From AVN Online Magazine, September 2005:
Once in a while you have to put down the damn Linux manual and read something patently salacious just to blow out the cobwebs. Our current recommendation is “Long Time Money and Lots of Cocaine”, the latest exhumation of how John Holmes’ runaway blow habit led to the grisly “Four-on-the-Floor” murders on Hollywood’s Wonderland Avenue. Unlike watching the movie “Wonderland”, however, one need not endure Val Kilmer’s interpretation of The Wadd, nor Hollywood’s skewed version of events to get to the blood-spattered truth.
The bulk of this tome is the real deal—the complete transcript of the February 1982 preliminary hearing for Holmes in the multiple murder case (the transcript from his subsequent trial has mysteriously disappeared), and it’s a grim yet fascinating read that would be impossible to put down were it not for the overwhelming desire to take a shower every seven pages. Reading the testimony of this parade of parasites is like watching a series of car accidents in slow motion. You know it’s all going to end in crimson carnage, but you can’t avert your eyes.
While hardly the formula for Greek tragedy, this is a tale of both hubris and sheer stupidity, fueled by equal amounts of greed and narcotics, and peopled by scumbags, misfits, addicts, and caricatures of evil incarnate: Eddie Nash, the Middle Eastern Mephistopheles who ruled L.A.’s nightclub empire and was once the most ruthless mobster in early ’80s Los Angeles; Ron Launius, equally as brutal but hardly as clever, smuggled heroin out of ’Nam in cadavers, and was suspected of more murders than Juan Corona; Susan Launius, the sole survivor of the attack on Wonderland whose addled memory is a testament to the brutal beating she endured; and Holmes himself, the well-hung shitweasel who betrayed all of his “friends” in an attempt to pay off his debts, and somehow escaped with his life.
The same cannot be said of the four career criminals who let the world’s most famous porn stud talk them into robbing the wrong guy. Rodger Jacobs wraps it all up with a biting look at the making of the documentary “Wadd”, which is a descent into the inferno unto itself.
– Tony Lovett
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I read Lovett’s review when it came out last fall. Still one of the best book reviews I’ve ever read.
My thoughts and prayers are with the surviving family/friends of the Wonderland victims.
i just wish that those guys would have killed nash and that dumbass john holmes.and as far as that dawn woman go,s i think she just trying 2 cashin she knows only what john told her.them guys that got bum rushed are really good guys more needs 2 be told be sides that the dope heads that lived there shit.
i really like this story and cant stop thinking of what if..?and why…?..from what i know about it…makes me not like jhon homes at all.peace to the victims and family/friends
hey rodger, i’m trying to order the book but it wont let me
What appears to be the problem, Steve? Sometimes Lulu is buggy, I hear, and you have to keep trying; does not happen too often, though.
Hey Rodger -
Great book! A Must Have for anyone like me who is very interested with this case! I really don’t know how or why I got so into this, but over the last two months I find myself researching it for hours, every day. Oh well.
Ted
Hey ted hazard,,,,You are not alone. I was 18 @ the time of wonderland and I remember nothing, There is just so much out there to learn about this crime. Do you have any idea where to find police reports or autopsy reports. I can’t find any “documents”. All I seem to find is speculation and that changes depending on who is telling the story. What about court transcripts? If anyone knows, please let me know. Also, does anyone know why Dawns website is down? Thanx for any help!!
hey How do i get this book in Canada.No book stores have it.I have become interested in the case.i saw the movie Wonderland, i think it glamorized the life as David Lind says, was just too good.Not really, these were some rough motherfuckers, from what i have researched.The book from what i heard id the real deal.To me the interest is hearing how it went down for real. I s it true that Tracy Mc Court just died.