A review by collkavs
Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction That Changed America by Les Standiford

2.0

I wanted to stop reading this book several times, but felt compelled to keep going because I actually did want to find out the resolution. So it gets points for that, I guess.

Clearly there were some major problems with how the Adam Walsh investigation was handled, but it's problematic that the lead detective comes off as more of a villain than the child-murderer himself. Also, there's a very weird interlude where both the author and Joe Matthews, co-author / hero of the story, make it clear that they believe that the sexual harassment of a female officer is laughable and not worth even investigating.

Still, might have given it three stars were it not for the hyperbole about how everything changed forever - the authors would apparently be absolutely dumbfounded to learn that I played outside with other children and only occasional adult supervision well into the 1990s - and the excessive repetition of the most disgusting details of the crime. It began to feel sensational and exploitative.