Overall, I found this story to be completely fascinating and suspenseful. Upon initially receiving the book, it wasn't immediately clear that this was a re-telling of a real crime, so off the bat it would have been helpful if the summary on the back of the book clearly stated that. Once I realized this, it was definitely difficult not to read up on this case online before/as I was reading. We follow three main characters throughout the case: Dave Kroupa, a single dad looking to meet women through online dating sites and enjoy his social life again; Shanna "Liz" Golyar, Dave's on-again/off-again girlfriend who is looking for commitment; and Cari Farver, a single mom who briefly dates Dave before she goes missing from her town in Nebraska, but then seemingly becomes obsessed with Liz.
To say that this case is complicated is an understatement. There are so many different people involved in the case that it is difficult to keep track of them all. Understandably, the author may have been trying to convey the confusion that law enforcement were faced with when solving the case, but for a reader, the facts, timeline, and people could have been more clearly presented. For example, we know up-front that Dave is a father of 2, but it wasn't until almost halfway through the book that the reader learns Liz has kids of her own!
Additionally, I thought the author spent a little too much time diving into unnecessary side bars throughout the story. For example, the case mentioned that Nebraska has the death penalty, and the author plunged into a page description of the first death penalty sentence in the state, the statistics of males vs. females that are sentenced to death and other specific case examples. While these are interesting facts, they are completely unnecessary to this specific case and only add to the confusion.
Overall, this crime was fascinating, but it definitely could have been presented a little clearer.
To say that this case is complicated is an understatement. There are so many different people involved in the case that it is difficult to keep track of them all. Understandably, the author may have been trying to convey the confusion that law enforcement were faced with when solving the case, but for a reader, the facts, timeline, and people could have been more clearly presented. For example, we know up-front that Dave is a father of 2, but it wasn't until almost halfway through the book that the reader learns Liz has kids of her own!
Additionally, I thought the author spent a little too much time diving into unnecessary side bars throughout the story. For example, the case mentioned that Nebraska has the death penalty, and the author plunged into a page description of the first death penalty sentence in the state, the statistics of males vs. females that are sentenced to death and other specific case examples. While these are interesting facts, they are completely unnecessary to this specific case and only add to the confusion.
Overall, this crime was fascinating, but it definitely could have been presented a little clearer.