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linnaboobooks's review against another edition
I don't know if it's the author's intention to make a pun with the title "True Story" when just about everything stated by Christian Mongo is a lie and he is a known liar, which Michael Finkel is told multiple times not to trust him. While the author himself also lied and went against his better journalistic beliefs to write an article where he created a fictional young man out of compiled interviews and information he gathered on a trip for other means that had no evidence. And so he got fired.
The best way to put it is ridiculous. Everything about Christian Mongo's incessant lying is ridiculous.
The best way to put it is ridiculous. Everything about Christian Mongo's incessant lying is ridiculous.
iamother's review
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
What made this true crime story work was how interconnected the author’s life was within it. The fact that he was going through his own hardships that had ties to the murder and coming to grips with his own mistakes, helped to illustrate his own growth as a person throughout. His changing dynamic with the accused as well as a detailed accounting of the timeline helped to push the story forward for someone like me with no prior knowledge of the case. I also liked how it illustrated the ambiguity of the stories we tell each other and ourselves. How it ultimately comes down to trust between two parties, but also how self serving when can be if the choice is put to us.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Murder
kat_fields's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.25
This should have been so interesting. It wasn't.
smallfet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.5
toniclark's review against another edition
3.0
This is the third book in a row by Michael Finkel that I've read. This one, his first of the three, I liked less than the other two. It's a darn creepy story — in large part because of the crime committed, the seeming lack of motive, and the chronic lying of the murderer. But also, I found Finkel's involvement with the criminal kind of queasy-making, too, and often found myself questioning his motives and methods. I guess the motive was to find and tell a great story, but the extent to which Finkel aggressively pursued the murderer through letters, calls, and prison visits made me uncomfortable.