Monday, January 31, 2011

Finding Chandra by Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz


Every now and again I like to read a True Crime book but these days it is awfully hard to find one that isn't all Slashers, Vampires or the Mafia. This book ticked all my boxes, sad as it is.

Chandra Levy burst into worldwide prominence in May 2001 when she completely vanished in Washington D.C. where she was doing an Internship with The Bureau of Prisons and unbeknown to but a few was having an affair with her local Congressman who like Chandra hailed from California. From the moment that Chandra's father Robert Levy received a some what evasive answer from Gary Condit, a media furor unlike anything seen since erupted with Gary Condit as the main attraction and the hunt for Chandra becoming almost a sidebar. News outlets on all coasts and across the world carried the story, with lies, half truths and banner headlines the norm. Although there had been a series of attacks in Rock Creek Park before and after Chandra disappeared few including the very bumbling Police Force refused to believe that the suspect in these attacks had anything to do with Chandra's disappearance; signed, sealed and delivered it had to be The Congressmen or his imaginary Henchmen, even when Chandra's body was found in said park and she was known to run regularly in the area.

It really took the combined efforts of The Washington Post and a change in Law Enforcement Personnel before the blindingly obvious became apparent and the person who was sitting in a Federal Facility convicted of previous attacks in this area was charged with Chandra Levy's murder. Chandra dead at 24 and Gary Condits career blown out of the water, this well written book is a page turner with many twists and turns, way above the average book found in this genre.

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