Cruel Sacrifice

Very good book. Couldn’t put it down.

$98 for a book? Are you kidding me??? And paperback at that?? Unreal!!

The movie Mean Girls shows a humor on the awfulness of teen girls and bullying. This book is the complete opposite. Incredibly sad and disturbing, this takes the bullying and jealousy of high school BS to whole other level. You learn about the history of the killers and what lead to such a senseless murder.

If you are interested in the unbiased account of this tragic tail, be sure and read Aphrodite Jones' Cruel Intentions. I had read her other works before this one and as a fan of true crime books I was grateful for her 'writer-as-reporter' approach. If you are a fan of the 'writer-as-outraged-citizen' approach this version may not be for you. Ms. Jones style of writing allows that humans exist in various shades of gray rather than merely black and white. The victims aren't innocent and perfect and the killers aren't as entirely evil as you may like to believe. This writing style affords the reader an opportunity of seeing the facts in a somewhat unbiased forum. Ms. Jones did not have the co-operation of the victims family and that is to the books benefit. It is not necessary to view a victim as an innocent in order to view the crime commited upon them as horrific. This serves to make the story more compelling: It wasn't a fictionalized sugar and spice little girl who was killed but a flesh and blood imperfect human. Likewise the killers aren't your stereotypical evil caricatures but persons not entirely unlike other teens you have met. All of which makes for an even more chilling tragedy.If you need the standard outrage, innocent victim, evil killers story, this may not be the version for you.

I remember when this first happened. The families of Shanda (murdered 12 yr old) and Melinda (teen ringleader) both appeared on Geraldo Rivera. Shanda's mother said she didn't blame Melinda, she blamed Melinda's parents. Read this book and you will see why. IMO, Melinda's child-molesting, wife-abusing father should have been on trial right along with her. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and Melinda's sleeze-bag of a father made her into what she is. Anyway, this book is very gripping. You will not be able to put it down until the very last page has been turned, one sitting is all it took for me! I cried reading about the horrible cruelty Shanda endured, it's hard to believe anyone could be so evil. I passed this on to my aunt, who couldn't put it down either.

I borrowed this book from a friend and didn't put it down until the last page was read, and all the time I was reading it, I constantly flipped back to the picture's wondering, how could any human do this? This author made it easier to understand though since he went into great detail about the Loveless family and the Tackett family. With a father like Larry Loveless and a freak religion nut like Mrs. Tackett, I can see where these girls may think they did something good. But, living only a few hours from New Albany let's a person know that the criminals and murderer's of the world, which you thought were hundreds of miles away, are right next door. Or sitting next to you in a classroom. Childhood romance is a game. It sure as hell shouldn't end in a murder of a 12 year-old, especially with the extremidies of this murder. I also don't see how Amanda can have any bit of a clear mind on the subject. In my opinion, she's as guilty as Toni. She heard the threats Melinda gave and ignored them. All of these girls are getting it so easy. Sure they're in prison, but can that even compare to the torture, molestation, and mutilation that Shanda lived through until the bitter end. I'll tell anyone strait up that it doesn't. They should have the same thing done to them in the same way. They should have to imagine the horror of being tortured and watched being tortured by people that were once considered classmates and friends. The story this book tells me to be careful of the friends you choose and the lovers you have. They just may kill you. Melinda, Laurie, Hope, Toni, and Amanda should all rot in hell for what they've done. Jones did a wonderful job on this book and it gave me a whole new perspective on how to view the world's murderers(the 4 girls), the psychotics(Larry Loveless), and to cherish the lives we live. It just may end before we have a real chance to live it.