Smoked: A True Story of Murder and the American Dream

Leon's story is a great book. I gave it a five star because it tells how colored (black) people were treated in the old days. Leon's family was treated very poorly by white people who didn't appreciate them for who they were nor did they like the color of there skin. Leon's family worked on a lot of farms in order to survive tragedies such as Leon's father being killed. That is an example of what often happened to colored people and their familys. Leon tells you what went on during his days. I would recommend this book to people who love to read about history and I also recommend this book to African American people who like reading and finding out new information about what their ancestors past was like.

I thought this book was awesome. I read it for a novel that i had to read for a school project. Someone recommended it to me. While i was reading, i found myself continously thinking that these kids were in their 20's...but dave and vinnie committed the murders when they were only 15 and 16 years old. Also, the ammount of drugs and alcohol used by the teens blew my mind. I am only 18 years old, and when i was in the 8th grade, i was not even thinking about using those kind of drugs. (speed, cocaine, shrooms, acid) It just blew me away! Also that the book was a true story made the book even more scary, because these were just normal teenagers that were given WAY too much freedom. How could Kathy's parents NOT know that there were 2 boys living in her guesthouse? my parents would FLIP! All together, i was very pleased with this book, and have learned alot from it.

A great book, with a look at what goes on inside the life of tennagers, that some of us don't want to know. Very good.

This book was so engrossing, it was ll I thoguht about long after I was finished. Leon Bing is truly talented and is apparently a very sensitive writer. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I just wonder why? Why did this happen? The only thing missing from the book is an appropriate conclusion. An afterthought. An explanation from the criminals themselves. We don't get that here.

An object lesson in why too much money, too much free time, and not enough parental supervision is a recipe for disaster when it comes to raising kids. The fact that Kathy Macaulay was murdered while her parents were 2000 miles away says it all. As for Adkins and Hebrock, if they had been locked up for good the first time they followed, beat and robbed a man on the street, the murder of Kathy Macaulay MIGHT not have happened. With the crowd of beer-swilling potheads, including high-school dropout Cayle Fiedler, that her parents allowed her to surround herself with, who can say? Until we, as a society, demand that parents SUPERVISE their children and stop making excuses for criminal behavior, these kinds of murders will continue.