Sandi K W. (Sandiinmississippi) reviewed Lethal Friendship: A Mother's Battle to Put--and Keep--a Serial Killer Behind Bars on + 265 more book reviews
This is one of the best true crime books I've ever read, and it stands by itself in that group authored by a victim/victim's loved one. So often those books are heartbreaking, yet not truly well-written. 'Lethal Friendship' is an exception. I would read anything Sue Young produces, based upon the clarity, heart, & skill with which she tells this story. We get such a clear picture of who her daughter was & how their family operated before a destructive criminal ripped things apart.
Her 19 yr old daughter disappears & it becomes evident her ex-fiancé abducted or killed her. The book details the struggle the family goes through to find evidence, question, follow-up, work with police agencies, & generally do everything to attempt to get him arrested & convicted. But the nightmare doesn't end when the nut-case commits other murders & eventually gets caught (literally red-handed) attempting to murder two more teens. It continues when Ms. Young discovers the price in Michigan at that time for destroying the lives of 4 women & damaging 2 more kids is around 11 yrs due to the state's policy of disallowing consecutive sentencing. She is obliged to agree to a plea bargain to even get the monster to reveal where he tossed out her daughter's body. Then she faces the task of getting a Democrat-led state legislative committee to finally look at changing sentencing laws.
She has the help of many church & community friends, and she uses the book to show appreciation, but that information is presented at reasonable length & doesn't cut into the story. She is befriended by William Van Regenmorter, a newly elected state representative, who goes forward & overcomes the resistance of the entrenched system by authoring Michigan's Crime Victims Rights Act, which has served as the national model for such bills. He goes on to write two amendments to Michigan's Constitution so that when balance of power changes the state cannot revert to their previous low level of respect for victims. The book doesn't bog down when it gets to politics & law though - it continues to be the story of a mother's love for her daughter and her memories. To see the result of her efforts and her networking one must read the details and she tells them in an interesting manner. But one also sees the hurt, shock, & change in her life.
Her 19 yr old daughter disappears & it becomes evident her ex-fiancé abducted or killed her. The book details the struggle the family goes through to find evidence, question, follow-up, work with police agencies, & generally do everything to attempt to get him arrested & convicted. But the nightmare doesn't end when the nut-case commits other murders & eventually gets caught (literally red-handed) attempting to murder two more teens. It continues when Ms. Young discovers the price in Michigan at that time for destroying the lives of 4 women & damaging 2 more kids is around 11 yrs due to the state's policy of disallowing consecutive sentencing. She is obliged to agree to a plea bargain to even get the monster to reveal where he tossed out her daughter's body. Then she faces the task of getting a Democrat-led state legislative committee to finally look at changing sentencing laws.
She has the help of many church & community friends, and she uses the book to show appreciation, but that information is presented at reasonable length & doesn't cut into the story. She is befriended by William Van Regenmorter, a newly elected state representative, who goes forward & overcomes the resistance of the entrenched system by authoring Michigan's Crime Victims Rights Act, which has served as the national model for such bills. He goes on to write two amendments to Michigan's Constitution so that when balance of power changes the state cannot revert to their previous low level of respect for victims. The book doesn't bog down when it gets to politics & law though - it continues to be the story of a mother's love for her daughter and her memories. To see the result of her efforts and her networking one must read the details and she tells them in an interesting manner. But one also sees the hurt, shock, & change in her life.
