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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Interesting comment but a lot of unnecessary tangents.
informative
medium-paced
In 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found at the bottom of the stairs in her home in a pool of blood. Her husband claimed they were hanging out by the pool, she went inside to do something on the computer, and when he came in about an hour later, he found her like that. The evidence in this book seems particularly biased towards the prosecution. While I do not believe that his account of the events are entirely accurate, I do not believe the book should have been absolutely biased towards one side or another. The research was great, and presented a lot of evidence that I was not aware of from the things I had watched about this case previously. I think that the author did a decent job in that respect, I was just annoyed with the bias. I think that it is very suspicious that someone else he was close with died in a very similar manner and he wound up with guardianship of those children. This is a very bizarre story.
A few notes: He published several novels prior to her death, and has subsequently published one with his account of what happened regarding her death. There is also a documentary on Netflix (I think) about this that I watched not long ago. It seemed to lean toward his innocence than this book did. This case was also featured on Forensic Files, where this book title was mentioned. You can check those out if you are interested in this case as well. Also, I would suggest running far away from anyone named Peterson because they are always trying to murder wives.
A few notes: He published several novels prior to her death, and has subsequently published one with his account of what happened regarding her death. There is also a documentary on Netflix (I think) about this that I watched not long ago. It seemed to lean toward his innocence than this book did. This case was also featured on Forensic Files, where this book title was mentioned. You can check those out if you are interested in this case as well. Also, I would suggest running far away from anyone named Peterson because they are always trying to murder wives.
I've been meaning to read this because The Staircase was so biased. This is biased, too, but there are details here that are black and white and tell you everything you need to know. Very interesting.
3.5 stars.
After watching The Staircase miniseries 3 times (over time! With different people!), I wanted to do a deeper dive. The Staircase is one sided beyond belief, and there are blatant facts they have zero excuse for leaving out that look very, very bad for Peterson.
It was very fast paced and as enjoyable as a book like this really can be. I’m glad I read it. But, like other reviewers, I think that the author did too much editorializing that only weakened the prosecution’s side of the case.
I do appreciate that this author painted a more realistic and compassionate picture of Kathleen’s family members than the show. On the other hand, the book portrayed Margaret and Martha as victims rather than simply insulting them for standing by the man they see as their father.
As for Todd and Clayton, well, I’ll keep my unpleasant opinions about them to myself.
After watching The Staircase miniseries 3 times (over time! With different people!), I wanted to do a deeper dive. The Staircase is one sided beyond belief, and there are blatant facts they have zero excuse for leaving out that look very, very bad for Peterson.
It was very fast paced and as enjoyable as a book like this really can be. I’m glad I read it. But, like other reviewers, I think that the author did too much editorializing that only weakened the prosecution’s side of the case.
I do appreciate that this author painted a more realistic and compassionate picture of Kathleen’s family members than the show. On the other hand, the book portrayed Margaret and Martha as victims rather than simply insulting them for standing by the man they see as their father.
As for Todd and Clayton, well, I’ll keep my unpleasant opinions about them to myself.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
A recap of the Michael Peterson trial from a very pro-prosecution standpoint. (For good reason: He's guilty as sin, but still.) Not as fascinating as the documentary, "The Staircase."