Lisa Pulitzer

A thorough, journalistic recounting of two crimes, five years apart,
linked by the same alleged perpetrator.



Former New York Times correspondent Pulitzer (Murder in Paradise,
2003, etc.) and Thompson (co-author: A Deadly Game: The Untold Story
of the Scott Peterson Investigation, 2005, etc.) narrate the tale of
Joran van der Sloot, accused in the 2005 Aruba disappearance of teen
Natalee Holloway, and the 2010 Lima, Peru, murder of Stephany Flores
Ramirez. The authors approach the narrative like reporters, dispensing
with florid descriptions and sticking to a no-nonsense, just-the-facts
writing style. The book jumps between its two story lines and
locations, with chapters alternating between the still- unsolved
Holloway case, and the Flores killing, which occurred five years to
the day later. This device is effective in maintaining suspense,
despite the fact that many readers will know, from the worldwide news
coverage of the case, what has happened. A final outcome is yet to be
determined; as of the book's conclusion, van der Sloot awaits trial in
Peru on the Flores murder, and Holloway's body has never been found.
By the end, the suspense turns into sadness for all of the lives
irrevocably damaged by their contact with van der Sloot, who has
continued to offer various and conflicting stories, making the
likelihood remote that the truth will ever be known. The authors'
conclusion is clear from the book's title, and from their sympathetic
portrayal of the victims and their families. But the villain, a
charming liar and sociopath from an upper-middle-class Dutch family,
remains a cipher. Is van der Sloot truly a monster, or did his tragic
flaw cause an accident to spiral out of control, destroying his own
life and the lives of many others? -Kirkus Review