The Dungeon Master: The Disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III

Brilliant, 16-year-old James Dallas Egbert III was a college student at Michigan State University and he had disappeared: was he kidnapped, was he dead, did he commit suicide? No one knew the answer. A real mystery. Then the papers broke the news that he had been involved with "Dungeons and Dragons;" suddenly his disappearance took on a more sinister note. Many preachers and conservatives spun stories equating "Dungeons and Dragons" with a Satanic Cult. They speculated that James(many called him by his first name as opposed to the name he was actually called by the people who knew him; I always thought that said more about them than him) had been murdered by these "Dangeons and Dragons" Cultists. But if you were paying attention, you noticed that Dallas wasn't as important to them as attacking Dungeons and Dragons. I remember it all made me more curious: wanting to know what really happened to Dallas, what the truth was. The last thing I remember in the papers was the News that Nationally known Detective William Dear had found Dallas and brought him home to his loving parents. Some offered the opinion that to be young, small(Dallas was 5'3") and friendless was too much for the young man and he chose to disagppear to bring relief from all the pressure he was under. At the time I never bought the "Dungeons and Dragons" Cult story. I had friends who played the game. I, myselft, never "got it." My friends were very smart and perfeclty normal as far as I could tell. I did try to play it a couple of times; I considered myself(rightly or wrongly) as smart as they were. It just wasn't for me. Even though I am considered a computer "expert" of sorts, I never play role games, even today. I remember Dallas wanted to work/own a computer store, certainly that placed him on the cutting edge of technology in 1979/1980. And remember he was a genius too. I think I would have understood and liked Dallas if I had known him. Unfortunately, sometime in 1980 news broke that Dallas was dead from suicide. But that wasn't the end of the story. This book is the real story. I remember this case when it first broke into the news. Almost everyone referred to it as the "Dungeons and Dragons" case. If you "Google" James Dallas Egbert III's name, you'll get a few defenses of the Dungeons and Dragons and a lot of attacks on the games, especially by members of the religious right. The fact that Dallas was gay probably has a lot to do with it. And to me, they all miss the point. This book was written by the detective who found Dallas and is exactly the book which should have been written. This isn't a story about Dungeons and Dragons; this isn't a story about a cult; about being brilliant or being gay. It is about a young man who disappears. It is about his family hiring the best detective in the country to find him. Mr. Dear realized early on that the case wasn't going to be easy. Correctly, he knew that he would have to understand Dallas to find him. Page by pag

"The Dungeon Master" is a great read for 3 reasons [the third being the most important by far]: (1) For those of us who played the original Dungeons & Dragons and/or Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game back during (roughly) the same time-period Dallas did, this book will probably trigger some old, wonderful, personal memories of the game that have not received any attention in years. I know that is what happened with me during the process of reading this book. I doubt that the youth of today would really understand or appreciate the original game all that much- from what I have seen overall, they are kind of lazy when it comes to reading, writing and using their imaginations (Imagination: an antediluvian word, which has no direct translation for today's youth- the closest they can get to it (which is still a far cry) in their language might be "X-box," or "Play Station."). (2) Okay, in addition to being fairly unimpressed with the dungeon that he went through when he played the game, former D & D gamers will also notice that P.I. Dear did not have a complete grasp of the game- but he DID know enough to understand the basic idea of what fantasy role-playing games were about. ...And that was all he needed to help him understand one of Dallas's serious interests (and therefore understand Dallas better). Despite his limited knowledge of the game, I thought Dear was very fair and unbiased toward it [and also please note that even though the title of the book is called "Dungeon Master," P.I. Dear does not focus only on D & D, but also looked at all the other serious interests that Dallas had]. If his book gives an accurate portrayal, Dear is a great P.I., and an even better human being. (3) By really taking in Dallas, his tragic life, and also the lives of the young people in this book, one gets a GREAT window into youth of the late seventies/very early eighties. His life (like many others of that era) epitomizes the serious problems caused by the large generation gap that existed between the parents and the youth. Unlike today's parents and children, where there is much more of a blur between how the two dress, speak, and even behave- the differences back then were much more pronounced. As bad as drugs are now, they were MUCH, MUCH more rampant during those times, and the parents, who had no experience with drugs, were generally clueless. While unfortunately more parents are divorced now, and have much less time to spend with their children, today's parents really seem to be much more approachable and communicative (and as a result the youth back then were much less demonstrative and communicative- at least with their parents), are much less demanding (at least with academics), much more accepting (even of homosexuality- which was taboo back then- with everyone) and give their kids a lot of love, and A LOT more money, than the parents of Dallas's generation. Even if some of today's youth do not have stellar parents, they have teachers who

Great book, written from case notes of a 1979 investigation into the dissapearance of a 16 yr. old genius. Great explanation of technique used to locate missing people, and a great story also. In '79 William Dear had to do things the hard way, no cell phones, no computers, no G.P.S., just good ol' fashon' detective work. A really good book that keeps your interest until the very end, a glimpse into the way law enforcement can be led off track and go nowhere, while a private investigator can go places and do things no cop can. I highly recommend reading this book, as well as other books by William Dear.

Despite many D & D fans decrying this book, if you acutally read it, which one of the people who reviewed it didn't. You will see that they book explores all facets surrounding the disappearance. Dear doesn't even blame D & D, he finds it to be a great outlet.

So maybe Bill Dear does have a bit of an ego, but you've got to admit, he IS good. This book is a fascinating account of a tragic set of circumstances. A very good read, one you won't be able to put down (unless you're a hopeless cynic!) I just wish the story had a happier ending...