Rating: 
Summary: GREAT BOOK!
Review: This is one of the best true crime books I've ever read!! It follows the family from the parents' childhoods straight through. How Elaine Gere ever got through all this without falling apart, I will never know. It also highlights a huge crack in America's law enforcement. Michael Green should have been at the very least questioned about his suspicious activities hours before Brenda was murdered. Apparently, the cops couldn't be bothered. I read this book almost straight through at one time! I highly reccomend it!!
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best true crime ever written.
Review: This is the book that put Jack Olsen into the top league of writers. Elaine will live with the reader for a long time; her courage and humor make one ashamed of their own whinings. Well written, entertaining, informative - this one's a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Average
Review: Was expecting more drama from this one. The story seemed to drag in the middle as the law was apparently incapable of bringing the perpetrator to justice. You feel for the family - it's tragic. But the story could have been told better.
Rating: 
Summary: SALT OF THE EARTH...NEEDS A LITTLE PEPPER
Review: While not as gripping as the author's other works, this is due more to the fact that the story is what it is. What the author endeavors to do is make the reader understand who this family was, how the respective family members were affected by the disappearance and murder of the twelve year old daughter, and what ultimately became of them. It is not so much about the murder of a child, but more about its devastating iimpact on the family. It is a story about what might have been, not just about what was.It is also the story of a socio-pathic killer and the efforts of the bereaved family to see to it that this monster was brought to justice, no matter how long or how difficult it would be. It is not, however, a story about the victim, and therein lies the weakness in the book. For all its excellent investigative reporting, the book simply lacks the draw that it would undoubtedly have were the reader able to empathize more with the victim, who remains a somewhat obscure, though obviously beloved figure. Notwithstanding this, devotees of this genre should still find this book to be a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: The Write Stuff
Review: Written by a master craftsman, Jack Olsen tells a story that still has be gripped.Skip the fotos until the very end(they won't help you much anyway) or the jacket back "give it away" and be patient though he first part, as the author builds the characterization of this all-too-American family, the salt of the earth. Until I got through that part, I still wasn't certain of what the crime would be or who committed it. The crime has to be one of the most despicable immaginable; the story has a familiar ring, how criminals and their advisors so often manipulate and frustrate the justice system. In the end, the perpetrator was rendered justice, but no punishment could ever match the pain he gave to the victims. Without giving away any of the story, I do wonder whether the family would have disintegrated eventually with our without the crime; in one way the grief held it together. Here's a strong read of an entirely different genre: dated a bit but absolutely a book that will give you pause: The Hot Zone Both books were so good that a 12 hour flight to and from Paris passed quickly.
Rating:
Summary: THE WILL TO SURVIVE AN OVERWHELMING TRAGEDY...
Review: You will remember this one for a long, long time! As I read Elaine Gere's story I wondered just how much grief and tragedy one human being could endure. Coping with the loss of a child, navigating the Criminal Justice system, and beyond... Incidentially, if you haven't read any of Jack Olsen's gems, this is a good one to start you off!!!
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