Salt of the Earth: A Mother, A Daughter, A Murder [Paperback]

Jack Olsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0312959982 | ISBN-13: 978-0312959982 | Edition: Repack

Joe Gere said he died on the afternoon his twelve-year-old daughter Brenda disappeared. It was left to Brenda's mother Elaine to sustain her stricken family, search for her missing child, and pressure the authorities for justice. From the first minutes of the investigation, suspicion fell on Michael Kay Green, a steroid-abusing "Mr. Universe" hopeful, but there was no proof of a crime, leaving police and prosecutors stymied.

Tips and sightings poured in as lawmen and volunteers combed the Cascades forest in the biggest search on Northwest history. Years passed with no sight of the blue-eyed girl or the bright clothes she'd worn on the day she disappeared, but Elaine remained undaunted.

Salt of the Earth is the true story of how one woman fought and triumphed over life-shattering violence and how she healed her family-and herself.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The title of this book refers neither to the murderer who destroyed the hard-won tranquillity of a young couple and their three children, nor to the 12-year-old victim, but to the victim's mother. Without subtracting an iota from the uniqueness of her story, Jack Olsen portrays Elaine Gere as one of those heroically strong American women whose lives usually pass unheralded. We follow her indomitable spirit from a childhood in squalor, to marriage and family, to the disappearance of her daughter, through the baffling and enervating aftermath of a high-profile crime, through the years when her devastated husband flounders in alcoholism and turns violent, to the final healing of her broken family. David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars, writes, "Salt of the Earth constitutes a literary achievement of the highest order. It is the complexity of life, its mystery and beauty, its violence and love and terrible strangeness, that Jack Olsen forces us to confront here."

From Publishers Weekly

Anyone who doubts that women are the stronger sex would be well advised to read this tale of Elaine Mayzsak Gere, who not only endured but triumphed over two violent tragedies in her family. Raised in California and trained to work hard even as a child, she married Joe Gere, a local boy who served in Korea, became a police officer and was badly hurt in a confrontation with two drugged arsonists. After many moves up and down the West Coast, they settled in a town near Seattle, where in 1985 their daughter, Brenda, was abducted and murdered. Her body was found six years later. Joe came from a drinking family and turned into an alcoholic after Brenda's disappearance. In 1988, he committed suicide, shooting himself in the presence of his wife and two young sons. In 1993, the man who everyone was almost certain had abducted Brenda was finally tried, convicted and sentenced to life. Thus Elaine, who had struggled to hold the family together after the kidnapping, now had to help her sons recuperate from the twin traumas. Her firm religious faith and strong work ethic sustained her, and the story of her indomitability gives Olsen (Doc) the material for one of his most penetrating books. True Crime Club featured selection; Literary Guild, Mystery Guild, Doubleday Book Club featured alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; Repack edition (March 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312959982
• ISBN-13: 978-0312959982
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #770,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best...., June 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Salt of the Earth: One Family's Journey Through the Violent American Landscape (Audio Cassette)

Jack Olsen is great at true crime. He leaves no stone unturned, yet you never get bored. I have to agree with a fellow reviewer when he said that more time should have been spent on Michael Kay Green. The story, nonetheless is riveting. I could not put the book down. Elaine Gere is one tough lady, you sometimes feel like you are reading ficton yet it is real! I highly recommend "Salt".

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Write Stuff, August 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Salt of the Earth: A Mother, A Daughter, A Murder (Paperback)

Written by a master craftsman, Jack Olsen tells a story that still has be gripped.Skip the fotos until the very end(they won't help you much anyway) or the jacket back "give it away" and be patient though he first part, as the author builds the characterization of this all-too-American family, the salt of the earth. Until I got through that part, I still wasn't certain of what the crime would be or who committed it. The crime has to be one of the most despicable immaginable; the story has a familiar ring, how criminals and their advisors so often manipulate and frustrate the justice system. In the end, the perpetrator was rendered justice, but no punishment could ever match the pain he gave to the victims. Without giving away any of the story, I do wonder whether the family would have disintegrated eventually with our without the crime; in one way the grief held it together.

Here's a strong read of an entirely different genre: dated a bit but absolutely a book that will give you pause:

The Hot Zone

Both books were so good that a 12 hour flight to and from Paris passed quickly.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars getting to know the facts, February 28, 2000

By 

doug (Marysville, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Salt of the Earth: A Mother, A Daughter, A Murder (Paperback)

as one of the people to find the remains of little Brenda and to feel some of the horror behind what was her demise i found it comforting to find out that her killer was already in jail at the time we found her. Jack Olsen's powerful Story telling of the family and the details of what led to the horrible ending of a life, gave us some closher to what had been stunning and frightening to the famiies involved in the descovery of Brenda's Resting place.