Nicole

Comprehensive Details of the Delphi Murders

Revisado: 06-30-23

I may be a bit biased as I've been a fan of the "True Crime Garage" podcasts for years. I've also been an avid fan of Kevin Pierce's narrations. As a matter of fact, TCG is the first podcast I listen to when they drop their episodes and Kevin Pierce is the first narrator I search for when I'm in the market for a new true-crime audiobook.

This book was such an amazing find for me; both Nic from TCG and Kevin narrating the story!

For those who want a review about the content itself:

This book takes you deep into the case from the possible suspects that online sleuths thought of to every news conference put on by LE during the case. There is a nice update at the end too to help wrap things up. There may need to be an added update once the case winds through the system. Some new info has since come out about the murders in the news such as evidence the girls were killed with a "sharp object" (as of this writing).

For those who enjoy listening to TCG:

Nic gives a rare peek behind the curtain of the show. I won't ruin the surprises but if you're a fan of the True Crime Garage podcast or are a new listener to it, I'll let you discover the awesome beind-the-scenes info that Nic reveals in this book.

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Great Insight!

Revisado: 02-22-21

I was hesitant to get this title because I can't stand the Trump family and am very suspicious of those who have been close to them. I was aware this was a "turncoat" style book but still didn't want to have to listen to a bunch of conspiracy theories and crazy opinions that MAGAs seem to have. But I took the plunge and decided to buy this anyway. I'm glad my initial fears were proved wrong.

Stephanie seems very sincere and has receipts (text messages, emails, photos) to prove everything she claims in this book. Therefore, I believe her. She was Melania's friend years before they became the "First Family" so she has insights into the family that have nothing to do with politics.

It was excruciating to see how the Trumps used her, abused her, and threw her away when it was convenient for them. From what we've seen in the public, this is how the family treats EVERYONE in their orbit. I would be surprised if the Trumps have even one friend left after the past 4 years; they've mistreated people, threw friends under the bus, and took advantage of those who have known them for years. Stephanie's story is one of many to show this is a Trump modus operandi.

The only part of this book I didn't care for is the narration. I understand autobiographies are encouraged to have the author do the narration as much as possible because it's about their life in their words, so it makes sense to make them the narrator for the audio versions. But, in this case, as much as I adore Stephanie and feel bad for what she went through, she was not a good narrator. My complaints are that she talks extremely fast, and it took me a while to get used to her cadence (the first couple of chapters were difficult for me to follow), and her pronunciation of POTUS (pee-o-tus) was frustrating until she corrected herself later and started saying it as Po-tuss as is the correct way. I eventually got used to hearing her as the story became more engrossing and I couldn't stop listening!

For those giving this title a bad review because Stephanie talked a lot about her own life....well re-read the title please. It's RIGHT there in the title that the book is about HER and Melania. She had to give her own background (family, work) so that when she brought them up in context with her friendship with Melania, you could follow along and understand her feelings. If she didn't explain about her grandparents and their experience living in Germany during Hitler's time, you wouldn't understand why she was so upset about Melania not letting her follow along during the tour of the Holocaust Museum and not giving her the opportunity to light a candle. If you didn't know her career history with Anna Wintour, then her later chapters about her connections that helped Melania and the Trump family wouldn't have made sense to you. I liked hearing about her background as it was very useful in understanding everything that came after it.

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Cute Story!

Revisado: 02-08-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I wasn't sure what to really expect with this book as it's not a genre I usually read/listen to, but I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet the story is! Taking place at the beginning of the 19th century, it's about and told by a young woman named Sarah. She explains how she was married three times within one year.... quite a feat for any generation but especially back then.

A hint of humor, a dash of excitement and a large dose of a sweet love story, Sarah's Story is a book I would recommend if you want something to read that's positive and light.

The narration by Nancy Daniels makes this Audible version my preference over reading it via a Kindle or soft cover. Her reading style and pace are perfect, and I love how she brings out the distinct personalities of the characters.

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Interesting Memoir with A Bonus Murder Case

Revisado: 06-16-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Like others, I thought this was going to be another true crime novel about a murder and subsequent trial. I was surprised to learn quickly that this is actually a journalist's (Katherine Ellison) memoir about her own life with the added bonus of a true-crime story weaved throughout. She did a great job explaining how her own lift story parallels the life of a woman accused of facilitating the murder of her husband. While they have a lot in common, they are also nothing alike.

The only part that made me cringe was when Katherine called someone who dropped out of college and idiot (or something similar to that word) in her description meaning if you drop out of college you must be intellectually inferior which is simply NOT true at all. She may have not meant it to be interpreted as such but the wording seemed to lead the listener/reader to that conclusion.

The narration of this book was great! Lee Ann Howlett did a spectacular job and was pleasant to listen to.

*I was given a free copy of this audio book in exchange for my honest opinion - this did not have any influence on my review*

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Pretty Good Book!

Revisado: 04-28-20

I love how this story revolves around real-life unsolved murders. I had never heard of them before so it was quite enlightening. The narration was superb! Cindy's accents from mobster to regular citizen was pretty amazing. She really helped me fall into this story. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the book as much without her narration.

*I received a free copy in return for my honest review*

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Chilling

Revisado: 02-01-20

A great book about two serial killers that worked together in Australia in the 70's. I had never heard of this one so it was a new story for me, a self-confessed true crime fan.

This book basically tells the tale from one of the killers, the least proactive one, the submissive of the two. Based on that, you have to take some of the "facts" with a grain of salt. At the end of the day the only ones who know the whole truth are the two killers and the victims.

One point that I wanted to clarify from the book is that psychopaths don't know right from wrong. According to US cases (I know this whole thing happened in Australia so may be different), if you try to cover up your crime by burying the body and doing other things to evade detection, that proves you DO know right from wrong. In this case, they both tried hard to cover their crimes so they KNEW right from wrong. The thing about psychopaths is they try to get away with it and ultimately they don't care. They only care about themselves (selfishness) so they evade detection to preserve their own interests but they DO know their acts are legally and morally wrong.

The narration was appropriate for the subject matter even though many times his thick, US southern accent came out when quoting the Australian people in the book. Otherwise, he did a great job.

(I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.)

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What A Story!!!

Revisado: 01-20-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

As a true crime buff, I'm very surprised to have never heard of this serial killer before. Especially being a female serial killer (the rarest of killers) it surprises me at the lack of attention true crime writers have given this story.

This particular book is well-researched and well written. It's such a good story that I had a hard time pausing it to do other things like work.

The narration is perfect for this book! He did a great job bringing this chilling story to life without being OTT.

(I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.)

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Concise Summaries Of Some Very Chilling Cases

Revisado: 01-15-20 El oyente recibió este título gratis

Most of the cases in this book are very familiar to me as I'm a true-crime fan and regularly listen to true crime podcasts and read a lot of true crime books. I did find a couple of chilling cases that I had no idea about and took it upon myself to research them a bit further online.

As this book is an anthology of sorts, the stories don't delve very deeply into the details but you do get a nice synopsis of the case. If any of them interest you, I recommend seeking out books or even podcasts that focus on just that one case to get a deeper understanding of the details.

The only complaint I have about this book is the narrator; He seems rather cheery in his performance due to the tone of his voice and how he reads. He would make a great children's book narrator or even a lighthearted book for adults but for true crime it wasn't a good fit. To give you an idea, he sounded rather chipper while describing the gruesome and sad rape, mutilation, and murder of a child in Japan. I'm sure he didn't mean to come across that way but it did add an unsettling and uncomfortable feeling hearing the words written by Hannah Tidy in a sing-song/upbeat tone by the narrator.

That being said, I would have probably enjoyed this title much more if I would have read it myself off my Kindle.

(I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.)

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Truly a 5-Star Book!

Revisado: 01-14-20

Wow...wow...just WOW!

No spoilers but holy heck does this book have a sharp twist! I can usually see things like that coming from a mile away but this book was so well written that it caught me off-guard.

I will admit, a book where the main character is silent didn't appeal to me at first. I knew the story had to be told by other people, a diary, or in this case - both.

This book will grab you and suck you into a tale that is so intriguing that you won't want to put it down until the very last word is read. Too bad for me, I started this right after Christmas and into the New Year so I got distracted (that was a difficult feat for a book like this).

The narration was on-point. Very well done!

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Witty and Entertaining!

Revisado: 01-14-20

For a short story, this one packed in a lot of goodness into 39 minutes! I love the author's sense of humor and the plot was very unique and quite entertaining.

The narration was done very well so no complaints there!

I highly recommend this story to everyone. It's short so you can't use the "I don't have time" excuse. Hee hee.

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