A Warrant to Kill: A True Story of Obsession, Lies and a Killer Cop

I adore Kathryn Casey - don’t get me wrong. I love the way she writes! Similar to Ann Rule’s style of writing- she cracks me up at times. There seems to be a hilarious undertone of sarcasm that makes me burst out laughing (and these are NOT funny stories, of course) The problem w this book is simply that the characters and the story are just not very interesting (to me). The rouge cop is obnoxious and loathsome - but the victim is just not a sympathetic character at all. Of course, she didn’t deserve what happened to her - but she seemed so flaky & superficial - I can certainly see how she came to live (and die) in such a toxic environment. The way she caters to her idiot teenage delinquent son is enough to make me not really care what happened to her... sorry to say. And she comes across as a flaky, self-absorbed, pill-popping gold digger who lived a fairly reckless life. Look for other Casey books. She’s got some GREAT ones!

Sometimes I wonder if we're all reading the same book. I read Warrant to Kill a couple of months ago and still haven't been able to put it out of my mind. First, there's the bad cop, Kent McGowen. There's no way that guy should have been wearing a badge. What kind of a system not only lets him get one but, after he's been found to be unworthy, go blithely from one agency to another. Other officers knew this guy was a danger, but no one did anything. Two psychiatrists said this guy should never be a cop.Secondly, there's the victim, Susan White. Sure, she wasn't the greatest mom, she had a lot of problems and had lived a tumultuous life, but she tried. Even at the end, she kept working to pull her life back together. She wanted what we all want, happiness. She just didn't know how to get it. Somehow, like a lot of people, she had money and love confused. No matter what she did, she certainly didn't deserve to die. What I found so intriguing about this book is that the author didn't gloss over White's human foibles. She treats both McGowen and White as real people, and that's precisely why this book is so powerful. It doesn't give a made for TV version of the story. This is real life at its most fascinating.

Any mother's vulnerable spot is her child, and any law-enforcement agency's vulnerable spot is an officer who sees his or her job as a string of heroic adventures, rather a series of often tedious, and occasionally rewarding, tasks of public service. In "Warrant to Kill," Kathryn Casey gives us an unblinking view into both. With a fine ear for dialogue and a keen sense of fairness, she presents this true-life tragedy set in an affluent suburb inhabited by people who think they've left big-city violence behind. Knowing Susan White's fate from the beginning of the book in no way lessens the net of suspense Casey weaves. Read it on a crowded plane and you won't even be aware of the kid kicking the back of your seat.

Casey has done an excellent job of putting the reader smack in the center of the action - clearly the result of exhaustive research and an understanding of the people involved. She's sympathetic toward her victim while at the same time acknowledging Susan's mistakes and misguided efforts, and she takes the reader step-by-step through the process that allowed Kent McGowan to retain his badge and plot his awful schemes. It's terrifying to think that such things happen in America today - cops can stalk and target the innocent and get away with it - but this book serves as both an eye-opener and a cautionary message: Power in the wrong hands can be lethal.A must-read for true-crime fans - or just fans of good writing.

I have this friend who loves true crime books and after reading this I've decided to stick a copy of "A Warrant to Kill" in his Christmas present this year. It's a super book, so engaging. I got in trouble at work because I couldn't put it down. I wish there were more books like this. I love Ann Rule's books and I can see why she recommended this one. You have the same feeling you know the people and the places at the end that you do when you read one of her books. I'm from Houston and this book really has a sense of place.

I couldn't put this book down. Ann Rule is right, it is an amazing story and wonderfully researched. I enjoyed it so much that now I'm sorry it's over. That it's a real story is very scary. I keep wondering what else this woman could have done. Where could she have gone for help? I haven't read a true crime book I've enjoyed this much since "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."