The Rebel Housewife

The B List -- Books I Like

Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder
by Kathryn Eastburn
(Da Capo Press, 2007)

Hardcover, 294 pgs, $25.00 U.S.

What it's about: "On a frigid New Year's Eve 2000, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, fifteen-year-old Tony Dutcher and his grandparents were brutally murdered at their mountain hideaway outside of Colorado Springs. All roads seemed to lead to one young man, Isaac Grimes, a schoolmate of Tony's. But as investigators scrambled for answers, they began to uncover a plot more sinister than any parent could imagine -- a plan that involved automatic weapons, careful cover-ups, and a surprising naivete that belied the gruesome murders..."

What I liked: I really, really liked this book. In spite of the horrifying subject, chilling for any parent, especially the parent of a teenager, I could not put it down. This is True Crime at its objective, journalistic, yes, sensationalistic best. Horrifying, yet gripping. Kathryn Eastburn did a masterful job with this story; meticulous in detail and interviews with all involved: the boys, family, friends, detectives, investigators, lawyers. She conveyed the hearts and minds of everyone involved, before, during and after the brutal slaughter. She leaves a lasting impression on scale with Truman Capote, Dominick Dunne and John Grisham (The Innocent Man).

Why I didn't LOVE it: I couldn't, with my usual full high-energy and enthusiasm, love, Love, LOVE this book. It was awful, nightmare-inducing, at the very thought, much less the full-schematic, step-by-step autopsy, of average kids turned into inhuman killers through peer pressure, manipulation and mind control -- and the charismatic sociopath who orchestrated it all was just a teenager, himself. It took me a long time to write this review, from the notes I took as I read it, and I could only put it on The B List -- Books I Like.

You might like Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder, if you liked:
The Innocent Man by John Grisham
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote*

* Da Capo Press, the publisher of Simon Says, has a Truman Capote-related title coming out in paperback in October, that looks very interesting in their catalog: Capote in Kansas: A Ghost Story. We'll be talking more about this title in October.