Meh. As A True Crime fan this was an interesting story but very poorly written. I don't mind when TC authors take a little liberty with a story and interject their thoughts or possible thoughts and feelings of the victims in a case (as long as they don't totally deviate from the truth) Makes for a better story. I don't think this author did any of the interviewing himself and just took all his information from court documents. And his endless reporting of all the incorrect and false "tips" called into the police was just plain boring and served only to increase the page count. Might have been better to just read the Wikipedia account of this case. ( )

Saw on dr. Phill

Tragic story but the writing didn't feel as personal as I thought it would after watching the survivor tell her story on Dr. Phil. ( )

True crimes are always good reads, shows how many screwed up pieces of scum are in this world and the damage they can cause. This book was good, but it read more like a police report. ( )

Stephanie Sprang, Tina Maynard and her two children, Sarah and Kody disappeared one November day. Stephanie, Tina and Kody were never seen again. Sarah was rescued from the basement of a house where Matthew Hoffman was living. Oh and the house was filled with leaves.

For being described at ‘one of the most bizarre mass murders ever recorded’, this was a very dull and dry book. It seemed to be taken from transcripts of interviews and testimony. It was not so boring that I didn’t want to finish it, but there was no life to the book. ( )