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xxstefaniereadsxx's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
This review will contain some spoilers below, but I will warn if you wish to stop reading. If you are thinking about reading this book, I would like you to consider a few things before you do. The author of this book was a friend of one of the murder victims. There are some personal stories about their relationship that do not really pertain to the case, which is not typically what I go for in a true crime book. I prefer an outsider's presentation of the facts of the case. With that being said, I do think the author put in a great deal of time and effort to research the people involved in the book and try to piece together what happened to her friend. A lot of this book is tedious and unnecessary and seems to have been written as an information or thought dump. The book could have done with a great deal more editing. I am disappointed I used an Audible credit for this, but it did keep me entertained at work. Also, prepare to be extremely annoyed at the lack of police effort presented in this book and shady doings by law enforcement, because I sure was. If you do not wish to know anything else about this book, STOP NOW.
**************SPOILERS AHEAD***********TURN BACK************
This book discusses the brutal murders of three men: Brendan Mess, Raphael Teken, and Erik Weissman. The three were at the apartment of Brendan, watching a sports game on September 11, 2011. The men were discovered by the girlfriend of Brendan, on September 12. The men were found to have had their throats slit nearly to the point of decapitation. There are several interesting facts, which offer some clues to the reason behind their deaths. They were known to be involved in marijuana, and were also known to keep large amounts of cash from their marijuana dealings. Could this have been a drug deal gone wrong? Maybe...anything is possible. However, the author of this book presents some interesting information that leads in a slightly different direction. Perhaps these men were murdered because someone needed money and knew they had it. Brendan was friends with a man called Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a man who was Islamic and becoming increasingly fanatical. Tamerlan once described Brendan as his best friend, but perhaps grew to despise his Jewish heritage. It is suspected that Tamerlan and another man by the name of Ibragim Todashev were responsible for the murders. Tamerlan and his brother, Dzhokhar, would go on to commit the Boston Marathon Bombings the following year.
There are plenty of people who can attest to the relationship between Brendan and Tamerlan. Tamerlan would have had intimate knowledge of the business that Brendan had and the amount of cash he kept in his home. Tamerlan would also be in need of money to fund his terrorist plot. Some of this information seems very plausible. It also doesn't seem like a far leap to think that someone who could commit a terrorist attack would not also be capable of killing someone else before or after doing that. Unfortunately, both suspects in the triple homicide are dead themselves, thus the case remains a mystery as of yet.
**************SPOILERS AHEAD***********TURN BACK************
This book discusses the brutal murders of three men: Brendan Mess, Raphael Teken, and Erik Weissman. The three were at the apartment of Brendan, watching a sports game on September 11, 2011. The men were discovered by the girlfriend of Brendan, on September 12. The men were found to have had their throats slit nearly to the point of decapitation. There are several interesting facts, which offer some clues to the reason behind their deaths. They were known to be involved in marijuana, and were also known to keep large amounts of cash from their marijuana dealings. Could this have been a drug deal gone wrong? Maybe...anything is possible. However, the author of this book presents some interesting information that leads in a slightly different direction. Perhaps these men were murdered because someone needed money and knew they had it. Brendan was friends with a man called Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a man who was Islamic and becoming increasingly fanatical. Tamerlan once described Brendan as his best friend, but perhaps grew to despise his Jewish heritage. It is suspected that Tamerlan and another man by the name of Ibragim Todashev were responsible for the murders. Tamerlan and his brother, Dzhokhar, would go on to commit the Boston Marathon Bombings the following year.
There are plenty of people who can attest to the relationship between Brendan and Tamerlan. Tamerlan would have had intimate knowledge of the business that Brendan had and the amount of cash he kept in his home. Tamerlan would also be in need of money to fund his terrorist plot. Some of this information seems very plausible. It also doesn't seem like a far leap to think that someone who could commit a terrorist attack would not also be capable of killing someone else before or after doing that. Unfortunately, both suspects in the triple homicide are dead themselves, thus the case remains a mystery as of yet.
oceanwriter's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
1.0
This book immediately caught my eye around its release. I have a faint memory of the Waltham murders having grown up in Massachusetts. I was fairly young at the time, so the details are murky and most of what I remember are general comments made by family members. Now as an adult, I was curious to learn more. While the book provided a refresher, I don’t feel any more educated on the topic.
Despite the tagline on the cover, I didn’t realize that this book was going to be more of a memoir than a walkthrough of the crime and all of those things that go into a true crime book. That’s not to say that the crime as a whole was not discussed, only that it was told in such a disjointed way that it was difficult to follow and left me feeling confused about what is fact and what is speculation. When the author came to her conclusion toward the end of the book, I felt blindsided. It lacked the evidence to back up the assured statements made.
This isn’t a crime I’ve followed in any capacity so I’m not disputing any of the author’s claims. I don’t know what happened and that’s the main reason why I picked up this book in the first place. While I sympathize that the author had a connection to one of the victims and I admire her passion for her investigation, this was ultimately two separate books poorly rolled into one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Drug abuse, Child death, and Drug use
sam_is_reading's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
This book was incredibly detailed and interesting. I am from south of Boston originally so this story hits close to home. I think the last part of the book dragged, especially after the author put forth her theory on what happened.
I understand the negative reviews, especially considering the case is still officially unsolved, but felt that the story reads well even without a definite resolution. It’s clear the author is passionate about the subject matter.
Thank you to NetGalley, Susan Clare Zalind, and Little A for an early copy.
I understand the negative reviews, especially considering the case is still officially unsolved, but felt that the story reads well even without a definite resolution. It’s clear the author is passionate about the subject matter.
Thank you to NetGalley, Susan Clare Zalind, and Little A for an early copy.
michieknee's review
This had a strong start but in the middle has petered out. My Kindle Unlimited trial is coming to an end soon and I've lost interest in finishing.