an obviously staged suicide and many of his notes disappeared.

This very well documented book (that also verifies and is verfied by information published elsewhere) chronicles Casolaro's story, citing many excellent sources, including court records and affidavits. It also attempts to recover and recount some of the information about the conspiracy Casolaro began to call "the Octopus" because of its many, long-reaching tendrils. While it is not always clear Casolaro was on the right track (Casolaro himself often took note of what information seemed manufactured to mislead and discredit him), it is clear he was onto something big given his subsequent murder and its sloppy coverup.

Casolaro might have led a comfortable life as a mediocre writer publishing the occassional article, but because of his sense of justice and the need he felt to uncover the truth, he was ruthlessly murdered. This book is a wonderful epitaph to two courageous men (including co-author Keith who mysteriously died from knee surgery).

Kenn and Jim's magnum opus. (RIP, beloved friend to humankind.) This book is as scary as they come, and stranger than fiction. As a conspiracy writer, I found myself shaking while reading it. THEY are real, and THEY can do and have done horrifying things. The Octopus is the Matrix vivified.

This book is especially important for anyone who still naively believes "there are no conspiracies." The word "conspiracy" means "to breathe together." Only two people are needed to make a conspiracy, and this book will leave you breathless.

Danny Casolaro is a heroic figure who bravely and, perhaps, foolhardily attempted to foil the Octopus, whose tendons reach into the most intimate parts of all our lives. He should never be forgotten. Thank goodness for the valiant likes of Kenn Thomas and Jim Keith for telling his story. Movie studios should be clamoring for this highly untold story - but they are no doubt part of the Octopus. Danny, Kenn and Jim should be lauded for their audacity and courage in bringing forth this treacherous tale of murder and mayhem. Such valor is akin to that of Gary Webb in his expose of CIA drug-dealing.

Carry on, fellow warriors for truth.

Acharya S; Archaeologist, Historian, Mythologist, Linguist; Member, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece; Associate Director, Institute for Historical Accuracy; Director, Center of the Research and Study of Theology; Author, "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold"

Jim Keith died after knee surgery on September 8, 1999. He was a dear friend of mine and an important person to the world. The loss is immeasurable. He was not just the co-author of The Octopus, but a dharma combatant who demonstrated time and again that the world is far more multi-dimensional, far more interesting, than the pablum that usually passes for news, information and normal discourse. Unfortunately, it is also far more dangerous.

Rumor has it that Jim may have been killed because he mentioned the name of the physician who declared Diana was pregnant at the time of her death. I have long noted the connections between Diana's death and the Octopus. Diana was the subject of Jim's last column for Nitro News, which has been linked via the web site of my magazine, Steamshovel Press, for the past couple of weeks. Nitro News has not been accessible since Jim's death, although I reached it just before receiving word of his passing.

This rumor may be nonsense. Casolaro may have committed suicide. It is the way of the Octopus. It exists but it doesn't exist. These are blood clots or suicides or non-suspicious homicides or real accidents. They just happen to cluster coincidentally around a certain set of facts or a certain perception of an organized conspiracy.

And if Jim Keith did not die as a result of a conspiracy, then I'm sure he would want us to make it look that way!

I hope all will remember Jim Keith for his good humor and for his fearlessness. He wrote what he knew and he let the chips fall where they might. He lived on the edge, where I usually tried to catch up with him. I hope he taught me enough about the place to keep up the work to which we were both committed.

Thank you again. Remember Jim!

Kenn Thomas

This book is an outstanding bit of investigative journalism...The authors quoted Danny Casolero notes, ...Danny found out on the Island of Dominica that there was a secret satellite transmitting and receiving base built in conjuction with the PLA, rogue intelligence agents and with US funds and US corporations involved. He was about to receive information from a Hughes Corporation employee when he met his untimely death. This information would tie a loose cabal together. This book is the "key" for uncovering probably the greatest threat to freedom for the 21 century. It is an easy read, yet exciting and very factual.

The Octopus by Kenn Thomas and Jim Keith.
A good book to read. Very interesting. I wish the likeable
Boy Scout would have listened to his friends who told him to
back off or he would be killed.
How I found this book was round about. I had attended a
lecture and it concerned the anti-inflamatory effects of Tylenol.
I read the section on Wikepedia and saw the name Casolaro and
asked myself, who is he? What did he have to do with Tylenol.
I went to the site Danny Casolaro and found about 8 to 12 pages
about him. Now days there are perhaps 3 pages there on Wikepedia
and most of it is missing. In any event, I read that he had perhaps
taken 2 tylenol from the drug screen and that was not enough for a
suicide. Further, he had cut his wrist 8 times on one side, right through
the tendons and 4 times on the other wrist, and from 3 years of
Forensic lectures, that is not suicide but murder. No one cuts through
his tendons. What in the world did he do, I asked myself. His dad was
an obstetrician and his brother was an orthopedist. I just had to keep
reading. Then he had a friend who is called Danger Man. He was trying
to get the government to give him back his software that is worth a lot of
money and probably too valuable for one guy to have in his possession.
Well, it is like a hydrogen bomb. I read on and saw that Mr. Danger Man
had to hire 4 lawyer to represent him in court. First Lawyer, Eisman
never got to court as he was shot and killed in his car. He found a second
lawyer John Crawford who died of a Heart Attack. A third lawyer was
hired, Paul Wilcher and he also died. Nothing written about how he died
but bad luck seems to follow his lawyers. The fourth lawyer was scheduled
to go before a grand jury but a few days before that was to happened,
Ian Spiro and his family, wife and three daughters were killed execution-
styled slaying. By this time, my hair was standing up. I asked myself,
who in the world was this Casolaro. I never heard of him. I read further
on Wikepedia and came to the part that stopped me cold. At the funeral
for Danny Casolaro, and it was raining too, his immediate family were
there; two figures in military uniforms stood off to the side and spoke
to no one. As the casket was being lowered into the ground, they walked
forward and motioned to stop lowering the casket. They wore their insignia
and regalia and were dressed for the occasion. One walked forward to the
casket and place two medals on his chest, they came to attention,
saluted Danny, about faced, and walked away to a car and drove away.
They never said a word. There is no record that he ever worked for
the government or the military. That is when I decided I had to get that
book and read a little more about this person.

I was surprised at the largely positive reviews of this one, which is the reason I'm posting a review myself.

After reading the numerous glowing reviews here, I bought the book expecting a tightly woven, fast paced read, but found the book poorly organized, sprawling and fairly inconclusive on many points. The actual experience of reading the thing (which is quite short at less than 200 pages) was tedious for me, almost a chore. It really frustrated me, because the true telling of stolen law enforcement software, government lawsuits, CIA spook meddling and a murdered journalist should be anything but tedious.

And, I REALLY wanted to like it too! Unfortunately, important characters and events are given little in the way of introduction or explanation, the chapters (and content within) are muddled and disorganized, and the overall argument is dificult to decipher and supported only weakly.

The book could've benefited by better authors with a more competent grasp of structure and delivery (Yeah, there are typos), and a few hundred more pages of hard research and structured content. The case deserves better handling than this.

Still, I recommend it, as it's pretty much the only game in town. But treat it a primer or a guide, not as the thrilling read it fails to be.

5 stars for subject matter and noble aims, but 2 stars for execution. I give it a 3 on the whole.

You know the saying, If I tell you, I have to kill you!

Danny fell into this trap. There is a whole underworld out there that the ordinary Joe & Jane are totally clueless about. This book clues you in. If you read this book you may be have to be .........!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm always interested in a conspiracy and I found this book to have a lot of verifiable facts. The implications are truly astounding. If you read this book you won't stop there. You'll think how could this be true - the world ain't as we know it!

I have seen underground first hand that this is true..KEITH..way to go for wanting people to know what really goes on, even if it is a risk!!

...i've read numerous conspiracy books, watched the videos, et. cetera, but i dare say this is one of the better!!! certainly, a must read for any conspiracy bluff! go get 'em, tiger.