A review by angus_mckeogh
Echoes in the Darkness by Joseph Wambaugh

1.0

I can completely sympathize with the large glut of reviews saying they were unable to finish this book. I read an article about the “10 Best” true crime books ever written. This was on that list with In Cold Blood and the like. It also took me forever to read. I failed to add it to my “Currently Reading” list for a long while because I was unsure if I’d finish the book. It was pretty bad. The characters were uninteresting, the story was preposterously stupid, and the writing was difficult to enjoy. The thing as a whole was just not gripping as most other true crime books I’ve read have been. The murder and the crux of the story were halfway through the book after the first half covered the uninteresting lives and backstory of the people involved. I put it aside repeatedly thinking I’d not return to it. Ultimately I just felt like I should finish it, or it’d get better once it hit the trial, or I was just too far along to stop. I’ll leave it at saying I was not rewarded for my due diligence. Just not good. Everything true crime shouldn’t be. I’m giving it two stars because I finished it. No...that’s rewarding myself. I’m adjusting that and taking one star away. It should only get one. I didn’t like it.