Customer Reviews

Lethal Marriage

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was the first of the "big three" on this case that I got my hands on. I remember when it was going on, being in NY I would hear the bits and pieces about the actual case while hearing more about the suppression and censorship that was going on.

If I had read the other two first my review on this book would have ended up different. I am a devotee of true crime, I've spent ten years avidly devouring any and all true crime I can get my paws on so this book was one I dove into with relish.

I was horrified at what I read. Horrified, disgusted and angered. I spent about twenty minutes just staring at the pictures of Karla and Paul after I read about Tammy.

I found the book informative and an easy read for a grim and horrific situation. What I found slightly disturbing as a female was what I interpreted as the author's depiction of Karla as victim instead of equal. A dear friend of mine was a battered wife who spent 5 years with her husband because when she first found him he appeared the perfect catch. I gave the book to my friend to read (she escaped with the help of a safe house and the cretin is far away in prison)and she was enraged at Karla's usage of being a victim to justify a cold, psychotic mind.

After reading the other two books on the case (to be reviewed next) and hours upon hours of independent research, I feel this book is a good read but a deceptive one. The reader my come away feeling sympathy for Karla and I don't believe she deserves a bit of it.

I would recommend this book yet I would also recommend the other two books, a copy of Paul's trial transcript a look on the net at the pictures of Karla and her friends in jail eating cake and petting a puppy.

Nick Pron does a disservice to the families of the victims of the crimes committed by Paul and Karla Bernardo in this book. It is painfully clear that the author believes that Karla Bernardo is a victim of her husband's abuse and continually attempts to justify her actions by using this defense throughout the novel.

I was extremely dissappointed in this book although I am sure that somewhere, Karla Bernardo smiles when she thinks of Nick Pron.

This is the only book I have ever read that made me throw up. I actually got physically sick from the details in this story. If you have a queasy stomach, which I do not, I urge you to pass this 464-page book by. While it is excellently written and is everything a good book should be, what these people did is sickening! I have been a combat soldier that underwent terrorist and anti-terrorist training and an EMT on a crash & rescue unit. I thought I had seen some horrible things. But these people were depraved and demented. They took things beyond the capability of my wildest imagination.

This case created what is said to be the "costliest and, by far, most controversial manhunt and most sensational trial in Canada's history." It was considered too grisly for television and newspaper coverage at the time. This is the first complete and uncensored account of this couple's rape/murder spree. There is a large percentage of the population that feel justice was not served in this case and that feel the prosecutors failed to do their job.

In spite of the gory details, or perhaps because of them, this is a fascinating read. You just cannot believe that it is nonfiction. It makes you look twice at everyone you meet.

"Lethal Marriage" tells the (sadly) true story about Canada's most imfamous murderous couple, their crimes, their trials, and their effect on the public at large. This was the most sensational, horrific, and scarring murder case in Canadian History.

All the warnings you have read so far are well justified, this book is a bitter pill to swallow. But if you are considering reading a book on the subject, you likely know what you are getting into. The book details the brutal murders of three young girls (I count Karla's sister as one of them), the series of rapes in the 1980's (that threw the public into a panic), and their controversial trials. The imfamous video tapes made of the brutal rapes are spelled out, almost transcripted in this book. It is not easy to stomach, but it shows the extent of which not only Bernardo, but Homolka is guilty. One of the cornerstones of "Lethal Marriage" is showing that, although abused, Karla Homolka was an active participant, and therefore just as guilty. Her plea bargain caused quite a stir of public anger.

At the heart of "Lethal Marriage" is an important story that needed to be told. It is a story about a flawed system, poor police work, and the circumstances where at least three people died because of poor communication and the fact that Bernardo's DNA evidence sat on the sheft for 2 years, untouched, while he was on his crime spree. As the author pointed out, "There are many cases of fine police work in the past, this case is not one of those successes. To say otherwise would be a lie". Nick Pron is a well-respected crime reporter with over 30 years of experience, and his opinionated approach helps to bring details to light that show how sloppy the police work was, and how guilty the killers were.

Whatever your opinion on the case, this will be a hard book to put down once you start. It is very well written, and is more shocking than any work of fiction out there. Some consider this book an injustice to the families of the victims, or that it is pornographic. I can't totally disagree with them, but it's still a good book. Just be warned, you may have trouble sleeping after reading it.

I couldn't stop reading this book once I started, and I had tears in my eyes through the chapters involving the murders. This book gives actual quotes from the videotapes made of the murders. The author covers the crimes, the murders of Tammy, Leslie and Kristen, using language from the tapes and transcripts of the trial. If you want more coverage of Paul and Karla, and less coverage and details of the crimes, read "Deadly Innocence"; it gives the reader great insight and background to the lives of the murderers. The authors go into almost excruciating detail of Paul and Karla's childhood lives and upbringing, and give the reader a detailed account of their sick & twisted relationship through the eyes of their friends. In all honesty ---- "Lethal Marriage" was almost too much for me. I was unable to sleep after I'd gotten through the chapter on Leslie's murder.

I have been reading true crime almost exclusively since I can remember and this book is ranked in my top 3. It intrigues and captures the reader from the childhoods of Karla and Paul to the investigation and following trial. All I can say is Canada should of reinstalled the guillotine for these 2 depraved individuals. It is apalling and quite scary that they, especially Karla, will get out of prison. I moved from the US to Quebec in 95 and the trial of Paul Bernardo dominated the news, this book allowed me to see what all the fuss was about. It also allowed me to realise how dangerous it is to give 2 seemingly normal and upstanding individuals directions on a deserted street and for that, I thank you Nick Pron. I would recommend this book but only if you do not mind graphic descriptions of sexual crimes.

This book was a very fast read, although, if you have a queasy stomach you might want to skip this one. Nick Pron tells the story using actual dialogue from the videotaped rapes. This book is absolutely haunting. I am glad I read it but I feel a tremendous pain for the victims and their families after reading it. It seems a shame that Paul and Karla cannot pay for their crimes with a more fitting punishment.

The characters, events and locations featured in this book came to mind during a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, St. Catharines and Port Dalhousie in July, 2001. Karla and Paul's house at 57 Bayview Dr. (Port Dalhousie) no longer exists...it was destroyed, the lot was renumbered as 61 Bayview Dr. and a large, contemporary, two-story house sticks out in sharp contrast to the architecturally-eclectic homes on the quiet street near the shores of Lake Ontario. I talked to a neighbor who was upset that another house had been built on "that evil ground." According to two store owners, the town's residents are still trying to heal from the terrible events that occurred "right under our noses." One dress shop owner said that Karla's mother has occasionally come in and talks about her daughter as though she has done nothing wrong! She recounted a time when Karla's mother left the shop just as Kristen's mother came in...everyone held their breath. Whether or not Karla has been released from prison is unclear, but another store owner seemed to think that she went into a government relocation program in exchange for testifying against her husband. I don't know if the Homolka's still live at 61 Dundonald St. in St. Catharines. Karla's sister has changed her name and I believe moved away. The Martindale Veterinary Clinic where Karla worked is still in business. Kristen's family still lives in the same house. The picturesque and charming areas of St. Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake are certainly an incongruous setting for the gruesome crimes commited by Karla and Paul.

I have read quite a few true crime books and this is THE most chilling and disturbing book by far. If you have a weak heart and/or weak stomach, do not read this book. Once I picked this book up, I could not put it down.

Nick Pron's Lethal Marriage easily qualifies as the most disturbing book I have ever read. It is about two of Canada's most demented serial rapists/killers: Paul Bernardo and his ex-wife Karla Homolka. Currently, Paul Bernardo is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole. His ex-wife, Karla Homolka has been released from prison in 2005 after serving a ridiculous twelve year sentence. That's twelve years for her involvement in the kidnapping, drugging, raping, torturing, and murder of several teenage girls, including her younger sister.

Now that this sadistic individual is enjoying her freedom once more, I sincerely hope that she moved into a better location; one that's right next door to one of her morally corrupt defense lawyers who co-acted the infamous "deal with the devil." Yes, the Canadian criminal justice system is very weak... pathetic would be the right word, as Pron - perhaps unintentionally - reveals in this book. Who knows, perhaps one day Bernardo too may be set free and look for a new neighborhood to move into.

However, this book is about the criminals themselves and not so much about Canada's criminal justice system. So the emphasis, of course, is on Bernardo and Homolka. Pron writes about their childhood years, their family background, their personalities, their ambitions, how the met, and how they committed unthinkable, utterly shocking crimes. Written more like a novel than a non-fiction, Pron produced a book I could praise as a page-turner. However, due to the ultra violent content, where the author censors absolutely nothing, some parts of this book are more like a page-skipper.

As hard as it is to believe, Bernardo and Homolka videotaped their crimes for their own enjoyment, and Pron provides us with the transcripts. The transcripts are extremely disturbing. They contain vexing foul language and the information Pron presents are too graphic for me to even mention. Pron provides play-by-play commentary - as he describes to the greatest possible degree - the utterly disgusting things the killers did to each other, but mostly to their helpless victims; everything entirely uncensored.

This includes the victims pleading for their lives, as well as the methods the two psychos used to administer the physical abuses and psychological torment. And the details are long and tiring; Pron keeps going on and on to the point where I started thinking to myself, when is this going to end? Eventually I began to skip a few of the repetitive paragraphs. Next thing I knew, I was skipping entire pages simply to avoid reading any more of the excruciating details, which quite frankly, angered me. I mean, how much is enough? Providing any further detail is completely unnecessary. It was too much to handle. Even if the author gave one-tenth of the details, that would be more than enough. I think that Pron should have shown a little restrain, for the sake of the victims and their families. I really don't see a point in going that far in giving every possible bit of shocking detail. But then again, when you're a crime reporter for nearly 30 years, such things are not as shocking or disturbing anymore.

But aside from my discontent over the graphic descriptions of violence, I thought the book was thoroughly researched and very well constructed. Pron conducted a great amount of research for this project and gives us a crystal clear picture of who Bernardo and Homolka are, what they did, how they did it, why they did it and so on. The author also tells us about the police investigations, the tactics they used in their attempt to find the killers (which all failed), the frustrations they experienced, and finally, how the child killers were caught. A few words here and there about the killers' families and their reactions to the killings are also written. Then Pron moves on to the trials, the legal system, the lawyers, the plea bargains, the courts, and in the end, the sentences.

It's an informative book, but I must warn that children or persons suffering from anxiety disorders or depression (or worse), or anyone who's sensitive to such subject matter, should not under any circumstances read this book. I'm not a psychotherapist, but common sense tells me that the consequences could be very negative.