Customer Reviews

Torture at the Back Forty: The Gang Rape and Slaying of Margaret Anderson

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well I am shocked by all those raving reviews. I am so disappointed with this book just because of them. I expected a great book but it wasn't great at all. The author just touched a little bit on the crime (they did not really know what really happened) People say they got to know the victim Margaret? well not at all. Maybe 1 chapter was about her but then you still do not really get to know her.
Most chapters are (it is a very short book only 165 pages) are that the cops are wondering where they were hiding, and you get to hear many different names which makes it confusing and to be honest not very interesting, plus most people were lying to the cops. Then they find them and you get the trial. Well most boring trial ever. I plead the 5th is all they say.

I was glad I finished it and am a bit pissed of that I spend my money on this based on the amazon reviewers. Are these all reviewers who get the book for free before the book is published? I hardly write reviews because my English is not good enough to really say adequate what I mean but in this case I had to.

Mike Dauplaise tells a story about a 1983 crime so horrific, people who lived in Green Bay at the time, as I did, remember it to this day. He tells of a motorcycle culture that cared for little about their women, and how Margaret Anderson stumbled into the middle of it, with horrifying results. He gives the details true-crime readers want - as gruesome as they may be. He paints a picture so vivid that the reader feels as though they're there. And when justice is meted out in the end to those who committed her murder, as a reader, I nearly cheered.

Central thoughout the story, however, and never forgotten, was Margaret. A woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her story needed to be told, and Dauplaise does it with flair.

Author Dauplaise delves into the complex details surrounding this horrific crime and presents them in a clear, concise manner. From the onset, the reader is impacted by the vicious brutality inflicted on Margaret Anderson. Mike Dauplaise humanizes this woman. The biker subculture and attitude of the time is explored and the story of the manhunt to capture those involved adds to the intrigue.

I am a fan of true crime books and this will be one of my favorites. It is precise and to the point. Mike did a great job of conveying what happened to Margaret and all events leading up to, during, and after the murder, without dragging it out. The pictures made you feel like you were there. It held my interest from start to finish. Once I started it it was hard to put down. Even if you aren't a true crime fan, you'll want to read this book.

True crime had never previously been at the top of my "must read" list, but after reading Dauplaise's "Torture at the Back Forty", I'm left feeling as though I'd like to read more of this genre. I also have a whole new respect for the true crime writer, as they obviously sort through an enormous amount of paperwork to research the story line, and deliver it accurately to the readers. After reading this book, and having no desire to put it down until it ended, I'm convinced that this author, Mike Dauplaise, is one to keep your eyes on. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from him. If you haven't read it yet, I'd highly recommend you do. You'll be surprised at the variety of emotions you'll feel as the story captivates you.

Author Mike Dauplaise stuns readers with his vivid and blunt account of the terror Margaret Anderson endured the night she was murdered in 1983.

This is a fast read that accurately portrays not only who Margaret was and the monsters who left her for dead, but also the tireless effort of this Midwestern towns' police force to bring Margaret's killers to justice.

True crime fan or not, this book should be high on your list!

Author Mike Dauplaise leaves --NO detail untold-- as he masterfully takes us back to 1983 where in Green Bay Wisconsin a local woman is savagely tortured and then murdered by a gang of biker thugs. The harsh winter conditions during the brutal attack, and Margaret's perseverance to live and walk for help, just blew my mind. What a read! What detail! I especially liked how Dauplaise precisely and neatly describes how police detectives were able to -- through complete patience and diligence of their trade -track down- and catch the cagey criminals. NO cold case there -- thanks to Wisconsin law enforcement!

This book will take anyone who lived in Green Bay in 1983 back in time to that fateful night. This was probably the most horrific crime that ever happened in this city & Dauplaise gives a riveting account of the events that led up to it, the murder itself, the manhunts, the trials, & the aftermath. I read the entire book in one long Saturday afternoon...simply could not put it down. It does not disappoint!!

Torture at the Back Forty kept me engaged from the first page to the last. I'd never read anything about the 1% biker gangs that brag about riding on the wrong side of the law. It was hard to fathom that within the wholesome community of Green Bay, there were these underlings that treated their "old ladies" in such a despicable fashion. There seemed to be no motive for Margaret's sad and gruesome death - only that these miserable human beings enjoyed degrading women.

I liked how Mike's descriptions of the 80s era, puts you back in time, where detectives had to rely on their inherent crime-solving skills rather than today's technology. The writing is fast-paced in a reporter's style that allows the reader to ultimately reach a somewhat surprising conclusion.

I enjoy true stories. This is one that will stay with me for a long time.

This book, describing a horrific death and exhaustive investigation, was a page-turner. It was hard to imagine how any woman could be treated the way Margaret Anderson was. I cringed at the reading and kept turning back to her serene face in one of the photos and then to the four "animals" that took her life away from her.

I had read and enjoyed Bodyguard to the Packers - a book that Mike Dauplaise wrote in conjunction with the Packers head of security, Jerry Parins. One of the most interesting chapters was a synopsis of the Margaret Anderson crime. Before taking on his full-time duties with the Packers, Parins had been the Green Bay detective on that case. I finished Bodyguard wanting to know more and Mike delivered. His detailed and complex chronology of the case in Torture at the Back Forty was easy to follow - from the local investigation, to the up-north garage sale, and finally to the America's Most Wanted show.

This is a must read for true crime fans that relish in the hunt and enjoy courtroom scenes where creative attorneys try out new tactics to ultimately place these dregs-of-the-earth in prison. Yet... what made Torture more interesting is that the reader is left unsure. Who was Margaret's ultimate murderer? I guess only that biker-gang of four will ever know.