Chaos

Starred review from April 1, 2019
In his riveting debut, journalist O’Neill, assisted by coauthor Piepenbring, offers sensational revelations about the Tate-LaBianca murders at the hand of Charles Manson and his so-called family in Los Angeles in 1969. What began as a feature assignment for Premiere magazine on the 30th anniversary of the crime turned into O’Neill’s 20-year obsession with the murders. He questions the official narrative of the case, that Manson hated blacks and wanted to make it look as though the murderers were black revolutionaries, for instance, by writings pigs, a popular slang term for cops at that time, on the walls of both houses in the victims’ blood. O’Neill interviewed more than 500 witnesses, reporters, and cops in the course of his meticulous research. O’Neill suggests that drug dealers who knew Manson may have hired him to initiate “a vengeful massacre” on actor Sharon Tate and the other victims. O’Neill also uncovered the inexplicable leniency shown Manson and Susan Atkins before the murders by their parole officers when they broke the terms of their parole yet were never jailed for the offenses. In addition, O’Neill posits that Manson might have been one of the subjects of the CIA’s LSD/hallucinogens experiments. True crime fans will be enthralled. Agent: Sloan Harris, ICM.

September 1, 2019

Investigative journalist O'Neill has produced an overwrought deep dive into conspiracy theories that he thinks are continuing to swirl around the infamous Charles Manson family murders in 1969 Los Angeles. O'Neill invested more than 20 years into finding answers to questions about the killings that he claims remain to be solved. He unearthed "shocking evidence" of a supposed cover-up of the official story, police carelessness, legal errors, and intelligence surveillance. In addition, the author goes further into a dark web of secrets about the case, including the notion that the FBI wanted to stir up racial division in order to divide the New Left from the Black Panthers, that Manson was working with the FBI to explicitly incite the violence, that record producer and Hollywood insider Terry Melcher played a role in the crime, and that Beach Boy Dennis Wilson was a silent partner in the mess. O'Neill's work takes listeners through nearly every aspect of the official narrative of the Manson family murders, which has already been thoroughly examined and thrashed out in Vincent Bugliosi's classic, Helter Skelter. Amidst all O'Neill's controversial new theories about this case, at least the author is open about his many dead ends and investigation blanks. He reveals what went wrong with his book, including lawsuits and debt, and he admits that he still doesn't have all the answers. Thankfully, Kevin Stillwell's even-paced, calm reading maintains focus despite the hype and the "out there" arguments. VERDICT Only public libraries in communities that follow conspiracy theorists and the lunatic fringe in AM talk radio should consider this work. Otherwise, all libraries are advised to stick with Bugliosi's conclusive treatment.--Dale Farris, Groves, TX

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