Wait-Out in Waco

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-The title page states: ``Note: The following is a fictional account based on factual data.'' However, no sources for that data are cited anywhere in the book. Although the format, which presents a taped journal of a fictional Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms officer, occasionally lends a sense of immediacy to the text, the book's weaknesses far outnumber any benefits. Following a brief prologue, Hamilton provides chronological coverage of the events in Waco leading up to and including the conflagration that destroyed the compound and many of its inhabitants. Awkward phrasing, undefined terms such as ``cult,'' gratuitous clichs such as ``A little knowledge is a dangerous thing'' and ``What's good for the goose is good for the gander,'' and sloppy editing (two consecutive days are both labeled as Sunday) further mar this poorly conceived title. Perhaps more disheartening is the fact that the book provides no depth, no explanations, and no real attempt to reach an understanding of how such an event could take place in our country. This flip treatment of a tragedy reads like an account of a gunfight in the Old West. A definite pass.-Rosie Peasley, Empire Union School District, Modesto, CA