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Flame-Out: From Prosecuting Jeffrey Macdonald to Serving Time to Serving Tables
Story of prosecution of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald for the triple murders of his family. Subsequent fall from grace from the practice of law, diagnosis fo severe depression, subsequent imprisonment, and later waiting tables in very public restaurant to survive. A story of how to survive extreme adversity...a real journey of faith.
- GenresBiography
Hardcover
First published May 17, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 3, 2022
Excellent auto-biographical story telling of a huge fall from grace. I give James Blackburn lots of credit for putting his story of conviction and jail time all out in the open-for that alone-he deserves more than 5 stars!! He is humble and gives credit to faith in God to helping him survive. I am not a Baptist ministers daughter, but a Roman Catholic and I highly relate to Jim's relationship with Jesus and the Bible readings he mentioned. Also, I had always admired just what a great prosecutor he was. I hope him and his wife and kids are doing well these days.. I saw Mr. Blackburn recently in the FX series done by Marc Smerling called-"A Wilderness of Error" He looked and sounded great and I was happy to see him speak up about what really happened when Helena Stoeckly testified.. What a farce Jimmy Britt created with his lies and thankfully he was proven a fabricator by facts that could be unequivocally proven-there was evidence in writing that Britt thought was destroyed-(just another theatrical red herring in the whole Macdonald tragedy) ... Doctor Macdonald is still exactly where he should be and I always pray that one day he will finally unburden his soul and reveal the true story of what he did to his beautiful wife and little daughters. In any event, Blackburn, who did own up to his crimes is a great story teller and I definitely recommend this book.
February 21, 2022
For a lawyer, this book is hard to put down.
US Attorneys are the equivalent of great white sharks in the animal world. They have no known predator. Even judges are afraid of them. And, they tend to be the very best law students. In short, they are at the very top of the legal profession.
For Blackburn to fall from that perch to prison is the steepest and deepest fall from grace that any person could ever experience. That he survived is remarkable. And that he came out of it a much better person is a credit to the power of the human spirit and, really, the kindness of strangers.
The problem with the practice of law, and what befell Blackburn, is the compulsion to win no matter the cost, professional or personal. The profession encourages and even demands this every minute of every day. Blackburn has sublimated this urge but he still has it, in my view. The need to compete, to be the best, is simply a reflection of American culture. There has to be a better way.
US Attorneys are the equivalent of great white sharks in the animal world. They have no known predator. Even judges are afraid of them. And, they tend to be the very best law students. In short, they are at the very top of the legal profession.
For Blackburn to fall from that perch to prison is the steepest and deepest fall from grace that any person could ever experience. That he survived is remarkable. And that he came out of it a much better person is a credit to the power of the human spirit and, really, the kindness of strangers.
The problem with the practice of law, and what befell Blackburn, is the compulsion to win no matter the cost, professional or personal. The profession encourages and even demands this every minute of every day. Blackburn has sublimated this urge but he still has it, in my view. The need to compete, to be the best, is simply a reflection of American culture. There has to be a better way.
March 18, 2012
Great book! Very inspirational!
December 7, 2013
I saw this author speak at a conference on the subject of mental illness in the legal profession. He's a good speaker. This book is an expanded version of his presentation and tells the story of his life. He was a very successful attorney. Prosecuted Jeffrey MacDonald for the murder of his family in 1979 an later went on to be a successful lawyer in private practice. But he was very ill. Major depression and possibly other disorders. He eventually began stealing money from his firm and forging documents to cover his misdeeds. He was disbarred, prosecuted, and ultimately did a short stint in prison. He ended up waiting tables at a restaurant he had once frequented as an attorney.
What I liked: The story of his rise and fall is fascinating. I'm a trial lawyer also and I can see many of he same personality traits that got him into trouble in myself. The legal profession has much higher rates of suicide, mental illness, and substance abuse than the general population so anything that encourages us to think about these issues is important.
The negative for me were two things: First, this really is a personal story. I thought there was room for a deeper discussion of mental illness in the legal profession. Is there something in the way we practice law today that causes these problems or does the profession just attract people already inclined to have mental issues? And my second criticism is that I really didn't need all the detail on the MacDonald case. I know it's high profile but there are plenty of books about it already. (See Fatal Vision, for example) I see and represent murderers every day. The story of the author's rise and fall interests me way more than that of MacDonald.
What I liked: The story of his rise and fall is fascinating. I'm a trial lawyer also and I can see many of he same personality traits that got him into trouble in myself. The legal profession has much higher rates of suicide, mental illness, and substance abuse than the general population so anything that encourages us to think about these issues is important.
The negative for me were two things: First, this really is a personal story. I thought there was room for a deeper discussion of mental illness in the legal profession. Is there something in the way we practice law today that causes these problems or does the profession just attract people already inclined to have mental issues? And my second criticism is that I really didn't need all the detail on the MacDonald case. I know it's high profile but there are plenty of books about it already. (See Fatal Vision, for example) I see and represent murderers every day. The story of the author's rise and fall interests me way more than that of MacDonald.
November 17, 2009
I've seen this guy speak in person and his writing is like his presentation style -- random and all over the place.
August 24, 2013
Read this while visiting a childhood friend at Holden Beach. Her brother-in-law is the author and the prosecuting attorney for Jeffery MacDonald. Interesting reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews