To Buy Or Not To Buy
I have been toying with buying the book WHILE THEY SLEPT . It’s one of those “true stories about a shocking crime” delivered in a literary way…or so I’ve read.
This isn’t the first book by Harrison to grab my attention. A few years ago I stumbled across one of her memoirs, THE KISS. It’s about her completely inappropriate relationship with her father. I’ll let you read the description on B&N because, really, it’s too awful. I’m having a hard time wiping that from my head to focus on this one. Still, I kind of want the new book:
Early on an April morning, eighteen-year-old Billy Frank Gilley, Jr., killed his sleeping parents. Surprised in the act by his younger sister, Becky, he turned on her as well. Billy then climbed the stairs to the bedroom of his other sister, Jody, and said, “We’re free.” But is one ever free after an unredeemable act of violence? The Gilley family murders ended a lifetime of physical and mental abuse suffered by Billy and Jody at the hands of their parents. And it required each of the two survivors–one a convicted murderer, the other suddenly an orphan–to create a new identity, a new life.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
I read some true crime from time to time. Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is very good.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:16 am
It does sound interesting. I think if you can maybe distance yourself from the memories of her previous book, you might like it.
Like Jill, I read some true crime novels on occasion, but it’s very infrequent because it sometimes depresses me to read them.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 am
I’m not big on reading true crime. I have read true crime in the past and might give While They Slept a try. I read the description of The Kiss and don’t plan on reading it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
Both of these books sound so disturbing. Earlier this year I read The Liars Diary by Patry Francis. It is fiction, but I still wish I hadn’t read it. It’s a good book, well written, but I found it disturbing. I’m not sure why. I read Romantic Suspense, and some of it is very dark, but I think because I always get that HEA at the end, I’m ok with it.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:54 pm
There’s no way I could read either. My husband enjoys watching true crime television shows - I find them very disturbing.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:07 pm
I love reading true crime. Watch all those 48 Hours programs. Read reference books and true crime books. In fact, I’m not sure how I sleep…
I have to figure out how to separate out my “ick” factor regarding this author from my desire to read the book. I’ll get there eventually. I think.
October 3rd, 2008 at 3:28 am
I admit that watching & reading these stories is like a train wreck - I can’t look away.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I, too, read The Liar’s Diary and found it a tad disturbing. But I really like going into those dark, creepy places. It’s a little easier when it’s fiction. I have never actually read any true crime stories, though like you, Kay, I love watching them on TV.