Review of "The Whole Truth," by Joe Klest ISBN 9781523377114

Review of

The Whole Truth, by Joe Klest ISBN 9781523377114

Five of five stars

 Given the background of the author, much of the content of this book surprises the reader. Klest grew up Catholic, attending mass on a daily basis only to leave the church when he got older. Klest then became a lawyer and has been the attorney on behalf of the abused in many cases against pedophile priests.

 Yet, he praises the Catholic Church for the effectiveness of their program to rid itself of the bad actors and implement a more rigid policy to prevent serial abusers. His ire is reserved for the media outlets and other critics that continue to criticize the Church after they have implemented their program to solve the problem. Klest also points out that there is nothing unique about the Catholic Church regarding the presence of pedophiles, they can be found in all organizations where adults interact with youth. He is adamant that it is time for the critics to redirect their fire to those organizations, specifically the public school system.

 Klest makes many valid points, after paying out large sums of money, the Catholic Church has done a great deal to solve their sexual abuse problem. He also briefly mentions the cases of Penn State University and Bill Cosby, where people considered iconic role models were exposed as abusers or those that tolerated it and how many people refused to accept it. It is a valuable book that addresses a very serious social problem. 

This book was made available for free for review purposes.