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by Joni West (Author)
Family, murder, and neuroscience collide as this daughter's compelling memoir reveals the untold personal story behind one of the most important and controversial cases in the history of the criminal justice system. The case of Herbert Weinstein, the author's father, started with a shocking murder in 1991 that was blasted across the news media with tabloid-style headlines ("High-rise Horror"). Now, three decades later, it is considered the case that forever changed the courtrooms of America by securing a ruling to allow neuroscience in as evidence when determining a defendant's guilt or innocence. The case has been prominently featured in countless articles, symposiums, and books including the standard legal textbook on law and neuroscience used to educate law students throughout the country. This unique case has literally gone from tabloid to textbook. Joni West looks back at the years prior to the murder to determine whether there had been any signs - surely there must have been something she missed, given that her father was 65 years old at the time and she was 29. He had been the very best part of her world until her mother died when Joni was 20. When a new woman entered her father's life just one month after her mother's funeral, Joni started noticing a different side to her father - one that pushed Joni away. It would take an unspeakable crime and decades to unravel the true nature of that side and for Joni to put the pieces of her personal puzzle together. She contrasts her contentious relationship with her mother and the heartwarming one she had with her father and shows how he expertly soothed the emotional wounds her mother inflicted upon her. She weaves together her past, the crime, and what she later learns through years of extensive research to paint a stunning masterpiece depicting how it could all go so very wrong. She exposes the private side of this infamous man that has never been revealed anywhere until now. She leaves the reader with new answers about the crime and better questions to ask themselves when thinking about why people do the things they do.
PRAISE FOR FULL FRONTAL MURDER MEMOIR "Joni West's memoir weaves two fascinating stories: one of a girl growing up in a seemingly idyllic New Jersey suburb with a father she adored and a harsh mother whose approval she could never earn, the other of spending years trying to understand how her father could murder his second wife, a woman he deeply loved. Her quest takes her on a deep dive into human behavior and neuroscience which ultimately reveals how her mild-mannered father could have done such a horrible deed. With clear, sharp prose, West has expertly synthesized the two stories in an engaging and often humorous narrative that moves nimbly with gripping scenes and dialogue. A great memoir and work of nonfiction."Kevin Davis, Author of The Brain Defense - Murder in Manhattan and the Dawn of Neuroscience in America's Courtrooms
