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The Waltham Murders
A crusade to find a killer becomes a gripping, intensely personal investigation into a shocking cold case and the radicalization of a terrorist.
In September 2011, Erik Weissman and two friends were murdered in a brutal triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts. The case went unsolved for months and then years, with no discernible leads. Erik’s friend Susan Zalkind, an investigative journalist, needed closure and knew that finding it would be up to her. As Susan began digging, and as the Boston Marathon bombing exposed startling new leads, the case led her down a tangled and sometimes dangerous path to the truth.
With every person Susan interviewed came a new thread. She followed each one through a web of conspiracy theories, corruption, and crime until she eventually arrived at a decade-defining act of domestic terrorism.
A true-crime memoir and the culmination of more than ten years of reporting, The Waltham Murders is an in-depth probe into a dark American underworld by a journalist coming to grips with both personal grief and the collective anguish of a nation in her tireless pursuit of the truth.
In September 2011, Erik Weissman and two friends were murdered in a brutal triple homicide in Waltham, Massachusetts. The case went unsolved for months and then years, with no discernible leads. Erik’s friend Susan Zalkind, an investigative journalist, needed closure and knew that finding it would be up to her. As Susan began digging, and as the Boston Marathon bombing exposed startling new leads, the case led her down a tangled and sometimes dangerous path to the truth.
With every person Susan interviewed came a new thread. She followed each one through a web of conspiracy theories, corruption, and crime until she eventually arrived at a decade-defining act of domestic terrorism.
A true-crime memoir and the culmination of more than ten years of reporting, The Waltham Murders is an in-depth probe into a dark American underworld by a journalist coming to grips with both personal grief and the collective anguish of a nation in her tireless pursuit of the truth.
343 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2024
4516 people are currently reading
7210 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 283 reviews
February 16, 2024
An awful book. Not enough material to justify a whole book , so she just threw in every note that she ever took during her 10-year ‘investigation.’—whether or not it was relevant. Terribly disjointed. Where was her editor? —Steve Kenney
February 15, 2024
3.25 Stars
March 6, 2024
I don’t normally participate in the Amazon First Reads program because the books I’ve tried from it in the past have been real stinkers. But I nabbed this one as soon as I saw it because, for whatever reason, I was OBSESSED with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation and all things tangential - including the Waltham murders, and Ibragim Todashev's fatal interview with the FBI. There has been a certain lack of transparency in regards to some of these things, and Zalkind's book with all her own investigative journalism on the topics was everything I could have hoped for and more. I was absolutely riveted from start to finish.
Zalkind's reporting style here is top notch. She shares all of her primary and secondary sources as she is able to, and is sure to point out that people may or may not be telling the truth and that she can't tell you which it is, but she presents what evidence she has that may either support or refute what others have told her in her interviews. In the end she is able to say, "Here is what the evidence shows happened in Waltham/with Todashev, and here is why authorities have never told the public about it (not even the families of the victims murdered over a decade ago)". Her investigation and reporting is thorough, and she never makes unsubstantiated claims, but rather always supports her conclusions with what she was able to learn, with the caveat that there may be more we don't know and what that other information might possibly pertain to. Her personal relationship with one of the murder victims does not prevent her manner of reporting from being admirably professional.
The organization of the book did throw me a bit at times, but I assumed the author had her reasons for presenting the information in the order she chose, and I was always able to follow along easily.
My Kindle tells me that I made 275 highlights in this book - some of those are of multiple paragraphs! There is just so much here that I want to be able to look back at. I think this likely means I should just reread the whole thing sometime. I got the ebook version for free through the Amazon Prime First Reads program, but since finishing it I have preordered a print copy to support the author and all the amazing work she has done over the past 10+ years, uncovering truths about a topic I have long been fascinated by.
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Zalkind's reporting style here is top notch. She shares all of her primary and secondary sources as she is able to, and is sure to point out that people may or may not be telling the truth and that she can't tell you which it is, but she presents what evidence she has that may either support or refute what others have told her in her interviews. In the end she is able to say, "Here is what the evidence shows happened in Waltham/with Todashev, and here is why authorities have never told the public about it (not even the families of the victims murdered over a decade ago)". Her investigation and reporting is thorough, and she never makes unsubstantiated claims, but rather always supports her conclusions with what she was able to learn, with the caveat that there may be more we don't know and what that other information might possibly pertain to. Her personal relationship with one of the murder victims does not prevent her manner of reporting from being admirably professional.
The organization of the book did throw me a bit at times, but I assumed the author had her reasons for presenting the information in the order she chose, and I was always able to follow along easily.
My Kindle tells me that I made 275 highlights in this book - some of those are of multiple paragraphs! There is just so much here that I want to be able to look back at. I think this likely means I should just reread the whole thing sometime. I got the ebook version for free through the Amazon Prime First Reads program, but since finishing it I have preordered a print copy to support the author and all the amazing work she has done over the past 10+ years, uncovering truths about a topic I have long been fascinated by.
Bookshop.org
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February 24, 2024
The author’s passion and tenaciousness shine through in her mission to get to answers about the triple murder in Waltham, MA, in September 2011. Unfortunately, the book was so meandering in thought and content that it was confusing and at times even boring. It started strong enough, but it steadily devolved. By the end I felt like I was reading the equivalent of one of those walls obsessed people make with photos of unrelated things that they think connect to show a big picture. I left the book with far less clarity than when I went in. To add insult to injury, it was a book I was quite excited to read. With connections to Waltham and Watertown, I am interested in this subject, but the poor execution of this book left me feeling frustrated and disappointed.
February 11, 2024
I do not know why this was so long.
February 11, 2024
The book is poorly written. The author spends way too much time on her own life and other non-relevant topics. I was expecting more investigative journalism and coverage about this specific crime and the people directly involved, not the author’s personal life.
February 14, 2024
I would not recommend this book. The book is very long and confusing. There was no cohesive timeline and random dates were thrown around throughout the book. So many names are introduced it was difficult to keep track of everyone. I kept reading hoping it would get better, but the ending was very abrupt and disappointing.
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February 28, 2024DNF
February 13, 2024
What was clear is the writer's passion for finding justice for her friend. However, this book felt like a brain dump.... And I understand that this might have been the point but it was hard to follow some of the connections.
March 23, 2024
Ugh. Waste of time. I did not care for the way it was written - it got so confusing. I understand she was reporting on 2 very complicated stories but... not good.
March 18, 2024
This book was not as enlightening or as true crime-ish as the blurb promised. The Waltham murders refers to a triple homicide that took place exactly ten years after 9/11 in Waltham, Massachusetts. It was extremely brutal. The victims, who were part of the drug culture, were also robbed, but the police did not seem to give the crime high priority. The case went cold, but the author, who was friends with one of the slain and who was also an investigative journalist, wouldn't let the case die, especially after finding what she considers ties to the Boston Marathon bombing.
There are a lot of characters, and the author gives complete backgrounds on all of them, including herself. The number of characters gets very confusing, particularly when she discusses parents of some of the victims and possible perpetrators that are tangential to the entire topic. It is difficult to tell who is who and how they relate to the murders, if they actually do. Some of the events have nothing to do with either the Waltham murders or the bombing.
The link between the bombing and the Waltham murders, according to this author, is that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was guilty of both crimes. That is the only connection between these two crimes. There is only circumstantial evidence in the murders, which also exists for a few other people besides Tamerlan who were in the same social circles and could just as easily be guilty. No one has ever been arrested or tried for the Walthum murders.
I feel for the author's personal situation, losing a friend to a heinous murder, but the book is mostly assertion of opinion as opposed to cold, hard facts. Much of the information is unnecessary and repetitive and does not point to any person definitively. No one was ever held accountable, arrested, or tried; in fact, both of the men the author believes to be involved are dead.
I was hoping to get more clarity on exactly what happened in Boston during the bombing and its aftermath, but the author was brief on that topic nonchalantly stating where the bombs were placed, and that Dzhokhar was found in a boat. The book is based on hours and hours of interviews, and I respect that process, but the book is mostly the author theorizing on what could have happened. We will never know for certain.
There are a lot of characters, and the author gives complete backgrounds on all of them, including herself. The number of characters gets very confusing, particularly when she discusses parents of some of the victims and possible perpetrators that are tangential to the entire topic. It is difficult to tell who is who and how they relate to the murders, if they actually do. Some of the events have nothing to do with either the Waltham murders or the bombing.
The link between the bombing and the Waltham murders, according to this author, is that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was guilty of both crimes. That is the only connection between these two crimes. There is only circumstantial evidence in the murders, which also exists for a few other people besides Tamerlan who were in the same social circles and could just as easily be guilty. No one has ever been arrested or tried for the Walthum murders.
I feel for the author's personal situation, losing a friend to a heinous murder, but the book is mostly assertion of opinion as opposed to cold, hard facts. Much of the information is unnecessary and repetitive and does not point to any person definitively. No one was ever held accountable, arrested, or tried; in fact, both of the men the author believes to be involved are dead.
I was hoping to get more clarity on exactly what happened in Boston during the bombing and its aftermath, but the author was brief on that topic nonchalantly stating where the bombs were placed, and that Dzhokhar was found in a boat. The book is based on hours and hours of interviews, and I respect that process, but the book is mostly the author theorizing on what could have happened. We will never know for certain.
February 27, 2024
1.5 stars. This book was awful! It’s set up as a journalist’s investigation, which it is not. At about 70% the author reveals it as a memoir, which it also is not. Another reviewer more correctly described it as a “brain dump” and that’s exactly how it reads. The timeline is unclear and disjointed, bit characters are described in full even though they are irrelevant to the case, and the book just…ends with no wrap up or final conclusions. Terrible.
March 14, 2024
The Waltham Murders -
This was an Amazon First Choice book and I was a little uncertain when I picked it. This is only the second book I have given up on failed to finish. I managed to read 17% of the book, but I struggled to really get into it and didn’t find it an easy book to follow. For me, it flits from one thing to another and didn’t grab my interest. Unfortunately, I found it quite boring. Sorry.
This was an Amazon First Choice book and I was a little uncertain when I picked it. This is only the second book I have given up on failed to finish. I managed to read 17% of the book, but I struggled to really get into it and didn’t find it an easy book to follow. For me, it flits from one thing to another and didn’t grab my interest. Unfortunately, I found it quite boring. Sorry.
March 10, 2024
Rounded up just to reflect the effort put into this book.
March 29, 2024
The author certainly did her research but boy was this tedious.
February 12, 2024
I found this story line extremely fascinating. And after reading it I personally believe that YES, had the police officers investigated those murders properly ( setting aside the fact that they were “ drug dealers” ) then yes most likely the bombing at the Marathon would not have happened.
I think the writer did a great job of interviewing people , gathering facts and putting this together .
However, with that said I think that there was a lot of “ repetition” of information throughout the book . Which is why I rated 4 ⭐️ instead of 5 .
One last thought for the author …I think adding some photos of the people involved , the locations , etc ..would have made it more interesting .
Once I watched the series on Prime it helped me to put all “ together” better .
I think the writer did a great job of interviewing people , gathering facts and putting this together .
However, with that said I think that there was a lot of “ repetition” of information throughout the book . Which is why I rated 4 ⭐️ instead of 5 .
One last thought for the author …I think adding some photos of the people involved , the locations , etc ..would have made it more interesting .
Once I watched the series on Prime it helped me to put all “ together” better .
February 16, 2024
A Rambling Mess of Accusations
This book is terrifically hard to follow. Trying several unrelated incidents and people to the murder of 3 drug dealers and then trying to tie those murders to the Boston Marathon is beyond mindboggling. I am with local, state, and Thr FBI, I see no connection
This book is terrifically hard to follow. Trying several unrelated incidents and people to the murder of 3 drug dealers and then trying to tie those murders to the Boston Marathon is beyond mindboggling. I am with local, state, and Thr FBI, I see no connection
February 18, 2024
This was a DNF for me. The author may have had a personal connection to the victims, and by her own admittance, been a poor speller when working for the news media, but I couldn’t get past several grammatical errors in the first 50 pages.
Were they left there by the proofreader(s), (if, in fact, there were any) to provide a “homey authenticity”, or just accepted as correct? Either way, the errors put me off the story and I was unable to get interested.
Were they left there by the proofreader(s), (if, in fact, there were any) to provide a “homey authenticity”, or just accepted as correct? Either way, the errors put me off the story and I was unable to get interested.
February 27, 2024
Where it stops, nobody knows!
Most confusing book I've ever read. Chapter after chapter of "he says, she says and they said". 300 plus pages and saw nothing but the authors opinions and how she provided herself with pats on the back for this noble effort. A writing that is self serving!
Most confusing book I've ever read. Chapter after chapter of "he says, she says and they said". 300 plus pages and saw nothing but the authors opinions and how she provided herself with pats on the back for this noble effort. A writing that is self serving!
February 14, 2024
This was an Amazon First reads kindle book that I was very excited to read. It was very confusing and winding and I felt like I needed to know the whole story before reading this. A timeline would've been very helpful in a visual format and on the e-book I didn't see one. I still don't understand all the tie ins for how Tamerlan and others were connected to the bombings (and it seemed insinuations others helped them were made) or what the smoking gun of the Waltham murders was.
February 7, 2024
Fascinating account of a triple homicide’s connection to the Boston Marathon bombing event
This nonfiction book details how the Boston Marathon bombing incident is connected to a triple homicide in a small Massachusetts town. Meticulously researched, there are so many connections between key players and other incidents, that it gets very complicated. But it certainly brings up a lot of questions, including the role of the police and other government agencies in what appears to be a possible cover-up (or perhaps even more than one)! Even more of a coincidence is the fact that the author happened to be friends with one of the murder victims. She was propelled quickly into the field of journalism.
This nonfiction book details how the Boston Marathon bombing incident is connected to a triple homicide in a small Massachusetts town. Meticulously researched, there are so many connections between key players and other incidents, that it gets very complicated. But it certainly brings up a lot of questions, including the role of the police and other government agencies in what appears to be a possible cover-up (or perhaps even more than one)! Even more of a coincidence is the fact that the author happened to be friends with one of the murder victims. She was propelled quickly into the field of journalism.
April 30, 2024
This book immediately caught my eye around its release. I have a faint memory of the Waltham murders having grown up in Massachusetts. I was fairly young at the time, so the details are murky and most of what I remember are general comments made by family members. Now as an adult, I was curious to learn more. While the book provided a refresher, I don’t feel any more educated on the topic.
Despite the tagline on the cover, I didn’t realize that this book was going to be more of a memoir than a walkthrough of the crime and all of those things that go into a true crime book. That’s not to say that the crime as a whole was not discussed, only that it was told in such a disjointed way that it was difficult to follow and left me feeling confused about what is fact and what is speculation. When the author came to her conclusion toward the end of the book, I felt blindsided. It lacked the evidence to back up the assured statements made.
This isn’t a crime I’ve followed in any capacity so I’m not disputing any of the author’s claims. I don’t know what happened and that’s the main reason why I picked up this book in the first place. While I sympathize that the author had a connection to one of the victims and I admire her passion for her investigation, this was ultimately two separate books poorly rolled into one.
Despite the tagline on the cover, I didn’t realize that this book was going to be more of a memoir than a walkthrough of the crime and all of those things that go into a true crime book. That’s not to say that the crime as a whole was not discussed, only that it was told in such a disjointed way that it was difficult to follow and left me feeling confused about what is fact and what is speculation. When the author came to her conclusion toward the end of the book, I felt blindsided. It lacked the evidence to back up the assured statements made.
This isn’t a crime I’ve followed in any capacity so I’m not disputing any of the author’s claims. I don’t know what happened and that’s the main reason why I picked up this book in the first place. While I sympathize that the author had a connection to one of the victims and I admire her passion for her investigation, this was ultimately two separate books poorly rolled into one.
April 14, 2024
Way too long. Did not convince me of who committed the crime. Kept mentioning evidence. Mostly mentioned coincidences. I get you had a personal connection to a victim, but that doesn’t change that they were in fact a drug dealer and the hard reality is that people care less about the deaths of someone in that career than an 8yr old boy who was killed by a bomb. It doesn’t matter if they only sold weed or you swear they were a great guy.
April 15, 2024
Telling an almost insider story of the murder of 3 guys in Waltham just prior to the Boston Marathon Bombing and almost certainly done by one of the perps. Zalkind is a local journalist who knew one of the 3 murdered guys and she tries to unravel the murders and the investigation. A rambling book in need of an editor, it still tells a chilling story of murder and official incompetence, and cover-ups.
The biggest takeaway I got from this is just how awful law enforcement can be. I feel like probably 80-90% of the enforcement agencies are good people with good motives, but they just don't seem to realize how bad covering up for the "bad apples" can be. And this book enumerates so many terrible cops and agents it is infuriating. Like the killing of Tamerlan Tsarnev's accomplice in Florida. And how the Middlesex DA's office has kept the case "open" purely to cover up incompetence and misconduct.
And how about the story of how Dzhokar wanted to plead guilty in return for life imprisonment but the Feds wanted to press on with the trial to get the death penalty, despite the poor folks involved in it wanting it to just go away? Or the entirely corrupt Watertown cops who had their little fiefdom with no interest in solving a "drug" murder?
I'm going to give the book 4 stars despite its erratic nature. This is a writer who knows the territory and tells a story that needs to be told. Don't listen to the haters - it's a book that deserves to be read.
The biggest takeaway I got from this is just how awful law enforcement can be. I feel like probably 80-90% of the enforcement agencies are good people with good motives, but they just don't seem to realize how bad covering up for the "bad apples" can be. And this book enumerates so many terrible cops and agents it is infuriating. Like the killing of Tamerlan Tsarnev's accomplice in Florida. And how the Middlesex DA's office has kept the case "open" purely to cover up incompetence and misconduct.
And how about the story of how Dzhokar wanted to plead guilty in return for life imprisonment but the Feds wanted to press on with the trial to get the death penalty, despite the poor folks involved in it wanting it to just go away? Or the entirely corrupt Watertown cops who had their little fiefdom with no interest in solving a "drug" murder?
I'm going to give the book 4 stars despite its erratic nature. This is a writer who knows the territory and tells a story that needs to be told. Don't listen to the haters - it's a book that deserves to be read.
August 22, 2024
The premise was very promising (If a triple homicide had been investigated, the Boston Marathon bombings may have been prevented.) I can tell the author spent a lot of time and effort researching and interviewing, but better editing would have made this a better read. One character's alibi was discussed in the first part of the book, then more details about it were discussed in the last chapter. Frustrating read. Maybe include a list of characters?
March 23, 2024
I love true crime novels but I just couldn't get through this one...I skipped about 75% of the book because it was going into details that really didn't have any bearing on the story and were so boring. I read the parts about Tamerlan's background, the actual murder, and the bombing. The rest was confusing and just too wordy. I really wanted to like this book! I got it free from Amazon first reads.
February 9, 2024
The Waltham Murders
This book is interesting in parts and then tends to run on for awhile into no-mans land
and starts to cover parts it has gone over 3 or 4 times already. I guess if you are an investigative reporter
this book would be up youe ally.
This book is interesting in parts and then tends to run on for awhile into no-mans land
and starts to cover parts it has gone over 3 or 4 times already. I guess if you are an investigative reporter
this book would be up youe ally.
March 1, 2024
✩ 3.0 ✩
“Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between or somewhere entirely else.”
“Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between or somewhere entirely else.”
March 20, 2024
Having grown up in greater Boston I am very familiar with the locations mentioned in the book and of course the tragic events detailed here. I read the book with great interest but found it to be a difficult read. Susan Zalkind was certainly tenacious in pursuit of answers and she deserves credit for her commitment and effort toward finding the truth. Unfortunately her friendship with one of the murder victims makes it difficult to overcome a personal bias. At one point she states unequivocally that Tsarnyev and Todashev were the murderers and while I believe she may be right we can't know for certain. The book jumps around quite a bit and Zalkind's time line is difficult to follow, it's just not a cohesive text. Zalkind's life long friendship with one of the victims and her own appearance in this tragic tale makes it, as one reviewer wrote, "read more like a memoir." That said I'm glad I read it.
February 28, 2024
What Really Happened?
This was a very intense and disturbing read that still left many questions unanswered. There are so many people, both living and deceased, who played key roles in this account. Most of their lives were intertwined in one aspect or another. Zalkind should be applauded for her dogged tenacity to uncover the truth. She spent years trying to uncover the truths behind the triple murders of her friends in Waltham and yet so much remains blanketed. The reader is left wondering why law enforcement did not work together, did not follow up on solid leads, and seemingly targeted specific individuals while never questioning or investigating some who definitely should have been. Why is that and how much corruption is there within the Massachusetts law community? I personally recommend this sometimes too wordy account to mature readers only.
This was a very intense and disturbing read that still left many questions unanswered. There are so many people, both living and deceased, who played key roles in this account. Most of their lives were intertwined in one aspect or another. Zalkind should be applauded for her dogged tenacity to uncover the truth. She spent years trying to uncover the truths behind the triple murders of her friends in Waltham and yet so much remains blanketed. The reader is left wondering why law enforcement did not work together, did not follow up on solid leads, and seemingly targeted specific individuals while never questioning or investigating some who definitely should have been. Why is that and how much corruption is there within the Massachusetts law community? I personally recommend this sometimes too wordy account to mature readers only.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 283 reviews