Pure Murder

Once again Corey Mitchell provides. As with all of Mr Mitchells books he should be rated #1 True Crime author. I wish he could write a new book as fast as I can read. He brings out and gets you familiar with all the people in his writings both good and bad. I can never set one of his books down once I open the cover. Please never stop writing.

I read this book in one day. I am a fan of Corey Mitchell because he gives the reader the opportunity to get to know all those involved. He doesn't stay focused on the gore, and he gives the reader just enough information for us to realize how the poor victim(s) suffered at the hands of the killer(s). In "Pure", Elizabeth and Jennifer are young and beautiful teenagers who set out for a night of fun with some friends. When the girls realize their curfew is minutes away, they decide to take a shortcut home. That shortcut would prove to be fatal. The young teens meet up with a pack of monsters. What followed was truly disturbing. What was even more disturbing are the two young men who could have perhaps saved the girls from their deaths, yet did nothing. The rest of the book follows the families outrage, the arrest and the trials of these losers. This story is one you will not soon forget.

One of THE best true crime books I've ever read! Mr. Mitchell's detailed descriptions and graphic accounts of the crime and those involved, made me feel as though I had been transported back to 1993 and were watching the unfortunate events unfold. Events that ultimately resulted in the death and destruction of two innocent teenagers. I was "there" alongside the Ertman and Pena families, not only during their frantic and futile search for their daughters, but in their quest to seek justice for them as well. Unfortunately though, I also got a glimpse of the terror and agony that the girls encountered and endured that fateful night. This is truly a testament to the author's writing style. It is a book that I will read again and again, and one that I highly recommend!

I have never read a book before that made me so furious. Not the quality of the writing, but rather the story itself. Corey Mitchell does an incredible job of pulling you right into the story as we find ourselves right alongside the father of Jennifer Ertman, a young girl, who was brutally murdered in 1993 in a park in Houston, Texas. We have no idea how she is killed or why or by who, but eventually we learn all that and so much more. It take nearly 200 pages before we even get to the crime and by the time we are there I was completely entranced and mortified. In addition to learning about Jennifer, we also learn about her best friend, Elizabeth pena. I enjoyed how the athor did not try to make both girls out to be the perfect angels like so many other true crime authors do with their subjects. We learn that Elizabeth is a flawed individual and not the perfect daughter. This only serves to make her even more human and more sympathetic. We also learn about the six main culprits behind this incredibly gruesome and horrifying crime. Instaed of creating sympathy for the killers, this also makes them more human as well. It is fascinating to know that they all came from relatively stable, happy home lives. Definitely breaking the mold of the typical killer, or at least how the media attempts to portray them. Getting to know the two girls, as well as all six of their killers, made reading the murder scene almost unbearable. I never have experienced sheer terror when reading a true crime book, until now. After it was finally over, I wanted to put down the book and take a shower. There was no way though that I could stop reading this story. I could not imagine this story getting any better (or worse as the case would be for the families) but it did. The insane ordeal that Jennifer and Elizabeth's families had to endure is completely maddening. Trials, delayed executions, Supreme Court rulings, and even meddling by the president of the United States are just a few of the obstacles they have to endure. This book is intense, very well-written, and truly terrifying. I was not familiar with the case and know I cannot believe I did not know about it before. A truly staggering book that I highly recommend to readers of true crime, but also to parents, as well as people tired of criminals receiving more rights than the victims. A genius work of literature.