There are many people in this true story. I am going to concentrate on the ones that I feel are the main characters. George Metesky also is known as FP is the first known serial bomber. This started in the 1950s and continues until early 1990. George never stood trial, as his lawyer got him off as being insane. George was in an institution for seventeen years and then released. Never to bomb again.
George has a grudge against Com Ed. He was hurt while working at the plant but was denied disability. George has never gotten over this and feels that the only way he can get back at them is to set off all these bombs. However, during this crime spree, a lot of people were hurt, but no one died.
George also lets people know that he didn't have long to live, so this was his revenge on them. No one could ever figure out why, because he never bombed anything that was owned by Com Ed.
The other person that I thought was important in this book was Dr. Brussel, who was a physiatrist. Dr. Brussel was the one person who gave the police the main clue that leads them to George. Dr. Brussel went on to help several police agencies to solve many crimes.
I have to say Michael Cannell wrote a great book. It did take me a little while to get into INCENDIARY, but after I did, I could not put it down. I also realized that I never knew anything about the bomber. Even though I was young when this happens, I knew nothing about it. I also found out that a lot of what happened back then is the basis for what the police now use to find criminals.
If you like books about history, INCENDIARY is a must read. I am very glad that I kept reading it.
Long before the specter of terrorism haunted the public
imagination, a serial bomber stalked the streets of 1950s
New York. The race to catch him would give birth to a new
science called criminal profiling.
Grand Central, Penn Station, Radio City Music Hall—for
almost two decades, no place was safe from the man who
signed his anonymous letters “FP” and left his lethal
devices in phone booths, storage lockers, even tucked into
the plush seats of movie theaters. His victims were left
cruelly maimed. Tabloids called him “the greatest individual
menace New York City ever faced.”
In desperation, Police Captain Howard Finney sought the help
of a little known psychiatrist, Dr. James Brussel, whose
expertise was the criminal mind. Examining crime scene
evidence and the strange wording in the bomber’s letters, he
compiled a portrait of the suspect down to the cut of his
jacket. But how to put a name to the description? Seymour
Berkson—a handsome New York socialite, protégé of William
Randolph Hearst, and publisher of the tabloid The
Journal-American—joined in pursuit of the Mad Bomber.
The three men hatched a brilliant scheme to catch him at his
own game. Together, they would capture a monster and change
the face of American law enforcement.
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