false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174525025m/413965.jpg 413965 13 In April 2002, Janine Latus's youngest sister, Amy, wrote a note and taped it to the inside of her desk drawer. <I>Today Ron Ball and I are romantically involved,</i> it read, <I>but I fear I have placed myself at risk in a variety of ways. Based on his criminal past, writing this out just seems like the smart thing to do. If I am missing or dead this obviously has not protected me...</i><P><P>That same spring Janine Latus was struggling to leave her marriage -- a marriage to a handsome and successful man. A marriage others emulated. A marriage in which she felt she could do nothing right and everything wrong. A marriage in which she felt afraid, controlled, inadequate, and trapped.<P><P>Ten weeks later, Janine Latus had left her marriage. She was on a business trip to the East Coast, savoring her freedom, attending a work conference, when she received a call from her sister Jane asking if she'd heard from Amy. Immediately, Janine's blood ran cold. Amy was missing.<P><P>Helicopters went up and search dogs went out. Coworkers and neighbors and family members plastered missing posters with Amy's picture across the county. It took more than two weeks to find Amy's body, wrapped in a tarpaulin and buried at a building site. It took nearly two years before her killer, her former boyfriend Ron Ball, was sentenced for her murder.<P><P>Amy died in silent fear and pain. Haunted by this, Janine Latus turned her journalistic eye inward. How, she wondered, did two seemingly well-adjusted, successful women end up in strings of physically or emotionally abusive relationships with men? <I>If I Am Missing or Dead</i> is a heart-wrenching journey of discovery as Janine Latus traces the roots of her own -- and her sister's -- victimization with unflinching candor. This beautifully written memoir will move readers from the first to the last page. At once a confession, a call to break the cycle of abuse, and a deeply felt love letter to her baby sister, Amy Lynne Latus, <I>If I Am Missing or Dead</i> is an unforgettable read.<P><P> 403190 book 17 4 2007 If I Am Missing or Dead : A Sister's Story of Love, Murder, and Liberation total:1546|5:238|4:488|3:524|2:228|1:68| 1546 5238 2339 449 1 10 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 16:31:16 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 06 05:44:58 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 4 false true Fri Nov 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 01 19:14:21 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 07 19:42:01 -0800 2008
I'm nearly halfway done and she's still just talking about herself, with a few conversations with said sister tossed in. It's almost like she used her sis...more...]]> 0 6 true false Fri Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 17:40:17 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 18:19:01 -0700 2008 I disagree with people who chide the author for telling her own story. I always thought that was the point...her story of abuse and her sto...more...]]> 1 6 false false Wed Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 07 08:47:34 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 10 15:47:02 -0700 2008 1 time too many

*****Later*****

It has been a long, long time since I said "Yuck!" t...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri May 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 08:03:52 -0700 2008 Sat May 03 01:47:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 15:35:23 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 10:13:42 -0800 2008
It starts off with the basic Catholic girl victimization--lecherous dad, pervy friends' dads, constant refrain that they are bad and ...more...]]> 2 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 19:17:08 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 19:27:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false true Thu Jan 01 17:05:59 -0800 2009 Thu Oct 16 20:11:31 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 01 17:05:59 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon Feb 04 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Aug 28 16:20:32 -0700 2007 Wed Feb 06 10:58:44 -0800 2008 More when I am finished!

UPDATE:
...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 19:09:05 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 19:27:50 -0700 2007
I've decided that the author couldn't write what she didn't know (what was going on in Amy's secretive relationship - Amy wasn't volunteering any information - maybe because she was embarrassed or ashamed - ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Feb 26 11:58:42 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 12:00:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat May 24 09:52:44 -0700 2008 Sat May 24 09:59:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 true false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 22:06:57 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 09:56:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Jun 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 02 15:24:31 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 02 18:53:52 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 13 18:38:13 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 18:39:04 -0800 2009 Downloaded from audible.com.
Janine Latus is a journalist who tells of the wrong decisions she and her sister Amy both made with regard to men-poor decisions, which Latus points out, are made by intelligent women everyday who lack self est...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Dec 24 14:09:30 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 14:17:55 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Nov 03 17:19:20 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 17:31:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 03 13:11:16 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 13:12:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 12 16:41:51 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 16:41:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 19:38:19 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 05 19:45:13 -0700 2009
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review.

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