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13th out of 38 books
—
4 voters
Shattered
Hero, Husband, Father . . . Monster?In Creekstone, Texas, a small, quiet suburb of Houston, football was king . . . and David Temple was a prince. A former high school and college gridiron star-turned-coach, he had a fairy-tale marriage to bright, vivacious Belinda Lucas, a teacher at the local high school who was so warm and popular her colleagues called her "The Sunshine...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
June 29th 2010
by Harper
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Finished this book yesterday. read it in 2 days. I did get annoyed again because Kathryn does something Ann Rule also does and that is telling us constantly that the victim acted as (and was) an angel, not a human being with faults. Okay I know we should say nothing bad about the dead but this is true crime.
Belinda did abandon her parents, her family only to please her husband. She even told her twin sister not to come on their birthday because his majesty did not want it. The twins did not cel...more
Belinda did abandon her parents, her family only to please her husband. She even told her twin sister not to come on their birthday because his majesty did not want it. The twins did not cel...more
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I chose this book because I remember when Belinda Temple, a popular teacher at Katy High School in TX, was found murdered in the master bedroom of her home. She was 8 months pregnant. I remember the signs plastered in every store window asking who killed her. Her husband was a coach at a different high school, and later it was revealed he was having an affair at the time his wife and unborn daughter were murdered. And I remember, nine years later, when David Temple was convicted of her murder an...more
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Not as bad as Kathryn Casey's other books. I do realize this is setting the bar a bit low, but I have to give Casey some credit: Shattered isn't quite as boring as her usual work, and the first half is actually pretty interesting. Since I'm usually bored by page five of Casey's books, I can only assume she's improved (either that, or my standards are getting lower -- not a totally unlikely scenario at my age). Also, the solecisms and poor diction aren't quite as egregious as usual; the only seri...more
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Though the subject was based on a true story, and that story was sad and heartwrentching. The Author did a very good job of being unbiased to either party. She told both sides and allowed the reader to draw their own conclusion. In the end, the jury, also came to their own conclusion.
I began the book 3 days before I finished it. I couldn't put it down. A sad tale of a love story gone terribly wrong. It made me think of some similarities between the lives of the people in this story and my own. I...more
I began the book 3 days before I finished it. I couldn't put it down. A sad tale of a love story gone terribly wrong. It made me think of some similarities between the lives of the people in this story and my own. I...more
This story happened in my hometown, so I have a bit of a skewed idea of it. I do think he is guilty, but I feel bad for his entire family. I was in junior high when this happened, and I eventually went to Katy High School, where Belinda taught and there were a lot of emotions about it. I think it's an interesting look at the way we portray athletes and how a family can cover up for each other. I have met the Temples (David's dad is a minister who does funerals every now and then and I'm a funera...more
This is a true crime novel that does what a true crime novel is suppose to do. It gives background on people, places, and events, then moves into the crime itself, then the trial and so on. There's something that just draws me to a crime novel like this, then I read it and the horrible images it brings forth tend to bother me a bit. This book did give graphic detail of the crime scene and some disturbing detail of the autopsy, so don't go into it with a faint heart. It's very well researched and...more
Jul 12, 2012
Heather Moss
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
true-crime,
on-my-kindle
(copied from my review on Amazon.com)
I read a lot of true crime books, and I think Kathryn Casey is a decent writer for the genre. There isn't a lot of mystery in this case; you know from the beginning who killed Belinda, and the suspense rests on whether the police and prosecution will come up with enough evidence to convict the cheating sociopath. So Casey's real job here was making the biographical details of Belinda, David, their families, friends, co-workers, and neighbors compelling enough...more
I read a lot of true crime books, and I think Kathryn Casey is a decent writer for the genre. There isn't a lot of mystery in this case; you know from the beginning who killed Belinda, and the suspense rests on whether the police and prosecution will come up with enough evidence to convict the cheating sociopath. So Casey's real job here was making the biographical details of Belinda, David, their families, friends, co-workers, and neighbors compelling enough...more
If you enjoy true crime, this book is simply amazing. The ego and lies of this man are unbelievable. Why these men believe murdering their pregnant wife is a better choice than separation or divorce is beyond comprehension. As stated in the book, homicide is the most common cause of death in pregnant women. Very well written with most of the book describing the couple's life and the crime with sufficient coverage of the trial instead of too many details (of the trial) to lose the context of the...more
this book was really good.This book was about 2 people that feel in love and good married.but the problems was the wife had a twin and the twin was not feel good around.like how he only care about football and only football.until one day the huband was cheating on his wife with some other girl.but the his wife was murder and she was eight mounths pregent. now they founding out who did this to her.they think it was her huband because he was never around for his son,never home always in partys and...more
I think there were 4 parts to this book #1: introduction to the events and characters, I almost stopped reading because there just wasn't any suspense. #2: details of the crime, disturbing, I almost had to stop reading again, wasn't sure I could handle it. #3: evidence gathering, investigation of the crime. And finally #4: development of the case and conduct of the trial. What human beings are capable of is astounding. Aye yi yi!
Kathryn Casey did a brilliant job of writing this story. I was especially intrigued by the book b/c I followed it like crazy while I was at home on maternity leave with my newborn (now 15). The couple went to college up at SFA where I attended as well. It was neat to follow along and recognize a lot of the places they went to, I did too. Very captivating book. Loved, loved, loved it!
This book took place in Katy Texas, which is where we live now. My daughter taught with the woman who was killed in the book, and so it was a very interesting, sad book to read. Knowing where many of the events took place made it even more interesting.
I had to skip through a lot of the book--and sure enough, the last twenty (or so) pages contained it all in a nutshell. Good ending, good synopsis of closing arguments but it didn't need almost 400 pages to explain; could have been done (just as well) in about a hundred.
This was a very good book. This happened in Katy, Texas where I live. It is weird reading about places you go to all the time. The cemetery and his parents live right down the street from me. Very tragic story.
Casey is a good writer. It is a sad story (of course). Kind of typical outline of a true crime story, but she justifies it and provides credence to why the verdict was correct. Good read. I will seek this author's work out.
This is a troubling true story. I knew about the case because it happened close to where we live. I read it in one day because I was so interested. It was written in a straight forward manner.
Really hard to put down! The author told this horrifying story well. What a sad, sad story, and a warning to women not to tolerate controlling spouses or boyfriends. Some just think they're gods.
A true story and murder mystery, quite shocking. I liked it a lot mostly because I enjoy true stories as well as biographies.I recommend this book if you like true stories.
I really enjoyed this book, especially since David Temple is now requesting a new trial!! That piece of trash should have been put to death, his time is coming though!
When I was at the bookstore skimming the True Crime section, I happened to pick this book up and read a little about it. It mentioned an area outside of Houston that I'm familiar with.
Come to find out, my SIL attended the school where Belinda worked, during the period of this book.
I had to purchase this and read it very quickly as it felt to have hit close to home.
Many of the details of where this couple lived are not accurate but don't affect the outcome at all.
I did feel the writing was not p...more
Come to find out, my SIL attended the school where Belinda worked, during the period of this book.
I had to purchase this and read it very quickly as it felt to have hit close to home.
Many of the details of where this couple lived are not accurate but don't affect the outcome at all.
I did feel the writing was not p...more
Not particularly well-written, but interesting, especially if you're familiar with the case or if you have any association with Alief or Katy.
Very good read but sad ending and a convicted killer that still won't admit he did it!
This is a true crime novel much like an Ann Rule book. Quick reading and entertaining.
Excellently written. It was hard to put down. It met all my expectations of a true crime book.
A true sociopath who was without empathy or morals.
The content was interesting, but I didn't care for the writing style of the author.
Thought this was a very good book!!
Very good read...hard to put down.
Such a sad story!
good book
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Kathryn Casey is a Houston-based journalist who has written for Rolling Stone, TV Guide, Newsweek, Texas Monthly, and many other publications.
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