10X Health - Shop now
To share your reaction on this item, open the Amazon app from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.
Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Over 4 million titles. Learn more
OR

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $21.83

Save: $14.34 (66%)

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Foreign Faction: Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet? Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,278 ratings

Foreign Faction blows the cover off the lone intruder / sexual predator theory and reveals startling new evidence that heretofore has only been seen by a select few. Kolar's work offers an entirely new perspective for the events leading up to JonBenet's murder on Christmas day 1996, and it will ultimately redefine the public's perception of one of the most unusual murder investigations this country has ever witnessed.
Popular Highlights in this book

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Foreign Faction is without a doubt the seminal work regarding the JonBenet Ramsey case. If you want to know what the authorities did right, what they did wrong, and what likely happened to this little girl, this is the book."

James R. Fitzgerald. FBI Supervisory Agent, Profiler, Forensic Linguist (retired)


"James Kolar is an honorable man who has risked everything to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth in the JonBenét Ramsey case. Foreign Faction is the book we've been waiting for and it gives us the facts and none of the Ramsey / D.A. spin."

Tricia Griffith, True Crime Radio Oct 2016


"Like the excellent book written by [Detective] Steve Thomas (JonBenét: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation 2000) one-time lead investigator A. James Kolar demolishes the "Intruder theory." I mean really demolishes it with evidence information not contained in Thomas's eminently persuasive book...Don't miss this outstanding and amazingly thorough book written by a man with intimate knowledge of the case. He is fair and considerate almost to a fault in his effort to tell us what really happened as far as it can be known."

Dennis Littrell, author of Dennis Littrell's True Crime Companion, Amazon.com customer Jan 20, 2013


"Kolar nails it in my opinion when he ties up all the loose ends, explains most of the red herrings, discards the foolish theories, and literally re-constructs the crime from beginning to end...Actually I'm surprised the Kolar's book has not grabbed more headlines around the country. As far as I'm concerned, James Kolar has solved this crime...."

Robert Mitchell, Amazon.com customer Aug 16, 2015

From the Inside Flap

At 0552 hours on the morning of December 26, 1996, a hysterical Patsy Ramsey called 911 to proclaim that her 6-year-old daughter had been kidnapped from her home. A ransom note had been left by a "foreign faction" who stated that they didn't care for the way her husband did business and demanded $118,000.00 for the safe return of their daughter. The brutalized body of JonBenet Ramsey would eventually be found concealed in the basement of her home by her father later that day. The investigation into JonBenet's kidnap and murder endured 15 years of missteps, resignations, scandal, false accusations, arrests, and the controversial exoneration of her family for any involvement they may have played in the cover-up of her death. Intruder theorists have continued to dominate the public perception of the crime since day one, but that is about to change. Breaking six years of silence, James Kolar now comes forward to share startling new discoveries made during his lead role in the inquiry. Foreign Faction provides an overview of the historical track of the investigation, and the prevailing theory of the involvement of a lone-intruder / sexual predator is disassembled once piece at a time. It includes a critical analysis of the physical evidence, family - witness statements, behavioral clues, and the "Touch" DNA evidence that calls into question whether one single perpetrator could have been responsible for this crime. The journey of these investigative discoveries will leave you spellbound and crying out for justice long before you turn the last page...

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00D5GVSXY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ventus Publishing, llc (June 14, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 14, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3470 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 529 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,278 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
A. James Kolar
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
1,278 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers

Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They appreciate its thorough coverage of the case with logical, well-thought-out theories. The writing is concise and impressive, providing a clear explanation of the details. However, opinions differ on the story quality - some find it professional and eye-opening, while others find it sad and lacking a clear ending.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

145 customers mention "Readability"138 positive7 negative

Customers find the book engaging and well-written. They appreciate the logical, credible explanations and consider it one of the best true crime books they have read. The case is described as remarkable and the author provides an eye-opening account with plenty of information and evidence.

"...This book puts forth logical, believable, and credible explanations for all of the facts that we know about that night and afterwards, and the..." Read more

"...The evidence strongly reinforces the suspicion about Burke, but the book also emphasizes that more evidence gathering is needed to confirm the..." Read more

"...His narrative clearly illustrates that he possesses a top notch law enforcement background, a very well-developed eye for detail and a formidable..." Read more

"Amazingly detailed! Brilliant! Compelling, provocative, eye opening, could not put the book down!..." Read more

136 customers mention "Information quality"121 positive15 negative

Customers find the book provides detailed and comprehensive information about the case. They appreciate the logical and well-thought-out theories, as well as the thorough examination of the facts and evidence. The author's arguments are interesting and plausible. Overall, readers find the book an excellent common sense analysis of an investigation gone wrong.

"...This book puts forth logical, believable, and credible explanations for all of the facts that we know about that night and afterwards, and the..." Read more

"...This book is well-written, full of facts and theories, and would interest anyone who followed this tragic story...." Read more

"...praise for this book, I, too, have found the book to be a goldmine of detailed, comprehensive information about the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey..." Read more

"...The book begins by detailing a theory of the crime, developed solely by Chief Kolar and which is one you won't have heard detailed anywhere else...." Read more

73 customers mention "Writing quality"62 positive11 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book. They find it well-written, concise, and informative. The author's impressive language creates a thoughtful and well-crafted work. The book provides logical, credible explanations for the details of the case. While providing an opinion, the author allows the reader to form their own opinions. The evidence is presented clearly and methodically, allowing the reader to evaluate and understand the value. Overall, readers describe the book as a quick yet thoughtful read that can be appreciated.

"...This book puts forth logical, believable, and credible explanations for all of the facts that we know about that night and afterwards, and the..." Read more

"...I wonder if there will ever be a definitive answer? This book is well-written, full of facts and theories, and would interest anyone who followed..." Read more

"I found it very difficult to put this well-written book down...." Read more

"...Overall -- well worth the read, it can be read quickly yet thoughtfully and is quite edifying." Read more

6 customers mention "Story quality"3 positive3 negative

Customers have different views on the story quality. Some find it professional and an eye-opener into the Ramsey family's despicable acts. Others describe it as a sad story without real heroes or villains, and a tale without a real ending.

"...adept speculation, and insight that is professional and the opposite of salacious...." Read more

"Fair warning: "Foreign Faction" is a shaggy dog story, a tale without a real ending...." Read more

"...This isn't theory. This isn't speculation. This is what happened. The ugly truth. An absolute must read." Read more

"...It's a devastating story for sure." Read more

Not good condition as described
2 out of 5 stars
Not good condition as described
$30 for a broken spine? Some staining and aScribble. Not cool. Maybe worth $5.
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2024
    ***THANK YOU***Mr. Kolar for writing this book and for all the hard work you put into investigating this case. I really appreciate you for getting some justice for JonBenet.

    I've always been interested in (and bothered by) what happened to JonBenet and the subsequent investigation, since watching all of it on TV from the beginning starting back in December of 1996. Over the last 27 years, I've read four books written on the subject and have watched a lot of documentaries and specials on TV.

    Up until this book, nothing ever really made total sense to me about this case, so it bothered me. Every few years I would think about it again, and read another book, and watch another show on TV about it, and I tried to fit all the puzzle pieces together, but it never really completed to form a legible picture. There were always holes in the puzzle, and extra pieces that didn't seem to fit. This book puts forth logical, believable, and credible explanations for all of the facts that we know about that night and afterwards, and the reader can complete the entire puzzle with no extra pieces to make sense of the entire episode.

    I agree with you: at this point, no one is going to get indicted or tried for her murder. But you've done an excellent job of collating all the pertinent facts and putting them together in a logical sequence. I finally have a very good idea of what almost certainly happened that night and why.

    It's hard to have faith in our justice system, as this appears to be yet another time when having lots of money protects you from "the long arm of the law". Attorneys (including the Boulder DAs) make it into a cynical game. But the BPD and sheriffs, and FBI all did their jobs, and because of them, and because of YOU Mr. Kolar, JonBenet does get some justice, and regular people like me have been enlightened.

    THANK YOU so much for writing this book.
    12 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2015
    I bought this book because I am quite interested in true crime and followed this story through the years. I could never believe the intruder theory and was convinced a family member was involved in this young girl's murder. I could not fathom that her mother committed the crime intentionally since the two were close, although I did believe she wrote the note.I thought perhaps it was a terrible accident she was worried she could go to jail for and have to leave her son. I felt the parents were protecting one another somehow. I did not think a nine- year- old sibling could physically cause the skull damage to JonBenet or fashion the intricate garrote. However, as time went by, I did think maybe Burke was a part of it, or at least was present at the phone call to police, from other books I have read about this case..The sexual injury was that of a child or maybe staged by a woman? It added up. While investigator Kolar does not come out and accuse Burke, he presents evidence of why the other scenarios do not add up, and also that Burke had hurt JonBenet before ( train track set) It adds up. I wonder if there will ever be a definitive answer? This book is well-written, full of facts and theories, and would interest anyone who followed this tragic story. Kolar broke his silence about the Ramsay killing and has a lot of evidence he presents in this book. I recommend it.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2017
    Like many other reviewers who have expressed enthusiastic praise for this book, I, too, have found the book to be a goldmine of detailed, comprehensive information about the 1996 killing of JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, CO. Again and again, in issue after issue, the book follows a consistent methodology of collecting evidence, asking questions about the evidence, and gathering more evidence to resolve the questions. I found this basic but penetrating methodology to be truly impressive, particularly when combined with Mr. Kolar's thorough knowledge of the facts of the case from his own direct involvement as the lead investigator for the Boulder District Attorney's Office under DA Mary Lacy in 2005 and 2006.

    The book describes various "outside intruder" theories of who killed JonBenet, including an elaborate multi-intruder scenario in Chapter 2 that seems to integrate the most commonly cited evidence very effectively (though not all the known evidence). The book describes and dissects the lone-pedophile theory promoted by Lou Smit and others. And the book explains the many problems with the repeated, adamant claims of an "outside intruder" by the Ramseys. The book's evidence seems to show rather conclusively that the Ramseys have allegedly engaged in a vigorous effort to direct the attention of investigators away from any family member, even though statistically (according to Kolar) fewer than 6% of child murders are committed by strangers, especially when the murdered child is found in the child's own home.

    What I also found very striking in the facts described in this book is the depth and intensity of the seemingly never-ending conflicts between the Boulder DA's office (in support of an "outside intruder" theory) and the Boulder Police Department (in support of a "family member" theory, with John and/or Patsy Ramsey as the main suspects). The DA and the police never seem to have come together seriously in a joint search for the truth. We now know, for example (since 2013*), contrary to the impression given by DA Alex Hunter, that the grand jury in the case did issue a final report with two specific criminal charges recommended against both John and Patsy Ramsey -- not for murder, but (paraphrasing) for allowing their daughter to be placed in danger resulting in the child's death, and for assisting a murderer. Danger from whom? What murderer? Maybe one parent assisting the other? Those points surely must have been explained in the full grand jury report, but most of the report remains sealed at present (as far as I know). The grand jury's report wasn't publicly known to exist at the time Kolar's book was published in 2012, although I suspect Mr. Kolar himself probably knew, since page 218 of his book mentions that he had full access to the grand jury files during his relatively short term as lead investigator under DA Mary Lacey. (Mr. Kolar's website, ventuspublishing.com, has announced that a forthcoming new edition of the book will include discussion of the grand jury recommendations and also the latest DNA test results.)

    Based on meticulous examination of the evidence, the book systematically rules out any outside intruder theory and also clears John and Patsy as possible killers of JonBenet. This leaves only one other family member to consider. Given the vicious nature of the strangulation, along with the blow to the head and a possible sexual assault, it may seem completely self-evident that there is no way such violence could have been perpetrated by a 9-year-old boy, JonBenet's older brother, Burke. But Kolar disagrees with this presumption, based on startling evidence presented in Chapter 33. The evidence strongly reinforces the suspicion about Burke, but the book also emphasizes that more evidence gathering is needed to confirm the suspicion -- evidence such as family medical records, particularly any records pertaining to psychiatric treatments that Burke reportedly received as a child. This kind of evidence wouldn't necessarily be made public; it could be limited to official investigators (possibly in a new grand jury setting) seeking to identify JonBenet's killer and the killer's motivation.

    Chapters 35 and 37 examine the "touch DNA" evidence that allegedly showed involvement by an intruder. Those chapters identify the weaknesses in that DNA evidence, including the fact that there was non-family-member DNA from a total of six different unknown persons, all of whom would have to be considered suspects if touch DNA evidence can be relied upon (just as any discovery of fingerprints warrants further evidence gathering as to their origin and circumstances). Hence, the book hypothesizes the multiple intruder scenario presented in Chapter 2 -- but with all intruder theories thoroughly disproved by the other physical evidence described in other chapters, such as the lack of any forced entry and lack of clear evidence of entry or exit through the one unsecured window in the basement, along with the apparently fake ransom note, additional voices heard on Patsy's 911 call (after audio enhancement), compelling evidence against Lou Smit's stun gun theory, and so on.

    Chapter 36 summarizes a "Theory of Prosecution" which Mr. Kolar expressed to the newest Boulder DA in 2011, although the full details of the theory evidently are too sensitive and probably horrendous in their implications to disclose publicly at present. Chapter 36 ends with a hint to readers that "the foundation for this theory is interspersed throughout this manuscript and I will have to leave it to your imagination at the moment."

    Chapter 37 (p. 428) mentions that under Colorado law, children under the age of 10 are not considered to be capable of forming criminal intent and thus cannot be prosecuted for crimes, not even murder. Furthermore, page 428 also mentions that there is a statute of limitations in Colorado on charges such as accessory after the fact, that might have been applicable to John and Patsy Ramsey, but whose time limit is now long expired. In addition, Patsy Ramsey is no longer living, having died in 2006 from cancer. Thus, with no possibility of criminal charges against any of the "family member" suspects, what would be the point of forming a new grand jury -- and, for that matter, the point of publishing Mr. Kolar's book? The long Epilog following Chapter 38 explains Mr. Kolar's reasons in great detail. Chapter 37 also explains the reasons more succinctly as follows: "In our pursuit of truth and justice, not only for this little girl, but for all the other innocent people wrongly accused by her family, isn't it our responsibility as criminal investigators and prosecutors to go in search of it?"

    * References regarding the grand jury report:
    http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/25/justice/jonbenet-ramsey-documents/index.html
    http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2013/10/us/jonbenet-ramsey-documents/?hpt=hp_t1
    89 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
  • Davide Tosto
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bello
    Reviewed in Italy on July 8, 2022
    Bello, ben scritto e veritiero....Bello, ben scritto e veritiero. . . . . . . . . . . .
  • Liz971
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent detail
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2021
    Not sure how you could give this book a negative review as it is full of factual data and excellent detail. The writer encourages the reader to decide what really happened in this shocking case. The fake ransom note is an obvious red flag ...there was no intruder, which leaves three people in the house to commit the crime. The son had severe psychological issues and his reactions after the crime were completely abnormal. The parents did their best to coverup a clumsy crime committed in anger, the perpetrator was definitely not an adult. This is a well written book and the first one to read if you are interested in this case.
  • Mondscheinchen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good
    Reviewed in Germany on December 9, 2018
    Very good and informative book about this murder case.
    Written by a former lead investigator of the Ramsey Case , someone who took a close look at all this material.
  • siam
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Author has the story together so it makes perfect sense. The parents would have turned on each ...
    Reviewed in Canada on December 4, 2016
    This is the true story as far as I am concerned. The Author has the story together so it makes perfect sense. The parents would have turned on each other if the other had done this horrific crime. The only person, they both would protect is Burke, he is all they had left. I believed Patty stayed up all night, trying to cover up for Burke, John not being aware of what happened until just before they called 911.

    Patty did the note herself, had John been involved the ransom note would look much different, more concise and direct, the $118,000.00 was a total giveaway!
    I have worked over this tragedy for 20 years and was always been torn over it. I believe James Kolar has told us exactly what happened. It is a shame that the parents didn't come forward however I can understand why they were afraid of losing Burke as well as JonBenet. If they had trust the system.....
  • Autumn
    5.0 out of 5 stars An impartial assessment of the evidence
    Reviewed in Australia on March 10, 2020
    A fascinating read. The author examines both propositions impartiality and follows the evidence. It’s a pity he can’t share his theory of prosecution but if there ever is a DA courageous enough to pursue this I can see that he wouldn’t want to taint any potentially grand jurors. For me there is no doubt who wrote the ransom note. This coupled with the enhanced ending of the 911 call makes clear that the family staged the crime scene. It’s pretty obvious who inflicted the head injury but which of them committed the strangulation and why is less clear.

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?