Let’s face it. Not many journalists can do what the author of this book did. To investigate a story and crime in the past, regardless of how infamous it is, for nearly twenty years is quite an achievement. The amount of frustration due to roadblocks and threats would likely make all but the most seasoned journalist move on to something else. While I hadn’t ever spent much time looking into Charles Manson, his case is famous enough that I’m sure most people have heard about him and learned at least a little of his crimes. I also admit that I’ve never read Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi. Initially I’d thought it might be a bit weird and confusing to read Chaos without the knowledge of the goings-on of that book, but it is safe to say that Chaos by Tom O’Neill is brilliant enough to stand on its own as one of the most fascinating pieces of investigative journalism ever done based on one man who dared and tried to really find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The book is based not only on inconsistent information as told in Helter Skelter but also on the information that was omitted. The whole “thing” with Charles Manson is that he was committed for having taken part in the murders of about seven individuals, chief among them, Sharon Tate. However, it was never proven that Manson himself actually performed the murders but that he had given orders to his Family members to do it instead. Vincent Bugliosi, the main prosecutor, had to come up with “something” to put Manson himself away in prison along with the other defendants. That “something” was the Helter Skelter plan Manson came up with along with another murder that the prosecution claimed was to scare a Hollywood record producer who shunned Manson’s only chance at getting, of all things, a record deal. The story in Chaos starts there with the author finding inconsistencies in the story the prosecution was able to successfully convict Manson of.

I think it’s astounding just how weird the entire story gets. The holes he found within the Helter Skelter novel, many of them, should never, ever have been missed in one of the largest and most notorious criminal cases in the history of California. It’s because of this that I think it’s really hard to not call the author a conspiracist because how else can it be explained away? Even at the very end of the book, after twenty years of constant investigation, interviews, and research, the author has yet to answer some of the most fundamental questions he started out with in the book’s very beginning. True to most of these types of investigative stories, there literally were more questions than answers. I’m actually more shocked that Tom was able to still find people willing to give him the time for an interview after all these years.

I’m extremely happy that after so many hard years of working on this project, not only did Chaos become a bestseller, but there are podcasts being done on his work, and just as crucially important, an entire Netflix documentary movie has been released in 2025. Here’s to Tom raking in the royalty checks for all the sacrifices he had to endure to see this come to light. I am just a bit disappointed that he didn’t go over details on how he actually landed a publisher for this book. He was dumped by Penguin in the end, but he didn’t talk about what happened afterward, how he landed a new deal, and what occurred there. Regardless of all that, Chaos is a wild one. It’s one of those books where the readers don’t even necessarily have to be obsessed with the main subject to enjoy it. For my part, yes, I personally do believe that there is a cover-up. There are just too many coincidences for it to not be.