🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Both a searingly intimate memoir and a true-crime story, this book was so hard to put down that I read it in practically one sitting. A heart-rending look at a traumatic crime,and the family involved, written from the vantage point of the author, a sixteen year old teenager at the time, sister and closely-knit cousin to the victims involved.

A rare glimpse into a crime story, expertly told, with a close-up and terrifying look at the criminals involved, their callous and vicious approach to their actions, and the outcomes, both legal and emotional. At the same time, we, the reader come to know and understand the victims before the crimes — their lives, dreams and loves, and the tragedy of what we know is to befall them cannot help but feel all the more horrific.

A story that is hard to forget, beautifully rendered, this book is uniquely compelling — both for its dramatic and emotional content, as well as its no-holds barred critical expose of the justice system, and its single-mindedness when it comes to catching a killer, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

A terrific and troubling book, (borrowed from my local library), and one this reader will definitely not forget.