See How Much You Love Me: A Troubled Teen, His Devoted Parents, and a Cold-Blooded Killing

by Amber Hunt

"I KILLED MY PARENTS."

Seventeen-year-old Tyler Hadley posted an invitation on Facebook: party at my crib tonight. But this was no ordinary house party in the Florida suburbs; it was a grisly crime scene. Later that night, Tyler revealed to his best friend, Michael, that he'd bludgeoned his parents to death with a hammer. Michael didn't believe him...until he entered the master bedroom and saw the bodies of Tyler's parents on the floor--murdered, beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"THEY DESERVED IT."

Mary Jo and Blake Hadley had always known their son had a dark side. He would make disturbing jokes about murder on Facebook. He apparently idolized the infamous Menendez brothers, who murdered their parents for money. But how could they have known their son was dead serious? What kind of person could kill his mother and father, throw a party with their bodies in the next room, and brag about it? This riveting account by an award-winning journalist takes you deep inside the mind of a troubled teenager--and behind the scenes of a true American nightmare...

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

Amber Hunt is an award-winning journalist who works for the Cincinnati Enquirer as an investigative reporter. She's the co-creator and host of the podcast "Accused: The Unsolved Murder of Elizabeth Andes," which reached No. 1 on iTunes' U.S. and U.K. charts. She previously covered crime for the Detroit Free Press and the Dakotas for The Associated Press and was a 2011 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. She’s written three true-crime books: Dead but Not Forgotten, All-American Murder and See How Much You Love Me, and is co-author of The Kennedy Wives: Triumph and Tragedy in America’s Most Public Family with longtime friend David Batcher.

Amber is a past recipient of the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting, the only national award dedicated to crime coverage. She has appeared on NBC’s Dateline and A&E’s Crime Stories, among other TV shows. She lives in Ohio.

Reviews

[Amber Hunt]

I'm the author. I'm not giving any stars to sway the rating, but I will say that I'm happiest with this effort to date. I felt much more confident writing it and I think it's most representative of my style.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

The true, sorry tale of an over-entitled, underage polysubstance addict who dusted his parents, then shut their bodies in a bedroom and threw a house party. I can understand the friends, family and author straining to understand what makes this guy tick but I strongly suspect there is not that much here to understand. Read this interesting, but ugly story and decide for yourself.

[Tija Addams · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author says she’s very happy with this book & it is most representative of her writing style. If that’s the case I’ll pass on any future books of hers. It was badly written which is very disappointing as the case is fascinating.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't rightly say that I am familiar with Tyler Hadley's case. Of course, this was several years ago. So I might have read about it and have since forgotten about it. What Tyler did is pure evil. I can not imagine the terror that his parents went through as their son beat them to death. Which is was horrible in itself but the worse part I think was that Tyler hosted a party at his house and piled all of the house hold items on top of his parents dead bodies. This is what really got to me about the murders. Then there was the way that Tyler spoke as if he was disconnected with the crime he committed.

I think Tyler's friend, Michael brought up a good point. It was not just the loss of two innocent lives that was bad but that it affected so many people...Tyler's brother, relatives, Michael, Tyler's friends, the community, and nation. The author did a good job of telling this story including the investigation process. I have read a few murder crime books and what I feel is missing is the details. It seems that the authors go into details about the murder and the trial but not enough details are spent in the investigation. This is in my eyes a very important part leading up to the trial and the verdict. This was a well written book.

[Lily OnTheLam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living in Florida, I was especially appalled to hear about the kid who allegedly invited his friends to a party at his house, then bludgeoned his parents to death and then had the party while his parents' bodies were laying in their bedroom. This book tells a lot about the crime but doesn't give a lot of answers why. Just sad all around. Read it on an international flight and had weird nightmares about it for 2 days afterward.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book is well written, but such a horrific story.

My heart breaks for family & friends. This kid only thought of his wants ....And based on the letters wrote while in jail...still thinks only of him.

[Nat PlainJanetheBookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick one to finish. Overall an interesting read as I haven’t heard of this case, though I do have a slight dislike when true crime books are written fiction-like. I feel the authors add unnecessary dramatics to true crime events that really don’t need it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting story but too bad the book was so dry. It really drug on and I ended up skipping chunks.

[Marsmannix · Rating 2 out of 5]

lol i must have a realllly high standard for true crime books.

[Lenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime book that I happened across at the library. Grisly story to say the least.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teenager kills his parents for reasons people are still trying (without success) to understand. Much of the book is made up of reactions from the killer's friends, classmates, relatives, etc.

[Edmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why are we fascinated with the macabre? In the same light of Lizzie Borden, the Menéndez brothers, here is a kid who bludgeons his parents. We like 48 hours and dateline for the same reasons. You feel sorry for the family and friends who endured such a tragedy. Good research by the author, very thorough but there are too many characters that I sometimes lost who they were in this what seems to be a horror movie.

[Koren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kid kills his parents and then has a party afterwards with the bodies in the bedroom. When you are done reading this book that's what you will take away from this book. Apparently there was no motive. The author barely touches on the family dynamics or the personalities of the parents or the two sons. Maybe could have been a good book if the author would have dug a little deeper.

[Porscha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The writing is tight and efficient, which is not always true of a true crime book with plenty of paperwork to research. A read on the quicker side but not one that will endear you to anyone involved or make you really feel like you know them.

[Katrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book but way too much swearing!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a sad story that ended up taking everyone in this family's life, and affect everyone involved. Truely sad.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because the story sounded interesting. It was. . but could of been a news paper article. Lots of things irritate me about this authors writing style. Very repetitive. I would read a chapter then later read the same info in the next. Felt like a lot of filler just trying to make it a book. Not really even sure what Tyler was sentenced too. Its vague it some areas and then in other completely different areas too much information. Like what every kid at the party said. Plus the whole chapter on the Menendez brothers. Not sure why she included that. Over all if this is her best representation of her writing style its definitely not for me. Google the story you will get the same info for free.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting case...but I only gave it 3 stars because there was really no answer to Tyler...why? How? etc....and I understand there isn't always an answer....but something was missing...some background somewhere....IDK...

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book. Makes you wonder what makes a teenager, who had a good family and a good upbringing, want to kill his parents. It's scary. He wasn't insane, he was just screwed up, like most teenagers are. Sad.

[Renika Jacobs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written

This book was not very well written. It seems like a string of news clips. I didn't learn anything about this case that I couldn't have just Googled. Save your money on this one.

[Beth Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very disturbing.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

sociopath. really.

[Cat Losco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about a really tragic event. Not very well written

[Denise Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting story, however, very little was revealed about the victims, therefore I felt as if I didn't know them at all.

[Jei Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 bit repetitive but an interesting case to read about

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat repetitive narrative... It felt like it was drug out then rushed at the end.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing of this book was scattered and all over the place... very repetitive and hard to get into.