Customer Reviews

Karla: A Pact with the Devil

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

On the many books on the Bernardo-Homolka case, this one is the more complete and the more accurate. For someone who don't know anything about the murders, I think it's the best way to learn everything on that strange case, where the justice had fail to impress me on a very big scale. I would'nt be very proud to be a police officer involved with that prosecution. My only hope: with this, we'll learn our lessons and try to make good justice. Good for the people, not for the criminals.

If you, like me, find Canadian justice an oxymoron, then this book will frustrate the hell out of you. Stephen Williams exposes the gross ineptitude of the St. Catharine's police, specifically the new Chief of Ottawa-Carleton Police (!) Vince Bevan. If it wasn't for our friend, Mr. Bevan, rushing to find a way to prosecute Bernardo before the Toronto police, Karla would have never received her "sweet deal". A life even she descibes as "sleeping and sun-tanning".

It is very unfortunate that the big Canadian publishers rejected this finely researched work. As a result, the book is sloppily edited and contains minor factual errors (Winona played Veronica in Heathers, and was really an antihero, not a villian - okay, it's minor, I know, but things like this bug me). These little mistakes, along with some grammar issues, would have been checked by a bigger publishing house.

Williams' anger is so on the surface that his passion makes you wish for more footnotes, an index, just a more orderly presentation. As a result, the book, at times, feels convoluted - but there's no ignoring the content. Justice was blindsided by bureaucracy, bumbling and brazen lies. Karla will get out of prison - and it will be very soon. She'll probably leave Canada, and live out the rest of her life in another country, where nobody will know the evil that lies beneath, and behind, her.

If you, like me, find Canadian justice an oxymoron, then this book will frustrate the hell out of you. Stephen Williams exposes the gross ineptitude of the St. Catharine's police, specifically the new Chief of Ottawa-Carleton Police (!) Vince Bevan. If it wasn't for our friend, Mr. Bevan, rushing to find a way to prosecute Bernardo before the Toronto police, Karla would have never received her "sweet deal". A life even she descibes as "sleeping and sun-tanning".

It is very unfortunate that the big Canadian publishers rejected this finely researched work. As a result, the book is sloppily edited and contains minor factual errors (Winona played Veronica in Heathers, and was really an antihero, not a villian - okay, it's minor, I know, but things like this bug me). These little mistakes, along with some grammar issues, would have been checked by a bigger publishing house.

Williams' anger is so on the surface that his passion makes you wish for more footnotes, an index, just a more orderly presentation. As a result, the book, at times, feels convoluted - but there's no ignoring the content. Justice was blindsided by bureaucracy, bumbling and brazen lies. Karla will get out of prison - and it will be very soon. She'll probably leave Canada, and live out the rest of her life in another country, where nobody will know the evil that lies beneath, and behind, her.

Author Stephen Williams has been persecuted by Canadian authorities. And after reading this book, it's not hard to understand why. Williams has done a superb job in exposing the gross ineptitude practiced by the so-called "authorities" that resulted in killer Karla Homolka's lenient plea-bargain deal. Had Inspector Vince Bevan not jumped the gun, the Toronto police (rather than the Niagara police) would have raided Paul and Karla's home, and the notorious deal with Karla would have been completely unnecessary, meaning she would have been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And Bevan's mishandling of the situation meant that even if the infamous videotapes depicting the actual rapes and tortures of innocent teenage girls had been initially found, the atrocious Homolka deal would have still stood.
The real villian in this book is not Paul Bernardo (who's barely mentioned) or Karla Homolka (she's been a model prisoner who the author feels should have been granted statutory parole). It's the so-called "authorities" who botched this criminal case up badly.
My only criticism of the book is that it's somewhat sloppily edited. However, that doesn't detract from its well-researched and biting content.

I found Karla one of the best books on the subject. On a literary point of view, this is really surprising. I mean: it's not the style I usually read in these kinds of books. I'm really on the impression that I learned something. A lot more in this book anyway, than in the press about that terrible affair. I enjoyed the book very much, even if the story is horrible. I mean: this Karla was so evil that it's difficult to believe that she will go free as a bird in no time. I'm sure that the book will be a great success. Even I, who don't read that much these kind of stories, liked it a lot. Good reading everyone.

I am from the Niagara area and have read all the relevant books on this despicable crime. Time does not erase the horror of what happened or the anger most people across Canada feel about the "deal with the devil" that was made with Ms. Homolka.

Mr. Williams once again saves his most vitriolic passages for the head of the Green Ribbon Task force who brokered this deal and shows Canadians how truly corrupt our justice system and Correctional Services are. People's anger should be directed this way, not at the author for calling it like it is.

Instead of villifying Williams for writing the book, we should commend him for laying out the facts of what led up to this deal. He has made people more aware of how sheer police bungling led to this horrendous situation and how it affected him personally by being prosecuted and exonerated for allegedly seeing the infamous banned videos. It seems that the "legal eagles" had a vendetta against him after "Invisible Darkness."

As for the pictures - yes, I did find some of them very hard to look at - visuals always are the first thing to hit a person. But, the words of the story were just as hard to read due to the subject matter.

My only real criticism of the book is that Mr. Williams tended to get a little verbose and go off on technical tangents in chapters relating to Ms. Homolka's psychiatric reports. That was a bit of a challenge, but on the whole, it was a well written follow up to "Invisible Darkness." Hopefully, there will not be a sequel and that this story can finally be put to rest.

Stephen Williams has followed up his infamous Invisible Darkness with a book about Karla Homolka called Karla: A Pact With the Devil. This one focusses on her crimes, how the police handled her plea bargain (badly) and how she has spent her time in prison. She has not been granted parole (obviously) and will have served her full 12-year term by the time she gets out of prison on July 6, 2005. Mr. Williams was given access to her psychological assessments from the time she made her initial confession until 2001 when Corrections had to pull a couple of fast ones to keep her in prison. Rightly so - the woman is a monster. But she was never officially diagnosed as such - an effort to justify her plea bargain and maintain her credibility as a witness against Paul Bernardo. The truth of the matter is that she was as culpable for their crimes, if not more so, than Bernardo himself. What makes this book interesting is that Mr. Williams tricked Karla into a series of correspondence with him by posing as an adoring fan of sorts. Thus, we get a unique insight into Karla's narcissism and her belief that she will leave prison and blend into society, never to be bothered or seen again. I don't think so. Finally, the question is posed: will she reoffend? My opinion: yes. We will hear more of Karla Homolka (or whatever name she chooses on the outside) in the future. Unfortunately, this book is tarnished by Mr. Williams' frustration with the system and his own culpability having infringed many of the court-imposed publication bans. He uses several chapters to vent his own issues - and becomes repetitive in his presentation of the bungled investigation and the subsequent promotion of the lead Green Ribbon Task Force investigators.

This book is incredible ! Not like non-fiction at all. I can't believe that this is a real person. Who could do things like that. She would be believable as an X-files character. The book is well writen, great language for that kind of publication. As soon as I finished it, I began to read it again. Books like that are important to open our eyes on the kind of justice we have. Is it possible that she will be free eventually? This is scary.

Karla: Pact with the Devil is a great book. A real thriller. Williams is no less important in the literary landscape than Norman Mailer. Reality is depicted with an accent of despair that would ashamed the likes of the great mystery novels' writers of 20th century. It is an absurdity that Karla Homolka will be free in a couple of years. The book is clear about that: the system of justice have a serious problem. Stephen Williams is definitly a great writer. It's easy to forget that the story is based on reality. But we can't forget that.

First, I want to say that Karla: a Pact with the devil is one of a kind. I read a lot of books on crime, but this one is something else. We are able to understand the context in which the law received this case and why they proposed a plea bargain. But it's not an excuse. The way they handle the prosecution is awful ! How can someone like her can be free to go after that? Sometimes, I was on the impression of reading a novel. This is incredible! This is one of the best crime story ever!