True Crime Case Histories, Volume 3: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories by Jason Neal

True Crime Case Histories, Volume 3: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories Reviews

• 
  Brian

  I occasionally enjoy reading true crime books, so when I saw a BookBub promotion for this book, I took a look at it. With ratings of 4.4 on Amazon and 3.92 on Goodreads, I figured it would be a good diversionary read.
  
  Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as good as the ratings and reviews led me to believe. The book is a collection of random stories about fairly grisly murders. There’s no unifying theme (except, apparently, that many of the murders happened in places near where the author has lived). That in itself isn’t a problem. Based on the author’s description of the book, I didn’t expect anything different. But the crime stories are, on average, just okay. I’d say only one or two are particularly memorable, with “God Chose Us” being the best, in my opinion. I think most of them could have been told better by a more accomplished writer.
  
  I really have to take issue with the reviewers who praise the author’s writing style. I found most of the writing to be flat and uninspired, and in many places, awkward or just inept. Please, take a basic writing course or hire a good copy editor. It’s not that hard to write sentences with proper antecedents, tenses, prepositions, and relative pronouns (has the author ever considered using “who” instead of “that” when referring to a person?). The very sloppy writing frequently distracted me and detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
• 
  Lynda Kelly

  This was an interesting little freebie collection I downloaded, and mainly on the back of seeing John Tanner's photo on the front, as I remember that case really well. I had no idea that he had only served 11 years, returned to New Zealand and then tried strangling another girl and is banged up once again. Apparently, he didn't manage to kill this one and she's standing by him. She'll be sorry......I'm sure it won't be the last time his name pops up in the headlines. Once a murdering, jealous weirdo, always one, in my opinion.
  The Jessica Wongso case was a fascinating one as well. Another proper nutcase ! She was lucky to escape a death penalty and I'm unsure why the Australians wouldn't return her to Indonesia if she'd be sentenced as such. After all, she belonged to THEM, not Australia. The Canadians appear to do the same as we do here......by not deporting someone, and then they go and murder some innocent and it's too late. They DID deport the Hungarian killer 4 times but the fact he could return 4 times defies belief. Somebody, somewhere wasn't doing their job !! I wish things still stood as they did back in the 1940s where one particular ne'er-do-well here was executed 4 months after his first killing. All these bleeding hearts that persist in keeping these rodents alive for decades on our dime cheese me off. The nastiest piece of work in this volume was James Patterson Smith.....what he did was just appalling. Yet he only got 20 years ! Really ?? Though he does remain in prison for now, while we feed it and keep it warm for years.....where is there justice in doing this ? And why ? He'll never be rehabilitated. The judicial system are kidding themselves if they believe that nonsense.
  There are a lot of dropped fullstops at the end of sentences and an annoying habit of misplacing apostrophes and he then wrote alter as opposed to altar. But he committed the sin of amending the spelling on somebody's name, altering Souter to Suitor !! Ouch ! This cost him a star from me.
  All in all, a quick but interesting group of cases are included here.
• 
  Bettye McKee

  Contains graphic crime details
  
  Volume 3 continues with more astonishing crime cases told in graphic detail for true crime aficionados who want to know the truth. We also like to hear at the story's end that justice has been meted out. Readers who shrink from the truth and ignore the evil that exists in the world should not pick up this book.
  
  The more you know about evil, the more likely you are to recognize it. Teach your children about the dangers that threaten them. Don't send them to the battlefield that is today's world without weapons.
  
  There are many lessons to be learned in this book. Crimes are committed for such paltry reasons. A young woman poisons her best friend, but why? Husbands kill wives and wives kill husbands, but why? Often the reasons given are only petty annoyances, and the victim had no awareness of it.
  
  I'll be looking forward to Volume 4.
  
  Contains photos.
  
  30
• 
  Beth Shuler

  Maybe my new favorite
  
  This is my 3rd book from this author and I must admit I am hooked! I can't wait for more to come out. I love how he doesn't why away from what the true crime is like. As crazy as it sounds to me it makes the book so much better. It also makes the imagine or crime easier to imagine. I know these types are books are not for everyone but if you are like me and love true crime books then look no further. I promise (as long as you have the stomach) you will be hooked as well. I must admit the more details and stuff the more interesting it makes it. I mean after all it's a true crime book so of course I want to know what the actual crime scene was like. Most authors try to tone it down or are not comfortable with writing about all gruesome details......... But I've finally found an author that writes it exactly how it is and also has no personal opinions in it. He tells it like it is!
  I am so ready for another book of his to read
• 
  Michelle Boyer

  A series of twelve crimes, all quickly summarized in a few pages. This isn't the in-depth true crime novel that I typically pick up. However, this is a great book for if you want to be able to read through something rather quickly. Because each case is shortly summarized, you can easily pick up, set it down, and come back again without really forgetting anything.
• 
  Joanna

  Body and great!
  
  I came by this book on Amazon free books
  Not normally my thing but thought it could be interesting
  I absolutely could not put it down!
  Yes it was shocking but I had to get to the end lol
  Well done i will definitely look out for the others in the series
• 
  Sandra Simmons

  I am new to true crime books. I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more.
• 
  Aparna J

  Amazing
  
  The stories are really gruesome and hair raising. Each story gave me goosebumps. It is indeed difficult to trust anyone after reading about such horrific incidents.
• 
  Janalyn Prude

  I love every true crime case history book, because it seems Jason Neil goes the extra mile. It is a very rare occurrence when reading a true crime anthology by Jason Neal that I have found stories that have already been done to death… Pardon the pun. I can only give him five stars because those no higher amount which he would clearly deserve. I listen to the audiobook and found the narrator was perfect and the narration was done perfectly. He didn’t sound like he wanted to be the star of the show he was just there to read the book and that is what he done. So all in all the book and the narration is a perfect combination for a great listen, it is written with great style and is intriguing enough to keep your attention. Even if you are a diehard true crime fan I promise there are many stories in this book you haven’t heard because I pride myself on knowing a lot of true crime stories and these were new to me. I know that means nothing to you, but my husband would be astounded.
• 
  Carole Anne meaney

  good rrad
  
  a good read loads of facts and easy to understand. i had to finish it in one go it took me a couple of hours.
• 
  Deirdre

  Mr. Neal Hits the Bullseye
  
  Jason Neal is becoming more impressive as a true crime writer. His concern about the reader is to be commended. Should he tone down what he writes in terms of the gruesome details associated with the vicious killers he portrays in his stories? I vote NO! Those of us who read True Crime regularly prefer, at least I do, the more in-depth details of what happened to the victim. This helps to better understand the level of depravity, narcissism, psychopathology, lack of empathy, and sometimes mental illness or downright evil demonstrated by the killer's actions.
  
  Getting to know the family members, their strength and determination to have the killers brought to justice, to find the only peace available after losing a beloved member of the family. The color photos and bonus scenes show even more how deceptive the looks of the killer can be.
  
  Mr Neal keep writing using your own style. It is what we want.
• 
  Julie Morales

  TRUE TO FORM
  
  I enjoyed the first two books in this series, and this one was good, too. There's not much to say about it that I haven't already said about the other two because they're similar, even with some of the same stories, but different enough that it was still good. These are not for the squeamish, but I like the details, and the stories are short, so if you can't take too much at once, it's easy to read one story, then move on to something a little lighter for a while if you have to. I like these books though.
• 
  Vicky

  I enjoy the books by Jason Neal, he is always very well researched. I view the case histories that he writes more of an introduction and overview of t(e cases he includes but he also writes about individual murderers where you get a more detailed in dept( look at them. If you like to read about true crime then I would highly recommend however be prepared t(at he does not leave anything out including the details of how the victims were killed as well as any injuries sustained.
• 
  Christine

  This is the third book that I have read by this author simply because they were free. I felt that the stories were flat and didn't have any depth. As entertaining as reading a label on a medicine bottle. I will not be reading anymore books from this author whether they are available for free or not.
• 
  Elisabeth Brookshire

  Good TC anthology series
  
  The books in this true crime series are quick read anthologies. Many of the cases are somewhat obscure and take place during different eras and countries. This third volume is better than the first two because there are some nice colored pictures. On to book four!
• 
  Donna Wilbor

  The first thing I’ve read by this author
  
  I had high hopes for this short book. As a reader of true crime I had high hopes when it popped up as a suggestion on kindle. It has the facts written without feeling . I found it rather flat. The author has potential to write really well.
• 
  Lauren

  Well written
  
  I have always been interested in true crime and this was my first taste of this series. This is wonderfully put together and enjoyable to read. I like that each case feels condensed, but is explained thoroughly.
• 
  Sandra Burns

  Excellent read.
  
  This has a good mix of stories, from all over the world. Some were really sad, like the young woman, found in a barrel. She was pregnant at the time. Justice delayed, doesn't always mean justice denied.
• 
  Jamie Escobedo

  I enjoyed the book since I enjoy True Crime. This Volume did have some stories that I hadn't heard about so I enjoyed that also. Another thing I enjoyed was that the stories were longer than in other volumes and of course, I love the pictures even though some can be a bit gross.
• 
  OG

  Badly written book. No details, a lot of heresay. No theme, just random stories of murder. No real analysis or full background. Dull. Poor writing too.
• 
  Ashley

  Didn't like this as much - liked that photos were included more than any other time, but the stories just didn't grip me like the other volumes!
• 
  Kathy

  liked this book, Twelve story's about a chapter each.