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A review by melanie_dc
Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker
3.0
I liked the premise of this book, but I think the author was trying too hard to be clever and the book read like "I know I'm really clever here." This is a "true crime novel," meaning it's fiction that pretends to be an oral history of a true crime. Unfortunately, the oral history format didn't let me sink into the story; I felt like I was reading a script and I had trouble staying focused. And because this is a look back, interviewing the key characters, there was a lot of foreshadowing. This worked well in a couple of places, where I was intrigued by the hints, but it mostly made the book anti-climatic because we know a couple of key things from the beginning.
The story centers around Sara Parcell, a teenager who goes missing one morning before school. As her parents and younger brother are reeling and the police are on the case, a few days later, a true crime TV producer shows up and proposes a unique idea to the parents: Let's film you in real time as we search for Sara. The producer, of course, is only in it for the ratings and fame, the sensational aspect, but the dad convinces the mom to go along because they need the increased attention (and they will be paid for each episode, which he considers a bonus).
This book is trying to say something about our society's fascination with true crime and our focus on "missing white girls." It wants us to take a look at ourselves and ask if we would be one of the ones watching this family's devastation in real time, as entertainment on our TV. I think the author could have dived into these questions deeper, plus made a bigger impact on readers questioning our own voyeurism if this was a straightforward, true-to-life, very sad missing kid or teen story. Instead, the story has a few "thriller book" twists and turns that make a lot of the characters unsympathetic. And that didn't make this feel like true crime at all, or at least not something I should be ashamed for watching in live time each week.
The book is interesting, and it's not a bad book, by any means. If you're curious, temper your expectations, pick it up and just go along for the ride. I just wished the book had been executed better.
The story centers around Sara Parcell, a teenager who goes missing one morning before school. As her parents and younger brother are reeling and the police are on the case, a few days later, a true crime TV producer shows up and proposes a unique idea to the parents: Let's film you in real time as we search for Sara. The producer, of course, is only in it for the ratings and fame, the sensational aspect, but the dad convinces the mom to go along because they need the increased attention (and they will be paid for each episode, which he considers a bonus).
This book is trying to say something about our society's fascination with true crime and our focus on "missing white girls." It wants us to take a look at ourselves and ask if we would be one of the ones watching this family's devastation in real time, as entertainment on our TV. I think the author could have dived into these questions deeper, plus made a bigger impact on readers questioning our own voyeurism if this was a straightforward, true-to-life, very sad missing kid or teen story. Instead, the story has a few "thriller book" twists and turns that make a lot of the characters unsympathetic. And that didn't make this feel like true crime at all, or at least not something I should be ashamed for watching in live time each week.
The book is interesting, and it's not a bad book, by any means. If you're curious, temper your expectations, pick it up and just go along for the ride. I just wished the book had been executed better.