Customer Reviews

Kill Grandma for Me

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Jim DeFelice's "Kill Grandma For Me" is a thin book whose subjects, Wendy Gardner and James Evans, are portrayed as a 1990s' Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately for the original Romeo and Juliet, Wendy and James murdered Wendy's grandmother Elizabeth, and went on a shopping spree with money the woman had put back for bills on a limited income.

The story is lurid enough without DeFelice's prose, which approaches the ridiculous as he tries to dramatize a sordid situation. Both Wendy and James were born to dysfunctional parents, but where James was in and out of trouble (and one correctional facility), Wendy lived with her strict grandmother, who verbally (and possibly physically) abused her. James was a bully who terrorized younger kids; Wendy was having sex by the time she was 12. And the reason these two kids murdered an old woman was so that they could continue their affair unrestrained.

DeFelice should take care in choosing the subject for his next book. Wendy and James are far from sympathetic subjects--more like repellent reasons why parenthood should require psychological exams and licensing. As for the grandmother, I pitied her cruel death, but DeFelice hardly fleshed her character out at all.

"Kill Grandma For Me" will do if, like me, you have an hour to spend at a boring function and nothing else to read (like a bus schedule). Otherwise, anything else can replace it. And no, Wendy and James are not Romeo and Juliet--more like pre-destined America's Most Wanted.

I believe the author did an excellent job of blending all the different parts of the story, backgrounds, crime, and court case into a book that reads like a novel. He does paint the main characters, Wendy and James, in a sympathetic light. However, when the killers are 15 and 13 years old, you can't help but feel sad. However, he never goes so far as to say punishment isn't deserved. It is just a sad story of two kids who made a very bad decision. Very well written.

this has got to be one of the very worse books i have read. love true crime but this one put me to sleep. waste of money- what can i say?

DeFelice's book provokes a desperate sadness for the two children whose lives seemed doomed from the start. He makes no apologies for these children, however, as they turn to murder. Indeed, Kill Grandma for Me is remarkable in its attempt to place us in the minds and emotions of two deeply disturbed young people as they, in effect, make their permanent exit from the world of civilized human beings.

I sorta knew what I was letting myself in for when I bought it, and wasn't disappointed. True-crime books of the stature of "In Cold Blood" or "The Executioner's Song" seem, generally speaking, to be a thing of the past. The true-crime books glutting the market now tend to be superficial, often poorly written, and exploitative. Why'd I buy this particular superficial, often poorly written, and exploitative book? Saugerties, NY, is one of my favorite upstate towns, and it's always more interesting, if not fascinating, to read about a place you know, even if you only know it as a visitor. Too, as jaded a society as we've unfortunately become over the past several decades, the thought of a 13-year old adolescent and her not-much older boyfriend brutally killing her grandmother still has the ability to shock and one can't help but ask, even as one's mind reels in horror at what human beings-- even 13 and 15 year old human beings-- are capable of doing to each other, "Why? How is this allowed to happen in an ostensibly civilized and compassionate society? How does a 13-year old child become so evil or so sick?" Well, don't expect any answers from DeFelice's book beyond simplistic, facile ones, or any thought-provoking insight. In a nutshell, it's a relatively pedestrian re-creation of the events leading up to the crime, the crime itself, and the aftermath. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the reporting, although certain accusations of "artistic license" have been leveled against the author (for instance, I believe Wendy Gardner recently has said she never "cut" herself, to use one example). This is not to say it's not a brisk, occasionally engrossing, read. The nature of the crime itself almost guarantees that. But, sadly, the book ultimately has little within it to distinguish it from the plethora of other "true-crime" books out there. As a final note: I've read on the internet that James Evans has recently been denied parole. Wendy Gardner was paroled a few years ago, has married, is attending college, and is apparently attempting to do something worthwhile with her life.

It's been some time ago that I read this book but I do remember being horrified that a child this young could be so cold-hearted as to arrange the murder of her grandmother and with no remorse. Well written and easy reading true crime.

One easily forgets that the grandmother had as much right to her life as the teenagers did. They committed this murder and should be punished accordingly. There is little sympathy for cold blooded killers who use age and circumstances as excuses for their behavior.

***"This rag depicts Wendy as a cold-blooded, sex crazed monster who cared nothing for her Grandmother.****

I loved the book and I feel it was very well written. As for the quote from an earlier reviewer... cold blooded- Wendy planned the murder and placed the body in the trunk- that to me is cold blooded. Sex crazed- fact is that they did have sex right after the horrible crime. Who care nothing about her grandmother- well I can honestly say that I would not want someone to care for me that much as to want me dead so they could spend all my money for nonsense. Facts are evident.. horrible crime with unjust convictions. Many criminal minds are still rotting away in prison that did not kill but planned the murder, but some get away with murder. I too know this case well and will sign my name as Friend of James.

Yea no doubt lets not put all the blame on Evans, that BS. They were both young so lets not get carried away and paint her as Mother Teresa. Everyone wants to paint her as this poor innocent girl that had nothing to do with the murder. She beat the crap out of her sister so she wouldnt go to the cops, she put the body in the trunk of a car and drove around for days with the body inside. The girl got what she deserved and its a shame shes out today. She should still be locked up just as long as Evans. She got off because shes a girl and thats sexist. And I too know the case and parties involved, and thought the book was pretty acurate with the exception that Evans was not this monster that the book made him out to be.

Mr. Defelice did a remarkable job relating both the murder and the trial. Unfortunitly he did not attend the trial and had to rely on what other told him, which often times was not 100% accurate. If you are truly interested in these people, get hold of the July/August, 1997 edition of the American Lawyer.