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True crime read 2022-2023: Post reviews here!
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The Bundy Secrets: Hidden Files on America's Worst Serial Killer, by Kevon M. Sullivan3 reluctant stars
This was a quick read. The best way I can describe it is "disappointing, but full of interesting nuggets." I did learn more about some of the people who crossed paths with the killer -- Louise Cannon, Bryan Severson -- and details on some of Ted's crimes, but the book wasn't well organized, often clumsily written and poorly copyedited. A lot of it was word-for-word transcripts of police interviews, never a good thing to find in a book on Blathering Bundy. I found out more about how people saw the everyday Bundy, though, and what they thought of him before they knew what he was up to. Worth your time, if you can take all the spelling and usage errors.
Chop Shop3 stars
An engaging, interesting read about a very complicated criminal case that went sideways several times. This isn't for everyone; the crimes themselves are pretty nauseating. With that said, the characters involved are fascinatingly weird; the legal issues are formidable; and the author captured it all very well without bogging down. Well worth your time, if you can stomach it.
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt5 stars
I remember seeing this trial on TV when it was going on but didn't pay too much attention to it. Now I wish I had watched it more. This book was fascinating. Tangled Vines is an apt title. This lawyer spun a web of deceit and corruption and eventually murder but finally got caught. What I liked best was the trial was nicely condensed into two chapters. Instead of going on about things we already know, the author actually came up with some things we didn't already know. A very well-written TC book.
The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen3 stars
I was excited to see this book by one of my favorite true crime authors. Abandoned Prayers was an early true crime and the first I read by this author and got me into the genre. If you haven't read Abandoned Prayers I think it would help to read that book first. Eli Stutzmann murdered his young son and was suspected of murdering his wife, who died in a suspicious fire. That unsolved mystery has bugged the author for the last 30 plus years. The majority of the book is spent with the author either recapping much of what is in the book, or interviewing people that were around when events took place. I spent most of the book wondering why he would spend so much of his own money and time on travel, newspaper ads, billboards and more when the case could never be prosecuted. He does explain this in the book and I still didn't really get it. About half way it all started sounding the same, nothing really progressed or changed and i skimmed to the end. But I do thank Amazon or Gregg, or whoever is responsible, that I received this book free as part of my Prime membership.
Imprisoned by Fear: A true, tragic story of teens, drugs, burglaries and a homeowner?s fear of death by his own guns by Kathy Lange1 star
I couldn't even finish this one. As interesting as the case is legally, this book is just too hard to read, with verb tenses and prepositions all over the place, and sentence structure that sometimes forced me to go back and re-read to understand what the author was getting at. The book was packed full of very repetitive information -- much of it irrelevant to the story. I even looked up the publishing company, sure that it would be a vanity press operation, but it offers "professional copyediting." Did the author turn that down? On top of all that, the story was told in as way that kept me from being able to see how the two sides were building their cases against each other, even when the story was almost all court transcript. Not recommended.
A Light in the Dark: Surviving More than Ted Bundy by Kathy Kleiner Rubin4 stars
The author was one of Ted Bundy's last victims before he was caught. She was brutally attacked and almost didn't live. She was at college living in a sorority house. Three other girls were also attacked and beaten with a wooden club that night and two of them didn't survive. The author takes issue with the common belief that Bundy was a handsome ladies man who lured his victims with charm. She claims Ann Rule's book is filled with inaccuracies. In addition to almost dying from Bundy's attack, she survived a deadly childhood disease and later a cancer diagnosis and Hurricane Katrina.
The Trees, by Percival Everett5 stars!
What a wonderful read! I got through this in one sitting. So much packed into a few hundred pages. This is a fictionalized take on America's sorry history of lynchings, and features the reanimated victims of those killings coming back for a little comeuppance. Or is that really what's happening? It combines satire, Southern Gothic and an incredible level of revenge fantasy. Don't miss this one.
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Obsessed with True Crime
Books mentioned in this topic
The Trees (other topics)A Light in the Dark: Surviving More than Ted Bundy (other topics)
Imprisoned by Fear: A true, tragic story of teens, drugs, burglaries and a homeowner?s fear of death by his own guns (other topics)
The Amish Wife (other topics)
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders (other topics)
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5 stars
An excellent read that taught me much more than I knew about the O.J. Simpson case. This is a prosecutor's-eye view, very well told. I hope writing this book helped the author scrape this hideous injustice off his shoe and allowed him to move past it, but I kind of doubt it. Don't miss this one if you have any interest at all in these two horrific murders.