This fourteenth installment of the Scarpetta series was slow getting off the ground for me. We catch up with all of our favorite (and not so favorite) main characters. This book sees Benton heading a secret research project at Harvard, Lucy living in bars trying to find a quick hookup, Marino is trying to reinvent himself by losing weight and changing his attitude a little and the way he dresses, and Kay is investigating some bizarre crime as she does. Lucy cannot seem to stay away from seedy people that have some type of nefarious intent. Benton and Kay have a moment in their relationship that causes strain, though there have been plenty of such moments previously. The points of view in this book change throughout, much like the last one, and I wasn't crazy about that. There is an actual killer in this book that tortures and murders, and the process of discovering the who and why was interesting. The series is starting to lag for me at this point, but I am committed to it. 

 I have to admit that this is my least favorite full length book. The Crime Files are anthologies of her cases, written in a shorter manner. I do not prefer those, but this book should have been in an anthology. I always enjoyed the fact that Ann Rule could put in the research and detail into her books, that really gave you an amazing insight into the criminal justice process and the craziness that goes on in the world. This, however, was really stretching it thin. I won't say to skip this one, if you are a fan of this author, just prepare yourself for the fact that is drags on with little reward. 

 I bought Book Of The Dead on lunch break and work, because I did not realize this was a series. I went back and bought all of the other books in the series up to that point, and loved the series. In this book, if one would have read it in the correct order, we meet Kay Scarpetta and Pete Marino, who are working a murder case together. We also meet Lucy, who it is hard to imagine is only ten in this part of the timeline. With the help of Benton Wesley, they set about solving the strangling death of a woman and a host of other unsolved murders linked to a single killer. I love the in depth use of the forensic methods that were available at the time, and they are true to the time frame the book is set in. I really like this series a lot. 

 I love Augusten Burroughs. I am never disappointed in anything he writes. It is always sassy and hilarious. I hope he writes another soon. Every time I read a book of his, I wish more and more that I could hang out with him for a day. He seems like he would be a fun person. 

 This was the most boring book I have read in a while. I thought it was going to be a lot more interesting than it was, but it just simply was not. I did not enjoy it in the least. 

 Leni Riefenstahl was born Helene Bertha Amalie Riefenstahl, so I can see why she went with a shorter name. She was born in Berlin in 1902. She took dance classes, where she proved to be very talented. She traveled all over as a performer, and then dipped her feet into the acting business. In 1933, she attended a Nazi Party rally where she was impressed by Adolf Hitler's public speaking skills. They wound up meeting each other, and he was equally impressed by her work and the fact that she fit his ideal of an Aryan woman. She was offered the opportunity to direct some propaganda films for the Nazi Party. She also went on to film the 1936 Summer Olympics, which I have watched footage of. She was very talented and there is no denying that. This project was actually one of the first times tracking was used to follow the movements of athletes, which is something we are so used to in films today. It is hard to imagine films without it, really.

She was a public defender of Hitler and his shenanagins, and I wonder if that was because she was so blinded by him or if she was obligated because of the jobs she got and the funding she got from the Nazi Party. She also spent time with Joseph and Magda Goebbels, attending operas and other functions with them. She claimed he made advances to her, which I do not doubt because he was a sleazy person in many aspects. She claims she rejected his advances. Either way, he did think highly of her work and ability, but was not pleased with the way she was spending Nazi money. When World War II broke out, she hopped right into a Nazi uniform as a war correspondent. She also experienced the death of her brother, who died in combat.

After the war, she claimed she was young and politically ignorant. I have also been young and politically ignorant, only getting into politics in recent years. I realize that a lot of people go along with whatever their parents do, until they grow up and are able to use their own thinking and needs to base their political choices on. I understand that. However, I find it very hard to believe that she was as smart and talented as she was and possessed absolutely NO critical thinking skills. I am sorry, but she knew horrible things were happening to people. She knew that there was devastation from war. She knew there were food and supply shortages. She knew people were dying in droves. She was in cahoots with some of the biggest Nazi leaders, yet denied knowing anything about the Holocaust, and I just flat do not buy that at all. She went on to win a lot of slander cases against people who were calling her a Nazi. If she was not a member of the Nazi party, she was certainly a Nazi sympathizer and supporter, because she spent time with them and benefited from their war crimes. This just goes to show you that you can be associated with the people you hang out with up until the day you die, and on after.

This book was really well written and covered a lot of details about Leni, which was the entire purpose. I knew that she was a director and in charge of Nazi propaganda films. I knew nothing about her career as a performing artist and actress. I knew nothing of her family and upbringing, or how she became involved with the Nazi party. This book was really valuable to me as a history major that specialized in World War II. In fact, I used it a few times as a reference in a paper I had to write about propaganda. If you are looking to learn more about her, or just interested in World War II in general, check this out. 

 I bought this book, because I had seen Byron De La Beckwith's name in a few other books. I also know that he is buried here. I am really curious to go see his grave to see if it has been turned into a shrine or if it is still there undamaged. This man was a character, and his language and behavior was vile. The book gave a very interesting account of his life and activities, and I learned a lot about him. I also made some notes to look up other people and hate groups to see if there were still active in this area....they are. Unreal. 

 This book is a nonfiction book written by Patricia Conwell, who is most notable for her Kay Scarpetta novels. I picked this book up because I was in the middle of reading the Scarpetta novels. I figured it was worth a read since I am also interested in true crime. I am not convinced that her evidence that she presented in this book would hold up in any courtroom, but it was a fairly entertaining read. I left this book feeling completely unconvinced that Jack the Ripper was Walter Sickert, but it was an interested theory. I don't feel like I wasted my time reading this like a lot of the other reviews that I read did, nor did I think this was the most amazing piece of true crime I have ever read like some of the other reviews. I am certainly one of the middle of the pack readers of this book. I would just say, read at your own risk and take everything with a grain of salt. 

 The scientific and foresnsic knowlede are on point in this book, as with all of the others. There is no denying the research that Patricia Cornwell puts forth on this. The cases and the solving of them are very interesting, and I wish that there were more moments dedicated to that as opposed to moments where Marino is being boorish and Lucy is being her ridiculous self. The end of the book itself, perhaps the last 100 pages or so, was the most vital part of the book, but I wasn't really happy with the ending. I am really over everyone acting like Kay is the most amazing person to ever walk the planet. It is not possible for her to be that perfect, nor Benton. Benton is all the things in the world, but forthcoming isn't one, yet it seems like he is the perfect man. No, thanks. 

 Pope John Paul II was, in my opinion, one of the better Pope's that the Vatican housed. During his service, he attempted to improve relationships between the Church and a lot of different groups. This book focuses on his effort to improve relationships with Jewish people. He allowed the author to have access to Vatican archives and papers in an attempt to uncover any dealings that the Catholic Church had with Axis powers and Jewish people around the World War II years. He was actually the first Pope to ever visit Auschwitz, subsequently publishing his thoughts on the Holocaust and members of the Jewish faith. He also visited Yad Vashem.

During World War II, Catholics fought on both sides of the conflict. Pope Pius XI was not a fan of Hitler and his Nazi Party, saying that he was waging war against the Church and people's faith, which was true. Hitler was not into religion, really, and was openly hostile and restrictive about it. He had a lot of churches dismantled, and church officials arrested. When Pope Pius XII took over, he was the only world leader at the time who spoke out against Hitler and what was happening to the Jewish people. He also tried to help out the Jewish people by giving them aid via diplomacy.

This book serves as a wake up call to people who think that organized religion isn't criminal. I know that the Catholic church in particular has had a landslide of bad publicity for sexual abuse, coverups, cultural genocide, manipulation, and other atrocities. I know that most everyone else knows it too. A lot of people are unaware of the role that the Catholic Church played in World War II and the Holocaust. While they did condemn actions, attempted to help out where they could, they maintained an overall stance of neutrality. They did not want to become too involved and increase the target on their own backs since Hitler hated the Church as well. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Pope Pius XII knew all about the Holocaust and what was happening to these people, but did next to nothing so he wouldn't "undermine aid efforts behind the scenes". In cases like this, silence is criminal, and the fact that they gave food and clothes and hid some people in churches doesn't really make up for the neutral stance they took.