Dying for Daddy: The True Story of a Family's Worst Nightmare by Carlton Smith

 

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Four "True Terror" Stars

Thoughts:

I am not doing my traditional small taste as I am just going to give out my thoughts on this true crime story.

The story is wrapped around a man by the name of Jack Barron who "supposedly" murdered his wife, two children and his mother but everything that happened was all based on "circumstantial evidence" and Jack never cracked under pressure from the interrogations by the police as he stayed as a cool as a cucumber with no confession. Everyone knows he did it but they could not "prove" that he did it up until after his mother was murdered then they finally went after him! 

How could they wait until the fourth murder to do anything?! Are you serious! This story just shell shocked me on how they could not have thrown him in prison after the murder of his wife and then him killing his children but they didn't proceed to do anything "till" the murder of his mother with finally seeing justice done and even then it took them forever to sentence him as it was years later before he finally went to prison! At least justice was finally served but I felt that it took forever for him to be tossed in a prison cell! 

Attached is the author, Carlton Smith, profile page from Goodreads:

Carlton Smith

Attached is the author, Carlton Smith, profile page from Amazon:

Carlton Smith

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson

 

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Four "Horrific Crime" Stars

Thoughts:

I am not doing a small taste on this book so I am just giving out my thoughts. 

This story I had never heard of before as it happened in the early 80's and I wasn't watching the news much back then as I had my head buried in books. This was a horrific crime between two friends (Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore). Candy was accused of killing her friend Betty and it was all wrapped around an affair between Candy and Betty's husband Alan.

This story goes into lots of details of what took place up to the point of the murder and I felt the author did a good job on getting all the details of not only what happened but how it all came together along with what took place at the trial. This is a big book - near 400 pages - there is tons of information of everything that happened and everyone's lives that are involved. I thought that the pace of the book was slow and fast as some parts of it dragged along with all the information whereas other parts of the book moved fast. 

Attached is the author, John Bloom, profile page from Goodreads:

John Bloom

Attached is the author, John Bloom, profile page from Amazon:

John Bloom

Attached is the author, Jim Atkinson, profile page from Goodreads:

Jim Atkinson

Attached is the author, Jim Atkinson, profile page from Amazon:

Jim Atkinson

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

Smile: Behind the Lens of the Dating Game Killer by Ryan Green

 

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Four "Evil Killer" Stars

I am not doing a small taste just giving out thoughts about the book. 

Thoughts:

This story was the most in-depth I have ever read of the Dating Game killer. Even though the story was less than 200 pages the author was able to get tons of information crammed into the book about the killer and all the victims. This killer was one smooth talker and was able to lure his victims easily to go with him as he used a photography angle to get them. What the victims families went through was sad and at least the killer is no longer around. All of the things the killer did to his victims was shocking and disturbing.

This book is not for the faint of heart, however if you like to read true crime stories and like to see how justice is served then pick up this book, but be warned - there are some graphic details within this story.

If you want to read a full informational story on this killer this is the book. I am going to check out more of the author's work as I would parallel him to the late true crime author Ann Rule with details and background research. 

Attached is the author, Ryan Green, profile page from Goodreads:

Ryan Green

Attached is the author, Ryan Green, profile page from Amazon:

Ryan Green

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

My Review

You Belong To Me and Other True Cases (Crime Files #2) by Ann Rule

 

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Four "Trooper Terror" Stars

Interstate Horror!

A small taste of what lies within:

The main storyline revolves around Florida highway patrolman Tim Harris back in the 1990's that would stop female drivers along the I-95 interstate just to check them out and sometimes give them tickets for minor stuff. Though when one of the women came up missing and then her body found out in the woods off I-95 no one really expected Trooper Tim Harris to be involved until the investigation slowly gets moving and then the detectives involved find out more than they want to know about the trooper. 

That is about all I can give on a taste without giving away spoilers so if you want to know more than you will need to read the book!

Thoughts:

This book is one of the ones that I never did read by author, Ann Rule. When I first started reading true crime she was the one that I was reading when I would go to the library. I loved her writing style and also how she would delve deep into the lives of not only the victims but the killers as well. 

There are about five more stories in this book of other crimes, but the main focus was on the story of Trooper Tim Harris. The kindle book also has pictures of the trooper along with everyone that was involved in the crime and investigation. 

As far as the story about the trooper - it is a shocking account of what he did and would do to the women drivers that traveled that interstate. He definitely hid who he really was behind his badge and I could feel the shock of the detectives that investigated him when they found out what he had been doing. 

Another great book by this author and I plan on stepping back more into her work as time goes on as I do love how she goes deep into the heart of the crimes and how she tells the story of the criminal and the victims. 

Attached is the author, Ann Rule, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9678.Ann_Rule

Attached is the author, Ann Rule, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Ann-Rule/e/B000AP8V1A

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2179210493

Behind the Horror: True Stories That Inspired Horror Movies by Lee Mellor

 

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Four "Intriguing Information" Stars

This was a great true crime book!

I am not going to do a taste like normal but I will give out thoughts.

Thoughts:

This book was fascinating in that some horror movies that you watch were made from crimes that had happened in the past. Which I never knew that information about horror movies as I always thought they were just creations to scare the pants off of movie-goers! :)

Some of the movies you will read about are Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, Jaws, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, The Silence of the Lambs, and Scream just to name a few as there are more movies within this book as well. The crimes that took place that are behind the movies are Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, Ed Kemper, and the Gainesville Ripper, just to name a few as there are quite a few stories within this book as the author will give you the movie and the crime behind it. The author also added pictures within too of the movies and the crimes.

I found this book to be very interesting and I really like the writing style of the author too as the author goes into great detail of the movie and the crime and/or crimes behind it. I found the details to be just enough without getting bored or drawn out. Not once did I get bored with this book and the author has crimes within that I have never heard of before that were behind certain horror movies. 

Attached is the author, Lee Mellor, profile page from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5605485.Lee_Mellor

Attached is the author, Lee Mellor, profile page from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Mellor/e/B00DWYTLXI

Attached is my review from Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4304802937