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Rating: 
Summary: Shattered Bonds
Review: A real "page-turner". Julie Malear writes Cindy Band's tramatic real life drama with great care and compassion. I recommend this true life story for those who don't realize how fortunate they are. Reading this book awakens you to how very blessed you really are. Read it, now!
Rating:
Summary: A Different Kind of True Crime Book
Review: Although I don't read many true crime stories, I loved this one. While visiting Mom in Iowa, I heard Cindy Band (the girl who the book is about) being interviewed on the radio. She sounded so cute and made her story sound so good, I went out and bought the book. She had said her coauthor Julie Malear did all the writing. It was exceptional writing because it definitely made Cindy come alive for me. I related to what happened in Shattered Bonds so much I stayed up all night to finish it. Poor Cindy. She was so brave. She sure didn't deserve what happened. Being in my twenties, I thought the book was cool, but I think both younger and older,(really any age) readers would enjoy it, too. I bet it will be a movie. It's true, too. That's what really gets you.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: As a Librarian and, almost life long reader of true crime, I must say I was very disappointed in this book. I purchased it based on the high reviews. It's hard, for anyone so close to a story, to report completely objectively. It was little things that bothered me, such as on the first page of the prologue where Cindy relates "Perhaps the vodka she accidentally drank at the party was fogging her brain..." A horrific thing had happened to her family, yet it appears that even as an adult, Cindy can't admit that as a teenager she drank alcohol at a party. It was inconsequential whether she drank or not. This made me question her other portrayals, since she didn't seem to be able to portray herself honestly.The story is related mainly in dialogue. The dialogue is stilted and unbelievable. I admire Cindy's strength and this is an interesting story, but would have been much better if written by someone further removed from crime.
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Summary: Gripping Tale of Tragedy
Review: Imagine being 16 years old and finding your mother dead at the bottom of a staircase. Imagine the horror of arriving at the conclusion that she died at the hands of your own father. Imagine life when you're rebuffed by your own relatives when you persist -- gingerly at first, and then with increasing resolve -- in seeing the truth brought to light. Those are the pivotal points in "Shattered Bonds," a riveting account by Julie Malear of the tragedy that irrevocably altered young Cindy Band's life. Don't expect to walk away from the book unaffected. Ms. Malear's compassionate rendering will remind you that most murders involve not celebrities, but everyday people who suffer a numbing impact far beyond the intial media reports. But the story is more than that. It's one of courage and endurance in the most catastrophic of circumstances. You won't find it an easy book to put down. You will find it an easy book from which to draw inspiration. Highly recommended.
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Summary: BELIEVE IT OR NOT...YOU WILL LIKE THIS ONE !
Review: My wife read this book first and she told me that this one and Angela's Ashes are the best books she has read in her lifetime. WOW. I just finished "Bonds" and agree it is most interesting though I can't rate it quite as high as my wife. You know who "did it" from the beginning of the story, but the ramifications as the story unfolds keeps you riveted. You won't put this book down 'til you're finished.
Rating:
Summary: BELIEVE IT OR NOT...YOU WILL LIKE THIS ONE !
Review: My wife read this book first and she told me that this one and Angela's Ashes are the best books she has read in her lifetime. WOW. I just finished "Bonds" and agree it is most interesting though I can't rate it quite as high as my wife. You know who "did it" from the beginning of the story, but the ramifications as the story unfolds keeps you riveted. You won't put this book down 'til you're finished.
Rating:
Summary: BELIEVE IT OR NOT...YOU WILL LIKE THIS ONE !
Review: My wife read this book first and she told me that this one and Angela's Ashes are the best books she has read in her lifetime. WOW. I just finished "Bonds" and agree it is most interesting though I can't rate it quite as high as my wife. You know who "did it" from the beginning of the story, but the ramifications as the story unfolds keeps you riveted. You won't put this book down 'til you're finished.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: You have to read this. I bought it at 7:30 PM. I finished it at 2:30 AM. It's so difficult to believe that this is a true story. The horror, the reality, and finally the courage of Cindy Band is remarkable. The beauty and the soul of which it is written by Julie Malear has never been matched in any book that I have ever picked up. When they say fact can be stranger than fiction, this book was in mind. No author could come up with a story like this. And to think the monster lived among us.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: You have to read this. I bought it at 7:30 PM. I finished it at 2:30 AM. It's so difficult to believe that this is a true story. The horror, the reality, and finally the courage of Cindy Band is remarkable. The beauty and the soul of which it is written by Julie Malear has never been matched in any book that I have ever picked up. When they say fact can be stranger than fiction, this book was in mind. No author could come up with a story like this. And to think the monster lived among us.
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