Customer Reviews

Written in Blood

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you were thinking of reading this book because you are curious about what could have happened to Kathleen Peterson and wanted an unbiased accounting of the facts in the case, then don't bother.

According to Fanning "Before the trial ended, the verdict was a foregone conclusion in my mind. The medical examiner's report made it murder. The spatter inside the shorts made it Mike. All else was window-dressing." It didn't matter to her that America's foremost expert disagreed with the medical examiner, that Michael Peterson's journalism had upset many in the Durham law and order community, or that there was no convincing weapon or motive presented by the prosecution.

Fanning sets out to prove that Michael Petersen is an evil killer and in doing so she ignores any evidence to the contrary. Her acknowledgments carry thanks only to detractors of Michael Peterson; none from his supporters. She presents one-sided versions and vague recollections as though they were fact. Every character presented for the prosecution is heroic; every supporter of the defence is sadly delusional. When prosecutor Hardin finishes his closing she says "the courtroom was as quiet as a chapel in the aftermath of witnessing a miracle." On the other hand, she describes Peterson's tears for his wife as "caterwauling".

For me such obvious bias shed doubt on every single account she presented in the book. I don't know if Peterson is guilty or not. I wish I could find someone who would present evidence from both sides. But, as Fanning says herself "the legal system is no longer designed to find the truth-it is constructed to decide a winner."

I watched nearly every minute of this trial on Court TV. I read almost every news article on this trial contemporaneously. I watched live online broadcasts of the trial and local commentary provided there. And when I read this book "Written In Blood", I felt like I was following this case for the first time. I learned so many new details about this homicide and the various "players" involved. I was riveted to the entire book.

At times I had to put it down to digest very emotional passages and the masterful ways they were delivered. I got chills over and over again reading the various connections this author made that even I had not considered in this case.

Michael Peterson's display of sociopathy speaks for itself. Ms. Fanning merely places it on a canvas which makes it come to life in an unmistakable way. Sociopaths are masterful at hiding in compartmentalized hidden places, manipulating situation upon person upon circumstance to confound those around them to their pathology.

Fanning paints an unmistakable portrait based on the FACTS and interviews with those who were up close and personal to this monster and his crimes.

On the heels of the propoganda docudrama film on Sundance, The Staircase, this book was a breath of fresh air. And a fair and accurate representation of the truth and devastation left in a sociopath's wake.

I am starting to read Fanning's other book Through The Window now and look forward to any future books she may produce.

As an avid true crime reader and someone with advanced degrees in both law and criminal justice, I have found that nonfiction books on murder cases generally fall into one of two categories: investigative journalism or trash novel. It is my humble but educated opinion that this book falls into the latter category. The book is a tabloid-style expose of the minutia of the Peterson's lives, rather than a chronicle of the hard facts of the case. As with many other true crime books today, the author's agenda seems to be to prove that the accused individual is in fact guilty, as opposed to delving into the complexities of the case that make it interesting in the first place. In my experience, murder cases are rarely black-and-white and there is always room for debate. However, given the popularity of networks like "Court TV" and the number of favorable reviews that this book and other like it have gotten from Amazon's readers, apparently the public would rather be told what to think than think for themselves.

(Reviewed by Rebecca)
I bought this book after watching the extraordinary and riveting documentary, The Staircase, with the hopes that it would contain some of the evidence and testimony not included in the documentary. What I found was an unnecessarily biased, sensationally written account of events leading up to and including the trial.

Instead of focussing on more compelling evidence like red neurons found in the victim's brain suggesting a much earlier time of death, and broken cartillage in the throat that might suggest an attempted strangulation, the book casts such a jaundiced eye on Peterson that the author would like you to believe he was not only responsible for the death of Kathleen Peterson and Liz Ratliff (which I think is entirely possible), but was responsible for drowning the family dog, probably had something to do with George Ratliff's death, and was indirectly responsible for the death of one of Liz Ratliff's students who later committed suicide.

What's worse is the overly sentimental account of events having little to do with the evidence. For example, Fanning dedicates a chapter to the wind chimes placed by Kathleen's family members in a tree nearby her grave being struck by a sudden and unexplained wind whenever Kathleen's sister visited her grave as if she was trying to tell her something "from beyond". The author writes she too visited Kathleen's grave, "As I reached the foot of her grave, a breeze danced through the air and the sweetest sound I ever heard tinkled through the air. It was almost as if the gracious hostess was welcoming me to her new home."

The book would have been much more interesting and effective if it was less biased and sensationalistic, and presented some of the reasons Peterson may not be guilty, of which there are many. What keeps me thinking about this story is that it is such a complex case. Fanning took out all of the complexity to write her exaggerated account of events, and that's a shame.

First, don't trust all the reviews you read here, many of them are sponsored. This writer continues to write about headline crimes but brings nothing new to the table. She also writes as if it's 1959, with stilted, strange language, repeats of the same sentences, and repeats of whole sections chapter after chapter. You keep seeing white-gloved schoolmarm in your head while you're reading her rather pedestrian accounts.
I want my money back!
Had Ms. Fanning taken her last chapter and made it her approach to her subject, it might have saved it, but her writing never will. No one is interested in looking at the habits of the victims as if it's the 1950's ---- most readers who buy books about real crimes want to know about the monsters who did it.
Why the publisher continues to publish this author without a better/stronger editor is a mystery to me! Someone, please edit her!

RE: biased and inaccurate, May 7, 2005
Reviewer: Anna Sanders-bonelli - See all my reviews

"...Michael Peterson or her opinion that he is and has always been an inherently dishonest, manipulative, abusive, evil man. "

" Even issues unrelated to the case are portrayed in this manner. ... except, of course, Michael Peterson who comes across as a negligent and self-serving father "
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Hey, you know...what can you do? If it (M Peterson) looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. It is not biased to look at all the self serving things MP has done hie entire adult life and make an assessment. Besides, I don't recall anything in the preface saying it was going to be impartial... Every human being who encountered this trial started with the idea that they HOPED the guy was innocent because of all the kids involved, so it stands to reason that Diane Fanning did too. Maybe she should have waited til the last page of the book and then noted: BTW... MP is a selfish guy... ?

I have researched thousands of pages and read 2 books on this case, watched the joke of a docu-drama and WIB is by far the most in-depth source of information in one place that I have found. I bought 2 copies. one to study and notate, and one for the shelf. It is clear that she has had very close contact with the family members in this hoorid real-life story.
I loved it. It was the book for me....twice.

I ordered this book from Amazon after reading other books by this Author. I LOVED it,She tells the Story of novelist Michael Peterson who murdered his wife and made it look like she fell down the stairs. Strange thing it had happened 16 years earlier to another women he knew!
The Author did a wonderful job of telling this story her book was straight forward and to the point.It had no annoying filler in it.but,told the whole story.I got my copy in the mail one morning started reading that afternoon and couldnt put it down until I finished!Its an easy read and doesnt flip flop from subject to subject.Its one of the best True Crime books I have read in a while and I read them all! For those of you who watched this case on Court TV I highly recommend that you read this book as it has some facts I didnt see in the trial..For those who didnt watch the trial..Read this book! Its Great!

Even though I think Peterson killed the two women, the author let her bias show throughout the book. She also introduced information and then didn't follow up on it, like the used condom in the bedroom, the rape kit performed on Kathleen Peterson, etc. What were the results of those tests? I got the feeling that she just watched the trial on TV, read some articles, and then wrote the book. I lot of typos, too.

This silly book purports to be a true story.

Unfortunately, the author is unable to look at both sides of the case, a necessary part of writing a true crime story.

Michael Peterson gets no votes from me for his innocence, but it's hard to see what an intelligent,high achieving woman like Kathleen saw in him from this presentation. "Written in Blood" belongs to the fairytale style of true crime writing. The perpetrator is very bad, & the victim is very good. Needless to say, this does neither of them any favours & trivializes their real characters & the tragedy that occurred.

Carrying on the fairytale motif, Fanning repeatedly describes the rather plain Kathleen as "beautiful" (would her death be less tragic if she is acknowledged as less than supermodel material in the author's mind?) She also has the gall to relate an unbelievable lot of nonsense regarding windchimes over Kathleen's grave apparently being manipulated by her spirit! Understandable in a bereaved relative, this type of experience is ludicrous when described by someone purporting to be an investigative writer & can only raise further doubts about Fanning's ability for the task.

Poor Kathleen deserves to be seen as a real human being. This travesty of a book does not give us a sense of the vibrant woman who was obviously deeply loved by her family & friends. Fanning is unable to carry out more than a superficial investigation into the couple, & glosses over anything that could be perceived as even slightly negative in the lives of Kathleen & her family of origin. The Petersons are, of course, portrayed very differently.

At least the book isn't as bad as Aphrodite Jones's offering on this case, where the author apparently can read minds & tells us the results. And at least Fanning is very upfront about her bias.

If you want a mushy, sentimental overview of the case, snap this up. Otherwise save your money.

If, like me, you saw The Stair Case on Sundance (or even before, on ABC) and found yourself wanting to know more, your options are Fanning's book or a slighter effort by Aphrodite Jones. Both books suffer from not being informed by the defense's point of view. (Did the Peterson camp have an exclusivity agreement with Maha?) And both books were written relatively quickly - not quite insta-books but almost. Still, I found Written in Blood worth reading and applaud Fanning for uncovering telling details about Peterson's time in Germany and his spending spree after Kathleen's death.
B.Chen's point about Fanning's sometimes groan-worthy prose is valid. Fanning does try too hard on occasion to wring meaning out of the mundane. I also wish more space was given to the facts of the crime - the broken bone, etc.
This is an acceptable addition to the True Crime genre but not among the greats. I hope that a definitive telling of this story will be written soon and will greater access to all parties.