Watch Mommy Die

by Michael Benson

In The Hands Of A Sadist. . .

First, he bound and beat his girlfriend, a 43-year-old librarian. Then he went after her teenaged daughter--warning her, "Scream and I will kill you both"--before knocking her unconscious. When the teenager awoke, he proceded to rape her. And in a final horrifying act of depravity, he forced the girl to watch as he slit her mother's throat. But the killing didn't stop there. . .

In The Crosshairs Of A Killer. . .

Stephen Stanko was described as "a perfect gentleman" who "seemed so pleasant. . .and so normal." But behind Stanko's mild-mannered appearance, round spectacles, and quiet intelligence was a coldblooded ex-convict who kept a grisly scrapbook on serial killers--and convinced everyone he was a nice guy--until he killed and killed again.

On The Trail Of A Psycho. . .

A well-orchestrated manhunt caught up with Stanko, who tried to get away with his crimes by pleading insanity. But the jury saw through his ruse and the ruthless killer was sentenced to death.

Case Seen On 48 Hours

Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

373 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

OMG this is not good. I have read just a little bit and except for the outcome I have been told everything I need to know.

Here I thought this author had written some great books. (this was based on the amount of books he had published) The one I had read of him was not so good as well which was The Burn Farm.


I do feel that with the coming of the ereaders and self published books, so many very badly written books have been published. It feels most books suck now and it is hard to find the good ones. Let's fool the paying customer to spend time on very badly written books.


(and Michael Benson was a published author before all this happened with a lot of books on his belt. What does that tell you? That quantity does not equal quality? )

Sorry I am in a mood because I do want to spend money but on a good true crime book and I am tired of having to buy old out of print books because the latest true crime books suck.

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ETA I tried another book and this was so scary I had to stop so I think I was just unlucky or I a too picky,

[Syntactical Disruptorize · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do so many half-witted hacks turn to true crime? Do they really think that a disjointed recital of the facts surrounding a murder, however horrific, will make for a compelling book? You have to have a narrative. This book sucks, as do too many of its kind.

[Ruth Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacking in emotion, poorly written, disjointed and often boring.

I'm not sure why I pushed myself to finish this book.

[Lady ♥ Belleza · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another new to me True Crime author. This is also just one of those books I picked up at the library. Stephen Stanko was an ex-con and a published author. He used his status as a published author to impress people and glossed over why he went to prison. He had people convinced he was a nice guy. They are all nice guys until you find the bodies in the crawl space – sorry – wrong book.

He kept a scrapbook of serial killers, later it became apparent he was using it for ideas on how to become one himself. He was adept at using people, and once they no longer served his purpose, he disposed of them.

This book details his crimes after he was released from prison, not too much detail on his life before that and the man hunt after he assaulted his girlfriend and her daughter.

This is well-researched and written true crime account. It has detailed information but not so many details that it gets bogged down in the details.

[Sirena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read alot of true crime books but this one did not hold my interest. It was poorly written and oftentimes I thought the other was trying to be funny. I gave up in the middle. Although his crimes were horrific I just didn't care enough to find out what happened at the end.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I feel about this book. There were some really weird things going on.
Page 45 states that Penny watched Stephen choke her mom to death yet the back of the book states that Stephen slashed Penny's mom's throat.
Page 175 states that he bound her but really only talks about her hands and wrists but then all of a sudden her feet are bound together now too.
Page 190 "were his next-door neighbors. That was no exaggeration, either. Crenshaw and his wife shared a fence with him...." isn't that what a next-door neighbor is?
Page 198 "Bystandards - the audience - were allowed to suggest what parts should be examined next." WHAT? in jail they had an audience vying for watching him get examined?
Page 204 "And Braswell knew what he was talking about." Duh, he should if he is a psychologist.
Page 301 "The last prisoner to go out crackling and smoking..."
I am sure there are more weird things but this is what I remember and kept track of. The book itself was very informative but these weird things really made the author lack credibility on what he was writing. Sometimes it read like someone else was writing or he was trying to inject humor at very inappropriate times. Hard to keep in the moment when some of these things popped in.
I would read another book by this author to see if this is his style or not and if it is, I probably wouldn't read more.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a true crime junkie. I hadn't heard about this case, or the events leading up to it, before reading the book. It was a bit hard to read, not because the writing wasn't clear or attention-getting, but because it is different, when you read of horrific crimes, and you know they really happened to someone. I found myself wishing that the events would change, that the people in the story would do something DIFFERENT, to make the outcome something other than what it was.

[Jen Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first half of this book, but stopped reading into the second half. I haven't read many of these types of books before but I thought this was just ok. I didn't like the second half because I really did not care to here about the killers previous crimes or life that really were not all that exciting.

[Chandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book. I couldn't finish it. The story was good but I didn't care for the writing.

[Andrea Gordon]

I wasn't entirely thrilled with the writing of this book. Also I felt a lot of details were missing. Preferring Ann Rule so far for true crime

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than one would expect from the lurid title. It's the story of a South Carolina con man who gets a book published while he's in prison, then upon his release he 'graduates' to rape and murder.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Michael Benson's Watch Mommy Die in the compilation of three of his true crime books, Michael Benson's True Crime Bundle: Watch Mommy Die, A Killer's Touch & A Knife In The Heart (apparently available in electronic form only). Watch Mommy Die is a nonjudgmental account of the murder of a woman who never read Angelou’s famous aphorism nor heard of the fable of the scorpion and the turtle. The murderer’s lawyers contended that his psychopathy was severe enough to amount to insanity, and although it’s easy to see that he was far from normal, it’s easier yet to think he he deserves to be locked up.

Benson’s style is virtually conversational and thus very readable. He does not focus on the killer to the exclusion of the killed and while not at all exploitative, his pitch is commensurate with the severity of the situation he addresses. Recommended for true crime fans.

A shout out to ❤️Marlene❤️; her My Book list is like a treasure map!

[Jane Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Crime Story

This is a good true crime story. It is about a young man who kills his girlfriend and rapes her daughter. The author does not fall on the crimes, but spends most of the book on the life story of the killer and his trial. The murderer attempts to explain why during his trial but is not believed

[Shelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

True crime books are normally really interesting for me. With this one it definitely had its moments of being interesting. I just was not a fan of the layout. It’s starts pretty much at the beginning with the murder. Then he is arrested not even halfway through. I stopped reading a little after the arrest because I didn’t really see anymore point to continue reading.

[Tabbitha Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book at the beginning but it got really dry and lacked emotional depth. I can understand that true crime could be hard to write about. To be honest I barely finished it but I do appreciate the author giving a voice to the victims.

[Carla (There Might Be Cupcakes Podcast) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Case of Stephen Stanko, Myrtle Beach area. Note: this true crime book is much more engrossing and intelligent and less sensational than its title would allow.

[Justkeepreading85 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring! No real background at all on The victims at all, way too much trail babble. Just felt completely sporadic and unfinished. I was very disappointed

[Jamie Lindemulder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was good. The 2nd half with all the trial info was a bore.

[Donald L McGill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A INTERESTING READ

As with most murder books..just NOT many ways to get the job done..Author did a good job in this book...Don't Delay...get your copy today...

[Donna Humble · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book with a lot of details. It did seem a bit repetitive but, overall I liked it.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was a good read. I was amazed at how many people were so naive when it came to this man and the lies he told!

[Marianne Stehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book that follows the step by step violence and justice to killer Steven Stanko. I was unfamiliar with these crimes prior to reading the book and now feel very much the expert. It is a well written, well researched and detailed account of the violence, the victims, the criminal and the justice system of South Carolina. It is definitely one of the better true crime books I have read.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this if that's the right word.........I'd never heard of Stephen Stanko so he wasn't the prolific murderer HE thought he was !! A nasty piece of work for sure. A couple of his victims that survived were certainly very brave ladies and made sure he was going to pay for what he'd done-good for them !!

[Paige Bradish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didnt know if i'd like true crimes but i found out that i really do. I find them quite interesting. Which is good. I thought that when it got to the trial part that i was going to get really bored but i didnt at all.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a true story and was hard to read, just because of what the story is about. It is actually informative and pretty well written, probably only emotion that keeps me from giving it 5. The woman from this story is from my hometown and went to my highschool

[Terry Chambers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very compelling read - did not want to put it down.

[hexidecimalhack · Rating 2 out of 5]

Suggested by a friend. The writing style was okay. This is a true crime novel, which I didn't know when I began reading. Very tragic story.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book because I live in South Carolina and am familiar with the localities where the crimes were committed.

[kaotickitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was OK. There were editing issues that broke up the flow. Also the writer should have stuck to one name not switching between the given, nickname, and last names.

[Karen Madsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book