Customer Reviews

All I Want To Do Is Kill (Pinnacle True Crime)

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

 

 

While it's certainly shocking what these two girls did to Holly's grandparents, I was shocked that a book this poorly written and edited made it to the shelves. It was so poorly written, in fact--so full of misused words, typos, silly idioms and redundancies that it distracted from the fascinating story. The author really, REALLY needs to be a little more careful and not in such a rush to meet a deadline. Editing truly is important. A lot of editing would have made this a much better book.

After reading another book about this crime ("If You Really Loved Me" by Kevin F. McMurray), it was refreshing to read one that had some balance to it. I was completely engrossed and felt the facts were laid out in a logical and well-researched manner (unlike McMurray's book, which has some serious inaccuracies that make me doubt the entire account). This is a horrible crime committed by two girls who somehow decided that actions don't have consequences, and all that mattered was the moment and their own desires. Teenagers can be notoriously egocentric, but this crime takes it past the extreme. Even after working with incarcerated youth for nearly ten years, I cannot believe the lengths some of them will go to in order to achieve their own desires. It's downright scary.

After reading Dale Hudson's An Hour To Kill: A True Story of Love, Murder, and Justice in a Small Southern Town (St. Martin's True Crime Library), I vowed to never read another of his books. In the end, I gave it another shot with this recent publication of Hudson's.

And was I ever impressed!! Hudson has apparently listened to his readers' critiques as he knocks one out of the ballpark with the tale of two teenagers, Holly Harvey and Sandy Ketchum, who conspire and then follow through with the murder of Harvey's grandparents, Carl and Sarah Collier.

From the onset, readers are given an very detailed look into the horrendous backgrounds of Harvey and Ketchum; giving the reader an idea of the path that led to such atrocious actions by two who are so young.

Following background, the reader is given a play by play of how the crime occured; a description so vivid that the reader can actually feel as though they are present during the onslaught of this crime.

I also enjoyed reading the point of view of Ketchum's father and stepmother along with the Colliers' son, Kevin Collier.

While reading this book, I found myself wavering from sympathy for these young girls' who had been handed lemons in life and never taught how to make lemonade, to anger that, just because life had been hard and full of people trying to set them on the right path, they felt the desire to murder in cold blood. This book truly gives the reader an emotional rollercoaster ride.

After reading this book, Dale Hudson is on my list of must read authors!

good subject matter and well investigated but poorly written; inappropriate use of adjectives, much repeating of information, back and forth between the girls' timelines leads to confusion, attempting to portray what's in the victims' minds as they fought with their assailants -- he's no Ann Rule

I enjoyed this book because it provided a great deal of background on the teen killers, Holly Harvey and Sandy Ketchum. The author engagingly describes the details of Holly's and Sandy's individual family dysfunction over many years. Holly, the daughter of an adopted "wild child", rebels when she is forced to live with strict grandparents and eventually plots, with her teen lover Sandy, to kill her grandparents so she and Sandy can be together. Sandy has a loving, although often absent, father, but has to suffer through abandonment, neglect and abuse at the hands of three mothers before Dad finally marries a halfway decent "mother figure", by which time it is probably too late for Sandy to get past her previous trauma. The victims, while undoubtedly meaning well, are not portrayed as plaster saints, but as people who sometimes make ill-advised decisions about raising their kids, money management, and other aspects of their lives. Overall, the detailed background and interesting presentation draws the reader into the story and makes it much more than just a dry recounting. While not the greatest true crime I ever read, I would rate this one as better than average for those readers who, like me, enjoy reading what led up to the crime.

The only reason I rated this book as OK is because I have read ones worse than this. The book was to long and full of redundancy. I skipped over about a third since I don't have to be told a million times the same info. When I am forced to do this I always wonder if I missed something interesting. But who wants to hear the same thing over and over.

This book is very well written although quite disturbing. The book goes into the very graphical explanation of how Holly's grandparent's were murdered. I was very intrigued by this case and this book answered all my questions.

The story was a horrifying one, and very interesting read. however, I didnt like how the author was writing expressions that sounded very juvenile throughout the book. It just seemed like a lot of filler. In all the book was worth a read but only once.

This book was very hard for me to read. I had to take breaks because it was very graphic and such a tragic ending that didn't have to be. Such a horrible way for a couple of elderly grandparents to spend their last minutes of life. I highly recommend this book. The author certainly put in some leg work with researching this story. Thanks for a well written true crime read.

Such a heinous crime commited by girls that are really no more than young children. How could their lives have gone so wrong to committ such a heinous crime against elderly grandparents ? I highly recommend this book as a true crime read. It is very graphic and well written. The author takes you on a roller coaster ride. Some parts are very intense, then he gives you a little rest and back to the drama unfolding.