Michael Capuzzo

I liked this book very, very much. I started by listening to it from an audio book, and was so intrigued that I read it as well. I thought the three main characters, the founders of the Vidocq Society, Richard Warner, Bill Fleisher, and Frank Bender are fascinating men, very different from each other, but each truly committed to justice and solving crimes for the sake of decency, the survivors, and the truth. The many crime stories were well told and riveting. Some reviewers found the show more switching back and forth from crime to crime, with the events and opinions of Warner, Fleisher, and Bender interwoven, off-putting, but I felt this storytelling method parallels the work of law enforcement which follows a bumpy road indeed, with many a detour, often a false trail, and the ending not revealed, sometimes for years or decades, sometimes never. I was impressed by the underlying morality and dedication that goes into solving crimes, however long it takes. The passion of the Vidocq Society members for justice has a near-Biblical quality. show less

Close to Shore is not your typical non-fiction. It is a period piece that attempts to transport the reader back to New Jersey and New York in 1916, providing lots of period detail, manner of dress, bathing costumes, medical thinking, and scientific knowledge of the era. It tells the story of the people who were attacked, and also attempts to track the shark itself. Now, of course, we do not truly know where the shark originated or how it got to New Jersey. Nor do we know for sure the same show more shark attacked all of these victims. But the author did extensive research with noted shark experts to formulate a likely scenario and he presents a compelling case.

I found it interesting that scientists in 1916 doubted that sharks would attack humans. The attacks were blamed on sea turtles, orcas, and swordfish, along with other unusual suspects. One of the main strengths of the book is that it shows how difficult it is for people to let go of previously held beliefs. The narrative presents the great white shark as the culprit, though other accounts I have read blame the bull shark, and I am not certain if the experts agree that it was a single shark. These attacks certainly changed the public’s view of sharks. The 1916 attacks were the inspiration behind Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws. show less

The subtitle of The Murder Room, The Heirs of Sherlock Homes Gather to Solve the world's Most Perplexing Cold Cases is an excellent description of the premise of this look into the sleuths of The Vidocq Society. The society was the dream of three men, William Fleisher, Richard Walter, and Frank Bender, possibly the best of the world's crime solvers. Named for Eugène François Vidocq, the ground-breaking nineteenth century French detective who helped police by using the psychology of the show more criminal to solve "cold case" homicides, NPR calls this a dedicated group who solve mysteries over soup. Part one of The Murder Room invites you to a luncheon like no other. After a 5 course meal including such gourmet food as pork and mallard duck sausage hosted in an elegant hall with glittering eighteenth century chandeliers, coffee is served to backdrop images of the battered remains of a blond young man cast aside in a restaurant alley. I'm hooked.

Capuzzo's style here, give the reader a teaser in each chapter, leave them hanging for the outcome, and then providing closure somewhere down the road, if known, can be a bit frustrating at times. But liken this to the "not knowing" that the families of cold case victims live each and every day, sometimes forever, and I decided Capuzzo's method was fitting, if not a dead on perfect way to format this book.

The Murder Room outlines many gut wrenching cases with many being solved but not all. What hits home loud and clear is the dedication and drive of the men and women who make up The Vidocq Society; professionals who will not rest until the case is closed, justice is done and the families know the victims have not been forgotten. Fascinating reading it is! show less

"Combining rich historical detail and a harrowing, pulse-pounding narrative, Close to Shore brilliantly re-creates the summer of 1916, when a rogue Great White shark attacked swimmers along the New Jersey shore, triggering mass hysteria and launching the most extensive shark hunt in history.
During the summer before the United States entered World War I, when ocean swimming was just becoming popular and luxurious Jersey Shore resorts were thriving as a chic playground for an opulent yet still show more innocent era's new leisure class, Americans were abruptly introduced to the terror of sharks. In July 1916 a lone Great White left its usual deep-ocean habitat and headed in the direction of the New Jersey shoreline. There, near the towns of Beach Haven and Spring Lake-and, incredibly, a farming community eleven miles inland-the most ferocious and unpredictable of predators began a deadly rampage: the first shark attacks on swimmers in U.S. history.

For Americans celebrating an astoundingly prosperous epoch much like our own, fuelled by the wizardry of revolutionary inventions, the arrival of this violent predator symbolized the limits of mankind's power against nature.

Interweaving a vivid portrait of the era and meticulously drawn characters with chilling accounts of the shark's five attacks and the frenzied hunt that ensued, Michael Capuzzo has created a non fiction historical thriller with the texture of Ragtime and the tension of Jaws. From the unnerving inevitability of the first attack on the esteemed son of a prosperous Philadelphia physician to the spine-tingling moment when a farm boy swimming in Matawan Creek feels the sandpaper-like skin of the passing shark, Close to Shore is an undeniably gripping saga.

Heightening the drama are stories of the resulting panic in the citizenry, press and politicians, and of colourful personalities such as Herman Oelrichs, a flamboyant millionaire who made a bet that a shark was no match for a man (and set out to prove it); Museum of Natural History ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols, faced with the challenge of stopping a mythic sea creature about which little was known; and, most memorable, the rogue Great White itself moving through a world that couldn't conceive of either its destructive power or its moral right to destroy.

Scrupulously researched and superbly written, Close to Shore brings to life a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history. Masterfully written and suffused with fascinating period detail and insights into the science and behaviour of sharks, Close to Shore recounts a breathtaking, pivotal moment in American history with startling immediacy.

Details the first documented cases in American history of sharks attacking swimmers, which occured along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey in 1916."

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