Book Review-Cruel Sacrifice

This is a very sad book. The book begins a few hours before the crime itself and then goes back in time to tell the story of the perpetrators. The girls in this crime all had difficult lives. The mastermind behind the crime, Melinda Loveless, wanted to kill Shanda Sharer because of another girl, Amanda Heavrin. Loveless had an upbringing that few would envy. There were allegations of incest between Loveless and her father. Loveless was a lesbian who had her heartbroken by Amanda Heavrin.

Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey and Toni Lawrence were the other teens involved in this crime.

Laurie Tackett was a girl who had a controlling mother and a passive father. Laurie was also a lesbian with a chip on her shoulder. Toni Lawrence, a quiet girl, didn't have a clue as to the other arrangements planned. Lawrence was of the understanding that the four of them were only going to a punk show in a neighboring area. When she got into the car she learned there was more than a show in store for the evening. Hope Rippey was an acquaintance to Laurie Tackett. A passive girl but completely aware of the events to take place.

The victim, Shandra Sharer, was thirteen. The relationship between Sharer and Heavrin began during detention. It wasn't long after that the typical teenage letters were being exchanged. Heavrin eventually broke up with Loveless and began seeing Sharer exclusively. Sharer had a horrific death that spanned several of the early morning hours on January 11, 1992. She got into the car willingly but under false pretenses.

Aphrodite Jones does a great job of telling this story. This story is told in a narrative manor versus the journalistic tone that is sometimes seen with true crime books. She has done well with her research on each person. A lot of background information had to told to fully understand (but not justify) what was going on with all of the girls.

This is the first book I have read authored by Aphrodite Jones and I enjoyed it. I am currently reading another of her books at this time.

There is a myspace page dedicated to Shanda Sharer at: www.myspace.com/shandashearer.

Book Review-Deadly Obsessions

This reads like a traditional true crime story. When I reached the trial segment of the narrative it seemed as though most of the information was gathered through the court records. Some of the information that I had read before was being restated but it wasn't enough to think I was rereading the beginning of the book. This was confirmed when I read the epilogue and saw that of everyone involved only a few of the police officers agreed to be interviewed. Given the nature of this particular crime and the history of the more notorious Wisconsin criminals it is not that difficult to understand why.The story is written without it being gruesome. Some parts, however, are pretty intense.

I learned a few more things about forensic anthropology while reading this and I have a few questions about personality disorders that I plan to get answered soon. My only criticism with this book (and this is more of a personal preference) is chronology. Once the protagonist was arrested the writer tells of what jail was like for him due to the relevance at the hearing. Then he goes back to tell how the cops investigated the case which is simultaneous to the main character being locked up. I often get irritated trying to get the sequence of events back in order. But this particular author made references to things the suspect was doing in jail so I didn't have to flip back and forth as much to figure out the sequence of events. Kudos to Mr. Linedecker!

This was the first book authored by Clifford Linedecker that I have read and I enjoyed it. I would read another book written by him.