Charles W. Massie

The Red Road to Hades
Read it like a real bookworm! It's so amazing!
ByAnkita on June 15, 2016
Format: Paperback
5 stars

Love is the most beautiful and complex emotion in the whole world. Some say that trust is the backbone of love. However, how much trust is too much? Is there a scale against which one can measure the required dose of this drug? If not, then how do we know that the love that blinds our vision and senses would make us stronger or rip us apart? The Red Road to Hades by Charles W. Massie closely reflects the words of Joan Crawford,
"Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell."

In the words of the author,"This is a true story. I know it's true because I lived it; correction, am still living it," and it's a shame that an innocent person is suffering due to the inefficiency of a system while the evil breathes free.

A retired and lonely New Yorker, Mark Cassie, sets up his profile on an online dating website. He wishes to move out of New York and settle somewhere a little quieter. His profile receives several messages, but only one lady's response captures his attention. The thing that stands out in her profile is her being a redhead. Mark has a thing for redheads. Recently divorced, Roxanne lives in Kentucky. They begin interacting frequently, and, soon, she invites Mark to visit her in Kentucky. Their Chemistry seems too strong to ignore; therefore, Mark decides to meet and see where the relationship goes. As soon as they meet, they find themselves mesmerized with each other. This temporary visit turns into a permanent one, and Mark moves in with Roxanne. Their relationship seems perfect, except for Roxanne's sudden mood swings. She blames her frequent temperamental fits to the pills that she has been taking to deal with menopause. However, some of her stories don't add up, and Mark worries that she might be a pathological liar. He decides to leave her, but destiny has other plans for him and he ends up behind bars on the charges of domestic violence and drug trafficking. He does not know that this phase of his life would seem to go on forever.

The tempting world of online dating promises miracles in the love department but offers no guarantee in this area. Still, we find ourselves jumping up and down at the prospect of embracing a relationship. The loneliness plays a major role into getting us super enthusiastic about it. By narrating a true story, the author narrows down the errors in our ways. Mark pays no heed to the warning of his friend while creating his online profile, and pays the price. However, he does not blame online dating for the problems. Instead, he points out at every point in his narration, how he ignored the most obvious signs. Love does this to people, and the devil knows it. Evil is all around us, waiting to find its next prey. All we can do is to keep our eyes, ears, and head in working condition. By writing this book, the author has done a commendable job to warn its readers about what could happen. The beginning phase of love is all about hugs, kisses and more, but what lies ahead could be an incomprehensible darkness ready to bury its claws into one's flesh.

A look at the blurb of the book may make a reader anticipate a book full of pain and tears; however, the narration of the author is entwined with varied emotions. When an innocent person is convicted, they are expected to crash and become hopeless. This is what I anticipated happening to Mark. Nevertheless, no misery could snatch Mark's incredible sense of humor. He cried tears of frustration and despair but never let his wit abandon him. An unjust system tried to break him into pieces, but he held his head high against all the circumstances. "The protectors of the law" ganged up against him, but he did not let them destroy his determination to find justice.

The writing of the author is quite powerful. I found myself crying when Mark cried and laughing when he joked. His frustration made me want to punch a few grinning faces, and his helplessness teared me up. Throughout the read, I prayed to the almighty to end his sufferings and prevail the justice.In the heart of my hearts, I wished to see him out of the prison. As a reader, I know a book is marvelous if I am reciprocating the feelings of its characters. As a reviewer, I could not wait to write down my thoughts about this book. (I skipped dinner to write, and that's saying something.)

I applaud the author for sharing this true story in an engaging writing style. I wish that justice would finally prevail and "Mark's" sufferings would end. I can't help but be mesmerized by his amazing sense of humor, even at the darkest of times.

I would recommend this book to the readers who like reading about real life stories involving the law. There are many takeaways in the book, like learning about your legal rights, investigating your love-interest thoroughly, and continue fighting for the truth.

The Red Road to Hades
Great and educating read
By jenniferon May 17, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition
5 stars

A thrilling tale of intrigue and suspense story based on a true-life event.The story takes you into the life of man Mark the main character who suffers a domestic violence abuse in a relationship with a woman he met online. It’s a story which grabs you from the first chapter and keeps you hooked until the very last page, there were moments where I thought Mark would lose, where things got so bad, and you couldn't see a way for him to get out, and then you'd be surprised, out of nowhere, at how he manages to survive. Great reading and very informative.

The Red Road to Hades
reviewed by Jessica Garcia
Goodreads.com
5 stars

The book “The Red Road to Hades: a true crime” by Charles W Massie was a very long but also very interesting story. After meeting a woman on Craigslist and hitting it off, Charles decides to move to a different state to be with her. Everything smells like roses until Charles starts to realize that the woman he fell in love over the internet with may not be as perfect as she seems. This story is the ultimate Craigslist nightmare come true.

I wanted to read “The Red Road to Hades” because true crime happens to be one of my top favorite genres. Massie’s story is long but it is worth reading. I liked how many details Massie put in this story. The timeline of events was very clear. Although at times his many sexcapade stories with Roxie seemed too graphic and almost took away from the actual story. In the beginning I felt that both Roxie and Charles had the need to be in control all the time. Reading on I saw that Roxie clearly had more issues than being a control freak. I admit that I did want to reach in the book and slap Charles all the times when he would not leave Roxie after one of her episodes. At the end Charles gained my respect for trying to be a friend even after being betrayed by one.

Anyone who is thinking about putting a personal ad on a social media website NEEDS to read this story first. It is an eye-opener of what could happen to you. This is the type of story that Lifetime movies are made of. This is a must read for true crime lovers.… (altro)

Pinned!
Roxie's Dangerous Flaws
By eva breedlove on July 30, 2013
Format: Paperback

This is Charles Massie's first book. I am always apprehensive when I purchase a book by an unknown author. This time I was not disappointed. The book is well written. It crosses several literary genres including romance, mystery, erotica and drama.

According to the author this a true story about a man in his late fifties who searches for love on the internet. He thinks he has found the perfect woman living in a small southern town. The character of Roxie, his love interest and sex partner,is well developed and easy to picture. Mark, the main character, comes to visit Roxie and is soon captivated by her many charms. She keeps him under her spell by giving him wild and kinky sex. Mark is suspicious of her lies and deception but does not want to accept it, and thus does not confront Roxie. Apparently his libido is in control and he becomes a victim.

After a confrontation between Mark and Roxie, she calls the police and Mark is arrested. Mark's inability to recognize Roxie's dangerous flaws leads him to being convicted of a crime he did not commit. He finds himself in a nightmarish, unthinkable situation with little money and no place to turn.

Mark's legal problems are accentuated by local cronyism and incompetent law enforcement. There is a sequel to this book that promises to detail the rest of the story. I read this book in two evenings and I am looking forward to the sequel which promises to be released soon.

Pinned!
Trapped by a Human Black Widow!
By Michael A. Newman VINE VOICEon May 9, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book with a nice little note from the author. I only say that because otherwise I might have missed out on this powerful and impelling story that took over my life for several days! Based on the part of the title True Crime in Kentucky and the afterword by Mr. Massie as well as his own biographical information, I am assuming that Mr. Massey is telling his own story. However, the main character's name is Mark. Mark narrates the tale in first person beginning with his arrest at his girlfriends house and then backing up and telling the tale how he first met her on the Internet through the aftermath of his arrest.

Mr. Massie has such a way of spinning it with so much detail that I actually felt that everything was happening to me. He seems to have met his ultimate soulmate (Roxie) through Craigslist. The two exchange emails at first and seem to have everything in comman. That elevates to phone calls that get expensive for Mark (he keeps talking about using up his minutes and he prefers talking at night where the calling is unlimited). Mark lives in Syracuse, NY and Roxie is in Burkesville, Kentucky. After about a month of constant conversation, Mark decides to meet his "dream" woman in person and makes arrangements to take a 19 hour bus trip to meet her.

Mark is not very well off financially and he lives with an obnoxious roomate, Les who gets arrested for DUI just before Mark's trip. When Mark gets to Kentucky all he can see is a beautiful goddess in Roxie who gives him amazing sex right away. He seems to be blind to signs that she is probably bad news (kind of like the Seinfeld episode where Jerry is dating a woman that everyone sees as a loser except Jerry).

Roxie is subject to mood swings and seems to leak hints to Mark when she gets drunk that she may have done some really bad things or was involved in some things that had some really bad outcomes. Mark seems to keep saying he will file these tidbits in his mind for later investigation. Then Roxie does some obvious things like forcing Mark to take a daily dose of foul tasting "vitamins" for which she will not reveal the ingredients.

No matter what Roxie does Mark thinks with his libido and keeps getting suckered in more by Roxie until she has her claws deeply in him. Again the author does such a good job that the reader feels like they are the ones being victimized by Roxie and being pulled into a position of no escape.

I really liked this book and the only complaint I have is that I think that the author should tone down some of the gratuitous sex scenes that are presented in excessive detail. Other than that I still give this book a full five stars.

Pinned!
An Interesting Read
By Literary Litter on November 6, 2013
Format: Paperback
I actually picked up this book after reading its sequel Stains on the Gavel. Stains tells the story of Mark, who has been wrongfully incarcerated. Pinned is the back story. It's the story of how Mark fell in love with a woman, Roxie, over the internet, moved to Kentucky, and became 'pinned'. Keep in mind that this is all based on a true story. It's one man's fight against a woman who 'done him wrong' and the 'good ole boys' in the Kentucky judicial system.

For me, I was fascinated with the second book, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. It wasn't a bad book, but I've read better. Something about it just kept me hooked, addicted. I was interested in finding out Mark's back story and how he ended up in his situation in Stained, but I also was hoping for further insight on exactly what it was that made Stained so fascinating to me. I found it!

First of all, this is an intriguing story. If you read one of the books, you simply have to pick up the other and read either the back story or the continuation. It really is an interesting saga. You'll find yourself flipping page after page to find out what happens next, even though it really isn't an edge of your seat kind of thrill.

So, here's the fascination. I've never read a character like Mark before. The entire story is told from Mark's point of view. The thing is, that we really get to see Mark's perception of himself, which is unusual to this degree. For example, Mark and Roxie will be having an argument. Mark will say or do something that will make me cringe. Usually, it's something that I would never put up with. Then Roxie would retaliate and say something hateful or go off pouting. Sounds like a normal argument, right? The interesting thing is that Mark then can't figure out why Roxie is so upset and begins to think she's 8 crayons short of a box. As readers, we get to see Mark from our point of view, but also from his point of view, which can be two drastically different things.

Also, once I picked up Pinned and read it, it changed how I felt about the second book. In the second one, I felt a modicum of sympathy for Mark and just couldn't comprehend how people like Roxie get away with it, or live with themselves. After reading the first book and finding out how everything really went down, I actually felt a little sorry for Roxie. I'm not saying she's in the right, or the wrong, just that I didn't see her as the cold and calculating woman that I found in the second book.

Read it for yourself and judge! Who's at fault here? Is Roxie a psychotic people user or did Mark really do the things he's accused of? Though this book was originally written to warn people of what can happen, if you look at it from a fictional perspective, it turns into a fascinating 'well, who's the bad guy?' sort of book

Pinned!
A Kentucky True Crime
By Beryl on March 14, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
Unfortunately I purchased this book thinking it was a true crime book, one can imagine how surprised I was to find out that I had been reading a novel the whole time! That being said, this book was very well written And keeps the reader's attention from first to last page.

Pinned!
PAGE TURNER - BUT, IS IT A NOVEL (FICTION) OR NON-FICTION?
ByJAMES RIGNEYon October 2, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition| Verified Purchase
Pinned – A Kentucky True Crime is a truly fascinating life shattering personal misadventure uniquely presented by the author. Although, one of the most readable “page-turner” true crime genre books I’ve read, the reader should be warned that this book ends without conclusion in a very disappointing type of a deus ex machine ending. That is, the reader will need to purchase a follow-up book (Stains on the Gavel) to learn the rest of the story. The author, Charles Massie, tells his personal misadventure as a victim of a mentally highly unstable woman he met on Craig’s List which enmeshed him in over-the-top sex exploits, criminality, arrest, betrayal, and incarceration stemming from an alleged small town Kentucky “good old boys” corruption network. The author substitutes the name Mark Casey for his own name in his book. A confounding matter with this book is that the author states it is a true (non-fiction) book while also stating in his book that the book is a novel (fiction). I had the opportunity to listen to a PBS (Philadelphia) radio interview in which the author spoke about his book. Throughout the interview the author insists that this is an actual true (non-fiction) event that happened to him. During the radio broadcast , the interviewer (Denise Turney) mentioned a number of times that she had thought his book was a novel (fiction). Thus, indeed one may be understandably confused as to whether they are reading fiction or non-fiction. Nevertheless, other than the above, the reader should find this a most very readable book.

Pinned!
Four Stars
ByLinda Montgomeryon September 12, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
It was hard to put it down. Kept wanting to see what happened next.… (altro)

*Please not that this is the second book of a series. I did not read the first book. However, I think someone would be fine jumping right into this one. There is a summary at the beginning of what happened in the prior book, plus flashbacks within the book.

- For people who like crime/based on true story genres
- This book follows the trial and jail time (mostly jail time) for Mark Casey
- You will never look the same way at orange Kool-Aid or Kentucky again
- Because of multiple transfers, the book contains some repetition
- Although giving a personal experience in the jail, some of Mark Casey's stories could have been left out without taking away from the overall book… (altro)