Joseph DiMona (1923–1999)

The author does an in depth job at creating this world. It is one if the best laid out of the mermaid books I've read. From the government to keeping the secret to every day life. Its worth the read just to discover her world.

That being said the first 65% of the book is telling. It is a weird you need to know this information for the plot so here it is layout. My intrigue into the world definitely kept my interest through this section which is why I gave it 4 stars, but it was had to get sucked into the book and the characters stories because of it.… (mais)

This is an interesting book although the author always gave me an uneasy feeling. He made many local TV appearances over the years. This book solidifies many of the impressions Noguchi gave to many people as an attention seeker. At 250 pages, this is a fast read on a subject most would not find palatable.
Noguchi covers several famous Los Angeles cases which he was involved with: Sharon Tate, the SLA shootout, Janis Joplin, Robert Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, John Belushi, William Holden. He also talks about the building of the Coroner’s building when they moved the Coroner’s office out of the basement of the Hall of Justice. I have never been inside the Coroner’s office but they now have an official merchandise shop inside which some think tactless. Most of the book is promoting the science and technological advances of forensic investigation techniques. At least it claims to be so from Noguchi’s point of view.
I have a copy of the Warren Commission’s findings but Noguchi claims that the Secret Service took John F Kennedy’s body from the Dallas hospital to do their own autopsy. Noguchi claims that he insisted on jurisdiction over Robert Kennedy’s autopsy. Even then there was still question about what was the cause of death for Robert Kennedy (he says there were two shooters). The whole purpose of an autopsy is to determine the cause of death given the state of remains and not necessarily how the death occurred. Noguchi constantly burrs the lines on this point which makes all of his claims somewhat suspect. Often I have seen death certificates where the cause of death are attributed to multiple factors. Years ago when I worked with document verification I saw the certificate for Marilyn Monroe. It was replacement copy as the original had removed or stolen. There were a few alterations made even on that hard photocopy. Noguchi’s book makes it clear that political factors were almost always operative in his work and in his press comments. This is very dispiriting to read in print because not all LA County people work so unprofessionally while Noguchi gave the impression that they did.
Among tragic Los Angeles personalities, this is a book to read for those interested. The subject is very, very macabre. Noguchi tries to make it seem as if he is solely interested in the case but always quickly subsumes that into how he can publicize himself in the process.
The funniest part of the book is when he is threatened with dismissal and all kinds of phony charges are used as reasons. In the old days, it was almost impossible to get fired from government jobs. They were low paying but job security was the enhancement that made it worthwhile. The only way to get rid of someone was to dream up a horrendous list of stuff and make it easy for the employee leave quietly. The assumption being that the claims were true, but the government was willing to not publicize it if the maligned person simply moved on. Nowadays, government workers get huge salaries, unheard of benefits and still retain the job security they all originally had. This was due first to Gray Davis but continues even now. The case for Noguchi being threatened with firing shows that he rubbed many people the wrong way and/or left them on the hook for his many ambiguous or misstated public remarks as Coroner. Now, every governmental entity or organization has a public relations person who handles this duty full time.… (mais)

Early on while still in my teens, I developed a deep fascination with the manners and mechanisms of death. Most likely the result of too many gore laden horror films growing up and chance encounters with the subject matter as people I knew died along the way! In any event, I developed what became a genuine curiosity regarding something I took to be a great mystery and I decided that I wanted it to be my life's work to study death further!

As I began my journey and I was still working out the direction I ultimately wished to follow, one of the first names I encountered associated with the field of forensic pathology was Dr. Thomas Noguchi and one of the very first books on the subject I managed to get my hands on was Coroner at Large.

As it has been quite a few years since I read the book, I cannot recollect the exact content, but I remember it went a great way to inspiring me to pursue my goals further. The book was reasonably well written with a fair body of knowledge, for such a small text, and covered aspects of many famous cases, centering on Dr. Noguchi's examination of the evidence in each instance. Elvis Presley, Dorothy Stratten and Freddie Prinze are among the celebrity deaths highlighted in the book along with several other reasonably well-known cases from the previous 20 years or so.

The downside to the book is, of course, its age! Written so many years ago it is without a doubt completely outdated as advances in forensics and new findings have drastically changed the views regarding many of these cases. That is not to say it is not worth reading if you stubble upon a copy in an old book store. Dr. Noguchi was a pioneer in his field and the book serves as an excellent window into the world of death investigation that Dr. Noguchi helped foster.

I certainly wish I still had a copy in my possession as I would love to read it again. I definitely recommend it for anyone interested in forensic pathology or true crime!… (mais)

I’m not big on conspiracy novels. For example, decades ago I dropped Robert Ludlum shortly after his books doubled in size. Granted this was when his worldwide popularity soared but personally I felt the excessive, far-reaching conspiracies went one or two steps too far and diluted the eventual climax. Which brings me to Joseph DiMona. Deep-rooted conspiracies were always integral to his stories--but not overwhelmingly so. He was of the era of Fredrick Forsyth, Brian Forbes and Amos Aricha: thriller writers who emphasized intrigue and suspense as much as action. DiMona’s mastery of these elements in Last Man at Arlington left me with no hesitation about picking up his next, The Benedict Arnold Connection. And had I known of its existence in those pre-internet days, I would have purchased this novel upon release. So some thirty-five years later I finally get to read Assistant Attorney General George Williams’ final adventure.

While shooting an anti-Hitler movie on location in Germany, a group of American actors are kidnapped by a terrorist group. This takes place in 1980. Remembering this is crucial to the book’s enjoyment. The author states it early in a scene where an important participant makes preparations for coming events 36 years after his father was executed as a member of what the novel regularly refers to as the “July 20th Conspiracy.” In the 21st century the failed assignation of Hitler is referenced more commonly as Operation Valkyrie. The proximity of the novel’s present to its World War II past could be easily forgotten when reading the story so many years after its initial publication. To the Eagle’s Nest is a generational story, and as various opposing forces come into play, each can be traced back to Nazi Germany.

This is the best of the George Williams novels, mainly because DiMona lets the reader into the conspiracies as each group’s influence enters the story. There are still surprises but the groundwork is properly laid. DiMona also structures the book so that, as greater forces begin to make move and countermove, the hero is not reduced to a chess piece. Williams has an active role in the conclusion.

To the Eagle’s Nest reads like it was always intended to be DiMona’s last foray into the espionage novel, perhaps because he made a much better living co-writing biographies. But after all this time I can’t help but wishing he had left more novels like this for me to discover. It’s an entertaining example of the thriller novel of the time.… (mais)