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angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
3.0
Epstein was sort of like the O.J. Simpson of sexual abuse. Demonstrates how much of the “justice” that’s meted out in the States revolves around money. Another patently guilty criminal walks out of the courtroom with a minimal sentence because he’s rich. Justice in America is definitely not blind to the almighty dollar and is frequently a farce.
macieg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
smittybeans0018's review against another edition
2.0
I’m fascinated by true crime and this case, but James Patterson’s writing style is just not that great. The short, short chapters with millions of different subjects are distracting, and he makes rookie errors like switching POV mid-chapter sometimes. I just think the whole thing could have benefited from some finesse and focus, like maybe cutting the perspectives used by two-thirds and having more people proof it for style. It went all over the place and felt amateur.
I also felt him to be unnecessarily lurid at times—you can not pull punches while still being respectful of what this man’s survivors went through. Which is interesting, because I actually feel like the docu-series inspired by this book found that balance QUITE well.
TL;DR: just watch the docu-series on Netflix. It’s better!
I also felt him to be unnecessarily lurid at times—you can not pull punches while still being respectful of what this man’s survivors went through. Which is interesting, because I actually feel like the docu-series inspired by this book found that balance QUITE well.
TL;DR: just watch the docu-series on Netflix. It’s better!
dscheide's review against another edition
Setting aside the contents, the prose is truly awful. The Netflix series based on the book is far better.
poweredbyjava's review against another edition
2.0
I thought this would be a traditional James Patterson book. It's more of a summary of the case from different people's point of view. I didn't find it gripping or a looking forward to finishing type read.
punchofwishes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Obviously this book is somewhat outdated but it is still an interesting read. I didn't know much about Jeffrey Epstein before reading this book so I learned a lot. Aside from the outrageous things rich men like him get away with throughout, from fraud to sexual assault to rape, the most surprising thing to me was how he managed to have not only a job as a teacher but corporate work without ever finishing his college degree. True 80s "having charm and good connections", huh? The writing was pretty gripping, you can definitely tell the influence of Patterson's background in thriller writing. Especially at the start I found this a bit jarring, like the constructed character of a sanitation worker in one of the chapters. The structure was mostly clean and easy to follow, and while not a wholly satisfying read I still appreciated what this book had to offer.