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True Crime Reviews: Under the Banner of Heaven, Krakauer; Lust Killer and Practice to Deceive, Rule
I loved Rule's The Stranger Beside Me and when doing house things (of which: not as much overwinter but, let's be honest, I needed a break) I read so much true crime on audio, so I finally went and made a list of everything the library has unabridged. And so far the results are ... uh, less impressive.
How much of that is due to "readers mispronounce PNW placenames"? Like 10%, but it's a very painful 10%. On the other hand: Dick DePosit.
Title: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Author: Jon Krakauer
Narrator: Scott Brick
Published: Books on Tape, 2003
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 390
Total Page Count: 453,785
Text Number: 1585
Read Because: reviewed by Katherine Addison, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In framework, this is true crime about the murder by two fundamentalist Mormons of their sister-in-law and infant niece; but in practice, it's less about these events—which are clear-cut and unromanticized—and more about why: about fundamentalist Mormonism, its origins and relationship with the larger Mormon church, the church's views on gender and its long history of polygamy, and how these factors led a group of fundamentalist men to murder. Backtracking through history can feel like an endless digression, and certainly it makes for a hot mess of a reading experience with a lot of names and timelines to track—the history of the Mormon church is wild. But it's a productive big-picture view. Like the author, I grew up in Corvallis, which has an unexpectedly large Mormon population; unlike him, I had little contact with the church. I doubt I would have intentionally searched out a history of Mormonism, but stumbling upon this one explains so much, answering my old curiosities but also contextualizing the Mormon church's presence in America and American culture. Fascinating; I'm sure it's not a complete picture, but this is so much more than I knew before.
Title: Lust Killer
Author: Ann Rule
Narrator: Callie Beaulieu
Published: Tantor Media, 2017 (1983)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 270
Total Page Count: 413,205
Text Number: 1555
Read Because: more true crime while painting, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: So, Rule's treatment of this case hasn't aged well, particularly the way that crossdressing and other "deviant" behaviors are elided with paraphilias and, specifically, lust murders—a substantial flaw in Brudos's case. (Rule also punches below the belt at odd moments; particularly, the laborious inclusion of jailhouse lawyering indicates mainly that jailhouse lawyering is difficult and therefore flawed.) Nonetheless this is an interesting case. I come from the Willamette Valley and had never heard of Brudos. This makes the mispronunciations in the audiobook infuriating, obviously, and it makes Rule's characterization of "cozy" Salem just bizarre. (Maybe it used to have a different reputation?) But fascinating that such a sensational case of such an iconic serial killer profile exists forgotten in local history and, reading around the sensationalism, an interesting profile of the relationship between personality development, sexual fetish, and criminal behavior.
Title: Practice to Deceive
Author: Ann Rule
Narrator: Anne Twomey
Published: Simon Schuster Audio, 2013
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 410
Total Page Count: 455,255
Text Number: 1590
Read Because: reading more of the author/more true crime while various house things; audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: The murder of Russell Douglas and the slow, complex series of events that ended in two convictions. Douglas's murder ultimately isn't that complicated—but the motives, a borderline stranger-murder/would be murder-for-hire/ineffectual insurance scam, are unusual; further, it wasn't policework that solved this case, but rather a significant tip from a friend of a culprit. Thus much of the length here is given over to what feels a little like padding: the lives, both tragic and petty, of the players and their families. But my real takeaway is the same I brought from Hesse's American Fire: lovers conspiring to commit a crime may seem darkly romantic but is in reality petty, pointless, and vaguely cringe (even when reading around Rule's ample sexism and body-shaming).
P.S. There's a supporting figure here named Richard DePosit & the audio experience of multiple straight-faced readings of "Dick Deposit" is, yes, quite funny.
How much of that is due to "readers mispronounce PNW placenames"? Like 10%, but it's a very painful 10%. On the other hand: Dick DePosit.
Title: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
Author: Jon Krakauer
Narrator: Scott Brick
Published: Books on Tape, 2003
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 390
Total Page Count: 453,785
Text Number: 1585
Read Because: reviewed by Katherine Addison, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In framework, this is true crime about the murder by two fundamentalist Mormons of their sister-in-law and infant niece; but in practice, it's less about these events—which are clear-cut and unromanticized—and more about why: about fundamentalist Mormonism, its origins and relationship with the larger Mormon church, the church's views on gender and its long history of polygamy, and how these factors led a group of fundamentalist men to murder. Backtracking through history can feel like an endless digression, and certainly it makes for a hot mess of a reading experience with a lot of names and timelines to track—the history of the Mormon church is wild. But it's a productive big-picture view. Like the author, I grew up in Corvallis, which has an unexpectedly large Mormon population; unlike him, I had little contact with the church. I doubt I would have intentionally searched out a history of Mormonism, but stumbling upon this one explains so much, answering my old curiosities but also contextualizing the Mormon church's presence in America and American culture. Fascinating; I'm sure it's not a complete picture, but this is so much more than I knew before.
Title: Lust Killer
Author: Ann Rule
Narrator: Callie Beaulieu
Published: Tantor Media, 2017 (1983)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 270
Total Page Count: 413,205
Text Number: 1555
Read Because: more true crime while painting, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: So, Rule's treatment of this case hasn't aged well, particularly the way that crossdressing and other "deviant" behaviors are elided with paraphilias and, specifically, lust murders—a substantial flaw in Brudos's case. (Rule also punches below the belt at odd moments; particularly, the laborious inclusion of jailhouse lawyering indicates mainly that jailhouse lawyering is difficult and therefore flawed.) Nonetheless this is an interesting case. I come from the Willamette Valley and had never heard of Brudos. This makes the mispronunciations in the audiobook infuriating, obviously, and it makes Rule's characterization of "cozy" Salem just bizarre. (Maybe it used to have a different reputation?) But fascinating that such a sensational case of such an iconic serial killer profile exists forgotten in local history and, reading around the sensationalism, an interesting profile of the relationship between personality development, sexual fetish, and criminal behavior.
Title: Practice to Deceive
Author: Ann Rule
Narrator: Anne Twomey
Published: Simon Schuster Audio, 2013
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 410
Total Page Count: 455,255
Text Number: 1590
Read Because: reading more of the author/more true crime while various house things; audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: The murder of Russell Douglas and the slow, complex series of events that ended in two convictions. Douglas's murder ultimately isn't that complicated—but the motives, a borderline stranger-murder/would be murder-for-hire/ineffectual insurance scam, are unusual; further, it wasn't policework that solved this case, but rather a significant tip from a friend of a culprit. Thus much of the length here is given over to what feels a little like padding: the lives, both tragic and petty, of the players and their families. But my real takeaway is the same I brought from Hesse's American Fire: lovers conspiring to commit a crime may seem darkly romantic but is in reality petty, pointless, and vaguely cringe (even when reading around Rule's ample sexism and body-shaming).
P.S. There's a supporting figure here named Richard DePosit & the audio experience of multiple straight-faced readings of "Dick Deposit" is, yes, quite funny.