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Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home
A crime writer who thought he could handle anything confronts the worst of everything. Violent and unattended deaths...suicide...forensics...viral pathology...crime scene myths...The stories behind Aftermath, Inc. are stranger than fiction, and utterly human and compelling.
Like most people, true-crime writer Gil Reavill had never actually experienced a fresh crime scene. That is, until he met Tim Reifsteck and Chris Wilson, owners of Aftermath, Inc., a company in the new field of "bioremediation." In the mid-80s, when a sea change occurred in the way biohazard clean-up was handled, no one in traditional cleaning or janitorial services would come within ten feet of a blood-spattered crime scene. Into this void stepped lifelong friends Tim and Chris, who filled a desperate need by founding their company. For the guys of Aftermath, no crime scene is too bloody to clean.
Aftermath, Inc. traces their history, introducing their clients and employees, and the cops, coroners, and detectives they encounter in their work. Gil goes on scene and works side by side with the Aftermath technicians. He tells the stories that led up to some of Aftermath's most grisly clean-up jobs, taking us on a journey through the suburban Midwest where the company is based, home to some of the quietest, calmest, most ordinary blocks in the world, which hide much darker undercurrents beneath.
The issues that the Aftermath crew members face on a daily basis range from the mundane (What's the best way to suppress the urge to regurgitate?) to the lofty (How does being exposed to death on a daily basis alter one's personal philosophy?). Reavill approaches his task with respect and compassion, taking as his mantra a line from the Roman poet Terence-- "Nothing human is foreign to me."
Like most people, true-crime writer Gil Reavill had never actually experienced a fresh crime scene. That is, until he met Tim Reifsteck and Chris Wilson, owners of Aftermath, Inc., a company in the new field of "bioremediation." In the mid-80s, when a sea change occurred in the way biohazard clean-up was handled, no one in traditional cleaning or janitorial services would come within ten feet of a blood-spattered crime scene. Into this void stepped lifelong friends Tim and Chris, who filled a desperate need by founding their company. For the guys of Aftermath, no crime scene is too bloody to clean.
Aftermath, Inc. traces their history, introducing their clients and employees, and the cops, coroners, and detectives they encounter in their work. Gil goes on scene and works side by side with the Aftermath technicians. He tells the stories that led up to some of Aftermath's most grisly clean-up jobs, taking us on a journey through the suburban Midwest where the company is based, home to some of the quietest, calmest, most ordinary blocks in the world, which hide much darker undercurrents beneath.
The issues that the Aftermath crew members face on a daily basis range from the mundane (What's the best way to suppress the urge to regurgitate?) to the lofty (How does being exposed to death on a daily basis alter one's personal philosophy?). Reavill approaches his task with respect and compassion, taking as his mantra a line from the Roman poet Terence-- "Nothing human is foreign to me."
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 17, 2007
25 people are currently reading
1565 people want to read
About the author
Gil Reavill
28 books19 followersGil Reavill latest crime novel is a Nordic thriller, This Land Is No Stranger, co-authored with American dramatist (and long-time Stockholm resident) Sarah Hollister, available in paperback and Kindle editions on March 11, 2021 His "13" series of thrillers kicked off with 13 Hollywood Apes, followed up by 13 Stolen Girls, and 13 Under the Wire. He is a leading true-crime journalist, his work widely featured in magazined and in the non-fiction books Mafia Summit and Aftermath, Inc. A screenwriter, Reavill co-wrote the corrupt cop thriller, Dirty, starring Cuba Gooding. Reavill also works as a collaborative writer, with recent credits including Club King, by Peter Gatien, Famous Nathan, by Lloyd Handwerker, I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else, by Danny Aiello, Steve & Me: My Life with the Crocodile Hunter, by Terri Irwin and Tiki, by Tiki Barber. Reavill lives in Westchester County, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
January 2, 2022
Review The most horrific scene: corpses being prepared for medical students to dissect float around in a noxious swimming pool of formaldehyde, bobbing to the surface only to be pushed under water by the attendant with his ten foot pole. It reminded me a bit of that scene in the film Titanic where all the floating bodies of the dead bob up and down in the freezing water.
"There's more money in politics than crime," the author quotes about Chicago, a notably corrupt and crime ridden city. For the author, researching what it's really like to go to death scenes and clean up to add credibility to his short crime stories for Maxim magazine, there was much more money to be made off the ... aftermath of crime than the crime itself, although nothing like as much as a politician could make. Aftermath Inc charged $250 an hour for the labour alone, everything else cost more. Sometimes though the company made a fortune.
An aircraft engineer fixing something or other in front of an engine of a 737 just before take off, got sucked into the engine and in seconds disintegrated into a tiny fragments of flesh and dripping blood. It took 150 hours to clean that engine, with materials probably close to $40,000. The mechanics disassembled the $10M engine and passed each piece to the technicians to clean, and two weeks later it was ready for reassembly again.
It's an interesting book that doesn't stick to its subject - there is only so much you can say about cleaning brains off the wall, blood from the carpet and finding eyeballs with the eyelashes still attached: the absolute limit of horror-show gore.
So there is much filler, but it is interesting. I learned all about the Chicago stockyards, the crime there especially the horrific murders of the Chicago Rippers and growing up in its environs. I learned more about how different weapons cause differing amounts of damage to the body and the home. If you love your family and want to end it all, don't blow your brains out, take pills, it's so much less traumatic for them. I learned a lot about the decomposition of a corpse from the point of view of the mess it makes at different stages. And occasionally I laughed at the pics and quotes scattered throughout the text. The best was the suicide note of George Eastman, founder of Kodak, "Why wait?"
__________
Notes on reading The first scene - a man mad with jealousy goes to his former best friend's apartment where he is living with his estranged wife. He shoots his arms and legs off and then sets fire to his testicles, the man unbelievably, is still alive, before shooting him in the heart. He lets his wife go as she is mother to his son, and gloats for two hours before shooting his own brains out. Later, after the police and forensics have done their job, someone has to clean up the stinking gore, body parts, bits of brain, flesh splattered everywhere. Aftermath Inc. will do the job. It took them three days.
Previously I had read The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster hoping for something like this. But it had turned out to be a hagiographic ode from the author to her horrible subject. A woman who told endless lies, had a bad childhood (possibly), and who had fathered two children when she had been a male. When she decided to start a new life, she had taken off with the car, leaving her wife and children with a mortgage, no means of support and never contacted them again. Many years later, one of her sons comes to see her, but she is cold saying she isn't going to leave him a penny in her Will. Trauma, yes, for the family she deserted. Decay, yes hers, of the soul. Disaster, the book. Nothing much about cleaning at all.
So I have high hopes for this book. At least it has started out well.
"There's more money in politics than crime," the author quotes about Chicago, a notably corrupt and crime ridden city. For the author, researching what it's really like to go to death scenes and clean up to add credibility to his short crime stories for Maxim magazine, there was much more money to be made off the ... aftermath of crime than the crime itself, although nothing like as much as a politician could make. Aftermath Inc charged $250 an hour for the labour alone, everything else cost more. Sometimes though the company made a fortune.
An aircraft engineer fixing something or other in front of an engine of a 737 just before take off, got sucked into the engine and in seconds disintegrated into a tiny fragments of flesh and dripping blood. It took 150 hours to clean that engine, with materials probably close to $40,000. The mechanics disassembled the $10M engine and passed each piece to the technicians to clean, and two weeks later it was ready for reassembly again.
It's an interesting book that doesn't stick to its subject - there is only so much you can say about cleaning brains off the wall, blood from the carpet and finding eyeballs with the eyelashes still attached: the absolute limit of horror-show gore.
So there is much filler, but it is interesting. I learned all about the Chicago stockyards, the crime there especially the horrific murders of the Chicago Rippers and growing up in its environs. I learned more about how different weapons cause differing amounts of damage to the body and the home. If you love your family and want to end it all, don't blow your brains out, take pills, it's so much less traumatic for them. I learned a lot about the decomposition of a corpse from the point of view of the mess it makes at different stages. And occasionally I laughed at the pics and quotes scattered throughout the text. The best was the suicide note of George Eastman, founder of Kodak, "Why wait?"
__________
Notes on reading The first scene - a man mad with jealousy goes to his former best friend's apartment where he is living with his estranged wife. He shoots his arms and legs off and then sets fire to his testicles, the man unbelievably, is still alive, before shooting him in the heart. He lets his wife go as she is mother to his son, and gloats for two hours before shooting his own brains out. Later, after the police and forensics have done their job, someone has to clean up the stinking gore, body parts, bits of brain, flesh splattered everywhere. Aftermath Inc. will do the job. It took them three days.
Previously I had read The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman's Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster hoping for something like this. But it had turned out to be a hagiographic ode from the author to her horrible subject. A woman who told endless lies, had a bad childhood (possibly), and who had fathered two children when she had been a male. When she decided to start a new life, she had taken off with the car, leaving her wife and children with a mortgage, no means of support and never contacted them again. Many years later, one of her sons comes to see her, but she is cold saying she isn't going to leave him a penny in her Will. Trauma, yes, for the family she deserted. Decay, yes hers, of the soul. Disaster, the book. Nothing much about cleaning at all.
So I have high hopes for this book. At least it has started out well.
January 7, 2022
After reading so much true crime, I realized I never stopped to think about what happens afterwards. I always assumed the police department or coroner's office has some division of clean up crews that come in to handle that. I was wrong. Before companies like Aftermath existed, families or volunteers would be the one left to scrub the walls or cutout carpets. I can't begin to imagine having to clean up a loved one's home after they have been murdered. I can usually deal with whatever is thrown at me, but that would break me.
In this book, we are following along with a true crime writer as he shadows Aftermath Inc. crews. He rode with and helped clean up all types of scenes. Even one that involved a man and an airplane engine. We never stop to think about the guys behind the scenes that do the dirty work, so we don't have to.
In this book, we are following along with a true crime writer as he shadows Aftermath Inc. crews. He rode with and helped clean up all types of scenes. Even one that involved a man and an airplane engine. We never stop to think about the guys behind the scenes that do the dirty work, so we don't have to.
February 11, 2016
Finally, a nonfiction book I enjoyed! It is gory, and graphic, and gruesome. But it's also fascinating. Never have I ever thought about the need for cleanup after violent or unattended deaths. But who else would take care of it? Very interesting and very readable - just not while eating! Cons: the constant use of metaphors and analogies were bad. For example, someone's melting skin was compared to the Wicked Witch of the West??? Just say it melted. Also, there were lots of words (scientific or technical or just "big") that I wish I was reading the eBook version for quick definitions. I ended up just skipping over lots of words.
January 20, 2013
I have always been a somewhat morbid sort, so you can see why this book appealed to me immensely.
It's an easy read, with tons of gnarly detail and incisive wit. I laughed out loud a number of times while reading, mostly from passages like this, where the author is referring to the death of a kid on his little league team when he was seven:
Call me cracked, but that paragraph made me burst out laughing. My husband was appalled. :)
While this particular book became an essay by the author about the meaning of life and death, it was entertaining in its way and I learned a ton of interesting tidbits that I can use socially (like that Dylan's song, Mr. Tambourine Man, was written after a trip to New Orleans where he watched a number of jazz funerals - the hearse was led by a man tapping a tambourine. Who knew that song was so morbid?).
Ultimately, though, I finished this quickly and was vaguely disappointed at the end. I was looking for a deeper look at the business itself and the people who do this for a living. Other reviews have recommended Mop Men: Inside the World of Crime Scene Cleaners, so perhaps I'll check that book out as well.
If you're looking for a bit of an eyeball at the business, a few disgusting, a few disturbing and a couple of downright disquieting crime scene stories you'll find them here.
3 stars.
It's an easy read, with tons of gnarly detail and incisive wit. I laughed out loud a number of times while reading, mostly from passages like this, where the author is referring to the death of a kid on his little league team when he was seven:
"You always remember your first dead body. The following afternoon at the funeral home, Chucky was a waxen figure arrayed in a coffin of polished mahogany, somehow more elegant in death than he had been in life, at least on the baseball diamond, where his fielding skills left something to be desired. W.C. Fields used to call death "the Fellow in the Bright Nightgown." For me, he was always a Little League Shortstop."
Call me cracked, but that paragraph made me burst out laughing. My husband was appalled. :)
While this particular book became an essay by the author about the meaning of life and death, it was entertaining in its way and I learned a ton of interesting tidbits that I can use socially (like that Dylan's song, Mr. Tambourine Man, was written after a trip to New Orleans where he watched a number of jazz funerals - the hearse was led by a man tapping a tambourine. Who knew that song was so morbid?).
Ultimately, though, I finished this quickly and was vaguely disappointed at the end. I was looking for a deeper look at the business itself and the people who do this for a living. Other reviews have recommended Mop Men: Inside the World of Crime Scene Cleaners, so perhaps I'll check that book out as well.
If you're looking for a bit of an eyeball at the business, a few disgusting, a few disturbing and a couple of downright disquieting crime scene stories you'll find them here.
3 stars.
December 17, 2015
A book about the people who clean up after forensics. These people go in and do their job of cleaning up blood, body parts, and body fluids. You will not hear a lot about them in crime shows or in books.
I really wanted to like this book and it was a decent read. The author really enjoyed rambling and adding quotes here and there. It appears he tried to lighten up the subject but his humor falls a bit flat. I disliked how judgemental he seemed to people especially the victims and the dead. He talks about a case of a family massacre and in a few pages we learned what he thought. First the house theme was brummagem as he says it describes cheap and showy ornaments then makes a point to tell the chandelier was not crystal. He then tells you the daughter was heavyset which was pointless to add. So what if she was heavyset she was brutally murdered in her home. The author tries really hard to mix his fiction skills with writing non-fiction so parts read like a crime novel with overused descriptive words and the rest is him trying to be serious and explain things though you can tell he barely understands them himself and just tries.
This would be an interesting subject to learn more about. Hopefully by an author who will do the subject justice.
I really wanted to like this book and it was a decent read. The author really enjoyed rambling and adding quotes here and there. It appears he tried to lighten up the subject but his humor falls a bit flat. I disliked how judgemental he seemed to people especially the victims and the dead. He talks about a case of a family massacre and in a few pages we learned what he thought. First the house theme was brummagem as he says it describes cheap and showy ornaments then makes a point to tell the chandelier was not crystal. He then tells you the daughter was heavyset which was pointless to add. So what if she was heavyset she was brutally murdered in her home. The author tries really hard to mix his fiction skills with writing non-fiction so parts read like a crime novel with overused descriptive words and the rest is him trying to be serious and explain things though you can tell he barely understands them himself and just tries.
This would be an interesting subject to learn more about. Hopefully by an author who will do the subject justice.
January 6, 2009
Having done this job I was ready to be very critical of it especially because the author wrote for Maxim which I think it a magazine that plays to the lowest common denominator. This book was incredibly true to life. I related to his nervousness riding out to his first job. It really rang bells with me about some of his revelations doing this line of work. It truly does make you realize that we are not our bodies. It also is true that once you have done this job that you never look at life or death the same way ever again. Many times as I walk through my daily life I will see something not unlike Mr.Reaviell does afterwards and see something simple like a coffee can and it will send you back to a gruesome scene. The only thing in this book that I thought was bullshit was totally out of the hands of the author. The problem I had was with some of the people who were working with Gil. They seemed to bastardize the trade by attempting to seem cool and taking every opportunity to drop mtv friendly one-liners. I guess that's what you would get working a job like that with a bunch of dumb jocks who use Axe body spray. Gil's writing kept me flipping the pages to see what was next even with my knowledge of the trade. Well done.
August 30, 2013
I found the author's jock/Maxim style extremely grating, and his liberal use of quotes to be downright annoying, but the book eventually won me over. At times it seemed like a thinly veiled advertisement for Aftermath, Inc., but there was just enough substance to keep things interesting. I was more interested in the science and methodology of crime scene clean-up, while the book focused more on the human aspect. Not a bad thing, just not quite what I expected.
February 26, 2017
A harrowing and frank look at at a specialty industry: biohazard removal in the aftermath of death. Whether through murder, suicide or natural causes, the mess death leaves is far from pretty, and very few of us experience it first hand.
Crime writer Gil Reavill tags along with the crew of a specialist company that restores order and safety to places that were chaotically and grimly soiled. The book is well researched and the stories in it well handled. It is at times gross, gory, ghastly, and horrifying as well as unbearably sad. It was hard to push through some parts - especially the section on suicide, having lost a family member to it just last year.
Some of the details of the deaths in this book will stay with me for a long, long while; some have already been fictionalized through popular culture in films like The Silence of the Lambs.
Overall it is a good read - very compelling provided you don't have a delicate constitution.
Crime writer Gil Reavill tags along with the crew of a specialist company that restores order and safety to places that were chaotically and grimly soiled. The book is well researched and the stories in it well handled. It is at times gross, gory, ghastly, and horrifying as well as unbearably sad. It was hard to push through some parts - especially the section on suicide, having lost a family member to it just last year.
Some of the details of the deaths in this book will stay with me for a long, long while; some have already been fictionalized through popular culture in films like The Silence of the Lambs.
Overall it is a good read - very compelling provided you don't have a delicate constitution.
February 6, 2012
Ewwww. Ick. Gross. All that and more. This is a book about the people who clean up when grandpa is found decomposing in the hallway three weeks after he died in the house where he lived alone. This is the story of people who scrape the brains off the wall after junior blows his head off with a shotgun. This is the tale of the maggots and bugs and vomit inducing stench of decomposition. You think you've got stain removal challenges? You don't have stain removal challenges. Bioremediation technicians have stain removal challenges. And after they solve them they spend a long time in the shower before they go home to their families. This book tells their stories.
My spouse checked this book out for my son, almost 15, who likes CSI shows. I think on balance I'm glad he wasn't interested in it. We sometimes speak of the awfulness of death as an abstract matter, of nothingness and loss. This is the other awfulness of death, the more visceral sense, the horror of the dissolution of the human body in the summer heat and in turbine engines and at the end of a gun. This is about the noise that the maggots make and the chemistry of decomposition, about the HazMat suits and the problem of waste disposal.
The book itself reaches for more philosophical weight than the author seems capable of sustaining. His ruminations about death and life and the reasons for his own fascination with his subject are disorganized and rambling. His attempt to go beyond the clean-up problem and play forensic investigator on some of the crime scenes he encounters falls flat. But there was enough gruesome detail about the experiences of the employees of Aftermath Inc. to keep me turning the pages.
Now I can add "bioremediation technician" to the list of jobs I'm glad I never had, and never will have.
My spouse checked this book out for my son, almost 15, who likes CSI shows. I think on balance I'm glad he wasn't interested in it. We sometimes speak of the awfulness of death as an abstract matter, of nothingness and loss. This is the other awfulness of death, the more visceral sense, the horror of the dissolution of the human body in the summer heat and in turbine engines and at the end of a gun. This is about the noise that the maggots make and the chemistry of decomposition, about the HazMat suits and the problem of waste disposal.
The book itself reaches for more philosophical weight than the author seems capable of sustaining. His ruminations about death and life and the reasons for his own fascination with his subject are disorganized and rambling. His attempt to go beyond the clean-up problem and play forensic investigator on some of the crime scenes he encounters falls flat. But there was enough gruesome detail about the experiences of the employees of Aftermath Inc. to keep me turning the pages.
Now I can add "bioremediation technician" to the list of jobs I'm glad I never had, and never will have.
June 29, 2009
In this grisly, swaggering tale of gut-churning crime scenes and the men who clean them up after the forensics team is done, veteran true crime scribe Reavill (Beyond All Reason: My Life with Susan Smith) holds nothing back. From descriptions of crimes ("The fusillade of bullets tore through Johnson's body.... Blood, bits of flesh and bone fragments exploded everywhere") to hepatitis C "bleed-outs" ("All four walls of the bathroom looked like someone had taken a blood hose and turned it on them"), Reavill grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go. He follows the techs from Aftermath, Inc.—a bioremediation outfit in suburban Chicago—as they make the rounds of shotgun suicides, multiple murders and meth lab cleanups; dealing not only with the gross-out of the work but trying to stay sane doing it. While some black humor seeps in around the edges, Reavill mostly depicts a cadre of low-key, hardworking men doing a horrible job with respect and compassion. The narrative pace flags a bit in the last 50 pages when Reavill tries to connect Aftermath's work with larger moral issues, but otherwise, if anything can get CSI watchers to flip off the tube and pick up a book, this is it.
***Rate this 3/5. An interesting book on an occupation that I have always wondered about. I wondered what type of people do the job, what they charge ($250/hr) and how they do it. This is not a book for people with a queasy stomach as it is very descriptive, but it was worth the read. Sometimes, you have to just read this type of book, ya know!
***Rate this 3/5. An interesting book on an occupation that I have always wondered about. I wondered what type of people do the job, what they charge ($250/hr) and how they do it. This is not a book for people with a queasy stomach as it is very descriptive, but it was worth the read. Sometimes, you have to just read this type of book, ya know!
August 5, 2008
Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home, by Gil Reavill, is not for the faint of heart or the weak-stomached. Reavill, who is a crime story writer for Maxim, decided to do a story about a real-life company who does “bioremediation”; that is, clean-up and removal of the biological mess of violent crimes, suicides, long-unnoticed natural deaths. High Ick Factor but the story is told with humor, respect for those who do this work, and a good dose of self-deprecation (Reavill has a very weak stomach). Although the author strays a bit in his narrative at times, he tells an engrossing (heh) and edifying tale.
August 31, 2014
Not exactly a review, but I do mention this book in one of my book vlog videos. Click the image below to watch (opens in YouTube).
Truly a fantastic and fascinating look into the cleaning of crime scenes. Though this book does do a great job at outlining the specifics (types of materials used, and such) it really shines by going into the lives of the survivors and of the cleaners themselves.
Truly a fantastic and fascinating look into the cleaning of crime scenes. Though this book does do a great job at outlining the specifics (types of materials used, and such) it really shines by going into the lives of the survivors and of the cleaners themselves.
December 14, 2016
Very gross. Very enjoyable. The author tends to get off track quite a bit, but it is a quick, interesting read.
September 24, 2022
Interesting, if lurid, look at crime scene cleanup.
May 20, 2010
(Non-fiction)
RATING: 3.5
For years, Gil Reavill was a true crime correspondent for Maxim magazine. In spite of the fact that he reported on dozens of true crimes, he never visited a fresh crime scene. Instead, he would rely on one of the professionals at the site for the descriptions that he would use in his articles. So when he has the opportunity to work with a company that cleans up after suicides, murders and other messy deaths, he jumps at the chance.
Two young men by the name of Tim Reifsteck and Chris Wilson were doing the usual low end kind of jobs that college students tend to take on as they start their careers. Almost by accident, they see an opportunity when a violent crime is committed and no one is willing to clean it up. Rank amateurs, they clean up the scene and find that it is something that they have no trouble doing. A little research shows that there is clearly a need for such a service; and as a result, they found a company ultimately known as "Aftermath". By the time that Reavill decides to shadow them and document the work they do, they have a few teams who do the work. Reavill accompanies a few of the teams on jobs and describes what he saw and learned in this book. What is the scene like when a person's body is discovered after they've been dead for 3 weeks? How do you handle a family mass murder situation? What about a shotgun suicide? Did you ever think about who cleans up after these tragedies?
The whole process that is used to clean up a scene is absolutely fascinating. The teams go into mind-boggling detail to clean every square centimeter of a property that has been contaminated by a messy death. Sometimes, they walk into something utterly gross and horrifying; somehow, they manage to put aside any revulsion they feel and do what is necessary in a dignified manner. It's interesting to see how careful they are to protect themselves. From that first job involving buckets and sponges, they've moved to chemical warfare so that none of the technicians will become exposed to deadly contaminants. In fact, they refer to themselves as bioremediation experts.
I was utterly engrossed by the descriptions of how the work was done. Where Reavill falls down in this book is by digressing from the Aftermath experience into other unrelated vignettes. For example, he sometimes provides autobiographical information about the team members. At different times he talks about the 1900 meatpackers in Chicago; he gives a lecture on collectionism (obsessive hoarding) and another on blood spatter, complete with scientific formula. He also discusses some of the true crime cases he has written about as a journalist, which have essentially nothing to do with the topic of this book, other than they involve crimes.
Reavill often points out that people are fascinated about two aspects of Aftermath: 1) the actual process used to clean up a scene and 2) how the technicians are able to get used to the job that they have to do. When he focuses on those 2 areas, the book is unputdownable. However, when he went on his various digressions, my attention wandered – I wanted to see and learn more about Aftermath. The side trips felt like filler.
All in all, Aftermath is a very interesting look at a subject that I haven't seen detailed before. The one thing that sticks with you is the integrity of the Aftermath workers and their compassion and humanity in spite of the horrible job that they do. And when I picked up my next mystery book and someone was brutally murdered, I wondered who was going to clean it up.
RATING: 3.5
For years, Gil Reavill was a true crime correspondent for Maxim magazine. In spite of the fact that he reported on dozens of true crimes, he never visited a fresh crime scene. Instead, he would rely on one of the professionals at the site for the descriptions that he would use in his articles. So when he has the opportunity to work with a company that cleans up after suicides, murders and other messy deaths, he jumps at the chance.
Two young men by the name of Tim Reifsteck and Chris Wilson were doing the usual low end kind of jobs that college students tend to take on as they start their careers. Almost by accident, they see an opportunity when a violent crime is committed and no one is willing to clean it up. Rank amateurs, they clean up the scene and find that it is something that they have no trouble doing. A little research shows that there is clearly a need for such a service; and as a result, they found a company ultimately known as "Aftermath". By the time that Reavill decides to shadow them and document the work they do, they have a few teams who do the work. Reavill accompanies a few of the teams on jobs and describes what he saw and learned in this book. What is the scene like when a person's body is discovered after they've been dead for 3 weeks? How do you handle a family mass murder situation? What about a shotgun suicide? Did you ever think about who cleans up after these tragedies?
The whole process that is used to clean up a scene is absolutely fascinating. The teams go into mind-boggling detail to clean every square centimeter of a property that has been contaminated by a messy death. Sometimes, they walk into something utterly gross and horrifying; somehow, they manage to put aside any revulsion they feel and do what is necessary in a dignified manner. It's interesting to see how careful they are to protect themselves. From that first job involving buckets and sponges, they've moved to chemical warfare so that none of the technicians will become exposed to deadly contaminants. In fact, they refer to themselves as bioremediation experts.
I was utterly engrossed by the descriptions of how the work was done. Where Reavill falls down in this book is by digressing from the Aftermath experience into other unrelated vignettes. For example, he sometimes provides autobiographical information about the team members. At different times he talks about the 1900 meatpackers in Chicago; he gives a lecture on collectionism (obsessive hoarding) and another on blood spatter, complete with scientific formula. He also discusses some of the true crime cases he has written about as a journalist, which have essentially nothing to do with the topic of this book, other than they involve crimes.
Reavill often points out that people are fascinated about two aspects of Aftermath: 1) the actual process used to clean up a scene and 2) how the technicians are able to get used to the job that they have to do. When he focuses on those 2 areas, the book is unputdownable. However, when he went on his various digressions, my attention wandered – I wanted to see and learn more about Aftermath. The side trips felt like filler.
All in all, Aftermath is a very interesting look at a subject that I haven't seen detailed before. The one thing that sticks with you is the integrity of the Aftermath workers and their compassion and humanity in spite of the horrible job that they do. And when I picked up my next mystery book and someone was brutally murdered, I wondered who was going to clean it up.
September 29, 2012
My semi-morbid streak (along with a friend's reccomendation) led me to check this book out from my local library. Reavill is a true-crime writer who decided he should go one step further and learn about what happens to a crime scene once the law is done with it. Therefore, he meets the owners of Aftermath Inc., the heavy-hitters in the field of "bioremediation" - providing cleaning services to bio-contaminated sites; usually death scenes, but not always.
Reavill jumps in with both Tyvek-clad feet, joining the technicians on several jobs - including a three-week decomp and a shotgun suicide. Taking as his mantra a line from the Roman poet Terence-- "Nothing human is foreign to me.", he fights not only nausea and revulsion, but the temptation to dehumanize the situation. Instead, Reavill finds himself drawn to the signs of the life the person led beforehand.
Reavill does detour a bit at times, discussing his personal encounters with accidental and violent death, as well as focusing in on the bloody history of Chicago (Aftermath Inc. is headquartered in a suburb of the city), including the slaughterhouses, H.H. Holmes and the Mob. The book is a mix of factual situations and personal reflection; much like Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, tho with considerably less humor.
Recommended to fans of CSI and Hoarders who want to see the real-life repercussions of the storylines from the shows. Suggested fiction followup: The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston.
Reavill jumps in with both Tyvek-clad feet, joining the technicians on several jobs - including a three-week decomp and a shotgun suicide. Taking as his mantra a line from the Roman poet Terence-- "Nothing human is foreign to me.", he fights not only nausea and revulsion, but the temptation to dehumanize the situation. Instead, Reavill finds himself drawn to the signs of the life the person led beforehand.
Reavill does detour a bit at times, discussing his personal encounters with accidental and violent death, as well as focusing in on the bloody history of Chicago (Aftermath Inc. is headquartered in a suburb of the city), including the slaughterhouses, H.H. Holmes and the Mob. The book is a mix of factual situations and personal reflection; much like Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, tho with considerably less humor.
Recommended to fans of CSI and Hoarders who want to see the real-life repercussions of the storylines from the shows. Suggested fiction followup: The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston.
September 18, 2012
This book was right up my street so a 3 star rating was pretty much in the bag already ... in Britain the thankless task of cleaning up crime scenes belong's to the local council's fumigation & pest control team's but there's no such cover in America .... step forward bioremediation companies and in particular Aftermath Inc., ... Gil Reavill shadow's the 'techs' of the title at first like a giddy kid until the unpleasentness of the task's ahead start to sink in ... never mind the smell's.
The author has an easy, free flowing style of writing & his persona leap's off the page albeit a geeky one at time's ... two thing's grate.. Firstly, his needy persistence of using overly long, desciptive word's which render his sentences too flowery & secondly, his apparent hard-on for the CSI character Gill Grissom who is mentioned in nearly every chapter. Putting those aside this book is crammed full of interesting 'i didnt know that' trivia ... dripping with blood, gut's & gore and bursting with insider gossip & information. It's packed with the unfortunate true stories of sad,untimely death's & details of the fellow "human's" that caused them. Be warned that some of these stories are particulary gory ... i wish i hadn't read the Robin Gecht chapter at night as i didn't sleep a wink .... disturbing stuff.
If i lived in Chicago .... i'd move.
The author has an easy, free flowing style of writing & his persona leap's off the page albeit a geeky one at time's ... two thing's grate.. Firstly, his needy persistence of using overly long, desciptive word's which render his sentences too flowery & secondly, his apparent hard-on for the CSI character Gill Grissom who is mentioned in nearly every chapter. Putting those aside this book is crammed full of interesting 'i didnt know that' trivia ... dripping with blood, gut's & gore and bursting with insider gossip & information. It's packed with the unfortunate true stories of sad,untimely death's & details of the fellow "human's" that caused them. Be warned that some of these stories are particulary gory ... i wish i hadn't read the Robin Gecht chapter at night as i didn't sleep a wink .... disturbing stuff.
If i lived in Chicago .... i'd move.
August 25, 2011
This was an interesting look at a subject no one ever really thinks about. But it was definitely educational. Some sections do not deal with clean up at all, though, and focus on the motives behind crimes, the criminal mind, or just out right philosophical musing about life and death. It all ties together, given the subject matter. But I felt it a little too far off base at times. You pick this up expecting gruesome details (which are present, don't get me wrong) about cleaning up crime scenes. I really wasn't interested in anything else. The book is still worth reading. For me, it would have been better if it focused more on the clean ups, and less on philosophy.
May 8, 2016
Better by far than Mop Men (see last review), and with plenty of interesting details. Neal Smither, the subject of Mop Men, is a far more interesting character than the guys profiled in Aftermath, but this is the better book.
August 5, 2016
This was a really interesting read, but I did get a bit bored when he explained about the science components.
October 26, 2022
The reasons people are drawn to true crime could be an exploration in and of itself. I found myself thinking a little bit about this as I absentmindedly grabbed Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home by Gil Reavill, from the shelf at the library. Am I that interested in true crime, that I am even going to read about the cleanup? I guess the answer was yes, because I checked it out and finished the book quickly.
Just to put it out there up front, Aftermath, Inc. is not any sort of ground-breaking read in the true crime genre. Aftermath, Inc. is an interesting look at a bioremediation company, following one specific crew around a few crime scene cleanups. Bioremediation being the sanitized term for a cleanup after a grizzly crime or accident involving lots of blood and gore. If you're looking for what happens to the body after dying, read Mary Roach. If you are looking for in depth true crime, read Ann rule. This book probably shouldn’t be compared to those types but inevitably will be.
Gil Reavil had spent a lot of his writing career writing about true crime for Maxim magazine, however he had never seen an actual crime scene before. Instead relying on descriptions from others and a healthy dose of his imagination to detail the articles. That’s really the premise of the book; a true crime writer wants to see a crime scene. I find that an interesting insight into Maxim, but that’s a different story. Mr. Reavil gets hooked up with Aftermath, Inc., a post crime cleanup company, and gets a first hand view of the worst of the worst, and a taste of what he used to write about. Be careful what you wish for though, as he gets to see up close and personal, the leftovers of weeks old decompositions, family obliterations, suicides and horrific accidents.
Mr. Reavill doesn’t have much stomach for the work, but gets through it and genuinely seems to enjoy being around the guys from Aftermath. From all accounts, the Aftermath teams are fantastic with the families of the victims which was an aspect of the job I didn’t think about until reading this book. It’s wild that the house or apartment are just turned right over to the families and I am glad for these families that there are people out there that take this cleanup seriously.
If anyone has the impression that this is easy work going into reading Aftermath, Inc., then Mr. Reavill does a good job of dispelling that notion. Not only is getting the actual jobs difficult, as the insurance industry often just goes for the lowest bitter, but there are very real physical mental hazards. Blood borne pathogens haunt each cleanup site, with Hepatitis C being the biggest boogeyman of them all. Because of this cleanup needs to be done thoroughly and suited in physically demanding Biohazards suits. The reward for all of this is then you are faced with the mental stress of what you have to witness. I imagine the images linger long after the cleanup is finished.
From all the author’s accounts, the team at Aftermath, Inc. are incredibly professional and do amazing work not just in the cleanup but with handling of the families. But boy or boy, is the name “Aftermath” a cringe inducing name for the company. I’m not a marketing guru, by any means, it just seems there has to be a better name for a company that comes to clean up the worst moment in a family's life.
What Mr. Reavill does best with the book is not the depictions of graphic scenes that might draw curious readers in but rather, showing the ins and the outs of what goes into Bioremediation as an actual job. It’s a pretty thankless tough world, but Aftermath, Inc. was a nice peek behind the curtain.
I give Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home by Gil Reavill a solid 3.0 star rating.
Just to put it out there up front, Aftermath, Inc. is not any sort of ground-breaking read in the true crime genre. Aftermath, Inc. is an interesting look at a bioremediation company, following one specific crew around a few crime scene cleanups. Bioremediation being the sanitized term for a cleanup after a grizzly crime or accident involving lots of blood and gore. If you're looking for what happens to the body after dying, read Mary Roach. If you are looking for in depth true crime, read Ann rule. This book probably shouldn’t be compared to those types but inevitably will be.
Gil Reavil had spent a lot of his writing career writing about true crime for Maxim magazine, however he had never seen an actual crime scene before. Instead relying on descriptions from others and a healthy dose of his imagination to detail the articles. That’s really the premise of the book; a true crime writer wants to see a crime scene. I find that an interesting insight into Maxim, but that’s a different story. Mr. Reavil gets hooked up with Aftermath, Inc., a post crime cleanup company, and gets a first hand view of the worst of the worst, and a taste of what he used to write about. Be careful what you wish for though, as he gets to see up close and personal, the leftovers of weeks old decompositions, family obliterations, suicides and horrific accidents.
Mr. Reavill doesn’t have much stomach for the work, but gets through it and genuinely seems to enjoy being around the guys from Aftermath. From all accounts, the Aftermath teams are fantastic with the families of the victims which was an aspect of the job I didn’t think about until reading this book. It’s wild that the house or apartment are just turned right over to the families and I am glad for these families that there are people out there that take this cleanup seriously.
If anyone has the impression that this is easy work going into reading Aftermath, Inc., then Mr. Reavill does a good job of dispelling that notion. Not only is getting the actual jobs difficult, as the insurance industry often just goes for the lowest bitter, but there are very real physical mental hazards. Blood borne pathogens haunt each cleanup site, with Hepatitis C being the biggest boogeyman of them all. Because of this cleanup needs to be done thoroughly and suited in physically demanding Biohazards suits. The reward for all of this is then you are faced with the mental stress of what you have to witness. I imagine the images linger long after the cleanup is finished.
From all the author’s accounts, the team at Aftermath, Inc. are incredibly professional and do amazing work not just in the cleanup but with handling of the families. But boy or boy, is the name “Aftermath” a cringe inducing name for the company. I’m not a marketing guru, by any means, it just seems there has to be a better name for a company that comes to clean up the worst moment in a family's life.
What Mr. Reavill does best with the book is not the depictions of graphic scenes that might draw curious readers in but rather, showing the ins and the outs of what goes into Bioremediation as an actual job. It’s a pretty thankless tough world, but Aftermath, Inc. was a nice peek behind the curtain.
I give Aftermath, Inc.: Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home by Gil Reavill a solid 3.0 star rating.
December 23, 2017
After a body is discovered, the coroner's office will come take the body, and police will begin an investigation. But what happens to the biological mess left behind? Cleaning up the crime scene was once an unfortunate, revolting duty relegated to the immediate family or friends of the deceased. In 1996, two enterprising young men from the Midwest recognized the need, and they founded Aftermath, Inc. crime scene cleanup company.
Maxim writer and true crime author Gil Reavill spent a period of time in Aftermath's employ, and rode along with them to work alongside of them and their crew as they tackled every kind of biohazardous scene from shotgun suicides to decomps (persons who died alone and were not discovered until weeks later). Early on, Gil's stomach often revolted on him, but he persisted and came to the important realization that Aftermath's employees do much, much more than act tough and clean wastes no one else can handle -- they also have compassion for the friends and family left behind to deal with the tragedy. This leads him to do some soul-searching about death, and he often pauses in his exposition to ruminate on how this work changed him as a person.
There's a lot of gritty and unpleasant descriptions in this book. If you're at all squeamish, you might want to pass. But if you've often wondered how crime scene cleaners get bodily fluids and odors out of homes where terrible things have happened, this book is worth the read and you'll gain an understanding of those techniques in action.
I think what I enjoyed most is that it doesn't just read like a lurid expose of gore. Reavill often looks beyond the mess and the maggots and asks the question: who was this person when they were alive?
Maxim writer and true crime author Gil Reavill spent a period of time in Aftermath's employ, and rode along with them to work alongside of them and their crew as they tackled every kind of biohazardous scene from shotgun suicides to decomps (persons who died alone and were not discovered until weeks later). Early on, Gil's stomach often revolted on him, but he persisted and came to the important realization that Aftermath's employees do much, much more than act tough and clean wastes no one else can handle -- they also have compassion for the friends and family left behind to deal with the tragedy. This leads him to do some soul-searching about death, and he often pauses in his exposition to ruminate on how this work changed him as a person.
There's a lot of gritty and unpleasant descriptions in this book. If you're at all squeamish, you might want to pass. But if you've often wondered how crime scene cleaners get bodily fluids and odors out of homes where terrible things have happened, this book is worth the read and you'll gain an understanding of those techniques in action.
I think what I enjoyed most is that it doesn't just read like a lurid expose of gore. Reavill often looks beyond the mess and the maggots and asks the question: who was this person when they were alive?
December 1, 2021
Perfectly enjoyable (if you're into that sort of thing, which I am) description of a company that does cleanup after deaths both violent and benign. Suicides, murders, and those (to quote When Harry Met Sally) New York deaths which nobody notices for two weeks until the smell drifts into the hallway. Once the body has been removed and the police have done their jobs, this is who you call to remove the fluid and other effluvia which is left behind. Author Gil Reavill is a chipper narrator as he trails along with the crew, only getting sick a few times early on, and who wouldn't?
I have to point out the normal problems you might expect with a 14 year-old book: use of the word "retarded," maybe another out-of-date thing of that nature that I've forgotten, and a completely incorrect statement that the Sharon Tate portion of the Manson murders were done at random because the killers were lost in the canyons and just happened to knock on the wrong door. I only point this out because I read it about 24 hours ago and I'm still mad.
I have to point out the normal problems you might expect with a 14 year-old book: use of the word "retarded," maybe another out-of-date thing of that nature that I've forgotten, and a completely incorrect statement that the Sharon Tate portion of the Manson murders were done at random because the killers were lost in the canyons and just happened to knock on the wrong door. I only point this out because I read it about 24 hours ago and I'm still mad.
August 20, 2023
this is totally my genre of book.. and having just read another book on the same subject, which disappointed me so thoroughly, i took a chance on another.. and i LOVED it..
the author Gil, gives us detailed & colourful descriptions of what he sees, what he thinks, his stories, memories and insight.. i found him a very interesting writer.. he doesn't try to play it cool, he tells it as it is.. his moments of squeamish, shock & morbidity.. and he delves into the lives of some of the victims..
i could've read thru this book in a day, it was that interesting.. but i spread it out over a week, so i could absorb it more..
awesome read..
the author Gil, gives us detailed & colourful descriptions of what he sees, what he thinks, his stories, memories and insight.. i found him a very interesting writer.. he doesn't try to play it cool, he tells it as it is.. his moments of squeamish, shock & morbidity.. and he delves into the lives of some of the victims..
i could've read thru this book in a day, it was that interesting.. but i spread it out over a week, so i could absorb it more..
awesome read..
January 12, 2024
The book was definitely interesting. You follow a crime scene writer through a year of working as biomedical cleaner. Post death clean up,mainly murders and crimes. The stories and expirance of the crime scenes where my favorite part. The author chiming in about a random story about his life less so. But all in all Gil Reavil takes you with him in his pocket through everything he feels, smells , thinks and feels. The beginning is slow but it picks up and is great from there on. Oh and the book doesn't sugar coat. If you cant read about maggots and decomposing bodies in vivid detail this book isn't for you. It's get graphic multiple times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2017
Someone has to do it....
I think the author struck a good balance with regard to the physical reality of what needs to be done after a tragedy, and the consideration of the emotional, the spiritual "deeper" meanings implied by these events. I think the techs that do this work deserve some of the respect and appreciation that people offer to police and soldiers.
I think the author struck a good balance with regard to the physical reality of what needs to be done after a tragedy, and the consideration of the emotional, the spiritual "deeper" meanings implied by these events. I think the techs that do this work deserve some of the respect and appreciation that people offer to police and soldiers.
June 7, 2017
Interesting read spoiled by greedy company owners and an author fond of swearing. The parts about the actual work were alright as well as the descriptions of the events which led to the need for this kind of service. I feel that the way the family members and the deceased were spoken of was not the most respectful which was sad.
January 6, 2025
I liked it. Easy read. This book is def not for everyone. I've always been interested in this subject. I didn't know when I picked it up that it largely takes place in Illiniois and Wisconsin. Because of this, I recognized and could picture some of the locations. I have a lot of biohazardous experience but was impressed by the level of remediation it takes to complete a job.
March 28, 2019
This wasn’t quite what I thought it would be- I was looking more for an explanation of how clean up works, and there’s a bit of that, but it’s more about the effect this line of work has on people. It’s ok, it got a little jokey, maybe disrespectful, at times but I read the whole thing...
July 26, 2020
It was good but there was so much philosophical rumbling about death and what it means. Probably about 60% of the book was an essay, or multiple essays, on what dying means, people are killed or why we are alive.
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