This is a crazy good book by Gregg Olsen about a really dysfunctional family that becomes painful at times to read. The more you read, the more you seThis is a crazy good book by Gregg Olsen about a really dysfunctional family that becomes painful at times to read. The more you read, the more you see it going off in the ditch. You can’t help but watch the train wreck though. The main twistee, Shelly, is a real piece of work. She loves to inflict maximum punishment and humiliation on her victims, who are her own three children, along with a young male nephew she’s taken in, along with her former hairdresser Kathy, who moved in to help out at a time she needed a place to stay.
This is the best of true crime, and it’s hard to put down, wanting to see what’s going to happen next. I really enjoy this author's non-fiction work, following him for many years.
Having grown up in Oakland County, Michigan I first became interested in these murders after reading about them in other books. I was very eager to reHaving grown up in Oakland County, Michigan I first became interested in these murders after reading about them in other books. I was very eager to read this book which promised the results of the author’s ten-year investigation of buried leads and police cover-ups of evidence, con-men, child porn rings, and high-level corruption. It certainly delivered on that and on being also part memoir, as the author J. Reuben Appelman also grew up in Michigan, in the Detroit area and was intimately familiar with the areas he discusses in the book. He still has family there and made efforts to reconnect with them as he did his work on the case.
This book has a ton of great information about the cases, about the suspects, and about new suspects never heard of and what’s happened in the intervening years. Appelman connects the dots and lets you decide based on some rather shocking details. This is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the Oakland County Child Murders case of 1976 and 1977 or true crime fans. An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley and author J. Reuben Appelman for my unbiased review.
This was a strange memoir about a 14-year-old who is taking tennis lessons from a man who is popular but troubled. She becomes close to him during a qThis was a strange memoir about a 14-year-old who is taking tennis lessons from a man who is popular but troubled. She becomes close to him during a quiet moment when he confesses to her that he’s depressed and she shares that she is too. She tries to comfort him by saying she loves him and won’t grow up and leave him like the rest of his tennis students.
She has no way of knowing of his obsession with another student of his, and how he’ll be in the news because of it in the near future. It will end his career as a tennis teacher, and his life. It will also come back to bother her in the future. This was one of those things you can’t seem to put down until you finish reading, regardless of how you seem to feel about it. You want to see how it comes out. A rather unusual read. Piper seems to keep trying to making the story more about herself than the girl who was actually abducted, thus hijacking the story. This was an enjoyable memoir /coming-of-age story that I recently read by William Morrow Publishers, published in April 2018. RATING: 4/5 Stars
This wonderfully informative book, originally published as FIGHTING BACK in 2000 is by Robert Davidson. It tells the story of June Briand, whose life This wonderfully informative book, originally published as FIGHTING BACK in 2000 is by Robert Davidson. It tells the story of June Briand, whose life of misery turns even worse when she marries Jimmy Briand. What started out feeling like the answer to her prayers when her previous husband left her, slowly turns into the biggest nightmare a person could imagine as Jimmy begins battering June to control her, fearing she might leave him. It just gets worse as time goes by, and the injuries are awful just to read about. One can’t imagine having to suffer through them while trying to keeping house to please such a brute and take care of his children too.
She was so mentally beaten down by him, and so terrified of him that it’s a wonder she didn’t break before she did. The book gives some really good background on June and some on how Jimmy became the way he was, and explains how their codependency played off one another in this vicious cycle of abuse. A good book for those interested in true crime, women’s issues, domestic violence, and more.
WildBlue Press 2nd Edition published March 13, 2018...more
I discovered this book after following the author's blog on Wordpress.com for a while, then realizing that she had written a book as well. I found it I discovered this book after following the author's blog on Wordpress.com for a while, then realizing that she had written a book as well. I found it so interesting to read and only wished that it had continued, as it ended at a rather frustrating point. I love to read about other cultures, and it was quite descriptive and mostly an easy reading book. The memoir tells about her life growing up in Iran with her large family and the changes that happen when the latest generation begins marrying and how it came about. I only ran into a few language glitches that were mostly easy to decipher through.
It gives a very good look at life in that part of Iran, in her extended family, at that time period in the writer's opinion. She shares what family outings were like whether just a gathering in the backyard with the adults smoking shisha, or going on a roadtrip for either pleasure or business with the man of the house taking charge to drive and arrange all the accommodations as they went. ...more
**spoiler alert** This book really threw me when I read about a spirit / house on Rea street that had a family of insect humans living inside of it, t**spoiler alert** This book really threw me when I read about a spirit / house on Rea street that had a family of insect humans living inside of it, the mother peacock, the father hornet, the son bookwork, one daughter a parasite, and the focus of the book, the other daughter the firefly. I debated whether to continue reading. I like my non-fiction straight up. After considering for a little while, I pushed on. Such an unusual tactic, but as the book goes on and things start happening, I'm almost glad for the distance it creates as an illusion of fiction to make reading it more tolerable because it gets sickeningly bad. Her family situation is like a horror movie that just won't quit. I had another moment where I nearly caved in when an animal is described that's just like my personal pet and it suffers a horrible tragedy in the story. I lost it at that point and stopped reading for a while until I could go back to it and it wasn't a constant topic. But it was a recurring theme, so I kept the tissues handy.
A truly triumphant book overall, as she manages in the end, to finally overcome the years of putting up what happens to her and finally puts her foot down and says no more. She triumphs in in end as she refuses to allow anyone to mistreat her (or her family) in any way now....more
DON'T TELL A SOUL by M. Willam Phelps I was provided with a digital copy of this book for review by Netgalley and Kensington Books.
I've long been a faDON'T TELL A SOUL by M. Willam Phelps I was provided with a digital copy of this book for review by Netgalley and Kensington Books.
I've long been a fan of M. William Phelps, investigative journalist and true crime writer. I enjoy the type of detailed writing that presents true crime stories in such a well-researched form. This book is another example of his talent for choosing interesting stories and sharing them in a way that makes us feel that we know the nitty gritty of the case. This case is a real heartbreaker. It involves a young lady who is adapting to finally being out on her own in her own efficiency apartment by the name of Cherry Walker. Her friends know her to be sweet and unselfish. Cherry was 39, but with her mental disability she was much like a child herself. She became attached to a young boy that a neighbor of hers in the same apartments was babysitting for. When the neighbor could no longer watch the boy, Cherry allowed herself to be talked into taking on the task.
Problem was, the boy's mother was unreliable, often leaving him for days without calling, with no clean clothes or food for him. Cherry put up with it because she loved the little boy, using part of her food stamps to feed him. Little did most people know, but the boy's mother Kim Cargill, was a woman with a lot of problems on a downward spiral. And when Cherry got a subpoena one day for her to testify against Kim in a Child Endangerment case, that's when something awful happened. Everyone's lives changed then. This story will leave you shaking your head at all of the things that had already gone on, and twisted outcome that develops. ...more
This was an informative read about a case of abuse that happened in the Czech Republic in 2007 that was uncovered completely by accident after a familThis was an informative read about a case of abuse that happened in the Czech Republic in 2007 that was uncovered completely by accident after a family's baby monitor picked up a feed of a couple of young brothers who'd been confined and tied up, and subject to much abuse. When the case was looked into and the place finally found that had the boys, the story became even stranger. There were indications of cult involvement in the abuse, and even some cannibalism. One of the people involved turned out to be not at all what they seemed also, and would change their identity and gender more than once it seemed. An unusual tale that left an odd feeling on finishing. ...more
A very well researched book written by someone who knew the subject personally. Stone decided to write the story in hopes of telling his friend's sideA very well researched book written by someone who knew the subject personally. Stone decided to write the story in hopes of telling his friend's side honestly, and to try and prevent the awful outcome from hopefully ever happening again for anyone who might wind up in a similar situation. The author finally got permission to interview Julie, a nurse, in prison, where she is sentenced for killing her 6 year old son, after a childhood filled with seeing her troubled younger brother physically abused and emotionally mistreated, then finding herself in an abusive 2nd marriage, deeply depressed, and hooked on prescription drugs, despite multiple rehab attempts. A sickening read for any loving parent, but gives insight into how it could happen for her....more
The true story of Elizabeth Garrison's early childhood abuse, and family domestic violence perpetrated in the name of God.. which led to teenage drug The true story of Elizabeth Garrison's early childhood abuse, and family domestic violence perpetrated in the name of God.. which led to teenage drug abuse and drinking. ...more
First, he romanced her and she fell head over heels in love. Then after much pressure from her family, he married her, to quiet them and save her repuFirst, he romanced her and she fell head over heels in love. Then after much pressure from her family, he married her, to quiet them and save her reputation. Happily ever after? Hardly. He flitted from one conquest to the next, and in their small Greek village it was no secret that George Nitsos treated his wife Panayota badly and was unfaithful. Or that he'd been trying to hire a hit man, an assassin, to kill his sweet, loving wife so that he could be free to be with another woman. He'd accumulated some wealth and cultivated quite a bit of power, and he wouldn't stop until he got his way.
Panayota had been urged to leave her husband by her caring cousin Thanassis when he learned that her life was in peril, but she refused, saying she'd be better off dead than have to live in the small village as its only divorced woman in the 1950's. Like a slow moving train wreck that no one could prevent, she was horribly murdered walking home with her husband one night when they were shot. When it began to look like George Nitsos was going to be able to use his influence to be able to just walk away from having his wife killed, it fired up her cousin Thanassis Konandreas to risk everything to see to it that George didn't get away with it.
The story is beautifully written and laid out by Thanassis' son Lukas who was there at the time of all these events, although just 8 years old then. A wonderful peek into Greek small village life and times for periods around WWII.
Valerity (Val)
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