Dead Center: Behind the Scenes at the World's Largest Medical Examiner's Office

There is so much extraneous detail in this book. It made me feel like the author was more interested in reaching a word count over telling an interesting story. If you are looking for a great read with similar content I recommend Working Stiff by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell.

It was OK. I enjoyed most of the book. I have read so many written by the Pathologist themselves and some written by the outside observer who does their "Stunning Ride-along" with the MLIs or FIs in the field. Myself a Forensic Investigator for a few years now, haven't read anything written by and from the point of view of the field investigator. I liked that point of view and could sympathize, agree with or laugh along with the tales he told.Yet, like a few other reviews stated, the author does come across as rather arrogant, all knowing and self promoting. His attitude of "I always knew what to look for and always found what others overlooked" got a bit old. His narrative about the day of September 11 and the next few years, sounds like he believes he himself stepped up and took the reigns of NYC OCME the day of the disaster. He single-handedly sprinted past his superiors, ran every aspect of the show, developed the whole response himself in the 30 minutes after the towers fell and all without even consulting the already written disaster response plan.Only by reputation do I know much about NYC OCME. They are known as one of the best medical examiners office in the world and I can only imagine the the task of the response to World Trade Center Disaster. Before that tragic day their people were already highly respected in many different discipline. They all then stepped up when needed and tackled a massive challenge and succeeded to a level of precision that was probably never even anticipated. However, the people who made that happen were in the thousands. They came from all over the nation and even the world. Many of them didn't even work for NYC but for US Dept of HHS / ASPR / NDMS / DMORT, New York State HHS, FEMA, countless other federal, state and local agencies and law enforcement, private industry, charitable organizations and victims families themselves. I think that the author could have spent more time praising others and little less time stroking his own ego.If you read my whole review, THANKS, Sorry it wa so long.

Fascinating! Mr. Ribowsky had an interesting journey to his job with OCME and I'm glad I read this book, especially when it got to the discussion of 9/11. Until you read about his efforts and others like him, you cannot begin to appreciate the enormity of their task and their professionalism in dealing with finding and identifying the remains of 9/11's many victims. Of course everyone knew it was a huge effort but I don't think most of us even began to understand the complexity of setting up for that many victims and all that was required of them. He mentioned a forensic anthropologist several times and I sincerely hope she also wrote or is writing a book about her efforts with the 9/11 victims. This is a book well worth reading and not just for the 9/11 portion. Understanding what MEs and Coroners do is worth the price of the book. I did not find it self-serving or pedantic. I don't know what that reviewer wanted but this book was riveting!

I am intrigued by this topic but wish I would have known that almost all of it pertains to the forensics in the aftermath of the World Trade Center bombing. I thought the first 20 percent was interesting while the rest was a rehash of other books I have read on this topic. I thought the author rambled and repeated too much information. It got boring fast for me.

It was fast-moving and interesting and I enjoyed learning a great deal about the unique aspects of how medical examiners have done their jobs. Yes, there are times when his emotions came through, and it was as if I was right there with him. It was hard for him from his perspective to describe what he saw and felt the day during 9/11 and the aftermath, for example. Also, he didn't come across as opinionated about the cases that he was involved in. He just described the way the day the situation unfolded, and how hot or cold the weather was, who were the cast of characters, drawing the readers in. It was so real, I could' nt put the book down. I highly recommend this book!

Interesting insight into NY's OCME. But the author spent too much time on personal details and not enough time on scenes and cases he worked on. The 1st chapter was all about his religious background. He spends other chapters talking about why PAs are so great. Other chapters about why he is so great. You can tell he thinks very highly of himself and is often boastful about him, his job, his title, etc. I really wanted more about specifics of his cases. He took over 100 pages before he got into information about working the 9/11 tragedy, and even though he spent a lot of it talking about how great they handled it.I will say, he does have my utmost respect for working the job as long as he did and also for what he did do for the 9/11 victims and family. It's very commendable.

Best book that I read in years. Makes you appreciate people who deal with the dead. Why,how, when,where,etc. It makes a huge impact on our safety. ....the results of what they do every single day around the clock.

I liked the style of writing employed by the authors. It was clearly written and to the point with a personal feel. The forensic science explained was informative. The book reinforced my positive feelings concerning the great lengths the ME's office went to in identifying 9-11 victims. And Shiya Ribowsky didn't hide conflicts and mistakes made in the wake of the tragedy.

This author showed what when on behind the scenes of the WTC disaster. A humongous task that was brilliantly carried out.

An amazing book that was well written