The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius
Rating: 3 out of 5
Comment: I have no doubt that the material contained in this book is as factual as the writer portrays. I did find it difficult to keep up with the changes in time, setting and circumstances of the characters. Perhaps the writer feels that this is a way of sustaining the suspense, but I found it distracting. Overall, I was interested in this man who was recently brought back to the US to stand trial for the murder of his girlfriend. I did learn a lot about him and that is good background for what will inevitably be Court TV material soon. It might have been helpful to the reader to have a psychiatrist's view of Holly and why she did not leave Ira when she was obviouly drawn to another man. I almost gave up on this book before reading the "secret" revealed in the last chapters. Good account of Ira Einhorn who was evil before he killed Holly.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary: Gripping, Informative, a Real Page-Turner
Comment: This book is far more than a whodunit. It is a wonderful history
of the politics and pop-culture of the 1960s and 1970s and it provides
in-depth character analyses of all of the central players. This one really
puts "The Age of Aquarius" in perspective! Was the Unicorn a
murderer or framed by secret operatives? The revelations in the last chapters
provided an unequivocal answer for me.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary: Maniacal Ira Einhorn Still Hides In France . . .
Comment: Hard to believe that I was about 5 years old in a suburb of Philadelphia
when Holly Maddux's body was found in a trunk in Ira Einhorn's apartment
. . . even harder to believe is that he managed to escape and has been
living in France for all these years. This book is fabulous . . . I was
totally engrossed in it from page 1. Being from the Philadelphia area,
I was somewhat familiar with the case, but reading this book opened up
so much more to me about Holly, her family, and this monster, Ira Einhorn.
He was a small-town nobody, the founder of Earth Day who thought the world
revolved around him. What a shame that Holly got involved with him and
could have been so naive and easily fooled. The pictures are disturbing
-- she was such a beautiful girl, and Ira such a fat, disgusting, ragged-looking
oaf. It does not seem to make sense. Then again, it shows how manipulative
and sneaky Ira really was.
Even though I knew how the book was going to end, I actually found myself
applauding Holly as she began to discover her strengths and pull away
from Ira and resolutely decide to remove herself from his life. What if
she had been able to do that? How wonderful (for everyone) if that had
happened . . . but Ira would not let anyone leave him. He considered Holly
to be his possession, and was not about to let anyone get away from him
so easily. It amazes me that he was able to escape detection for so long,
and that his friends and acquaintances actually trusted and believed his
stories . . . even after Holly's body was found. How does one explain
that? A body is found in your apartment and you expect everyone to believe
you had nothing to do with it? That there was a conspiracy against Ira
Einhorn? Get real! Ira was a nobody -- no one would waste their time conspiring
against him. The book was fascinating and frightening at the same time.
Much better than the TV movie about the case (which, I admit, sparked
my interest and convinced me to buy this book). I recommend it to anyone
who is at all intrigued by the case, or anyone who is a fan of the true-crime
genre. It is a page-turner, a tale that will sicken and sadden you all
at once. Unfortunately, it is a story without a resolution, since Einhorn
is still in France and has not been brought to justice -- and that will
make you seethe with anger.