Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry

This is an in-depth explanation of the true crime, investigation, and trials of the Tate-La Bianca murders, written by the prosecuting attorney. It is a must-read for those of you who watch Dateline, 48 Hours, and Investigation Discovery constantly.

This book was one of the most riveting true crime stories I have ever read. Vincent Bugliosi does not spare any details and was very relentless in his prosecution of the defendants in this case. We may never see another District Attorney like him again. OJ Simpson can thank his lucky stars that he was no longer a deputy DA and assigned to his case!

I have read this True Crime book twice. Once when it came out and again years later. I was fascinated by the events surrounding these murders and the trial that followed. Buglioni captures the horror and scariness of the crimes committed by the Manson Cult. I gave this copy to a friend who is much younger and had not encountered the book. He loved it.

This book is one of my all time favourites. Compelling, well-written, chilling and suspenseful, it is also an excellent social study as well. Bugliosi did a wonderful job not only in prosecuting the case but in writing a book for the ages about it. To get the full flavour of the times, listen to the Beatles' "White Album" while reading this book. That album was a huge influence on Manson, and one of its songs would end up providing the title to this masterpiece.

Filled with details and coherent storytelling, this is a classic of the True Crime genre. The kindle edition did not have pictures, which was fine for me, but might disappoint others. Bugliosi writes well and tells the story according to how the timeline unfolded. It was all too easy to follow and see it happening.

One of the scariest stories you will ever read. Hard to believe there are people like this walking around with us & you wouldn't even suspect it. A must read if you were interested in the Charles Manson case.

I knew the murders were horrendous. And I knew that Mason and his girls acted nuts, without actually being nuts. What I never had known was the bungled, sloppy detective work by the LAPD, and the details of the trial which were insane! An absolute macabre circus!

All of the good things said about "Helter Skelter" is true of the Kindle edition. What's more the Kindle edition has hyperlinked footnotes that actually work and take you instantly to Bugliosi's notes. But the trade-off is that with the Kindle edition THERE ARE NO PICTURES because of licensing issues. The print edition has lots of pictures, but many of the crime-scene photo's are censored.

It was a great read that created a historical truth into a novel. It’s really hard to believe that people are capable of such horror. But the author who I imagine just like the trial gave us a fair an impartial read. Enjoy....there were some parts I couldn’t put the book down.

If you like watching cold case files or investigation discovery, you'll love this book. This is the foremost complete reference of all things concerning the Manson murders are trials. A must for any creepy crime enthusiast.

Well written, somewhat gruesome account of one of the most heinous murders of our times. The only disturbing part of this fast paced novel is that all the events are true. If you ever feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Charles Manson and his followers, read this and you will change your opinion.

If you want to believe in miracles again, read this book. Even 46 years after the murders, it's a constant round of face-palming with the way the investigation was "handled." In the era of CSI, etc. it's even more jaw-dropping that Bugliosi managed to get convictions at all...

Charles Manson is part of the American conscience, so I was of course aware of who he was when I began the story. My mom had told me that it was so scary when she tried to read it in college that she ran down the hall and threw the book in the bathroom trash! So I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

Bugliosi is a very good writer and exceptionally detail-oriented. The story begins with a bit of background on Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski and introducing the reader to the other people that were killed in the house that night. He also briefly covers the LaBiancas, the lesser known victims of that murderous spree. Once the crimes are committed, the story becomes more and more fascinating as the key players and their motives are introduced. It all seemed senseless before and it still seems senseless after reading Bugliosi's exhaustive account. Any true crime fan should definitely give this a read, the ultimate in true crime writing.

The story told from the prospective of the prosecuting attorney is very enlightening. They all probably would have gotten off scott free if it wasn't for the dedication and attention to detail by Mr. Bugliosi. Very thorough and interesting read.

Great ready! It starts with a background narrator then switches to the point of view of Mr. Bugliosi around page 100. Very interesting to see how inept our legal system was during this investigation and trial. If you like true crime, this is a must read.

Very interesting and comprehensive telling of the Manson murders. I was in Vietnam when this took place so only learned about this when it was no longer in the news. There were many facts that were new to me all these years later.

All this Helter Skelter, Sharon Tate, La Bianca murders happened when I was much younger. This is a great refresher on how sick and depraved some people are. My wife and I are both Law Enforcement Officers and we see this sort of thing happen regularly. The criminal mind is a dangerous weapon!

Extremely well written book from front to back. I couldn't put this book down. It's truly a page turner. It blows my mind to think that these murders actually happened, and happened in the way that they did. Thank the good Lord for the prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi, who by the way, authored the book.

Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry paint a riveting portrait of the Manson murders and the Manson "family". Being the lead and, later, sole prosecutor
of the Manson gang for those vicious murders puts Bugliosi in the ideal position to tell the real story in all its gory detail, and he does it in such a spellbinding fashion. I could hardly put it down. If you truly want to know this horrible and tragic story inside out, this is the ONLY book to read.

Second time reading but had never read the update Vincent did for the 25th anniversary of the killings. Charlie Manson is as dangerous today as he was in 1969. Please don't ever let him out of prison!

Having lived thru the murders & trial, seen TV documentaries. I did not think I would be interested. The book was a gift, i did not pick it up @ first. When I did I had a hard time putting it down. It's opening which starts with what other people heard who lived in the area, ie gun shots, voice screaming, dog barking, etc..

My husband has always wanted to add Helter Skelter into his book collection and today he opened it as a Christmas gift. It's four hours later and he's still reading it, pausing every now and again to tell me some other disturbing connection that was made between music and the murders. This was his perfect gift!

I really enjoyed reading the majority of the book. The author really gives "hands on" insight to this whole ordeal. I knew most of the facts having been raised in that generation - however it was the mental control that was very interesting. I always thought that Manson had a kind of magic when he spoke - even to this day - there is always just enough truth in what he says to make you think. I always found him intelligent but absolutely think he was behind it all - and he is probably best left to die in prison. He's actually happy there and it's all he knows....kind of a sad situation for his life - really.....

The book went on too long. Once you reach the end of the trial - and all of the characters have been dealt with -it seemed the book never ended and got old. I found myself skipping toward the end and there was so much redundancy. Up to that point - it was very interesting. There were kind of 'minor' characters that he went into detail about how they ended up - and actually there were so many people involved, the reader kind of got lost.

Second time reading but had never read the update Vincent did for the 25th anniversary of the killings. Charlie Manson is as dangerous today as he was in 1969. Please don't ever let him out of prison!

Having lived thru the murders & trial, seen TV documentaries. I did not think I would be interested. The book was a gift, i did not pick it up @ first. When I did I had a hard time putting it down. It's opening which starts with what other people heard who lived in the area, ie gun shots, voice screaming, dog barking, etc..

My husband has always wanted to add Helter Skelter into his book collection and today he opened it as a Christmas gift. It's four hours later and he's still reading it, pausing every now and again to tell me some other disturbing connection that was made between music and the murders. This was his perfect gift!

I really enjoyed reading the majority of the book. The author really gives "hands on" insight to this whole ordeal. I knew most of the facts having been raised in that generation - however it was the mental control that was very interesting. I always thought that Manson had a kind of magic when he spoke - even to this day - there is always just enough truth in what he says to make you think. I always found him intelligent but absolutely think he was behind it all - and he is probably best left to die in prison. He's actually happy there and it's all he knows....kind of a sad situation for his life - really.....

The book went on too long. Once you reach the end of the trial - and all of the characters have been dealt with -it seemed the book never ended and got old. I found myself skipping toward the end and there was so much redundancy. Up to that point - it was very interesting. There were kind of 'minor' characters that he went into detail about how they ended up - and actually there were so many people involved, the reader kind of got lost.

This is the second time reading this book. It was very well written and has every detail of the murders and trial. First time reading I dreamt about Manson for three nights in a row. It had that much of an effect on me.