Mr. Book just finished Mayhem: Unanswered Questions About The Tsarnaev Brothers, The US Government And The Boston Marathon Bombing, by Michele R. McPhee.

The author had started investigating the Boston Marathon bombings for ABC News almost immediately after they happened, while also writing cover stories for Boston and Newsweek magazines.

After 9/11, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly reportedly warned that it was “not if, but when” the US was attacked by Islamic extremists and the greatest threat was homegrown terrorists. In 2015 alone, more than 900 Americans were under investigation in the US for their connection to terrorism. The Tsarnaev brothers were an example of homegrown terrorists: coming to the US as children, with one of them becoming a US citizen.

According to the author, “I believe the federal government played a direct role in enabling and inspiring Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s monstrous behavior and and in blocking local authorities’ ability to identify and stop his evolution into a killer. … I also believe the federal government actively impeded a full investigation of the marathon bombings, as well, as other crimes potentially involving Tamerlan and associates of his, and continues to do so today through a variety of means …”

The book got off to a very strong start. The chapters on the bombing, manhunt and capture were excellent and the book appeared to be on its way to at least an A. The rest of the book, however, was straight downhill. The narrative was often confusing to follow, leaving me often wondering why is this material even in here.

The author also failed to prove her assertions regarding the FBI. It can’t be disputed that the FBI did not cooperate with the congressional investigation and there was at least one, if not more, senators who spoke out publicly on that. But, the author never backs up accusations regarding the FBI.

I give this book a C, with only its very strong start preventing it from falling into the D or F category. My recommendation for anyone who wants to read about the bombing would be to read part 1 of its 4 parts. Unfortunately, you can’t go to Amazon and only order the first 6 of 22 chapters.

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on August 20, 2024.