Customer Reviews

Marked for Death

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So far I have read only the last two chapters. They deal with the case in court. I was pleasantly surprised to find the author,Mr. Karem , understood the nuances of the case so well that his writing was not 90%,not 99% , but 100% accurate. I'm amazed because even the attorneys on such complicated cases rarely exceed an understanding of about 80% Others who were involved in the case tell me the rest of the book faithfully recounts the actions of Eliza(hanged herself in jail) and Sarah.By the way,on 9/12/05 Sarah's appeal was denied.

In one night I read this book cover to cover. The case itself was interesting with a nice insight provided by the author into the mind and planned actions of the two evil female killers. What really kept me reading was how the author let me know, from the beginning of the book, the eventual outcome of the trial and the circumstances surrounding the death of one of the offenders and the sentencing of the other. In most true crime books I have read the author drags you through the crime details, the manhunt for the killer(s), capture and then the ultimate criminal sentence. The writing style of this book is different and it sets it apart from many other formula true crime books. A very good read!

What a great book.
The author really researched the chararcters of this book.
If you are a true crime fan this is a must read.
Great Great book I will buy more written by this author.

Brian J. Karem's MARKED FOR DEATH tells the story of Laren Sims a/k/a Elisa McNabney. Sims is portrayed as a self-centered manipulative teenager who as she got older developed into an excellent con woman. She also became increasingly sociopathic.
Having gone on the lam with her young daughter, Haylei, from her native Florida for violating her parole for a series of minor offenses, she kicked it into high gear ending up in Las Vegas and did what she did best - used men for their money. Astoundingly she did so without anyone knowing her real name as she used a variety of aliases and eventually became Elisa Redelsperger when she got married in Vegas to her husband Ken, who NEVER knew her real name. In fact no one other than Haylei in Nevada or California where she later moved ever knew her name. After she divorced Ken, she married Larry McNabney, a lawyer and quarter horseman and began working in his office and stealing from his clients.
Enter Sarah Dutra, a woman 10 years younger than Laren/Elisa, but every bit as venally sociopathic and manipulative. Elisa and Sarah became close as sisters or lovers, and proceeded to systematically loot the law firm of all its assets in a 2-year binge of clothes, fine restaurants, 3-day parties, sex, and drugs. Then, for reasons that are unclear to me since he was the source of all their money, they decided they wanted Larry dead. This is as far as I'll discuss the plot.

I read and reviewed another of Karem's books, INNOCENT VICTIMS, and liked it. MARKED FOR DEATH is not as good. Karem's writing is competent but uninspired. You will find much worse in true crime, but at the same time Karem's writing becomes kind of flat-line after a while, so that while it is not for the most part actively irritating, it becomes boring. And I wrote "not for the most part" because in this book Karem does occasionally use a device which is common in poorly written true crime and which I personally do not like: the insertion of asides and a smart-alecky tone which tends to inject his personality into the narrative. I believe that the best true crime is written reportorally and that when you have finished reading, you realize that while the book was well written, you were not aware of the author's thoughts and opinions.

The book has several other deficiencies:

The picture section is substandard. While there are numerous pictures of Larry McNabney, there are only two of Elisa and only a mug shot photo of Sarah. Per Karem, both of these women went to high school and Sarah was a college student as well, and Karem quotes from each of their high school yearbooks. It would seem that he could have at least used their yearbook pictures. Sarah is constantly referred to as beautiful, but the mug shot photo - in the way of mug shot photos - is ugly.

Two of the main participants in the book were dead when it was written, and there is little evidence that Karem spoke with the third. Probably for this reason, Karem was working with thin material, and as a result a lot of the narrative has a made-up feel common in true crime where the author is reporting things that he would have had no way of knowing if they really happened. And while he did interview a number of people for the book, a major part of what is said about the principals is unattributed which again left me questioning its accuracy. There are numerous passages that are clearly made up.

And finally, there is way too much repetition and padding. Information is stated and stated again and then restated. Hopefully the specified word count was reached.

It seems to me that due to the deaths of some of the main players, Karem didn't have a lot of material to work with and that though the story is very interesting, the book probably shouldn't have been written. If I could I'd actually rate it 2.5 stars. You will find far worse true crime than MARKED FOR DEATH, but there is also enough that is better that I wouldn't recommend it.

As a real fan of true crime mysteries, I expected this account to have the flair and appeal of 'Helter Skelter' but was sorely disppointed. The book states the facts with little style and while I finished the book--wanting to see what happens to the two murderesses, its abrupt ending, lack of personality, and zero allowance for readers seeking to identify with the victim, caused me to be acutely disappointed. Don't waste your money.

FOR SOME REASON, THIS BOOK, THE MORE I READ THE WORSE IT GOT. IN A WAY, I DON'T EVEN FEEL LIKE FINISHING IT. I'M ALMOST AT THE END AND IT JUST SEEMS TO KEEP SAYING THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER.