Until You See Me [Kindle Edition]

Roberta Degnore (Author)

Book Description

Why does a woman admit to a dismemberment murder so horrible the body can't be identified as a man or a woman? Because it's better than what she really did.

It was the crime of the decade in 1932. Grotesque. And it really happened, although not quite this way.

The dismembered, decomposing body is found stuffed in a steamer trunk. Pearl Tild confesses to it because it is a distraction. If everyone thinks about death, no one will ask about love... who she loves, and why.

This murder is a love story, or the end of one. The eternal triangle goes terribly wrong because these three people really love each other. But their love is too much. It 's what drives Pearl, her controlling husband, and the "other woman" to fight for their lives. They fight to the death for what they can't live without...each other.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Kirkus Reviews says "Until You See Me" is

"... a fascinating study of human behavior wraps around a cleverly written murder mystery where the identity of both victim and murderer are held in secret until the last possible moment. Degnore subtly peels back narrative layers to bring Pearl's deepest fears and desires to the surface. 

A thoughtful, engrossing story of a young woman desperately fighting to find her own voice even as family, friends and society try to keep her silent."

About the Author

Roberta Degnore is the author of twelve published novels. She is also an award winning screenwriter, filmmaker and psychologist. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA. Always moving in broad arcs instead of straight lines, she travels widely and learns whatever she can wherever she is. Based in New York City she returns frequently to Los Angeles.

Product Details

• File Size: 479 KB
• Print Length: 302 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1475274475
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Digital Fabulists (May 9, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008257PNA
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,634 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a feminist Charles Willeford June 28, 2012

By Celeste Alex

Format:Paperback

I read this book expecting a standard factual whodunit about a case I'd heard about. I was wrong. This book reminds me of all the classic male noir writers I used to devour, crime and existential crisis intertwined, but this time from a woman's POV, written by a woman. The chapters were suspenseful and moved quickly, each one a different character's narrative, but it was the poetic internal monologues of Pearl and Clare that I really responded to. To call this book a basic crime story is wrong. It's pulp noir in the best tradition. Kudos to Ms. Degnore for fleshing out details on such a long ago crime. Highly recommend.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously well crafted "whodunit". June 15, 2012

By Carl

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I remember reading an interview with best selling author Amy Tan's agent a few years back. She was saying how difficult it is to get even really good fiction published in a day when publishers want a virtual guarantee that a book will make them a profit. She was saying that in this publishing environment she wasn't even sure she could get Amy Tan published were it not for the following she already had. Sure, if you're a radio talk show blowhard who writes like a ten year old of problematic intelligence but who is happy to take to the airwaves to sell your own book during your own airtime a book is a guaranteed sale and publishers will want to publish it. But what about serious novelists who have a mastery of the language and an imagination to beat the band, but no readily recognizable name? You're dead in the water, right?

Well, not anymore you're not. It's a new day for good authors. Now, via electronic publishing, publishing costs are minimized and as a result an author can be published regardless of a lack of name recognition and guaranteed sales. Once published, readers like me can pass our own judgement and rate a book on-line. Like newspaper publishers, I'd say the old time publishing houses are in a heap of trouble now and moving forward.

Now, in the name of full disclosure, I'm a guy. As a guy, I hate shopping, so I use amazon for most of my browsing, shopping and buying. This is how I came across Roberta Degnore's novel. I thought "What the heck. Let me give it a go." and I downloaded it. The story was great, the use of the written word masterful, the characters so realistic I feel like I know them, and the mystery of "who done what" will keep you guessing page after page and chapter after chapter. You will be guessing and you will be wondering till the very end. In the final outcome, I guessed virtually every scenario BUT for the one that ended the story and even now I have questions about what will ultimately happen to who.

I recommend this novel, especially in these times when everything has gone up in price but for a good read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and Sexy May 19, 2012

By Gift girl

Format:Kindle Edition

I heard about this book through a friend and WOW, what a great discovery. It was suspenseful and exciting. Once you start reading it, you will have difficulty putting it down!

More About the Author

website: www.robertadegnore.com
Roberta Degnore is the author of twelve published novels (all with pseudonyms and about to be re-issued under her name). She is also an award winning screenwriter (Jack Nicholson prize), filmmaker (F*STOP) and psychologist. She has always appreciated the wonders of a public education and haunts various universities, both teaching and learning, for any excuse at all.
She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, as well as three other Master's degrees in subfields of psychology. Always impressed with the idea of being a Renaissance person there's little she hasn't tried, tasted and ultimately turned away from in boredom. Lucky accident of time, she has sought out pursuits that would have been deemed worthy of burning at the stake before instead of being simple quests for fun.
Always moving in broad arcs instead of straight lines, she travels widely and learns whatever she can wherever she is from whoever happens to be there. Africa, Eastern Europe, and travels especially to Rome, Florence, Milan (for opera at LaScala) and Amsterdam are her latest targets for chasing more of everything. Unfortunately, she has gone beyond Blondie's suggestion to die young and stay pretty.
Ms. Degnore is based in New York City but returns frequently to Los Angeles.