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50th out of 314 books
—
436 voters
Cruel Sacrifice
Veteran true crime journalist Aphrodite Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history--the torture, mutilation, and murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer by four teenage girls. Here is a tragic story of twisted love and insane jealousy, lesbianism, brutal child abuse, and sadistic ritual killing in small-town America. Includes 16-page photo...more
Paperback, 333 pages
Published
May 3rd 2005
by Pinnacle
(first published 1994)
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Cruel Sacrifice, by Aphrodite Jones, is a true crime story about the now infamous and tragic Shanda Sharer murder. It is written with input from the killers family, court testimony, Psychiatry notes, and interviews from people indirectly involved in the lives of the teenage girls who committed this horrible act. Jones is a well known author, who has researched and written about many different crimes.
The beginning of this story details the night of January 10th 1992, when four teenage girls trick...more
The beginning of this story details the night of January 10th 1992, when four teenage girls trick...more
"LESBO BITCHES ON ACID"
This true crime took place in early 90s Madison, Indiana. The case revolves around four teenage girls convicted of the kidnapping and brutal beating/torture, mutilation, burning and murder of an innocent 12 year old school girl named Shanda Sharer.
(view spoiler)...more
This true crime took place in early 90s Madison, Indiana. The case revolves around four teenage girls convicted of the kidnapping and brutal beating/torture, mutilation, burning and murder of an innocent 12 year old school girl named Shanda Sharer.
(view spoiler)...more
I remember a friend lending me this book circa 1999 / 2000, and it making one helluva impression on me. Well-written, good characterisation and setting, with great attention to detail. WARNING: Contains explicit, graphic material. NOT for the faint of heart. A truly harrowing tale. I particularly liked the inclusion of photographs - of both the victim and the perpetrators. For me it made the story far more real and accessible.
I read this book awhile back ,and was shocked by the girls' actions. When I went to high school, there were girls from all walks of life, but never involved in a story like this. Made me wonder if these girls had any sense of right from wrong or if they had any sense of reality in their lives. A very cruel way for Shanda to die, since she didn't do anything wrong. It's a sad, sad story.
Aphrodite Jones is a pretty hit-or-miss true crime writer, but with this one she scored a home run. It's not well-written in the slightest; it's pulpy, per the genre; it's seamy and sordid in every way. But somehow the story itself bypasses the inner security-systems of those of us with a high threshold for this sort of thing, as do the mug shots of the perky, smiling killers, which are indistinguishable from yearbook photos. It's about a clique of teenage girls in Indiana who murdered a twelve-...more
Uggh, not for the faint of heart. This is one of the toughest true-crime stories I have ever read. The book is well done though, and I applaud the author for tackling this gruesome story. This is one of those things that are so horrible you wish you could remove it from your mind.
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I couldnt believe these girls had so much hate in them Jealous enough to kill,wow. Read this book quite sometime ago then Dr Phil had someting on it. Had forgotten all about this story and then picked up the book again. Still cant believe bullying can go to ths extent.
Someone else described this book as a train wreck and after finishing it, I have to agree. Poor writing and an over-abundance of quotation marks (actually bordering on obsessive, if you ask me) made for some tough reading of an already very confusing, very bizarre true crime tale.
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It was very chilling and sad I had nightmares about it for weeks. But it was also a very good book even though it was about the real life murder of SHANDA RENEE SHARER god rest her beautiful, young,and innocent soul.
I lived there when this happend and my cusion went to school with these girls although he did'nt socialize with them.
This was a very sad event for the whole community.
I had this book before and want to have it again.
This was a very sad event for the whole community.
I had this book before and want to have it again.
Heartbreaking story. Took place in my hometown of Madison was a big shock that teen girls could commit such a horrible crime. Sad.
Graphic and descriptive. There are crime scene photos of the actual victim, although the more gruesome ones were not printed.
I read this book when i was about 14 yrs old and have been a fan of Aphrodite's work ever since.These girls in this book were absolutely merciless in what they did to Shanda.I hope that they suffer greatly for what they did to that girl.
This is truly an act of hate and jealously crime. there were many tears shed in this book.
Very in depth book about the murder of Shanda Sharer. I felt very close to her as we were the same age when she was lured away from the comfort of her home, and tortured by four other girls.
A very sad situation, and a not very well-written book. I rarely stray from Ann Rule in the true crime genre, and books like this one are why.
Sadistic teenage lesbians, a wild tale of jealousy and numbness.
It was disturbing its interesting but but so sad and unbelievable
It is terrible what they did to that little girl.
This is a great, though disturbing true crime book by Aphrodite Jones.
WOW. Is all I can say...
Dec 17, 2010
Danika
added it
great
You know Truman Capote? not even close. Though considering I got this out of a $.50 bin, I can't really complain either. No, I can.
The story was interesting, but the writing was repetitive and written like a really long, somewhat dull article: very informative, little sensitivity. Also, I was a little pissed off about lesbianism being passed off as both perverse and as an identity issue. If this had been about a heterosexual teen love triangle, I doubt the book would have been written.
The story was interesting, but the writing was repetitive and written like a really long, somewhat dull article: very informative, little sensitivity. Also, I was a little pissed off about lesbianism being passed off as both perverse and as an identity issue. If this had been about a heterosexual teen love triangle, I doubt the book would have been written.
WHAT'S NORMAL?
Very sad and gruesome story. I believe that the girls deserved their sentences, but even so I feel sorry for them as well as the victim. The two main perpetrators had horrible family lives, The other two merely didn't have the strength to say no to the torture and/or extricate themselves from the situation. This story makes me wonder ow parents can better watch their children (even as teens) and at the same time instill basic values. Very, very sad.
I'd never even heard of this crime until I read this book, and I was shocked by the details of this senseless and appalling murder. The author covers the case, and each of the characters in this tragedy in through detail. A deeply disturbing look into how dark and cruel some young people can be. I couldn't put down, and recommend it to anyone interested in true crime cases.
The ultimate in true crime sleaze, this one will cure you forever of your ghoulish desire to read this kind of thing ever again. A spectacular circus sideshow that piles lunacy atop lunacy, sleaze atop sleaze, and horror atop horror. Reads like a black-comic collaboration between the Coen Brothers, Takashi Miike, and Nancy Grace.
A train wreck. A combination of terrible organization, writing and subject matter are forcing me to abandon this book. I can hardly keep track of who is who, am thrown off by the use of quotation marks, and the believability of the Loveless family's claims is in question.
This one is going to Goodwill tomorrow.
This one is going to Goodwill tomorrow.
Sad. Scary Disturbing.
There is a better book about this little girl. This one I feel like the author takes the killers side. You don't hear to much about Shandra Sharer's life just about why she was killed. I recommend reading Little Lost Angel
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...
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True crime writer published by Pinnacle Books and HarperCollinsPublishers.
She is also the host of the TV series True Crime which airs on Investigation Discovery.
More about Aphrodite Jones...
She is also the host of the TV series True Crime which airs on Investigation Discovery.
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Mar 17, 2013 03:04pm