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Amazon.com: Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (Audible Audio Edition): Tom O’Neill, Dan Piepenbring, Kevin Stillwell, Hachette Audio: Books
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A journalist’s 20-year fascination with the Manson murders leads to shocking new revelations about the FBI’s involvement in this riveting reassessment of an infamous case in American history.
Over two grim nights in Los Angeles, the young followers of Charles Manson murdered seven people, including the actress Sharon Tate, then eight months pregnant. With no mercy and seemingly no motive, the Manson Family followed their leader’s every order – their crimes lit a flame of paranoia across the nation, spelling the end of the 60s. Manson became one of history’s most infamous criminals, his name forever attached to an era when charlatans mixed with prodigies, free love was as possible as brainwashing, and utopia – or dystopia – was just an acid trip away.
Twenty years ago, when journalist Tom O’Neill was reporting a magazine piece about the murders, he worried there was nothing new to say. Then he unearthed shocking evidence of a cover-up behind the “official” story, including police carelessness, legal misconduct, and potential surveillance by intelligence agents. When a tense interview with Vincent Bugliosi – prosecutor of the Manson Family, and author of Helter Skelter – turned a friendly source into a nemesis, O’Neill knew he was onto something. But every discovery brought more questions:
- Who were Manson’s real friends in Hollywood, and how far would they go to hide their ties?
- Why didn’t law enforcement, including Manson’s own parole officer, act on their many chances to stop him?
- And how did Manson-an illiterate ex-con-turn a group of peaceful hippies into remorseless killers?
O’Neill’s quest for the truth led him from reclusive celebrities to seasoned spies, from San Francisco’s summer of love to the shadowy sites of the CIA’s mind-control experiments, on a trail rife with shady cover-ups and suspicious coincidences. The product of two decades of reporting, hundreds of new interviews, and dozens of never-before-seen documents from the LAPD, the FBI, and the CIA, CHAOS mounts an argument that could be, according to Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Steven Kay, strong enough to overturn the verdicts on the Manson murders. This is a book that overturns our understanding of a pivotal time in American history.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Amazon.com: Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties (Audible Audio Edition): Tom O’Neill, Dan Piepenbring, Kevin Stillwell, Hachette Audio: Books
Attila Kuruc –
Absolutely mind boggling. The content is so interesting that it is hard to put down this book once you start reading it. Grateful that these types of writers still exist in order to deliver such an intricate story. Could not recommend it enough
Jason W Miller –
An enjoyable read with some interesting new information that really makes you think about the official narrative and how accurate it was. However O’neill went off into way too many directions over the years and it seems like at the end, because none of them ultimately gave him some a-ha! type answer, he attempted to tie all 1,000 of them up into this book. Don’t get me wrong, it’s engaging and goes pretty well for about 1/2 of the book, but then starts falling apart, fracturing and then ultimately ends up miles off the road in CIA territory. As soon as the JFK murders were tied in I had to kind of give up. One thing he failed to do which really baffled me, for all his thousands of hours of interviews and research, was to simply go directly to the people involved in the murders and get new interviews from them about all this alternative info he stumbled upon. He did talk to Manson one time, but pretty much blew his ability to get anything out of Manson because he immediately presented himself as what Manson would consider a “snitch” and garden variety reporter looking for a way to sell a new book.
What’s really frustrating is that at some seeming really crucial moments during interviews and where he was about to break through to something really big he appeared to have an uncanny ability at completely just BLOWING the interviews with some rookie journalist mistakes – this was documented over and over and he would plainly admit to his stupidity each time. This was incredibly annoying because it either means he was just too naive and stupid to get what he wanted from the subjects or it’s just him trying to cover his butt. In any case it makes you want to throw the book against a wall.
Ultimately I was left with a feeling of having travelled away from the Bugliosi narrative and asking alot of questions right along with O’neill but then just feeling lost in some aborted thread or into CIA/JFK conspiracy territory, which is what he attempted to use to hint at an ultimate narrative cohesion to explain many of his contradictory and new findings in the cases. About the only thing I am convinced of after the read is that there are almost surely more unsolved Manson murders. If O’neill wants me to believe that Manson was turned into a CIA drone/operative in MKULTRA experiments in creating murder zombies, sorry bud but I can’t go there. For all Manson’s charms we have to realize that sociopathy was his prison education. It is not far fetched at all to think that with a criminally charming personality, seriously damaged and very young influential girls, and drugs at his disposal he was able to create a cult and convince people to kill for him. As for the Helter Skelter theory, every bit of it is absolutely possible especially cosidering that the Family devolved into speed abuse toward the end which would have been the perfect recipe not only for paranoid delusions with a ridiculous basis but as enabling factors for the shocking violence that they engaged in.
I would probably still recommend this read because there is some interesting research and new factoids, but ultimately it totally lacks narrative cohesion and leaves you slightly annoyed with the author for devoting 20 years of his life to a topic and bestowing this as it’s ultimate record.
James Hondo –
Tom O’Neill and Dan Pieppenbring, have written a gripping narrative that, to use the well-worn phrase, I could not put down. It reads, at times, as good as a well-paced fiction thriller. A quick summary: reporter Tom O’Neill gets an assignment in 1999 to cover the 30th anniversary of the infamous 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders committed by Charles Manson and members of his Family. O’Neill, while looking into the famous Helter Skelter trials led by righteous prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi, starts to notice some glaring mistakes, weird details, and odd and unexplained events, that seem more than just understandable human error. From there, he descends into an endless rabbit hole that consumes his life for the next 20+ years.
What does he discover? I will not spoil the journey of reading this fascinating book, but I will remark that what is hinted at is very disturbing. One thing that surprised me is that Vincent Bugliosi, who will be forever linked to Manson, seems to have been a very shady and abusive man.
The book asks a lot of very unsettling questions about famous people and the US government. Here’s just a few:
Was the CIA involved with Manson? Was he involved in MKULTRA operations?
The above question, if yes, I wonder what else MKULTRA is responsible for …
How was this barely literate, short and unattractive habitual offender able to control his numerous followers with such intense occult-like power?
Just how many of the rich and famous Hollywood royalty fell under his spell (In my opinion; a lot did)? And why? Was it drugs and sex? The occult?
What was on the mysterious video tapes found in Polanski’s Cielo Drive home?
Did the murders happen the way we have been led to believe?
How many other murders were committed by the Family?
And on and on …
My last point: You will meet several curious people in this book. Here are three that I found the most interesting:
Reeve Whitson: a very shadowy (CIA?) almost occult-like figure who seems to pop up at the beginning of the investigation of the murders and seems to know a lot about everything.
Terry Melcher: record producer and mover-and-shaker in 1960’s LA. The former resident of the infamous Cielo Drive home, Melcher seemed to have a much closer and longer relationship with Manson than officially presented.
Dr. Jolly West: a very curious fellow who seemed to have been deeply connected with MKULTRA. His story merits a book all its own!
It’s an enjoyable read of a fascinating (and disturbing) topic. It has since led me down the Manson rabbit hole as well … so be advised … read at your own risk.
Miko –
Clinton made an apology on behalf of US government for MK Ultra, but it does not mean they admitted everything. Maybe they just wanted to end the discussion?
‘’The Sun, the moon and the truth are three things that cannot remain hidden’’.
Buy this book, buy two one for a friend.
Leo Leons –
Since I’ve heard so may podcasts about the Manson murders, I wanted to hear something fresh. And reading through this book seems like most podcasts take information from this source. The pacing of it is great, revealing facts is nice, the time jumping back and forth is super easy to get and you don’t feel confused at all. Learned loads about the whole topic, would definitely recommend.
BlueBelleLB –
This book was recommend to me and wow. It was more like reading a thriller than a true crime novel. I can honestly see how this took over the authors life. It was certainly an eye opener and a book I would recommend to anyone interested in true crime.
Kevin C –
A well written, and eye opening, account of what was going on behind the scenes in the sixties, and no doubt is still going on. An excellent book! Well done Tom O’Neill!
Lana –
A gripping and eye-opening read. Highly recommended. Five stars!
Sofya Yershova –
Love the way this book was written. I felt like I was inside Tom’s mind. However, nothing he wrote was surprising at all. Kind of a given.
Great read, recommend everyone read it at least once in their life.
Amazon Customer –
I happened upon this book and didn’t expect much from it. Not being a big conspiracy theorist nor having big interest in American history, I was blown away. I could not put this book down. Between wanting to complete it quickly and not wanting it to end, I was fascinated. I see this book as a “must read ” , especially for the times of days we are in now. I highly suggest this book, both full of knowledge and investigation but easy to read. You wont regret it.
R. Rajen –
Very informative.
Todd Dockerty –
This was a fascinating read. I wouldn’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist at all. I’ve never had much interest in a deeper dive into the Manson murders but the book came as a recommendation. The first 200 pages of the book are a deep dive into the Manson murders and Charles Manson. It was interesting but not spellbinding. The second half delivered more than I was expecting. It’s filled with many interesting connections beyond the Manson murders. I was constantly looking different things up online because I was just shocked that I hadn’t heard much of the information before seeming that is was quite relevant. I think this book has made me into a conspiracy theorist or more accurately, made me question everything. Understanding, as written in the book, the amount of work and research that was done for this book to be written, I think it was written well. I couldn’t put it down once I made it to the real rabbit hole. More people need to read this and start asking questions.
Robert Castro –
Well written book and it will open your mind great reading boring in the beginning, but it’s well worth it towards the end