Charles Manson Coming Down Fast

A Chilling Biography

By: Simon Wells

Narrated by: Peter Curran

Simon Wells' breathtaking account of life and murder with Manson and the Family, charting the influence of the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Black Panthers on their enduring legacy of horror.

©2009 Simon Wells (P)2017 Talking Music

Interesting.

Throughly interesting. Great look
into the family, with strong well researched detail. Absolutely worth listening to.

Fills in what Helter Skelter left out

If you could sum up Charles Manson Coming Down Fast in three words, what would they be?

Excellent, detailed, well-told

What did you like best about this story?

Honestly, I thought I knew details of this case, but I learned a lot more that I hadn't seen anywhere else.

Have you listened to any of Peter Curran’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I am looking forward to hearing more of Peter Curran. I LOVED his reading. His voice is pleasant and easy to listen to. I would love to hear him read more titles.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Of course, it was too long for one sitting, but I did listen to it twice back to back.

Any additional comments?

More Peter Curran please!

Entertaining, Balanced Account of Manson Saga

This is one of the more entertaining retelling's of the Mason Family story I have read. The author does a fantastic job of minimizing slant. He is clearly not a Manson defender or conspiracy clown, but at the same time he recognizes that there was something very special about the man. He's not out to follow the "talentless musician leading drugged out losers" line.

At first I was disappointed that the narrator had a strong Irish accent. However, when I discovered that the writer was from the UK, and that the book was written in UK British parlance, it made sense, and I soon began to appreciate the narrator.

Briefly surveying the reviews before listening, I saw some mention of inaccuracies. I have been studying the Manson case for years, and I didn't notice any obvious factual mistakes. For Manson heads, there will be much here that is familiar, but there will likely be some things heard for the first time.

One interesting thing is that this author clearly relied a lot on the autobiographies of the different persons involved. As people often view those revisionist testimonies of Atkinson and Watson as suspect, they aren't often used as sources. More importantly, this author used the biography "co-written" by Manson in prison as a reliable source, which I have never seen before. It gives the book a very different feel than others.

fascinating

I loved this and couldn't put it down. fascinating details about Manson, his origins, and his crimes.

Good story.

Good information, good story. First time I’ve heard much of details. The narration could have been better. Narrator has a heavy British accent sometimes hard to understand.