Customer Reviews

Precious Angels: A True Story of Two Slain Children and a Mother convicted of Murder (Onyx True Crime)

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

How can Barbara Davis claim to be an investigative reporter when she now says that her "non-fiction" book was actually fiction! Don't buy the book. I foresee it being required reading for journalism students. Professors will use it to demonstrate how not to investigate a story. She has said that her portrayal of the facts was incorrect because she was misled by the attornies and police. A real reporter is skeptical about everything they hear and see. She should have known to never take anybody's word as truth. Even the Routier's neighbors have said that Davis didn't contact them for interviews. Neighbors are character witnesses. What was she thinking? (She was probably thinking, the quicker I write this book, the quicker I get paid.) Her publisher should sue her for not doing her job and make her give all of her profit to charity. Since she has recanted her story, I now question everything else she has written, and everything else she'll write. The next time she tries to write a book, look for it in the "Your Guess is as Good as Mine" section.

It is a welcome breath of fresh air, to finally read an unbiased, unsolicited opinion of this sad blot on American gothic suburbia. As a former resident of the county and state under examination, and someone who attended the trial, it is very refreshing to find someone not swayed by the histrionics that the family of the convicted murderer so diligently deploy. Ms. Davis' review of the trial is unerring, and ultimately this is what matters most...not Darlie's supporters' unverified claims of new evidence and "shocking untold stories." I doubt that this review will earm me much more than a ton of unwanted email, but it must be said that this book, as part of the Darlie Routier canon, finally lays the question to rest for any person of reason and rationality. I have no doubt that Darlie Kee can find all manner of falsehoods and dis-information here, but if she didn't, her new career as a talk show victim would be over, then, wouldn't it?

While Barbra Davis hits closer to the truth than Patricia Springer and has a writing style more mind capturing than that of Don Davis, This is a work of fiction with minor references to some shreads of truth. Ms. Davis herself now denouces the content and claims to back Darlie 100%. My advice to true crime writers is get all the facts before you start putting out literary works that claim to be the true story. I think it is a good thing that all of the profits from this book have been given to the Darlie Routier Defense fund. If one really is interested in the truth of this case the trial transcripts are on line. Too bad all of these sub standard authors got a hold of this one before Ann Rule! Now I bet she would have written the more of the truth and less sensationalizm. Read if you enjoy comparing media "truths" to actual facts.

I thought that Ms. Davis did a terrific job of telling this horrible story. But it now seems that she has recanted her theory about Darlie being the murderer? I guess the dog, (who barked at strangers) not barking that night to wake her husband up, is not true. And no blood leading out of the house was not true, Darlie's strange behavior was not true either? How could someone write a book like that, and then go on to say she was misinformed by the police? Why would the police go after Darlie and not her husband? I guess people don't want to believe a mother could kill her child. As for the self inflicted wounds -- Jeffrey McDonald inflicted his own wounds. And why would a man break into a home and kill two small children and leave two adults alive? How did the killer leave? With all that blood why wasn't any found outside? I believe Darlie did it and her husband is not too far behind her in the lunacy department. Darlie is right where she belongs - ok - not yet -- she belongs in hell and it's waiting for her.

As for reading that the author's child was murdered over this book -- I find that hard to believe - Is it true?

Of the books written about the Darlie Routier case, Precious Angels by Barbara Davis is the best book because it gives the most insight into Darlie Routier as a person. It is a shame that Barbara Davis later recanted her theory that Darlie is guilty after seeing some photographs she believed the jury had not seen. The problem is that does not change some of the right-on-point observations about Darlie lacking in other books about the case. The reason, however, that I did not give this book five stars and do not put much credence in the recantation is that Barbara Davis misunderstands the reason for the killings and would not be able to explain why the defense eventually conceded that Darlie is the killer.

One great observation by Barbara Davis, at page 50, is "...Mama Darlie's (a reference to Darlie Kee, Darlie Routier's mother) temper was so explosive that she would lash out at all three girls with little provocation. Darlie, being the oldest, received the brunt of most of her mother's tirades." Another, at page 260, discussing Darlie's decision to take the stand at her trial, which was the primary reason for her conviction and resulting death sentence, states, "Darlie being Darlie, she stubbornly insisted on taking the stand. She was convinced that she could talk her way out of anything. So far in life her charm had served her well. There was no reason to believe that this would be any different." The photos that Barbara Davis saw obviously don't change those observations.

Despite all the very poor guesses about the motive for the killings, the motive revealed when one uses proper crime scene analysis techniques is jealousy. What you have is a world-class manipulator who learned from her mother to explode outward when she did not get her way, and did so early on the morning of June 6, 1996. Although Barbara Davis guessed that the two boys were killed because they got in the way and Darlie found it necessary to run over them, the killings are actually jealous rage killings.

Although Mr. Moffatt gave his best try in his May 9, 2007 review of "Precious Angels" to suggest that Darlie might be innocent, that conclusion was nearly four years too late. He would have been better off referencing the decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Routier v. State, 112 S.W.3d 554, 2004 Tex. Crim. App. Lexis 92 (May 21, 2003), 2nd paragraph, "The appellant (Darlie) does not challenge the legal or factual sufficiency of the evidence to support her conviction..." Her attorneys not challenging the evidence presented to convict her is inconsistent with her being innocent and even Barbara Davis would not be able to explain away that observation.

This was a sad story of two slain children and mostly well written. The author is so conviencing with her take on the evidence and her insights regarding the trial. The author gives detailed forensic evidence that is so compelling toward the conviction of Darlie Routier. Later I saw Mrs. Davis in an interview and she has recanted her thoughts that Darlie was guilty. She states she now believes Darlie is innocent despite the evidence she so vividly examines. I look forward to reading the other viewpoint to Darlies innocence in the book, "media tried justice denied" written by another author. I firmly was swayed to her guilt in this book by Barbara Davis.

First, the book was extremely well written with well developed characters. I particularly liked the flashback style used by the author. Second, the facts were presented in a very even handed style. The other two books on this subject were quite biased and it was obvious. Don Davis's bland telling of Hush Little Babies didn't really give us much information and he took pains to ignore information brought out in the trial. Patricia Springer's Flesh and Blood was a mean spirited vindictive book full of errors. One wonders after reading it just what Ms. Springer personally has against the Routiers. In Precious Angels if Ms. Davis disliked the family it was not obvious. Her text stuck with the facts. The story itself is horrible enough without detractions like Ms. Springer's book had. Exciting read and I felt like I had attended the trial. I especially liked the way the author did the trial scenes. Basically, the book beat the heck out of the other two written on this subject. If fact, it beat the heck out of most of the books I've read lately.

Having read a great deal of material concerning the Routier case, I was surprised that another account of the murders, and subsequent trial, could hold my attention. I read this book in less than 24 hours.

I purchased the book with some hesitation. Barbara Davis has changed her mind on Ms. Routier's guilt and I think she might be a bit self serving in writing a follow up book on the sugject. I suppose I'll have to read her latest book on the subject to compare.

"Precious Angels" bears a very strong resemblance to "Flesh and Blood" by Patricia Springer. Of course, it stands to reason that it would since it is the telling of the same story. Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that this is a tale that is spell binding, and Davis' telling of the story is a good read.

This chilling story of Darlie Routier's two slain children is portrayed wonderfully by Barbara Davis. It is well written and hard to put down. It is painfully true, as well as hard to believe that a mother could be so unemotional about killing her own children. To think that no one knew or suspected her not even her own family is what I personally found amazing. This book made you reconsider who you can trust and who you can't. An astoninshing story of the ironic truth of this deceitfull mother will truely pull at your heart strings and sway you to believe in the guilt of Darlie Routier.

I was in the true crime section of my local Waldenbooks when this cover caught my eye. A white sofa with a teddybear and the bloody handprint of a small child. I've been a true crime buff since I read Helter Skelter in the mid-80's, but, being the mother myself of two sons (who are now in their mid-twenties),I found it almost unbelievable that this woman could have butchered her little boys. I read the book and became almost obsessed with the Darlie Lynn Routier case . I Read Patricia Springer's "Flesh and Blood"," Don Davis'
Hush, Little Babies,", and paid an exorbitant amount of money for "Media Tried, Justice Denied", by Chris Brown. I even went to Rowlette, TX when I was in the Dallas area in 2000. I felt I had to see the house, but never found it. I feel , no, I KNOW Darlie Routier is innocent, I can't say I feel the same about her husband Darrin. Well, maybe it was all a plan, a plot they worked out together to get some insurance money, there has been some evidence to prove Darren (however he spells it), was looking for someone to burglarize their home for insurance money.
Maybe Darlie had nothing to do with it, maybe she did. But I will never believe she slaughtered her sons and nearly killed herself, how did she get her arms so bruised, did she beat them against the walls until the ambulance got there? This is quite a mystery, that's what makes it so enthralling, I think an innocent woman is on death row, and she deserves a second trial without all those good ol' boy Texans that put her where she never should have been in the first place. People mourn in different ways, if she wanted to spray silly string on her boys' graves, to me, that proves she might not be the brightest star in the galaxy, but hell, she surely is innocent. A pretty and vain woman like Darlie wouldn't have taken a knife to her own throat, nearly severing her own carotid artery. Go figure. And a bloody sock with the blood of one of the victims was found far enough away from the house, Darlie couldn't have planted it there, called 911, and still played out this scenario. The facts show there was a black car cruising the neighborhood around this time. There is now the undisputable fact that there was found an unidentifiable bloody fingerprint that does not match any of the known participants. Where did this come from? And Barbara Davis, the author of this book did an about face and after viewing all the physical evidence, came to the conclusion, Darlie didn't do it. I'm so sorry for Ms. Davis, that her own son was murdered by Texas cops in their own home later. Could it be connected? I'm sure it is, I think one of Texas' own sons has something to do with this. Linda p.s Whatever happens, God bless Drake, Darlie's only remaining son.