Teach Me to Kill [Paperback]

Stephen Sawicki (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1991

The true story of Pamela Smart, the school teacher who gave lessons in love and murder.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (Mm); 1ST edition (November 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380766493
• ISBN-13: 978-0380766499
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,319,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pamela Smart,you make me sick!, January 19, 2000

By 

Ellen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Me to Kill (Paperback)

This woman is an evil,selfish, cunning nasty piece of work. You should be able to feel safe in the knowledge that your child is working on a project with school teacher. NOT THIS ONE!Not only does this woman in her twenties seduce a boy of sixteen but she plays mind games with him.She tells him that her husband beats her and that she must have him out of her life and she talks her young pupil/lover into killing him with a couple of his friends. This young boy (Billy),is so in love with his 'older woman'that he doesn't want to lose her and in desperation,he shoots Pamelas husband. She never plays the grieving widow and in fact seems to revel in the limelight that comes her way.She is so sure of herself that she can't help her runaway mouth which is eventually her downfall. I hope she gets what she deserves in jail,I never want to see her freed from prison. I feel so much for the victim,Greg and his family who have to live their lives knowing that their daughter in law is responsible for the death of their son. Pamela Smart makes me sick!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of My Top 10 Favorite True Crime Books!!, February 26, 2011

By 

B. Ryan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Teach Me to Kill (Paperback)

This book has to be one of my favorite all-time true crime books. I have read it several times. It's the story of a young 22 year old woman, Pamela Smart, who recruits her teenage lover to murder her husband of one year, Greg Smart. The book is incredibly interesting. I like everything about it. I can only say that I have read a lot of true crime books and this one is perfect - the author has done his homework (it was written before the Internet made it so easy to research a crime). You will get to know Pamela Smart - she is a witty and in-your-face type of person. You will also get to dislike her for the turmoil she has caused. I love this book!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not So Smart, July 28, 2008

By 

Dan Bogaty "Mr. Congeniality" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Teach Me to Kill (Paperback)

True crime aficianados will remember the case of Pamela Smart. Smart was 22 years old, college educated, and professionally employed when she began a sexual relationship with a naive 16 year old student at the school where she worked. She then proceded, for reasons that are not entirely clear to the author, to manipulate the student, Billy Flynn, along with his friends to murder her husband, threatening that if he did not do so, she would be unable to continue seeing him. The crime was so ill conceived - the commissioning of 4 teenage high school boys, one of whom is porking the commissioner, apparently with some strange expectation that no one would learn about the affair or the identities of the killers - as to be ridiculous. The book follows typical true crime format concluding with the arrests and trial.

In TEACH ME TO KILL, Stephen Sawicki has written an excellent book. Sawicki's writing and research are excellent. The style is reportorial. There is no filler, no repetition, and the only trial or police investigation material is interesting and necessary. There is considerable background information on the principal players and some excellent scene setting in the detailed description of the poor Seabrook, NH, neighborhood where the boys lived. The book moves rapidly and is an easy and very enjoyable read.
And the cover is hot.

I highly recommend TEACH ME TO KILL to lovers of the genre.