Beyond All Reason: The True Story of Two Ten-Year-Old Killers - Hardcover

Three-year-old James Bulger was lured away from his mother at a shopping mall in England in February 1993 and was found murdered two and a half miles away. When two ten-year-old boys were convicted of the crime, the case gained worldwide attention. Smith, a writer for the London Sunday Times magazine, presents the case in a detailed manner, but the text is filled with an inconsistent use of first and third person, jarring changes of tense, and the irritating technique of conveying dialog without quotes or attribution. The result is very irritating reading. In addition, Smith's epilog attempts to explore the psychology of the boys and their families, but there is no insight and no interviews with professionals. Hopefully, this case will soon be addressed by someone with the ability to describe the case as well as peel away the layers of anger, frustration, and sorrow that surround it. Not recommended.
Christine Moesch, Buffalo & Erie Cty. P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In early 1993 in a suburb of Liverpool, England, two truants from school-Jon Venables and Bobby Thompson-lured three-year-old James Bulger from his mother in a shopping mall and, after meandering around the town, killed him in a brutal fashion and left his body on railroad tracks, where a train cut it in half. Smith, who writes for the Sunday Times of London, provides an objective look at the murderers, the authorities who handled the case, the trial and the 15-year sentences handed down by the home secretary, which are currently being appealed. He suggests that the killers, both from dysfunctional families, did not set out to find a murder victim, but that small acts of sadism escalated until death resulted. The police, unrelenting yet solicitous, are shown to have behaved admirably as their questioning solved the crime. An excellent true-crime study that tries to explain why. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.