The Stalking of Kristin: A Father Investigates the Murder of His Daughter

Rating:
Summary: Sad AND True
Review: 'The Stalking of Kristen" is the sad tale of the cold -blooded murder of a female college student in Boston in May, 1992. The author is none other than her distraught father, a Washington Post reporter. SOK is deeply disturbing on several levels. Readers know from the outset that Kristen never had a chance. Further, the perpetrator commits suicide, so there is no prosecution. SOK is one-quarter paean by a grieving father for his departed daughter and one-quarter portrait of the troubled, unloved loser who was the murderer. Another quarter is the indictment of the authorities in eastern Massachusetts who failed to protect women like Kristen from dangerous stalkers, to seriously enforce orders of protection or even crack down on parole violators.. A final portion of SOK is a quasi research paper into stalkers and the troubles and tragedies they cause. These elements dilute the impact of SOK. With all due respect to the grief stricken author, SOK is too long. Mr. Lardner had a powerful tale to tell but could have done so far more briefly. The epilogue, bibliography and notes stretch over 90 pages! SOK is a powerful and worthwhile 5 star work, with one star deducted for its' unfortunately excessive length. This reviewer is guessing that many females, especially those in eastern Massachusetts, will add back the 5th star.

Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: As a local police expert on stalking and stalking issues, such as domestic violence, I was extremely gratified to read George Lardner's book. As I read on, I found myself believing Kristen was my daughter, my girlfriend, or my best friend. I was as devastated as George was when she was killed, and as horrified as he to learn of how little victims are protected in the "real" world. You must read this book and recommend it or pass it on to your friends. Over 30% of women in America, and over 20% of men, will find themselves stalked at some time in their lives. It is good to know that you really must fend for yourself, and not rely on the police or the Courts to protect you. George Lardner's book should be a requirement for any poly-sci, criminal justice major, and for first-year law students. It is packed with statistics about how the system fails victims, and how society is endangered by our failure to imprison vilent criminal offenders.

Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: I found this book thought-provoking and very interesting. It must have been exceptionally painful for George Lardner to dig this deeply into his daughter's murder, but also somewhat theraputic when he finished writing the book. THE STALKING OF KRISTIN will hit home especially to parents, since the worst nightmare of any parent is to see their child hurt, or even worse, killed. It also will appeal to women, as it discusses the difficulty we sometimes face when all we desire is justice. It caused me to think about our legal system today and how it fails us AND protects us everyday. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I highly reccomend it...

Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: I found this book thought-provoking and very interesting. It must have been exceptionally painful for George Lardner to dig this deeply into his daughter's murder, but also somewhat theraputic when he finished writing the book. THE STALKING OF KRISTIN will hit home especially to parents, since the worst nightmare of any parent is to see their child hurt, or even worse, killed. It also will appeal to women, as it discusses the difficulty we sometimes face when all we desire is justice. It caused me to think about our legal system today and how it fails us AND protects us everyday. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I highly reccomend it...

Rating:
Summary: Chilling and profoundly sad!
Review: With heart-rending honesty, Lardner recounts the tragedy that turned his picture-perfect life into a horrendous nightmare. Lardner's daughter, an art student in Boston, was murdered by a disgruntled boyfriend who first stalked her and then shot her dead. The beginning of the book is great. The dad speaks with candor about his love for and his frustrations with his daughter from the time she was a young girl through her college years. She grew up in Chevy Chase, a suburb of Washington, D.C., a setting very familiar to me. The author had me laughing out loud and crying real tears before I was barely into the book at all yet. He reported on the details of his daughter's tragic death as well as the sad state of affairs in the United States which allows hardened criminals back on the streets to quickly become repeat offenders. Lardner recalls the story of murderer Michael Cartier's youth and the criminal record he accumulated during his short but turbulent life.

This is not a book for everyone due to it intense subject matter, but it was nonetheless quite engrossing to me. Good writing. Incredibly sad story. The story Lardner presents of Cartier, is quite frightening. It demonstrates the lengths to which a criminal's right's are protected by the United States criminal justice system versus the appalling lack of consideration given to a victim's right to safety and freedom from fear. What made the book all the more creepy was that, during the few weeks it took me to finish the book, a murder under similar circumstances occurred in a suburb of Washington, D.C. The March, 2000, Washington Post article which ran the news story ("Md. Man Gets Life Term in Girlfriend's Slaying" by Ruben Casteneda) ended by saying of the killer's girlfriend "A month before the shooting, she filed assault and kidnapping charges against him after he allegedly abducted her at knifepoint, but the arrest warrant was never served." Some things never change.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling and profoundly sad!
Review: With heart-rending honesty, Lardner recounts the tragedy that turned his picture-perfect life into a horrendous nightmare. Lardner's daughter, an art student in Boston, was murdered by a disgruntled boyfriend who first stalked her and then shot her dead. The beginning of the book is great. The dad speaks with candor about his love for and his frustrations with his daughter from the time she was a young girl through her college years. She grew up in Chevy Chase, a suburb of Washington, D.C., a setting very familiar to me. The author had me laughing out loud and crying real tears before I was barely into the book at all yet. He reported on the details of his daughter's tragic death as well as the sad state of affairs in the United States which allows hardened criminals back on the streets to quickly become repeat offenders. Lardner recalls the story of murderer Michael Cartier's youth and the criminal record he accumulated during his short but turbulent life.

This is not a book for everyone due to it intense subject matter, but it was nonetheless quite engrossing to me. Good writing. Incredibly sad story. The story Lardner presents of Cartier, is quite frightening. It demonstrates the lengths to which a criminal's right's are protected by the United States criminal justice system versus the appalling lack of consideration given to a victim's right to safety and freedom from fear. What made the book all the more creepy was that, during the few weeks it took me to finish the book, a murder under similar circumstances occurred in a suburb of Washington, D.C. The March, 2000, Washington Post article which ran the news story ("Md. Man Gets Life Term in Girlfriend's Slaying" by Ruben Casteneda) ended by saying of the killer's girlfriend "A month before the shooting, she filed assault and kidnapping charges against him after he allegedly abducted her at knifepoint, but the arrest warrant was never served." Some things never change.