Tears of Rage [Paperback] Walsh, John

Product Description The host of the America's Most Wanted, John Walsh tells for the first time the full story of the 1981 abduction and murder of his six-year-old son, Adam. This is the heartbreaking chronicle of John Walsh's transformation from grieving father to full-time activist -- and the infuriating conspiracy of events that have kept America's No. 1 crime-fighter from obtaining justice and closure for himself and his family. From the day Adam disappeared from a mall in Hollywood, Florida, John Walsh faced a local police department better equipped to track stolen cars than missing children -- and a criminal justice system that would work against him in unimaginable ways. Outraged but determined, he ultimately enlarged the search for Adam's killer into an exhaustive battle on behalf of all missing and abused children, beginning with his efforts to put missing children's faces on milk cartons. Today, John Walsh continues the fight for legislative change and public awareness, driven by his own personal tragedy. Tears of Rage is the story of a true American hero: a man who challenged the system in the name of his son. Amazon.com Review In this aptly titled book, John Walsh traces the steps that led him from being a grieving father to becoming a grieving father who hosts TV's America's Most Wanted, the Fox true-crime show that hunts down bad guys every week through a toll-free tip line. Walsh, however, seems ambivalent about the fame he's been granted. He presents a somewhat halting, uncertain narrative in this autobiography (cowritten with Susan Schindehette), and he makes it clear all the way through that his life is really only driven by one thing: the still-unsolved 1981 abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son, Adam. Walsh's anger and frustration over a "bumbling" police investigation of his son's murder is evident throughout. According to Walsh, the Hollywood, Florida, Police Department should have arrested a drifter named Ottis Toole--a convicted serial killer who played sidekick for many years to the notorious killer Henry Lee Lucas. Walsh speculates that the police had "formed their own ideas" about who killed Adam and didn't want to believe Toole could have been responsible. But Walsh is convinced, and he presents a large amount of evidence to support his case. Unfortunately, it's too late: Ottis Toole died several years ago in prison. This is not an easy book to read, and one imagines it wasn't an easy book for John Walsh to write, as he describes, with a staccato style reminiscent of Jack Webb, the probable sequence of events of Adam's disappearance as well as the manner of his death. The bulk of Tears of Rage concerns Adam's abduction and its aftermath and the impact the Walsh family has had since in helping to pass various victims' and children's rights legislation. --Tjames Madison Review Time From its searing prologue through its frank re-creation of the lives undone by Adam's murder, Tears of Rage astonishes the reader. Sun-Sentinel (FL) Tears of Rage is a superb book, intellectually and emotionally challenging and compulsively readable....A riveting story...scrupulously documented. The Oakland Press (MI) Tears of Rage should be required reading for anyone who loves a child. About the Author In addition to his hosting duties on AMERICA'S MOST WANTED, John Walsh is also co-host and co-producer of both "Final Justice" and "European Manhunter." There are also plans to continue his hit television movies "From The Files of AMERICA'S MOST WANTED." Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. From Chapter 4 WHEN I GOT UP AROUND SEVEN O' CLOCK ON THE MORNING OF Monday, July 27, 1981, Adam was still sleeping. Jimmy Campbell had taken him out to a movie the night before, and I was angry that Jimmy had kept him out so late, even if it was summer vacation. I had kissed Adam good-night and put him to bed. If it hadn't been so late, I would have read him a story. Just a few days before, he had spen