Innocence Lost by Carlton Stowers

Undercover officer George Raffield's job was to pose as a student in the small town of Midlothian, Texas and infiltrate the high school drug ring. When Raffield's cover became suspect, word spread through a small circle of friends that the young officer would pay with his life. No one stopped it. On a rainy fall evening in 1987, Raffield was lured to an isolated field. Three bullets were fired-one unloaded into his skull. The baby-faced killer, Greg Knighten, stole eighteen dollars from Raffield's wallet, divided it among his two young accomplices, and calmly said, it's done. With chilling detail, Carlton Stowers illuminates a dark corner of America's heartland and the children who hide there. What he found was an alienated subculture of drug abuse, the occult, and an unfathomable teenage rage that exploded at point blank range on a shocking night of lost innocence...

Carlton Stowers was initally reluctant to write this book as he is from the same area where this crime occurred.Initally reluctant to perhaps have to release secrets of friends and family,he went ahead on the advice of his wife.The fact that he is so close to the story shows in the writing of this book.It shows in the respectful writing(from his close affiliation with the characters) and yet is honest and revealing no doubt due to his experience in writing true crime books,a talent he has which is admired by his fellow true crime writers.

He found out about this story when he was contacted by Karen Hufstetler,a psychic who informed him that the authorities were searching for an undercover cop.She then told him that they needed to be searching further south and when they found the pick up truck the keys would be missing.She was right.

This book will take you deeply into the drug scene prevalent in schools,the flippant attitude most teenagers have,the fact that they are absolutely not fully aware of the consequences of their actions,even their casual disregard for drug use,even if they themselves are not indulging then they definitely are not shocked at the fact that their fellow schholmates are indeed taking drugs.The most shocking part of this true crime story is how well known was the fact that George Raffield was an undercover cop,that some kids had promised to make him pay.Yet not one of the other school kids thought of alerting the authorities that this young man's life was in danger.

I believe that this book was especially excellent as the writer Carlton Stowers was able to get much insider information based on his relationship with the town.I assume alongside that was the fact that being a friend they could truly trust him to relate the story in a truthful and respectful way which he has done.

This is one of my "old" books which I am doing a review on in my bid to catch up on all my reviews.I can also tell from just looking at my old books which ones I enjoyed the most just by checking their general condition.A book which took me a long time to read will be dog eared and tattered.The ones which still look brand new I know I read really quickly which then translates into "I really enjoyed it".And no it would not mean I never read it because I really try to finish reading all the books I buy and if I was struggling then it would remain next to my bedside table.I would read one page and then clip a page to keep my space and then all the pages would show they had been clipped at one time or other(yes I do NOT have a book marker).My point is this book Innocence Lost by Carlton Stowers is practically brand new.

If you would like to know more about this book then South African readers can access via Kalahari Books and if you would like to read some more reviews then the Amazon link below will do just that
Innocence Lost
I read this book in June 2008 and it has 8 pages of photographs.

Here are some more book details:
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9780312995447
Publication date: May 2004
Pages: 336

My Question:
Do you think the kids who knew that his crime was about to happen but said nothing to anyone should be held accountable in some way?

Open Secrets by Carlton Stowers

On a fall afternoon in 1983, in an upscale Dallas suburb, Rozanne Gailiunas was found stripped, bound to her bed, and shot through the skull. Her four-year-old son has been napping peacefully in the next room when she was killed. Rozanne's husband, Dr. Peter Gailiunas--and her lover, Larry Aylor--immediately fell under suspicion. Until a surprise informant identified the mastermind behind the murder as Aylor's own wife, Joy--a woman so driven by jealousy and greed that she put out a contract on both Rozanne and later her own husband. On the run and managing to elude investigators for eight years, the two-year search for the socialite would eventually end in the south of France. There, authorities found the elusive femme fatale, living as comfortably among the world's elite as she was among hired killers. At last, the authorities' questions would be answered, to reveal a shocking insight into the heart of an unlikely killer, and a small-town Texas crime that made international headlines.

What struck me most about this book is the demeanor of Joy Aylor throughout the book.There was no overwhelming passion for her husband or even extreme anger that he was having an affair.I got the feeling that she viewed her philandering husband more as an irritating fly that needed to be swatted.I believe she wanted to do away with him and got a good price to kill two people instead of one so she took that option as it would then prove to be less cost per head.So she had the girlfriend killed as well.Really this is the feeling I had the entire time,very very strange.

I enjoyed this book but I would definitely not say that this is Carlton Stower's best book.Not by far.The storyline is not very exciting.I would go as far as to say this is just another book about a spouse trying to knock off their partner.Nothing great but if you have it with you already or if a friend offers to lend you the book then by all means read it but I would not go out of my way to buy it.Actually I have already (as you know) but my advice is dont.

I do however admire all the facts that were researched and the amount of work that went into this book by Carlton Stowers.I also have the utmost respect for the police and investigators who eventually caught this strange woman after she ran away and hid for all those years.

But I do need to add that Ann Rule's comment on this book was "one of the most remarkable true crime books I've ever read".So there you have it.Dont take my word for it, take it from the experts and Ann Rule is definitely classified as an expert on true crime books.

see more on this book at Kalahari Books-South Africa
or at Amazon