Customer Reviews

A Sudden Shot: The Phoenix Serial Shooter (Berkley True Crime)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As one of the lead investigators in this case I worried that the facts of the case would be over shadowed by the need for sensationalism. I was immensely please with the way Camille Kimball stuck to the facts and wrote a solid book which dramatically highlighted the many victims. The book captured the pain and suffering the victims endured and the pain the families of the eight murder victim went through. I highly recommend this book!

This is a superb book. For those of us who didn't live in Phoenix during the time of the Serial Shooter, the book takes us right there - we feel the terror, we feel the horror of hearing a gunshot and finding a neighbor, a friend, a pet shot. But this book does something much more important: it takes us behind the scenes and lets us get to know those who were shot and injured. We hear from family members who will never get to hug a loved one again and we see the power of ordinary citizens helping each other out and standing against kiillers. We also get to meet the brave men and women in law enforcement who often didn't sleep for days, working in an effort to capture the killers.

I absolutely adored this book and can not recommend it high enough.

I worked with Camille in the Investigative unit at CBS5 News, so I was pumped to read this book. Based on the long form stories we researched together, I knew this would be a thorough and well researched book. But it was a heck of a lot more than that. It has so many mesmerizing layers that I find myself going back and thinking about earlier chapters again. Continuing revelations kept my heart pumping, my fingers flying through the pages, and my mind racing. My favorite movies are the ones I'll think about for hours or days after. This book is like that. And it has so many interesting people -- not just the perpetrators, but the victims, the investigators, the witnesses, and the informant. Wow.

"It deals with the morbid side of people," Dale Hausner told the investigators shortly after his arrest. "People are always reading about the serial killer. It's everywhere."

The serial killer of which he spoke was he himself - though, of course, Hausner never did admit this. Not when questioned during the investigation, nor when facing the evidence up close during the trial, nor during his interviews granted after the jury had found him guilty of several counts of murder and aggravated assault. Eighty guilty verdicts, to which Hausner claimed innocence of each.

The year 2006 is still recent in the minds of Americans, even though the serial shooting spree in Arizona of that year has been overshadowed by literally dozens of other crimes and murders since. The reason the case of Dale Hausner (and his brother Jeff, and their partner-in-crime Sam Dieteman) still matters is due to the prolonged nature of the suffering inflicted upon an entire populace. Of the more than one-and-a-half million residents living in Phoenix during that year, the majority were affected directly in some manner by the shootings; either someone dear to the heart of a resident was shot (including, in many instances, pet dogs and horses living peacefully within their own yards or pens), or else the resident knew somebody else who was affected as such.

Journalist Camille Kimball herself later found reason to wonder as to whether or not she had been affected - her own pet dog was found to have been shot some time prior, unbeknownst to anybody prior to the dog's falling ill with an unrelated malady. While the evidence (i.e. the bullet) had degraded too much to be of any evidentiary value, the chilling effect it had upon her was almost unbearable.

In short, over the run of a few months, Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman had utterly compromised the happiness and security of an entire city's population - and then some. America's Most Wanted had profiled the case during the height of the attacks - and as far as Hausner was concerned, the attention gave him the breadth of a god.

Kimball's portrayal of this series of "recreational violence" is somewhat unique in the true crime genre. Unlike many paperback publications, Kimball manages to humanize the victims and their families - up to, and including, familial pets. The reader is moved by her recreation of events (based on trial evidence, witnesses, nearby security footage, cell phone records, etc.) to feel as if the victim is more than just a secondary character in an unfortunate set of circumstances. Kimball breaths life into people who, frequently, were robbed of their precious life beyond the pages of A Sudden Shot. Even the unfortunate burro Buddy had a biography, which Kimball takes the time to present with as much compassion as possible never downplaying the shooting in the face of so many, many others. And her presentation of this information does not drag the natural flow of the book's narrative of events.

On occasion, Kimball does allow herself to fall into the common true crime "cliche" of fictionalization through artistic license. For instance, Kimball attributes ironic internal asides (which will, tragically, remain forever unspoken) to the final victim, 22-year-old Robin Blasnek ("This was going to be the best summer ever!"). At other times, Kimball attempts to put the reader in the place of other victims through similar literary methods known to omniscient narrators. However, these instances are the exception to the regular pacing of the book, and not abused to the point of frivolity.

Also, Kimball allows the individual attacks themselves to remain aloof from the real-time chronology of the shootings. She begins the story with the final murder, and delves into each other attack on the basis of that particular story itself. While she does remain true to the facts (by providing not only the date, but the time of day and also the atmospheric setting at that specific time), the presentation of the stories are non-linear according to their timeline setting. While this can add to some confusion to those who follow step-by-step the degeneration of the psychological status of the killers and those whom they have infinitely injured, Kimball takes the extra effort to paint the people as real human beings, beyond mere characterizations to link with a name.

Kimball does great justice to each person within her retelling of the horror, including the guilty ones. She does not resort to judgement calls, allowing instead the people to speak (whenever possible) for themselves. And by allowing the justice system to do its job without her own editorial interjections. Kimball does not have to tell the reader how - or what - to feel. She manages to stir emotions just through a presentation of these victims as fellow living beings, humans and animals alike.

A Sudden Shot was written with great care, not just to cover the story for an information-hungry audience, but to do it properly so as to adequately instill some sense of this great fear, these great holes left within the fabric of Phoenician society, that was brought on by the actions of three men.

This book has the appearance of any typical true crime paperback, yet it remains one of the classier specimens from its genre.

I think Camille Kimball will be the Tom Clancy of true crime. I normally do not read true crime books but, a friend told me I had to get this book and read it. I have never reviewed a book before but, after reading the K. Price review I was compelled to write this. The compassionate way Camille Kimball brings us into the lives of the victims and then connects the dots at the end of the book was outstanding. I could not put the book down after getting halfway through it. As far as K. Price saying that Dale was not mentioned for the first 100 pages that there was no Sam Dietman or Dale Hausner, I am not sure what book they were reading. There was just the right amount on these guys; drive around in a circle when no one is looking blow someone away, there are a lot of details and some are pretty gory. The tactics described in the book showed that these men were heartless, mixed up, mindless cowards. I particularly liked Dale's statement about Nebraska being his "hometown". Ms. Kimball's subtle ways of showing readers that these guys were morons by using their own words added some great humor to the book. Telling us about the detectives and victims was wonderful, compassionate and as I said before a great read. What I want to know is when is her next book coming out?

This is the riveting true story of the blood curdling events that held Phoenix captive from 2005-2006, yet how the community came together to ultimately triumph over the evil in their midst. It is amazingly well told by a very talented writer. I have dear family who live very close to where many of the murders took place, so I have been very interested to read exactly what happened in their city when it was under siege by heartless killers. But even had I no personal connections to people in this story, I would not have been able to stop reading once I started. I just kept turning the pages because I had to know how it turned out, and I could not resist the author's gift with language.

Being an author myself, I know how difficult a task it must have been to make this story intelligible to readers, as there were so many seemingly unconnected people, animals, community organizations, government agencies, media outlets, and other entities involved. It could well have been as difficult to write the story as it was to put the clues together to solve the case. Nevertheless, Camille Kimball told the story accurately, (verified by the lead investigator), yet vividly, and made it so much more than a dry newspaper account. She made you feel part of the life of Phoenix and the people who live there. She made you feel the anguish, fears and pains of those who woke up to the sound of gunfire to find their horse had been shot, for instance. I felt connected to people like the unfortunate Nathaniel Shoffner who became the target of the killer's bullet only because he happened to be partly drunk late at night on the streets of Phoenix. I felt outraged at the merciless killing of an innocent young gal like Robin Blasnek, who had done nothing to provide a motive for murder except walk across a Phoenix street.

Why or how could anyone commit such awful crimes? That is the mystery that keeps you reading till the end when the answer is revealed. The shocking conclusion compels you to ponder your theory explaining good and evil in the world. These are the words that came from killer Dale Hausner's mouth: "We act like we're gods and demi-gods. You know?" It made me wonder if serious evil-doers have one thing in common, namely, a mistaken identity. They play God, therefore become the tools of Satan. In any case, I found myself moved to tears more than once reading this book, yet gratified that the good guys win in the end. I wish I could reach out and give the author a big hug in love and gratitude for the important role she has played in helping all of us understand this bewildering episode in human suffering.

Putting aside several facts: I worked with Cliff 30+ years ago, my own career was in the military and law enforcement, I enjoy Joseph Wambaugh, W.E.B. Griffin's "Badge of Honor" series, and John Sanford's "Prey" series: I found this book to be an excellent read.

"A Sudden Shot" isn't fiction. The case isn't solved in an hour between comercials. This is real. It's how police work really is. It's not all excitement and high speed chases. It's a lot of hard work, with a degree of luck thrown in, by people who don't say, 'let the other guy handle it'. There is no other guy. And it's a team.

This is a story straight out of the headlines. A story which put fear inb the hearts of the everyday citizens of the Phoenix region, and what it took to end that fear so people could breath freely again.

If your genre is police/crime stories. Get the real deal.

The author didn't overinflate nor did she ignore the tedium most investigations are plagued with.... excellent balance and a great read.

"A Sudden Shot" is an amazing, and troubling, true-crime story. It is well written, and had me on the edge of my seat. I could hardly put it down. The way the author weaves this true life story draws you right into the thick of it. My heart goes out to the victims in this story, and this book is as much about them, and the police trying to piece everything together, as it is about the serial shooter(s). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in crime stories.

I met this author at a book signing at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ. Camille Kimball instantly held my attention with her in-depth review of the happenings, the profiles of personnel involved, while allowing us to see and hear the feelings this whole episode evoked in her and other citizens of our metro area. As interested in her presentation as I was, the book was even more "attention grabbing." I fully enjoy the TV series of Law and Order, CSI, Criminal Minds, etc. This book was the real thing and definitely showed how crime can be very twisted and affect so very many people beyond the criminals and victims. Not every case can be expected to follow some sort of profile, which this event definitely did not. This book pealed back the proverbial onion, layer by layer, until revealing the core of evil.
Thanks to all of the wonderful law enforcement officers, etc. who were consumed for such a long period of time coming to solution. And, thank you, Camille Kimball for uncovering the whole story for us.
I fully recommend this to anyone and everyone.

I absolutely agree with the positive reviews of this book. First, I must say that I don't generally read true crime novels, but this one appealed to me since I grew up in the Phoenix metro area and I am familiar with some of Camille Kimball's journalistic work. Although I moved away before these brutal crimes were committed, I clearly recall the fear that friends and family expressed during this period.

Kimball's book begins with seemingly random crimes occurring around the sprawling metro Phoenix area and the reader is drawn into the community psyche of the time; Phoenix is a huge city and crime happens. Things appear to be random, different municipalities handling disparate crimes, and no one fathoms that they are horrifically connected. I also feel that this approach helps the reader to better understand how remarkable it is that Detective Jewell pursed a connective thread eventually tying gruesome acts spanning much of Maricopa County to Sam Dieteman & brothers Jeff and Dale Hausner.

Kimball introduces us to many of the victims, both human and animal; helping the reader to get beyond what could have been two dimensional abstractions of living beings. We also gain a sense of the vast difference between the Hausner brothers and Sam Dieteman even though they were all involved in the same appalling crimes.

Finally, Kimball is able to hint at the dark shadows thrown by Dieteman and the Hausners. These shadows are revealed through recorded interrogations and public testimony but they can only allude to motivation. No attempt is made to explain why the perpetrators committed these crimes. A Sudden Shot was written during the Hausner trial, and first hand access to the perpetrators and their families would not be possible. Even if access were possible today and first hand interviews were afforded, the Hausner' persona would require one to question both motivation and veracity.

Kimball's book is a well written, fluid read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.