For anyone interested in the OJ Simpson murder case and trial, this is the single- most essential work. The self- serving accounts by principals in the criminal investigation and trial may have their place, as may the attempts to second- guess the botched investigation and the shameful spectacle of the trial itself. However, M.L. Rantala's work stands above them all.

Ms. Rantala examines in dispassionate detail the actual evidence from the crime scene, much of which was never presented at the trial, and much of which was never fully grasped by the general public. The evidence is massive, and points so directly and conclusively towards Simpson that his guilt is unmistakeable. Seen in this light, alternative explanations (such as the various conspiracy theories) remain wildly beyond the realm of possibility. (For example, the charge that police detective Mark Furhman planted the bloody glove at Simpson's estate is nearly impossible to believe -- given that he had no idea at the time of its discovery whether or not Simpson had an air- tight alibi). For readers disinclined to read the entire work, a summary of the overwhelming evidence can be found in the first chapter, and a postscript outlines the incredible series of coincidences that would have to be true for OJ to be innocent. Finally, regarding the fact that the jury judged the perpetrator "not guilty," post- trial accounts by jurors summarized herein give the reader no great confidence that they understood or paid attention to the evidence they were presented.

Rantala's account is not entirely flawless; at times her own judgements as to Simpson's guilt affect the tone of her presentation. Likewise, having been rushed into print (in 1996) so soon after the trial, her work does not reflect subsequent events or allow for the more dispassionate perspective permitted by the passage of time. Nevertheless, of the scores of books written on this trial, this is the only one to deal in detail with the evidence of the horrific crime and to answer the false claims and obfuscations of the Simpson defense team. Rantala's O.J. Unmasked, along with Jeffrey Toobin's The Run of His Life and Daniel Petrocelli's Triumph of Justice, is an indispensible work for anyone seeking to understand Simpson's crime and how he managed to escape conviction, until the civil suit in which he was finally found guilty. ( )