Customer Reviews

Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Watching the few films Sharon Tate made I could see that the possiblity of so much more was apparent. Especially her role in the Matt Helm flick "The Wrecking Crew" opposite Dean Martin. Although after her murder none of it seemed to matter and Sharon as a person and actress was outshined by the gory murders that took her and her child's and friends' lives.

Now finally Greg King has given us Sharon Tate and The Manson Murders. And Sharon as a person comes through. Most people really knew very little of her outside of the Manson/crimes. So I give King credit for taking her too short life and writing a fine book on this the most beautiful woman ever. I too must agree though that the typo's throughout are disturbing and I too would have liked to have seen more photos of Sharon herself. The inclusion of the death photo though at once seems a bit sensationlistic, it lends the reader a view of just what actually happened to Miss Tate et al.

A book on Sharon' life has long been overdue and I hope if this one is updated or another is published it will spend more time quoting from the long list of Hollywood elite friends of the actress'.

All in all this is a book to purchase and read for anyone who has ever been interested in Sharon Tate as a person more than just a victim of Manson's Family!

I've found Sharon Tate fascinating ever since Valley of the Dolls. When she was murdered in 1969, I, like so many others, were horrified when she was murdered in the manner she was. I found that I couldn't get enough information on this whole incident.

I ordered this book as soon as I knew it was available, and I was pleased, overall, and impressed with Greg's extensive research and new view into this terrible incident in our history. I hadn't realized that Manson and some other followers had returned to the Tate residence after the murders were committed, and was absolutely mortified that they had planned on doing more damage there. Just reading that the bodies were carried out to the front porch and then later, put back was something that made my skin crawl.

After all is said and done, and reading this in one sitting - yes its a page turner - I realized that I had had enough of reading about this whole incident. Sometimes one's search for truth in such a bizarre instance in history can lead one down paths they wish they had never gone down. Frankly, after seeing the death pictures on the internet, and now, in this book, of Sharon (yes there's one picture of her, in death in this book), I just would rather remember this beautiful woman the way she was, in life. Her life was interesting, from the perspective of how someone with great beauty isn't always extremely well-adjusted or happy. Having the outside not match the inside must have created enormous inner conflict within herself. She seemed to accept life and its roughness, but deep down she was a sensitive soul that just didn't wish to make waves with those she loved, probably out of the enormous fear of not being loved and accepted. In psychological terms, we would say, in today's language, that she had a huge fear of abandonment. I kept thinking, what if she had developed spiritually, and stopped looking in the directions she looked in for satisfaction. There was a fatalism about her attitudes towards life - she had experiences that seemed to validate this. My sense is that she might have known she wasn't going to live very long. Her last interview seemed to bear this out - she stated she was a victim of fate, and that she never knew which direction life would lead her in.

Often times our cultural icons don't live long- which in a very obscure way, she was. This incident in history was a major turning point, and a disillusionment for many, given our ways of living back then. All that peace and love had just ended with reality smacking society in the face.

My criticisms for this book which lead me to give this 3 stars, is that there was a lot of repetitive information from other sources in this book, as well as a poor editing job - there were many typos, and misspellings. My last concern was with the fascination of the morbid side of this crime - I really didn't want to see her death picture again, or know how Sharon had a slight smile on her face in death, which seemed to fly in the face of the violent manner of her death. It took me many hours to shake off this feeling after reading this book - a similar feeling I had when I first saw Sharon's death photos. I don't want to go there again - I just want to remember this beautiful soul the way she was.

Long overdue but well written biography on Sharon Tate. Even though Sharon was well known in her Hollywood and London circles, the rest of the world never really "knew" her until her death. This book writes about her as a person and emphasizes her life, rather than simply reducing her to "that Manson Family victim". The book covers her entire life, as well as going into detail about her relationships with Jay Sebring and Roman Polanski. It's sad to read about Polanski's (emotional) mistreatment of her while gentle and loving Jay Sebring is off on the periphery, pining for his lost love until the end. We're also given more back story on victims Voyteck Frykowski, Abigail Folger, and Steven Parent, as well as Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Leno's former wife Alice and Steven Parent's sister Janet have come forward after years of silence to share their memories as well as their outrage over the convicted killers' parole bids. The book also covers the lives of the murderers, before and after their convictions. Unlike Charles Manson and Susan Atkins, Charles "Tex" Watson, Pat Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houton have made progress in prison, although it's pretty unlikely that they will be paroled anytime soon. Sharon's mother and sister became powerful victims rights advocates in the 1980's, and you can't help but to feel their pain. The vivid retelling of the two nights of murder may be upsetting to some readers, but what I remember most about the book is the relationship between Sharon and Jay, the starry-eyed girl from Texas who wanted fame, and the lonely hair stylist who wanted her love.

Greg King brings the horrors of August 9, 1969 into your living room. First of all he gives the best biography of Sharon Tate that has ever been written. It was only over 100 pages, but I haven't seen a more detailed account of her life. She not only had outward beauty, but inward beauty.

Even though I've read Helter Skelter and other books 10 years ago, this book tells more about the victims than the animals who killed them. It's over 300 pages, but the first 116 pages deals with Sharon Tate. No book has ever done that.

As a former prison guard, I'm repulsed how the murderers have abused the system and profited from their crimes. Many poor people who haven't commited any crimes haven't been able to get college degrees in this society. All of the killers have received degrees in prison.

Greg King has shown us new material concerning the Manson killings. The victims were killed for no reason, the murderers returned to the scene of the crime, and afterwards the Press slandered the victims because they didn't have any story to tell. In his book he described that Manson and some of the murderers returned to the scene of the crime only a few hours later. This is true. Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring had type O blood. Neither of them made it out of the living room. The LAPD found on the porch type O blood in large pools. The other 3 victims had type B blood. Manson and the killers were going to hang Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring on the porch and mutilate them even more. They carried the bodies to the porch and got into a big argumnent. To see Sharon Tate's body in the book was bad enough, but it could have been worse. After the arguement they placed the bodies back where they had fallen because daylight was fast approaching. The LAPD Tate Homicide Report (on the web in 33 pages), states in detail the blood drops, the areas of the blood, the place and direciton of the bodies and that Sharon Tate's and Jay Sebrings' bodies were moved after they were killed. In the LAPD report Tate's neighbors stated they heard an arguement from the Tate house at 4:00 AM. This was several hours after the last victim, Sharon Tate had died. This supports King's statements that the murderers returned to the Tate house and moved the bodies.

My only faults with this book are the cover and the photographs. The cover shows a picture of Sharon Tate and a diffused picture of Manson on her chest. He shouldn't have been on the cover. He's had 35 years of press coverage. Enough is enough! The other faults are the numerous photos of Manson and his killers. There have been thousands of photos of Sharon Tate taken. King chose only a couple of pictures of her and the rest were of Manson and his worthless family. I also think that the terrible death photo of her should have been left out. Even though it shows what Charles "Tex" Watson and Susan Atkins did to her in those horrible last moments of her life, Sharon Tate should be remembered for her life and not because she was a victim of the most horrible crime that has ever occurred in U.S. history.

Greg King has shown us new insight into Sharon Tate's history and the horrible murders. He's done a lot of research of her life. I only wish the book would have had more information about her. From what King has found about her, she was truly an angel.

Sad, sad, sad. The tragedy of the story told here permeates every page and picture. Because of the notorious nature of the Manson Family crimes, any literature on their exploits courts sensationalism and, on the surface, King's book is no exception. Who would want to read about this stuff? What would be the point? Looked at in that way, this could be considered a trashy rip-off. It's hardly that. This is the first volume to give faces and identities to the victims of these crimes, and specifically to Sharon Tate. Given the cultish aura the Manson Family has attracted over the years, one welcomes the opportunity to view the tragedy in terms of the victims and their families, which King does in almost obsessive fashion. Sharon Tate emerges here as sweet, somewhat innocent, but always good-hearted and a gentle, loving person. Rather than the notorious 60s swinger the press made her out to be in the aftermath of the murders, she comes across as a woman of integrity and substance. Her devotion to her unborn child is both touching and sad, in light of what happened to them both, but she is the heroine here without doubt. The other heroines of the book are her mother, Doris, and her younger sister, Patti, both of whom crusaded for victim's rights and Sharon's memory until their own deaths. Of course, no review of this book can ignore the included death photos of Sharon and Jay Sebring. An easy mark for the accusation of "sensationalistic", these photos actually reinforce both the brutality and the tragedy of these crimes as no words ever could. The photo of Sharon in death is truly heartbreaking, and viewing it makes the murder itself as incomprehensible as King likely intended. It makes its point. The ultimate message of this book is that no one has the right to take a human life. Those who do are making a choice about their own needs while indiscriminately disregarding that their victims have needs and rights as well. This is a sad, tragic, but finally noble story about how love of another human being cannot be destroyed, no matter how monstrous the perpetrator. A timely story indeed.

This way overdue biography of Sharon Tate finally gives her an identity other than being the most famous victim of one of the most horrific and bloodthirtsty mass murders/crime sprees of the last century.

It profiles Sharon Tate the daughter, Sharon Tate the sister, Sharon Tate the friend, and Sharon Tate the actress. Previously unknown (at least by me anyway) information is parlayed about her childhood, adolescence, adulthood, career, and relationships with Jay Sebring (who was slain alongside her) and her perpetually philandering husband Roman Polanski. From what people who loved her (and everybody who knew her did) have said about her in this biography and elsewhere, that although stunningly beautiful in appearance her true beauty lay within.

King also examines the progress of the murderers through the penal system and the metamorphasis of Sharon's relations, particularly her late mother and late sister Doris and Patti, from grieving survivors to passionate crusaders for justice and judicial reform.

And yes, the murders ARE discussed. If I remember correctly, two chapters are devoted to the details of their commission. These are undoubtedly the most gruesome, heartrending chapters ever penned and printed. The Tate/LaBianca murders are recited in all their gory details; not to titillate but to educate, to show how heartless and merciless these killers were on those two nights. As for whether they are still that way............well that's something for the psychiatric community to determine.

I find it puzzling to say the least, not to mention extremely obscene and offensive, that thirty plus years later Manson and his cohorts are still worshipped as cult/folk heroes by some imbeciles. They are not heroes or symbols; they are brutal killers. No one who reads this book will for one moment believe that the killers deserve to be paroled!

I do have two complaints, however, which is why I didn't give this book 5 stars. Number one, the amount of typographical errors is simply ridiculous, honestly, wasn't the manuscript of this book proofread by an editor before it went into print? And two, why so many pictures in the photo insert that are of the killers and so few of Sharon?

After reading this book, I felt that justice on Sharon Tate was finally made......No book out in the market EVER paid their right respects to Sharon. To the media , Sharon was nothing more then a mere body, found at 10050 Cielo Drive. To the media, Sharon was nothing more then one of Charles Manson's victims.To the media, Sharon was nothing more, then some pretty blonde, who done a few bad movies that have flopped. No one EVER looked at Sharon as a REAL human being. The media, after her death, did nothing more but mock her, and mock her death. "Oh did you hear....Sharon Tate was slashed by Manson's family.....(ha ha ha) ..." And when Sharon was not mocked by the media, her face appeared in the cover of many magzines in 1969. Not out of respect for her, but just to 'sell em' magazines!'.

Here is a book that truly pays full respect to Sharon tate. She was a young aspiring actress, mother to be, sweet human being who lived her life to the fullest. Sharon had a true zest for life. Sadly it all ended much to soon. The story of Sharon Tate began as a fairy tale and ended in tragedy.

Just after midnight on August 9th 1969 Tate and her houseguests, including Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Woyteck Frykowski as well as Steve Parent, who had just came by to visit the caretaker, were slaughtered by Charles Manson's Family- Susan Atkins, Tex Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel. Linda Kasabian was there, but she never committed any actual killings. She just drove the killers there. The killers, one man and three women, cut phone wires and climbed a fence before entering the compound and murdering everyone except the teenage caretaker, William Garrestson. Who was hiding in the guest house.

Sharon tate was 8 months pregnant. She begged for her life, and the life of her child.

What I don't understand is why there are actual Charles manson fans out there. This man did nothing but take the lives away from innocent people. Him and his human robots.

I recommend this book. Great read on the whole subject. First book with a real biography on Sharon. Inside the book, there is a very graphic photo of Sharon and Jay, dead, at the crime scene. I think once you take a look at that photo of Sharon, lying dead in her living room floor, stabbed, soaked in her own blood, then you will actually know and feel what those monsters did to Sharon, and hope that they do indeed rot in prison. I truly hope they never see the light of day. Sharon will never see the light of day, so why should they?

No doubt about it. And it's a shame to admit this, but Sharon Tate may have never achieved her rank in the annals of historical infamy if it wasn't for the band of brutal murderers who slain the poor goddess and her friends on the hot summer night of August 9, 1969. Many historians claim the 1960s - the highly praised, if most tumultuous decade - ended that night when a very pregnant Tate was killed in her home. However, very little about the life of Sharon Tate has been paid attention to, and here, for the first time, is a biography of the beautiful starlet taken before she could shine.

Well-written and extremely well researched, Greg King offers us much in-depth information into the life (both pre- and post-murders) of the gorgeous model/actress. For all you who think you know all there is to know about Sharon Tate, think again. Most of the time, books such as "Helter Skelter" focus primarily on the murders, the trial, and the life of the insane Manson "family." And so, because there hasn't been too much written about Tate's life, this is both a refreshing and pleasurable account.

And, while it does give a detailed account of the horrendous killing, there is much to be discovered about this beauty. "Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders" is sure to become one of, if not THE, hottest reads of the summer.

It is rare that a victim receives the focus of attention in a crime story. Greg King manages to tell the tale of Sharon Tate with detail while simultaneously keeping in mind the tragedy that would befall her and others at the hand of the Manson family.

The first 116 pages of this book center around the life of Sharon Tate up until her murder in 1969. With his account, King shows that Sharon was an up and coming Hollywood starlette that still fostered girl next door qualities and dispositions. He celebrates her life but doesnt leave out the necessary details of her romantic life and drug use. In other words he delicately shows her flaws without assasinating her memory or character.

King also details the investigation and subsequent conviction of the Manson family, all the while showing the plight of Sharon's family and the families of other victims. He doesnt fall into the sensationalism that has haunted other Manson books. The book ends with a where are they now type of conclusion.

The book as a whole is an informative and well thought out read. He holds true to a biographical format for the pirst part of the novel while simultaneously providing interest for the true crime fan. There are some brief sections that can be a tad drawn out. His description of the Polanski residence would have been better served with a smaller description accompanied by some photos of the grounds if available. This over-detailing is a small but noticeable detterent in the flow of the book. The final chapters however seem a bit rushed and some more information would have been appreciated on the remnants of the Manson family that have secured their freedom.

Overall the book is an informative narrative with an overall good flow. There are few dull spots and thus the account makes for a quick read. This book will be appreciated by fans of biographies and true crime alike. A solid four star book.

It is high time somebody gave a sympathetic and well researched account of Sharon Tate's life. As tragic as this is, another reviewer aptly noted that she might not have achieved the level of fame she did had she not been killed by the Manson Family.

Sharon Tate was a warm, real person who had long held out hope for securing a place in the movie world. She did receive plaudits for her role of the (ironically) terminally ill starlet in 1967's "Valley of the Dolls." How ironic, painful and extremely sad that she receives star billing in death related stories (one fictionalized, the other all too painfully real).

The book does not gloss over the psychotic cruelty of the Manson Family. It gives a gritty, hard look at how the dementia of one truly evil man had long lasting repercussions.

To his credit, the author focuses the book on Sharon. It is a fresh, new look at the horrific events of 1969 as the attention is rightfully turned on the unfortunate casualties of madness.