Bringing Adam Home

Starred review from November 29, 2010
On July 27, 1981, six-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a Sears store in Hollywood, Fla., and his partial remains were found in a canal two weeks later. Novelist and nonfiction author Standiford (Last Train to Paradise) charts with devastating precision the decades-long search for the killer and the evolution of Revé and John Walsh (John was executive producer and host of America's Most Wanted) from grieving parents into powerful advocates for missing children. In 1983, Jacksonville police arrested drifter Otis Toole for arson and murder, and he began talking about a little boy he'd killed in south Florida. Myriad confessions (and retractions) followed, containing details only the killer would know, but evidence disappeared, potential witnesses were never interviewed, and Toole was never charged. Convicted on other charges, he died in prison in 1996. Twenty-five years after Adam's abduction, the Walshes asked Matthews, a renowned polygraph investigator and retired detective, to conduct an independent investigation; Matthews concluded that Toole was the killer. Standiford's account is riveting, heartbreaking, and supports John Walsh's statement: "it's not about closure; it's about justice." 8 pages of color photos.

October 15, 2010

Novelist Standiford and investigating officer Matthews chronicle the riveting search for the murderer of Adam Walsh, a six-year-old boy abducted from outside a store in a Florida mall in July 1981. Most readers know the America's Most Wanted TV series and John Walsh, its host and the victim's father. The story behind the long and convoluted search for Adam's killer, which eventually became a cold case, takes many twists and turns. Few held out any hope of ever solving the mystery of who left the severed head of a child in a canal, and why Matthews, once part of the initial team brought in from another jurisdiction, was asked by Adam's parents to again try to unearth the truth. In December 2008, the case was finally resolved, thanks in large part to the dogged determination of a small team of experts with access to technology not available when the crime happened. The final gut-wrenching, horrific piece of evidence brought a long-awaited closure. VERDICT An essential read for those interested in forensic science and true crime.--Claire Franek, MSLS, Brockport, NY

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2010

A bestselling author and a veteran Miami police sergeant tell the whole story behind the 1981 kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh.

After playing video games inside a department store in Florida, Rev� Walsh's six-year-old son Adam vanished. Before the grisly details emerged of his kidnapping and dismemberment, the boy's disappearance garnered national media attention, thrusting the Florida police department--namely top-notch homicide detective Joe Matthews, a father of four--headfirst into the desperate search. Early on, Matthews notes that he became troubled by the disorganized, "chaotic" quality of the station handling the investigation, but his concerns went ignored. After suffering a nasty car accident, he was excused from the case altogether. When the boy's remains were discovered in a drainage ditch, the case was further fumbled by shotgun accusations and an absence of any tangible leads, until convicted serial killer Ottis Toole admitted to the murder during an arson indictment. Standiford (Washington Burning: How a Frenchman's Vision for Our Nation's Capital Survived Congress, the Founding Fathers, and the Invading British Army, 2008, etc.) documents the numerous instances of investigatory malfeasance routinely plaguing the case, as accusations flew over botched testimonies, circumstantial evidence and Toole's numerous recanted confessions. Further, during this time period, DNA forensic technology was rudimentary at best. As years passed, Adam's father John became a staunch advocate for missing and exploited children. As the host of America's Most Wanted, Walsh reunited with Matthews, who, with a renewed, heartfelt intent and an arsenal of forensic tools, reopened the Walsh case, formally indicted Toole with sufficient evidence and closed the case in 2008. Standiford's by-the-numbers reporting is consistently engrossing and fortified with statistics, police transcripts and chillingly reenacted kidnapping attempts by Toole, whose dark-hearted verbatim dialogue, even after nearly 30 years, still has the gruesome power to keep readers on edge.

A riveting, sad coda to an American tragedy.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2011
This is the ultimate cold casetragic, high-profile, and, finally, successfully solved. Six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a crowded Sears store in Hollywood, Florida, in 1981. Later, he was murdered and decapitated. Identifying Adams killer took 25 years. His parents turned into tireless advocates for missing and abused children; Adams father, John Walsh, moved from a sales job to being the executive producer and host of Americas Most Wanted. This forceful account, written with Matthews, former sergeant with the Miami Beach Police Department, who worked the case for years, gives readers the ultimate insiders account of the grueling search for Adams killer and for the evidence to convict him. While many true-crime books claim to shine a light on society by examining one particular case, this account actually does. No reader can come away from this without appreciating what it takes to keep pursuing an investigation, against the obstacles of police politics and bureaucracy. Wrenching and riveting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)