Customer Reviews

Burned Alive: A Shocking True Story of Betrayal, Kidnapping, and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Out of every book I have ever read no book has touched me more deeply than this one. Kieran Crowley did an excellent job of describing the painful emotions surrounding the family and the feelings of remorse or none at all surrounding the "mutts" or criminals. He put the whole story together like a puzzle; interviewing everyone. He jumps around from the family to the criminals just like a movie. It was also very descriptive painting images in my mind of how beautiful she was and how gruesome her death was.

The first thing that made the book sound interesting was the title. It was catchy but the truth, in a horrific way. It showed how cruel and selfish people could be, how the world isn't innocent, and how things don't always go according to plan. Then I looked at the picture of a beautiful, not so slender woman and wondered why would any one cause so much pain and suffering on such a good looking woman. When I turned the book over to read the summary it made me want to know who these cold blooded kidnapping murderers were, what happened to them, and what went so wrong that they had to resort to burning her alive.

I enjoyed this book. It kept me on my toes wondering how the detectives couldn't have all the information that I had to put them behind bars quicker. I did not want to put the book down for a second. I read it in three days and felt an emotional sympathy for the family. I recommend this book to people who don't have any real grip on the real world and those who have experienced this kind of tragedy and compare your loss to theirs. Knowing some are worse off then you should help lessen the pain and make you more sympathetic.

One thing about a non-fiction novels is that it is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I hope this astounding and most enlightening book reaches out to you.

You have to ask yourself as you read about the kidnappers in this book: what were they thinking? To take a girl and strap her to a steel post in the middle of a somewhat abandoned house, and then burn her due to thinking she was dead (when she was suffering from hypothermia). And these were friends of the girl! All for a little bit of money, that they did not get (that is why she was burned). Very well written by this author.

I totally agree with the 10/18/00 1-star review written by "A reader from Midwest, USA". I had completely lost interest in continuing with this book about halfway through. The author was inconsistent when referring to key players...sometimes calling them by nicknames, sometimes by given names...and they all had very similar names to begin with; so it was impossible to keep everyone straight without taking notes or constantly flipping back and forth to the photos. I also found it to be a waste of time that he went into so much detail about the backgrounds of people who played no part whatsoever in the case.

The biggest disappointment was the author's failure to give us sufficient background information on the victim and her family.

Very fast paced and detailed accounting of a truely horrific crime. Clearly expressed the human side of this family tragedy and all those who were involved in solving such a tough case. Overall, a very absorbing book. Kudos to the author.

This book was completely unorganized and hard to follow. The author jumps around a lot. He refers to people by their given names, then only by their nicknames, then a hundred or so pages later, he's back to their given names again. I had to go back to figure out who he was referring to because the nicknames were all so close. It is sad what happened to the girl, but this book was terrible and not a good read. Some of my favorite true crime authors are Ann Rule and Jack Olsen. I read a lot of books, this one was DEFINITELY not worth it!

As true crime books go, this is definitely a good one. It is a very intersting plot-line with a totally distasteful villain. There is enough interesting material to keep my attention through all 345 pages, which canmnot be said for all true crime books. The author is a newspaper reporter who covered the case and it is very well written.

I couldn't put this book down-although a horrible story, it was written in such a gripping manner! I will look for more of Crowley's books.

Burned Alive is one book that I cry about. A sad tale of a young girl's life that ended before her time in a truely heartless and cowardly way by people trying to save themselves. The pain and fear Kim Antonakos must have felt and the pain her family and friends were put through and will always be put through for the rest of their lives. If you love true crime, you'll love this book. Very well written with lots of detailed information about the abduction, trial, and investigation. A must for all true crime fans.

This book was very well written and clear. Crowley is an excellent story teller and very accurate on each account. I found the true crime novel easy to read and an all-nighter. This cautionary tale is about a young college student, Kimberly Antonakos, who was viciously torched with gasoline and fire by the very people she extended her home to. The motive: absolute and insane greed! This case was heartbreaking and sends off a new respect for detectives in general. The sad moral in this story is that no one is your friend and becareful whom you befriend.

I have not read the book because it would be too painful. But I knew Kim and her father and they truely loved each other, he is a wonderful man with a loving relationship with Kim. All of his pain and suffering is too much for a father to have to go thru. Kim was not spoiled and was a sweetheart and did not deserve this but is with our Father in Heaven with perfect love and peace and she deserves that. May God bless her father and family.