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I'm hoping that spring comes sooner rather than later, hence the tulip. By the time you read this, we'll be in Florida hopefully enjoying some good weather.
In February of 2013, two teenagers - Libby and Abby - were hiking the trails close to Monon high bridge and near their home in Delphi on an unexpected day off from school. Libby's sister, Kelsi, dropped the two girls off at the trailhead, waved goodbye and went to work. This was the last time that anyone saw them alive, as approximately 24 hours later, their bodies were found about a mile from where they were last seen. What makes this particular case so interesting and intriguing is that there was little physical evidence or other evidence released to the public at the time of the acts, and even now, with a person accused and trial scheduled, there is not a lot of information in the public as a gag order has been issued. One of the most, if not THE most intriguing pieces of evidence is audio and visual recordings made by Libby of a man who said "Guys...down the hill." There were also two composite sketches released and law enforcement has understandably remained very, very quiet about the evidence they have - they don't want to jeopardize the investigation at all.
Susan Hendricks, an anchor for CNN/HLN, was one of the first reporters to begin discussing and reporting on this case. She became very, very close to the families in this case as a result of her reporting and noted how this case really impacted her in a way that prior cases that she reported on in her decades of reporting had never done so before. This is a memoir of her reporting on her case and her relationships with the families. She also attempts to delve deeper into the mystery surrounding the death of the two girls and attempts to examine the impact that the deaths had on the community and the heartland at large. It focuses on Susan's personal journey as opposed to other, more "traditional" true crime books.
I found that the book itself was very, very fast paced. I enjoyed that there were lots of natural breaks, even within chapters, which allowed me to consume small bites in between other tasks. I very much enjoyed the behind the scenes views that I got of crime reporting and I appreciated learning about the impacts that such reporting had on the reporters. I enjoyed learning about the families as well - this is so easy to lose in true crime reporting. Be forewarned - there is no closure on this as the trial for the person arrested for these offenses has not yet occurred.
There were definitely parts of the book that I did not like - the last few chapters were word for word interviews in paragraph form (as opposed to transcripts) of interviews that Hendricks did with two experts-one a former investigator and one a behavioral analyst - that did not contain any real introspection on Hendricks' part. I enjoyed the previous parts of the book because Hendricks had discussed her own experiences and insights, so these chapters just seemed out of place and very dry in a way. I suspect that Hendricks was trying to provide answers, and some guidance as to what was going to happen, but if I wanted that, I would have looked for interviews elsewhere.
I am not sure why it took me so long to read this novel - maybe I was feeling so inundated by World War II books. Anyways, it's a Netflix series now so I wanted to read it before seeing the series. This novel takes place in Germany and France before and during Germany's occupation of France. Marie Laure is a blind girl living in France with her father, who is the keymaster of the local museum and Werner is a German orphan living in an orphanage in the German countryside with his sister Jutta. Werner is a pro at fixing things and, specifically, fixing radios.
In 1940, Marie and her father escape German occupied Paris for Saint Malo, where her great Uncle Etienne has a home. Her father has been entrusted with a remarkable and valuable piece from the museum - the Sea of Flame - which the Germans are looking for. Werner also ends up in Saint Malo, where he is tracing transmissions sent by Marie and Etienne on behalf of the resistance, all the while the Germans are still looking for this historical piece.
I really enjoyed the descriptions in this novel, although the non linear storytelling was disconcerting. I had a hard time shifting between times, but perhaps that was the point of this. I loved both Marie and Werner - all the characters really, as they were all quite memorable. The 530 pages seemed to really move, which was also good. I very much look forward to the series and more of Doerr's work.
I hope that everyone had a good week. I have two books I'm reading right now so I'm hoping to have reviews soon! I watched the movie Rustin, a biopic about Bayard Rustin, in which Colman Domingo plays Bayard Rustin - definitely worth it for his performance. I've been going back to the gym and starting to slowly increase my running - my endurance was shot by Covid. This has been one of the hardest parts for me - I want to be back to normal now if you get my drift. Anyways, here you go!
I don't know why I hadn't heard about this book previously, but I hadn't. I'm glad that I got here late to the party though.
Unsub, in this context, is shorthand for unidentified subject. This novel is about a cold case involving a serial killer known colloquially as The Prophet, and he was terrorizing the San Francisco Bay area when our heroine, Caitlyn Hendrix was a child. The Prophet seems to have been inspired by the Zodiac Killer. Caitlyn's attachment to the case seems to be genetic - her father, Mack, was the original detective investigating the Prophet killings. Caitlyn, in the present day, is also a police officer and is roped into investigating the case. Bodies have started turning up again that bear the marking of the Prophet, including the almost ritualistic markings on the bodies. Caitlyn seeks help from her father, but he's hesitant to assist because of the mental anguish that the case originally caused him.
I loved this book and found much to enjoy about it - it moved very, very fast and hooked me right from the beginning. Granted, I enjoy serial killers and cold cases so I would have been very surprised if I hadn't enjoyed the subject matter. It was very easy to empathize with Caitlyn and her co-workers, who were desperate to solve these crimes - it was very much like I was with them as they were trying to figure things out. The characters were not flat and were strong, realistic characters. It would have been so easy to have them be flat, but they were not.
I definitely look forward to the next books in the series and reading more of Gardiner's novels.
Happy holidays! This week is a big one and I hope that everyone enjoys! I've been slogging through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn...
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