Customer Reviews

When Satan Wore A Cross

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This was an incredibly interesting story,and an important one, if the accusations of systematic police cover-ups are to be believed. However, the style of writing never climbs beyond the realms of cliched tabloid sensationalism. I have never seen the use of "?!" punctuation outside of blogs before. The author seemed bizarrely driven to discuss 20th century films at inappropriate points of the book. The reader might be better served seeking out other books about this genuinely shocking case.

Just an awful book, and I love the "picture in the middle books". Way too much of Rosen...I, I, I, I. Glaring errors when talking about Church matters - did not research thoroughly.

What a piece of amateur trash. I thought I was reading a college freshman term paper. Filled with enough fluff to fill 200 plus pages but could have been written in 75!

Although I am not catholic, I still respect all religions. I don't even know if I am using the correct verbiage when writing this review but I think I'll get my point across. The nun in this book had spent her whole life wearing a habit to cover her nakedness. I had only read part of this book when I realized it contained pictures and I was abhorred to see a picture of the nun's breasts! The photo could have been cropped to show the wounds to her chest without showing her breasts. I couldn't believe the author would have so little respect for her. Needless to say, I did not even finish the book and will not purchase anything else by this author.

I really looked forward to reading this book. I grew up in the Catholic church so the subject matter interested me. However, I couldn't get "into" the book because the writing was so dry and clinical. There was no human element to the writing and it left me turning pages to try to find interesting parts. I finally gave up all together. I don't think I'm being too critical. I've read a lot of true crime books and it's not hard to grab the readers attention. I just wish this writer would have tried a little harder, not to sensationalize it but just to bring the characters to life (no pun intended....well maybe a little).

I might have thought this was a good book if I hadn't already read "Sin, Shame and Secrets" and "Forgive Me Father" on the same subject, as well as various newspaper articles. I'm only on about page 60 and have already encountered several inexcusable errors: the nun's age is incorrect in at least one place, several quotes are misattributed, and the gender of the medical examiner who performed the autopsy is incorrect. Save your money and get one of the other books instead.

This was a poorly written , boring book. Mr. Rosen spent an inordinate amount time, and detail on the most trival facts. I know this was non-fiction but he did a lot of speculating. I am a prolific reader but this was so boring, I could not finish the book.

I am from Toledo, where the crime covered in this book took place. I bought the book because, while I remember hearing on the news back in 1980 about the murder of the nun in the chapel of Mercy Hospital...and more recently the trial of Fr. Robinson, I admit to never having learned many of the details. While I'm not necessarily happy with the author's depiction of Toledo as rundown, conservative little town (maybe it's just my own hometown pride coming through, and Mr. Rosen is simply seeing things from an outsider's point of view), I overall found the story interesting and quite readable. I would actually have given it a three and a half star rating...but since half stars didn't seem to be an option, I settled for four.

One thing I do take exception with is the caption to one of the photographs. As mentioned above, the author portrays Toledo as a conservative city, and there is this picture of the Lucas County Court House downtown with the emphasis of the picture being the monument to the 10 Commandments that has been there ever since I can remember. His caption reads: "The Lucas County Courthouse where Robinson was tried in April and May 2006. Note the modern, conservative addition of the Ten Commandments in the foreground."

The author did not do very good research on that. That monument has been there for...oh, 50 years or more? The granite marker has stood at Erie and Adams streets since 1957 when it was given to the county by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles as part of a national effort to combat juvenile delinquency. I'm not sure how a 50+ year old monument can be referred to as "modern."

Mr. Rosen has crafted one of those page turners that helps us survive those long waits at the doctor/airport/high school detention.
Satanic signs! Dark, strange churches at night! The senseless, grotesque murder of a nun! Seriously kool stuff.

And it's all true -- like the Catholic Church doesn't have plenty to
worry about already. I don't think they have enough hail Mary's to cover this one.

I'd love to see this as a movie. It definitely creeped me out.

It is amazing to me the cover ups in our society...this story is just about this subject.