I graduated high school in the mid-sxties, so the time period of the Manson murders was right up my alley.
The killing spree took place over two nights, when the “family” of young followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people. There didn’t seem to be any discernible motive, and the nationwide freakout that followed seemed to officially signify the the end of the sixties.

About twenty years ago, a magazine journalist named Tom O’Neill began working on a magazine story about the murders. At that time, he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to find anything new to say. But his digging resulted in an incredible series of revelations about the  “official” story, plus uncovering police carelessness, legal misconduct, and even involvement by the CIA.

One of O’Neill’s initial sources was Vincent Bugliosi, the author of Helter Skelter, which for years has been considered the definitive source for information on this story. Initially a cooperative and even friendly source for Mr. O’Neill,  a strange interview totally changed that relationship and confirmed O’Neill’s suspicions about Manson’s real friends in Hollywood, the fact that law enforcement never acted on the many chances they had to stop him, and the whole freak show that was the Manson Family.

This incredibly detailed book is the result of two decades of investigative reporting, hundreds of new interviews, and dozens of documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA. For me, it also served as a kind of history of the time period, and brought back many memories. It might be more than you wanted to know about this fascinating story, but for any true crime fan in general or Manson aficionado in particular, it’s solid gold. Four and a half stars.