****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This true story of the kidnapping and murder of a young boy and shameful failure to apprehend his killer is told in a factual voice, neither pitifully nor totally dispassionately. Although all the known pertinent details are presented, the book does not present them salaciously; the story itself does that. As the book states, and the parents' actions in the decades that followed helped to bring about acts that help to protect our children today--even if more by making us aware than by deterring their predators and murderers--including the Missing and Exploited Children's Act, years of faces on milk cartons and now on biilboards and in contemporary media, Megan's Law, and Amber Alerts.I bought the Kindle edition after seeing it on a promotional page. I wasn't looking for a book of the true crime genre, but I vaguely recalled the early years of the story and that string evidence was uncovered decades later. My intention to read the book was interrupted, so I decided go purchase the audiobook. This is one of few times that I I used Amazon's Whispersync feature to switch back and forth between reading and listening. The book is both well-written and well-narrated.There are lessons in this book for law enforcement, parents, people in authority, and for all of us. Learning the story of Adam Walsh's death has strengthened my commitment to pay attention to news stories and the the world around me in terms of helping to protect our children from real harm. That does not mean that I think a parent is neglectful, let alone criminally libel, if he allows his child to walk home in the company of another minor. It means I share a responsibility to pay attention to what I see and consider my responses carefully. For example, in the book's recounting of the kidnapping event, a young store employee took action in a manner that was inappropriate even at the time, but probably not unusual or considered dangerous to a child. If any adult in that same situation took that action today, I would consider it criminal, as should we all.
