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Unbelievable: The shocking truth behind the hit Netflix series
________________________________________
The real-life investigation behind the hit Netflix series, from two Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD
She said she was raped.
Police said she lied.
She was made to retract the report – but the nightmare only got worse.
On 11 August 2008, eighteen-year-old Marie reported that a masked man had broken into her home and raped her. Within days, police – and even those closest to Marie – became suspicious of her story. Confronted by these minor inconsistencies and doubt, Marie broke down and said her story was a lie. The police charged her with making a false report.
Two years later, Colorado detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to a case of sexual assault. It bore an eerie resemblance to a rape that had taken place months earlier in a nearby town. Joining forces with the detective on that case, Edna Hendershot, the two soon discovered they were dealing with a serial rapist. As their investigation deepened, it became clear that numerous police departments had extremely similar cases on their hands – and that Marie's story bore an eerie resemblance to the cases they were investigating.
Unbelievable is a chilling tale of doubt, lies, and the hunt for justice, unveiling the disturbing reality of how sexual assault is investigated and the long history of scepticism toward its victims.
________________________________________
Previously published as A False Report
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2018
612 people are currently reading
24299 people want to read
About the author
T. Christian Miller
5 books102 followersT. Christian Miller joined ProPublica as a senior reporter in 2008. Before that, he worked for the Los Angeles Times, where he covered politics, wars, and was once kidnapped by leftist guerrillas in Colombia. His first book, Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed In Iraq was called one of the “indispensable” books on the war. He teaches data journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,217 reviews
January 6, 2018
Marie told Rittgarn she had been attacked, that she wasn’t making the rapist up. She began to cry, saying she kept having a vision of him on top of her.
Rittgarn wasn’t moved. Later, when recounting Marie’s words in a written report, he would put the word “him” in quotation marks.
In 2008, a young woman known as Marie reported being raped. Within just a few days, the investigation became an interrogation of Marie herself, as the police, her family, and her friends all began to doubt her story. Convinced she would never be believed, Marie told the police she had lied and made it up. She was then charged with false reporting.
More than two years later, Marie's rapist - a serial predator - was found and convicted.
I cannot even begin to imagine the horrific situation Marie found herself in. Not only was she a victim of one of the most horrendous crimes that can happen to a person, but everyone she should have been able to turn to and trust didn't believe her. This should be the kind of isolated case that hardly ever happens, but it unfortunately highlights a much bigger trend in how rape cases are handled. It is a crime quite unlike any other in that the victim becomes as much a suspect as the perpetrator.
The first two thirds (approximately) of this book focuses on the solving of the crimes in question. The authors write with a very engaging style, making this piece of non-fiction read like a novel that pulls us in and doesn't let go. The chapters alternate between what happened to Marie, a psychological history of the rapist, and two years later when another investigation leads police to tie newer crimes back to what happened to Marie in 2008.
It was horrifying and yet impossible to look away from.
Then we come to the final third of the book and the authors shift gears, now exploring the history behind the psychology of rape investigations, such as the seventeenth-century “Hale warning”, which instructs jurors to always be wary of the false accusation. It was extremely interesting and saddening to see just how long the history is of male lawmakers fearing and cautioning against the “scorned woman” who contrives “false charges of sexual offences by men”.
This section contains lots of information about how this attitude has grown and developed over the centuries, such as Thomas Jefferson writing a letter to James Madison, who would author the bill of rights, opposing harsh punishment for rape because women often cry rape as an “instrument of vengeance”. Even in the twentieth century, John Henry Wigmore wrote:
“No judge should ever let a sex offense charge go to the jury unless the female complainant’s social history and mental makeup have been examined and testified to by a qualified physician.”
I am so glad the authors of this book are bringing attention to both Marie's case and the appalling history behind the poor treatment of rape victims. Made-up statistics about false reporting will still fly around, of course, but hopefully this book will encourage people to question them.
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March 21, 2018
A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller, Ken Armstrong is a 2018 Crown Publishing Group publication.
In the United States, there’s no saying how many women have been accused of making a false claim of rape, only to have the claim later proved to be true. There is no such statistic kept. But even Marie’s case- the extreme example where persecution becomes prosecution, where a victim is not only accused of lying, but criminally charged with it- does not stand alone. At least three other cases like it have surfaced in media reports since the 1990s.
This book is absolutely harrowing, maddening, and sad. Don’t approach it if you have hypertension because you may find your blood pressure shooting through the roof!
Marie’s life had been difficult, and by eighteen, she had already suffered much. Things got far worse when she became a rape survivor and was brave enough to report the rape to the local authorities. But, after repeating her experience several times, the police noticed her story was not exactly the same every time. Not only that, those who were supposed to stand up for her, doubted her story as well. Finally, after much pressure, Marie recanted her story, then found herself charged with filing a false report.
Meanwhile, one of the most clever, sick, and diabolical, serial rapist was on the loose in Colorado. Thankfully, Edna Hendershot and Sarah Galbraith were tenacious and very thorough. However, this case is an all too familiar accounting of what really goes on once a rape has been reported.
It should not be necessary to add a trigger alert here. The rapist’s habits and state of mind is detailed and it is absolutely sickening, chilling, and very disturbing.
But, the focus of the book is on the investigation, which nearly reads like a police procedural at times, and on the way law enforcement meets a report of rape with instant skepticism, the indignities so many women must endure AFTER a sexual assault. The statistics were startling, the investigation riveting, and approach to interviewing rape survivors is appalling.
The authors did a great job at fleshing out what was initially a long form newspaper article. Both men are Pulitzer prize winners, and T. Christian Miller has written for ProPublica, one of very favorite investigative publications. Naturally, the work is very detailed, well researched, and organized.
While what happened to Marie and the idea that if she had been taken seriously, if her account had been believed, then it may have spared others, had me fuming, and feeling incredibly frustrated, it is a very important book, one that shines a hot spotlight on the difficulties women face in reporting a rape.
Hopefully, this book will help draw attention to how those who have been sexually assaulted are treated by some members of law enforcement, the stigma, the traumatic procedures women must endure, and the consequences of doubting anyone who comes forward to report a crime.
Marie’s story is infuriating, but, I’m glad she finally found redemption and absolution, although it took irrefutable proof to obtain it.
4 stars.
In the United States, there’s no saying how many women have been accused of making a false claim of rape, only to have the claim later proved to be true. There is no such statistic kept. But even Marie’s case- the extreme example where persecution becomes prosecution, where a victim is not only accused of lying, but criminally charged with it- does not stand alone. At least three other cases like it have surfaced in media reports since the 1990s.
This book is absolutely harrowing, maddening, and sad. Don’t approach it if you have hypertension because you may find your blood pressure shooting through the roof!
Marie’s life had been difficult, and by eighteen, she had already suffered much. Things got far worse when she became a rape survivor and was brave enough to report the rape to the local authorities. But, after repeating her experience several times, the police noticed her story was not exactly the same every time. Not only that, those who were supposed to stand up for her, doubted her story as well. Finally, after much pressure, Marie recanted her story, then found herself charged with filing a false report.
Meanwhile, one of the most clever, sick, and diabolical, serial rapist was on the loose in Colorado. Thankfully, Edna Hendershot and Sarah Galbraith were tenacious and very thorough. However, this case is an all too familiar accounting of what really goes on once a rape has been reported.
It should not be necessary to add a trigger alert here. The rapist’s habits and state of mind is detailed and it is absolutely sickening, chilling, and very disturbing.
But, the focus of the book is on the investigation, which nearly reads like a police procedural at times, and on the way law enforcement meets a report of rape with instant skepticism, the indignities so many women must endure AFTER a sexual assault. The statistics were startling, the investigation riveting, and approach to interviewing rape survivors is appalling.
The authors did a great job at fleshing out what was initially a long form newspaper article. Both men are Pulitzer prize winners, and T. Christian Miller has written for ProPublica, one of very favorite investigative publications. Naturally, the work is very detailed, well researched, and organized.
While what happened to Marie and the idea that if she had been taken seriously, if her account had been believed, then it may have spared others, had me fuming, and feeling incredibly frustrated, it is a very important book, one that shines a hot spotlight on the difficulties women face in reporting a rape.
Hopefully, this book will help draw attention to how those who have been sexually assaulted are treated by some members of law enforcement, the stigma, the traumatic procedures women must endure, and the consequences of doubting anyone who comes forward to report a crime.
Marie’s story is infuriating, but, I’m glad she finally found redemption and absolution, although it took irrefutable proof to obtain it.
4 stars.
March 7, 2020
This is astoundingly well written, I sped through it in a few days. Once I started, I had to know what happened. A False Report tells the heartbreaking story of a young girl who is brutally raped and not only is her statement not believed, she is actually prosecuted for false reporting. It is such a travesty of justice. If she had been taken seriously, there would have been far fewer victims of this serial rapist.
The authors are both journalists who were appalled and had to get this story out. Without the stellar police work of two female law enforcement officials, Marie would have been forever vilified as a liar, someone seeking attention in the worst possible way.
The whole way police departments treat rape victims has been found faulty and is undergoing change in a better direction lately, but it is an achingly slow process. Many women are still not believed from the start, because they don't act the way observers think they should, either too emotional or too unemotional. If you are too matter of fact when telling your story, did you really suffer any trauma? And if you are too distraught, are you just seeking attention?
The authors researched why police interrogate victims the way they do and the history is fascinating and never dry. These old methods no longer are pertinent and should be abandoned, but until they are, there will be many more "false" reports.
The authors are both journalists who were appalled and had to get this story out. Without the stellar police work of two female law enforcement officials, Marie would have been forever vilified as a liar, someone seeking attention in the worst possible way.
The whole way police departments treat rape victims has been found faulty and is undergoing change in a better direction lately, but it is an achingly slow process. Many women are still not believed from the start, because they don't act the way observers think they should, either too emotional or too unemotional. If you are too matter of fact when telling your story, did you really suffer any trauma? And if you are too distraught, are you just seeking attention?
The authors researched why police interrogate victims the way they do and the history is fascinating and never dry. These old methods no longer are pertinent and should be abandoned, but until they are, there will be many more "false" reports.
December 27, 2024
***NO SPOILERS***
A False Report (alternatively titled Unbelievable) is the true story of an extraordinary set of rape cases. They occurred months apart, in different towns, and to victims old and young, black and white. The rapist went out of his way to leave no trace of his DNA.
The book highlights two main things: how easily a rape case can be dismissed, and how crucial it is for police jurisdictions to not be possessive of their cases but to instead work together. To these ends, Pulitzer prize–winning authors T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong broke A False Report into three main stories: that of the rapist, that of the disbelieved victim, and those of the other victims.
I liked so much about this fascinating book. As disturbing as the rapist was, I liked reading his back story, which is included primarily as a peek into his psyche. The authors start from when he was five and saw a movie that awakened in him an obsessive desire to “own women.” To be clear, Miller and Armstrong humanized the rapist but never to the point of sympathy, nor did they devote more space to him than to his victims. Where they excelled in this part was in illustrating the insatiable compulsion driving the man’s actions. It goes far in providing context for his strange behavior during the rapes (something that probably was a major reason Miller and Armstrong decided to write this book). It’s this story line that gives the book its crime-mystery feel.
That changes when attention shifts to the disbelieved victim, an eighteen-year-old woman named Marie. Her story line is cautionary, and the alternative title is right: It’s so astounding it’s unbelievable. Miller and Armstrong effectively highlighted not just the harm of disbelieving a victim but showed how police got to that point with her, step by step. It was interesting, in a sickening way, to see how quickly the police officer in charge dismissed this victim’s report. For this officer the default was disbelief. All that was needed were a few seeds of doubt planted by a doubtful caller. The stories of some of the other rape victims are woven seamlessly with the story of the rapist and of Marie. Marie’s story has more to say, so Miller and Armstrong didn’t detail the other victims in the same way they did Marie, but they nevertheless brought these other victims to life and did their stories justice.
As this is a true-crime about rape, rapes are described; however, as Miller and Armstrong said in the afterword, they wanted to provide detail without being gratuitous. They achieved that. There’s enough information to understand the terror and trauma.
This is a strong investigative, narrative nonfiction, probing and thorough—but to a fault. The investigation had so many moving parts, involving so many people, that the numerous names blend. I was able to keep straight the two main female officers, but their female-ness helped. Police forces are overwhelmingly male, so most of the names in this book are male. I forgot who these men were unless they were especially distinctive. A False Report would have benefited from a cast-of-characters list in the opening pages.
More of a drawback is something I complained about with I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer: the confounding nonchronological time line. The authors strained to connect three complex story lines in just the right way to underscore the overall message. Connecting the three was necessary for this book to be the quality work it is; however, about halfway through I wished I’d taken notes from the start.
A False Report is vital and especially current at this time when society is awakening fully to the reality of rape. I stopped reading true-crime books years ago because I was exasperated and then depressed reading accounts with a salacious tone, accounts that exist for no other reason than to report horrors. Criminals get lionized and victims depersonalized. A False Report is different from those in that it has a higher goal. To inspire change, it emphasizes the victims’ road to justice as much as it does the rapist’s depravity. It educates all, motivates police officers to improve, and offers victims desperately needed hope. Writers of true-crime should take note. A False Report should be their benchmark.
Complementary viewing: "Unbelievable" (The dramatized version of A False Report.)
A False Report (alternatively titled Unbelievable) is the true story of an extraordinary set of rape cases. They occurred months apart, in different towns, and to victims old and young, black and white. The rapist went out of his way to leave no trace of his DNA.
The book highlights two main things: how easily a rape case can be dismissed, and how crucial it is for police jurisdictions to not be possessive of their cases but to instead work together. To these ends, Pulitzer prize–winning authors T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong broke A False Report into three main stories: that of the rapist, that of the disbelieved victim, and those of the other victims.
I liked so much about this fascinating book. As disturbing as the rapist was, I liked reading his back story, which is included primarily as a peek into his psyche. The authors start from when he was five and saw a movie that awakened in him an obsessive desire to “own women.” To be clear, Miller and Armstrong humanized the rapist but never to the point of sympathy, nor did they devote more space to him than to his victims. Where they excelled in this part was in illustrating the insatiable compulsion driving the man’s actions. It goes far in providing context for his strange behavior during the rapes (something that probably was a major reason Miller and Armstrong decided to write this book). It’s this story line that gives the book its crime-mystery feel.
That changes when attention shifts to the disbelieved victim, an eighteen-year-old woman named Marie. Her story line is cautionary, and the alternative title is right: It’s so astounding it’s unbelievable. Miller and Armstrong effectively highlighted not just the harm of disbelieving a victim but showed how police got to that point with her, step by step. It was interesting, in a sickening way, to see how quickly the police officer in charge dismissed this victim’s report. For this officer the default was disbelief. All that was needed were a few seeds of doubt planted by a doubtful caller. The stories of some of the other rape victims are woven seamlessly with the story of the rapist and of Marie. Marie’s story has more to say, so Miller and Armstrong didn’t detail the other victims in the same way they did Marie, but they nevertheless brought these other victims to life and did their stories justice.
As this is a true-crime about rape, rapes are described; however, as Miller and Armstrong said in the afterword, they wanted to provide detail without being gratuitous. They achieved that. There’s enough information to understand the terror and trauma.
This is a strong investigative, narrative nonfiction, probing and thorough—but to a fault. The investigation had so many moving parts, involving so many people, that the numerous names blend. I was able to keep straight the two main female officers, but their female-ness helped. Police forces are overwhelmingly male, so most of the names in this book are male. I forgot who these men were unless they were especially distinctive. A False Report would have benefited from a cast-of-characters list in the opening pages.
More of a drawback is something I complained about with I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer: the confounding nonchronological time line. The authors strained to connect three complex story lines in just the right way to underscore the overall message. Connecting the three was necessary for this book to be the quality work it is; however, about halfway through I wished I’d taken notes from the start.
A False Report is vital and especially current at this time when society is awakening fully to the reality of rape. I stopped reading true-crime books years ago because I was exasperated and then depressed reading accounts with a salacious tone, accounts that exist for no other reason than to report horrors. Criminals get lionized and victims depersonalized. A False Report is different from those in that it has a higher goal. To inspire change, it emphasizes the victims’ road to justice as much as it does the rapist’s depravity. It educates all, motivates police officers to improve, and offers victims desperately needed hope. Writers of true-crime should take note. A False Report should be their benchmark.
Complementary viewing: "Unbelievable" (The dramatized version of A False Report.)
October 22, 2019
Harrowing and eye-opening, Unbelievable (originally published as A False Report) strings together the stories of victims of a serial rapist, focusing on one young woman, Marie, whose rape allegation was dismissed after she was more or less forced to recant her accusation. When she went back to the police station to insist that she had in fact been raped, she was charged with false reporting. Years later, the rapist was caught and Marie's record was expunged - Unbelievable then ties together Marie's story, and the stories of the officers investigating this crime, with a larger commentary on the alarming way sexual assault allegations are often handled in the U.S.
I decided to pick this up after a conversation with the editor of a piece I wrote recently on the rarity of false sexual assault allegations; this book echoed a lot of the research that I had uncovered while writing that, so it was ultimately every bit as infuriating as I had expected it to be. Seeing the startlingly unprofessional behavior of the officers investigating Marie was painful; they would take minor inconsistencies in Marie's story and blow them out of proportion, having never been trained to recognize that assault victims often have scattered recollections. But if there's one thing that saves this book from being a total downer, it's that T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong emphasize the department-wide changes that were instigated in the way officers are trained to deal with assault victims, that came about as a result of this incident. I think this should be required reading for anyone in law enforcement handling a sexual assault case.
I will say, one thing I would have liked from this book is more of a focus on the historical precedent of disbelieving women - Miller and Armstrong put the effort in here, but their research is essentially relegated to a footnote in Marie's story, whereas I felt like there was room for more interrogation into the socio- and psychological factors that underscored the particular narrative that they chose to highlight.
There was also a certain discomfort in the back of my mind whenever I thought too long and hard about the fact that this book's two authors are both male - a bit of unpleasant irony given that the book's core conceit is advocating for the voices of women. But to my pleasant surprise, this was actually addressed in the author's note; the discomfort has been assuaged a bit knowing that this book's editorial team was entirely female, a number of female experts were consulted, and Marie herself was able to weigh in on the manuscript before it was published.
I decided to pick this up after a conversation with the editor of a piece I wrote recently on the rarity of false sexual assault allegations; this book echoed a lot of the research that I had uncovered while writing that, so it was ultimately every bit as infuriating as I had expected it to be. Seeing the startlingly unprofessional behavior of the officers investigating Marie was painful; they would take minor inconsistencies in Marie's story and blow them out of proportion, having never been trained to recognize that assault victims often have scattered recollections. But if there's one thing that saves this book from being a total downer, it's that T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong emphasize the department-wide changes that were instigated in the way officers are trained to deal with assault victims, that came about as a result of this incident. I think this should be required reading for anyone in law enforcement handling a sexual assault case.
I will say, one thing I would have liked from this book is more of a focus on the historical precedent of disbelieving women - Miller and Armstrong put the effort in here, but their research is essentially relegated to a footnote in Marie's story, whereas I felt like there was room for more interrogation into the socio- and psychological factors that underscored the particular narrative that they chose to highlight.
There was also a certain discomfort in the back of my mind whenever I thought too long and hard about the fact that this book's two authors are both male - a bit of unpleasant irony given that the book's core conceit is advocating for the voices of women. But to my pleasant surprise, this was actually addressed in the author's note; the discomfort has been assuaged a bit knowing that this book's editorial team was entirely female, a number of female experts were consulted, and Marie herself was able to weigh in on the manuscript before it was published.
June 10, 2018
In 2008 an 18 year old woman reported that she was raped at knife point in her apartment in Lynwwod, WA. The police did not believe her because there were inconsistencies in her story. The victim finally admitted that she had lied, the investigating officer charged her with charged with a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. What actually happened was that the police did not believe her and pressured her to recant her story, not understanding that many victims of violent crimes have difficulty describing what happened to them. The inconsistencies wasn’t because she was lying, the inconsistencies were caused by the trauma she suffered.
Ken Armstong, The Marshall Project and Christian Miller, ProPubilica working in tandem have written about how police treat rape victims. While the Lynnwood police department did not believe their rape victim, the police in Golden, Colorado did and they followed the correct procedures for handling rape crimes. First off, they believed their victims, they reached out to other area police departments looking for similar type occurrences. When confirmations of other similar rapes came the police departments worked together to identify the rapist, Marc Leary.
This book is examines how we as a society view rape. How are views were shaped, why we see some of the reactions to people claim of sexual assault. The #MeToo movement will hopefully have a positive impact on our handling of sexual assault.
This is a well written book about a very difficult subject. This review was originally posted on The Pfaeffle Journal
Ken Armstong, The Marshall Project and Christian Miller, ProPubilica working in tandem have written about how police treat rape victims. While the Lynnwood police department did not believe their rape victim, the police in Golden, Colorado did and they followed the correct procedures for handling rape crimes. First off, they believed their victims, they reached out to other area police departments looking for similar type occurrences. When confirmations of other similar rapes came the police departments worked together to identify the rapist, Marc Leary.
This book is examines how we as a society view rape. How are views were shaped, why we see some of the reactions to people claim of sexual assault. The #MeToo movement will hopefully have a positive impact on our handling of sexual assault.
This is a well written book about a very difficult subject. This review was originally posted on The Pfaeffle Journal
October 7, 2019
When I saw this was going to be a Netflix series, I knew I needed to jump on reading the book to get ahead of the watercooler talk. I still haven't watched the series, but I definitely plan to.
I think the right mindset going into this is just plan to be pissed off. There are some redeemable moments due to the excellent team work in Colorado and how the deplorable treatment of Marie helped to shed light on what is all too common (not believing a victim) and how that was used to radically change training and investigating of rape allegations countrywide.
What makes me also feel so sad is that I feel numb to all of the anger and frustration I should feel in reading this. What originally followed this last sentence was me ranting on a soapbox, but I deleted it because this is a book review and I'm trying to stay on topic. All I can say is thank goodness to Betsy a lot of the wrongs were righted for the victims (particularly Marie); eventually. Thank goodness there was excellent police work and the pooling of resources so ultimately this monster was caught. Also, thank goodness the Lakewood police department made an effort to learn from their mistakes and do an internal and external investigation into how they failed Marie so utterly and completely.
The technical jargon was a little heavy at times (needed for investigative reporting, but a little dry to read none the less), but it was of manageable length that the book didn't get bogged down.
This isn't my most eloquent review, but if you're into true crime and or good investigative reporting, this is definitely a read for you.
Review Date: 10/7/19
Publication Date: 02/06/18
I think the right mindset going into this is just plan to be pissed off. There are some redeemable moments due to the excellent team work in Colorado and how the deplorable treatment of Marie helped to shed light on what is all too common (not believing a victim) and how that was used to radically change training and investigating of rape allegations countrywide.
What makes me also feel so sad is that I feel numb to all of the anger and frustration I should feel in reading this. What originally followed this last sentence was me ranting on a soapbox, but I deleted it because this is a book review and I'm trying to stay on topic. All I can say is thank goodness to Betsy a lot of the wrongs were righted for the victims (particularly Marie); eventually. Thank goodness there was excellent police work and the pooling of resources so ultimately this monster was caught. Also, thank goodness the Lakewood police department made an effort to learn from their mistakes and do an internal and external investigation into how they failed Marie so utterly and completely.
The technical jargon was a little heavy at times (needed for investigative reporting, but a little dry to read none the less), but it was of manageable length that the book didn't get bogged down.
This isn't my most eloquent review, but if you're into true crime and or good investigative reporting, this is definitely a read for you.
Review Date: 10/7/19
Publication Date: 02/06/18
December 22, 2019
I don’t know what to say other than this is important and a must-read. The writing is flawless for nonfiction, never too heavy, and had me fully invested from the first paragraph. I’ll be watching the series, but I’m so grateful I read the book to get the full story.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher.
Many of my reviews can also be found on instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher.
Many of my reviews can also be found on instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
December 6, 2022
Marie, an eighteen-year old, who belonged to a support program for teenagers aging out of foster care.
Amber, in her twenties, was a graduate student at a local college.
Sarah, who had recently buried her husband eight weeks after he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Doris, age 65, worked as a housemother at a local fraternity.
And countless other women all connected by the actions of single man.
In this book, Miller weaves an together the tale of a serial rapist who received a sentence of over 327 and half years in prison for his actions which afflicted upwards 30 women. Based off a true story, this book gets into the nitty-gritty of the rape case all while keeping the reader's interest.
Reader discretion is advised while reading this book as Miller does not skimp out on the details, each case recited as the victims would to an officer. However, that aside the book is written much like a narrative as opposed to a police report. Every event leading to another, keeping the reader's interest throughout. Miller even managed to incorporate multiple POVs, giving the reader insights on not only the police investigation and the victims' lives, but also insights on the rapist, as a few chapters were written in his perspective. Obviously, without revealing his name.
Miller did an impressive amount of research while writing this book. Each case was written as if Miller was at the scene when the victim recounted the incident, or when the police conducted their investigation. Not only does he include specifics about each individual case, but he also includes tidbits about the police investigation. The technical aspects associated with finding a culprit with DNA samples also added another dimension to the book.
Asides from that, the book was empowering especially given the content. Rape is like the bastard child of crimes, something no one really wants to deal with. Leading to cases similar to a few described in Miller's book. Plus, paired with the success of the few female officers that dominated these cases, this book radiated qualities associated with the feminist movement.
In all, hats off to Miller for writing such an interesting book. Combining both the plethora of information that the case consisted off as well as format in which the book was written in, Miller had me hooked the entire time.
Amber, in her twenties, was a graduate student at a local college.
Sarah, who had recently buried her husband eight weeks after he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Doris, age 65, worked as a housemother at a local fraternity.
And countless other women all connected by the actions of single man.
In this book, Miller weaves an together the tale of a serial rapist who received a sentence of over 327 and half years in prison for his actions which afflicted upwards 30 women. Based off a true story, this book gets into the nitty-gritty of the rape case all while keeping the reader's interest.
Reader discretion is advised while reading this book as Miller does not skimp out on the details, each case recited as the victims would to an officer. However, that aside the book is written much like a narrative as opposed to a police report. Every event leading to another, keeping the reader's interest throughout. Miller even managed to incorporate multiple POVs, giving the reader insights on not only the police investigation and the victims' lives, but also insights on the rapist, as a few chapters were written in his perspective. Obviously, without revealing his name.
Miller did an impressive amount of research while writing this book. Each case was written as if Miller was at the scene when the victim recounted the incident, or when the police conducted their investigation. Not only does he include specifics about each individual case, but he also includes tidbits about the police investigation. The technical aspects associated with finding a culprit with DNA samples also added another dimension to the book.
Asides from that, the book was empowering especially given the content. Rape is like the bastard child of crimes, something no one really wants to deal with. Leading to cases similar to a few described in Miller's book. Plus, paired with the success of the few female officers that dominated these cases, this book radiated qualities associated with the feminist movement.
In all, hats off to Miller for writing such an interesting book. Combining both the plethora of information that the case consisted off as well as format in which the book was written in, Miller had me hooked the entire time.
May 14, 2018
This book, A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America is a collaborative project between journalists T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong. Both journalists had been working on their individual projects when they realized they had been reporting on the same series of rapes. Mr. Miller had been reporting on a series of rapes in Colorado for Pro Publica, an investigative news organization. And Mr. Armstrong had been investigating a story regarding a rape in Lynnwood, Washington for the Marshall Project, a group that focuses on the criminal justice system.
In August 2008, a young woman named Marie reported to police that, in the early hours of the morning, a stranger had broken into her apartment, tied her hands with her own shoelaces, gagged her and raped her. The rapist took photos of her throughout the assault and then made her shower for 20 minutes. Before leaving her apartment with the linens from her bed, he warned her that if she called the police, he would post the photos online for her friends and family to see.
Sadly and most unfortunately, Marie's story only gets worse. Marie was questioned and asked to relate her story to Sergeant Jeffery Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn of the Lynnwood Police Department. The officers were bothered by small inconsistencies which crept into Marie's story after relating her story multiple times. They were also bothered by her demeanor... she was far too calm, they thought. Marie, who was 18 years old and living on her own for the first time, had spent her life living in a succession of foster homes. The Marie's latest foster mother, Peggy, heard that she had been raped, she was immediately doubtful, feeling that Marie had always had a flair for drama. Peggy decided to confide her doubts to the police and her suspicion, combined with the police's doubts, set into motion events which would lead not only to a miscarriage of justice but would also impact Marie's life for years.
What the Lynnwood police did in Marie's case is an example of what NOT to do when conducting a rape investigation.Sergeant Mason and Detective Rittgarn decided that Marie had been lying about being raped and they began interrogating her as if she was a suspect... pressuring her to recant and threatening to charge her with the crime of lying to the police. Because of Marie's difficult past and her tentative support system, she buckled under the pressure and told police she had lied. Marie was then charged with lying to police and would spend years trying to put this unnecessary trauma behind her.
The manner in which the Lynnwood police handled (or mishandled) Marie's case had direct consequences for several women living 1300 miles away in Colorado. In 2011, Golden, Colorado police Detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to investigate a rape. The victim reported that in the early morning hours, she was awakened by a man straddling her in her bed. He was dressed in dark clothing and wearing a black mask. He bound her hands and raped her, taking photographs throughout the assault. He then forced her to shower for 20 minutes before leaving with her bed linens. Sound familiar? That night, Detective Galbraith decided to discuss the case with her husband (a fellow detective) and her description held a ring of familiarity to her husband. he was reminded of a rape which had occurred in Westminster, Colorado and he put her in touch with the detective investigating that case, Edna Hendershot.
The Colorado rape cases, occurring over a several year period and in three police jurisdictions.. Golden, Westminster and Aurora... demonstrates how justice CAN be served when police derpartments work together and share information and when officers are properly trained in how to question rape victims... in particular, when they are aware of the myriad of normal behaviors that can be expressed by traumatized people. *Hint: Do not become suspicious over inconsistencies in the victim's story immediately after an assault and do NOT expect every victim to display intense emotions or hysteria.
Using cooperative police procedures, the latest in analyzing evidence collected at the rape scenes (DNA and other trace evidence) and the compassionate and analytical questioning of the victims, the three police departments got the break they needed in these cases. First, they were able to prove conclusively using very minimal DNA left at the crime scenes that all three of the rapes were committed by the same man. Ultimately, a 30-year-old Lakewood , Colorado resident Marc O'Leary was arrested, tried and convicted for these crimes. Unfortunately, the Colorado rapes need not have occurred if the Lynnwood police had chosen to believe Marie's story and had investigated the crime. Interestingly, the Colorado police did seize a computer belonging to O'Leary and a thumb drive which contained dozens of photos of the women he had assaulted... including Marie.
This book by Mr. Miller and Mr. Armstrong was part true-crime and part police procedural ; but it was also an indictment of the culture we have created regarding our view and treatment of rape victims. Describing the normalization and minimalization of rape as 'rape culture', the authors discuss just how common the belief is in our society that when college-aged men rape, they are simply making 'youthful mistakes' and it would be awful if they were forced to serve time in jail or lose their college scholarships. People hold this belief despite the results of a survey of young men which showed that one out of three said they would rape if they "could get away with it." (If you're interested in this aspect of rape cultural specifically, I would recommend that you read the well-researched book by Jon Krakaeur called Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town).
The authors go on to describe our rape culture as one which also manages to blame the victims by pointing out that how much a woman drinks or what type of clothing she wears can be used to justify the belief that a woman was 'asking to be raped'. And our rape culture can also explain the skepticism and disbelief that some police officers display toward victims who report rape. This disbelief frequently leads to a miscarriage of justice.... as was demonstrated in Marie's case.
I can't say that I learned much from this book that I hadn't already been aware of; but what I read was depressingly illustrative of how little things have changed in the 30+ years since I read Susan Brownmiller's groundbreaking book called Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. Perhaps the #MeToo movement which has become so popular will be instrumental in bringing not only recognition of sexual violence against women, but also real change in our culture and how we think about rape.... we can hope so anyway.
In August 2008, a young woman named Marie reported to police that, in the early hours of the morning, a stranger had broken into her apartment, tied her hands with her own shoelaces, gagged her and raped her. The rapist took photos of her throughout the assault and then made her shower for 20 minutes. Before leaving her apartment with the linens from her bed, he warned her that if she called the police, he would post the photos online for her friends and family to see.
Sadly and most unfortunately, Marie's story only gets worse. Marie was questioned and asked to relate her story to Sergeant Jeffery Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn of the Lynnwood Police Department. The officers were bothered by small inconsistencies which crept into Marie's story after relating her story multiple times. They were also bothered by her demeanor... she was far too calm, they thought. Marie, who was 18 years old and living on her own for the first time, had spent her life living in a succession of foster homes. The Marie's latest foster mother, Peggy, heard that she had been raped, she was immediately doubtful, feeling that Marie had always had a flair for drama. Peggy decided to confide her doubts to the police and her suspicion, combined with the police's doubts, set into motion events which would lead not only to a miscarriage of justice but would also impact Marie's life for years.
What the Lynnwood police did in Marie's case is an example of what NOT to do when conducting a rape investigation.Sergeant Mason and Detective Rittgarn decided that Marie had been lying about being raped and they began interrogating her as if she was a suspect... pressuring her to recant and threatening to charge her with the crime of lying to the police. Because of Marie's difficult past and her tentative support system, she buckled under the pressure and told police she had lied. Marie was then charged with lying to police and would spend years trying to put this unnecessary trauma behind her.
The manner in which the Lynnwood police handled (or mishandled) Marie's case had direct consequences for several women living 1300 miles away in Colorado. In 2011, Golden, Colorado police Detective Stacy Galbraith was assigned to investigate a rape. The victim reported that in the early morning hours, she was awakened by a man straddling her in her bed. He was dressed in dark clothing and wearing a black mask. He bound her hands and raped her, taking photographs throughout the assault. He then forced her to shower for 20 minutes before leaving with her bed linens. Sound familiar? That night, Detective Galbraith decided to discuss the case with her husband (a fellow detective) and her description held a ring of familiarity to her husband. he was reminded of a rape which had occurred in Westminster, Colorado and he put her in touch with the detective investigating that case, Edna Hendershot.
The Colorado rape cases, occurring over a several year period and in three police jurisdictions.. Golden, Westminster and Aurora... demonstrates how justice CAN be served when police derpartments work together and share information and when officers are properly trained in how to question rape victims... in particular, when they are aware of the myriad of normal behaviors that can be expressed by traumatized people. *Hint: Do not become suspicious over inconsistencies in the victim's story immediately after an assault and do NOT expect every victim to display intense emotions or hysteria.
Using cooperative police procedures, the latest in analyzing evidence collected at the rape scenes (DNA and other trace evidence) and the compassionate and analytical questioning of the victims, the three police departments got the break they needed in these cases. First, they were able to prove conclusively using very minimal DNA left at the crime scenes that all three of the rapes were committed by the same man. Ultimately, a 30-year-old Lakewood , Colorado resident Marc O'Leary was arrested, tried and convicted for these crimes. Unfortunately, the Colorado rapes need not have occurred if the Lynnwood police had chosen to believe Marie's story and had investigated the crime. Interestingly, the Colorado police did seize a computer belonging to O'Leary and a thumb drive which contained dozens of photos of the women he had assaulted... including Marie.
This book by Mr. Miller and Mr. Armstrong was part true-crime and part police procedural ; but it was also an indictment of the culture we have created regarding our view and treatment of rape victims. Describing the normalization and minimalization of rape as 'rape culture', the authors discuss just how common the belief is in our society that when college-aged men rape, they are simply making 'youthful mistakes' and it would be awful if they were forced to serve time in jail or lose their college scholarships. People hold this belief despite the results of a survey of young men which showed that one out of three said they would rape if they "could get away with it." (If you're interested in this aspect of rape cultural specifically, I would recommend that you read the well-researched book by Jon Krakaeur called Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town).
The authors go on to describe our rape culture as one which also manages to blame the victims by pointing out that how much a woman drinks or what type of clothing she wears can be used to justify the belief that a woman was 'asking to be raped'. And our rape culture can also explain the skepticism and disbelief that some police officers display toward victims who report rape. This disbelief frequently leads to a miscarriage of justice.... as was demonstrated in Marie's case.
I can't say that I learned much from this book that I hadn't already been aware of; but what I read was depressingly illustrative of how little things have changed in the 30+ years since I read Susan Brownmiller's groundbreaking book called Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. Perhaps the #MeToo movement which has become so popular will be instrumental in bringing not only recognition of sexual violence against women, but also real change in our culture and how we think about rape.... we can hope so anyway.
September 28, 2019
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars.
Unbelievable, at it’s heart, is Marie’s story. It’s a story of injustice, mistakes and chance discoveries. And it’s also about redemption, hope and compassion. Marie is violently raped in her apartment by a stranger. On reporting it to the police, the detectives involved choose to disbelieve her story, holding on to doubts cast by Marie’s foster mother regarding her ‘attention seeking’, and eventually force her to retract her statement and admit she lied. Except she didn’t. And her rapist would go on rape several more women before being brought to justice. It’s only through a series of chances, and the offenders mistakes, that Marie is brought back into the investigation.
I felt such rage reading Marie’s story. She was failed by both the people she trusted, and the people who were charged with discovering the truth. She’s incredibly vulnerable, and the detectives use this to manipulate the situation to the ending they want, rather than simply looking at the facts. Throughout the early chapters especially, Marie is shown without any form of judgement. We see her background, the hard upbringing she had in various foster homes and her struggles finding work and independence. She’s simply shown as what she is - a vulnerable young woman who didn’t deserve the treatment she suffered. Nothing is sensationalised for gratuitous reasons, and as the story evolves to include the other victims, the writers even go so far as to use particularly sensitive language in their narration (one disliked that term, and preferred to be known as a ‘survivor’), which I found touching, and demonstrated the level of care that went into writing this story.
I also enjoyed the way this goes beyond Marie’s story too. It explores how rape cases have evolved in the way the police collect evidence and deal with victims, going into detail about the first rape kits to help standardise testing and the impact of female officers and false reporting. It’s filled with facts and figures (some of them truly horrifying), and is very well researched. It also doesn’t set out to cast blame. It repeatedly praises the level of care and compassion Marie receives when she first reports her rape, and details the tireless efforts of the detectives who finally bring her rapist to justice. It highlights the failings in her case, yes, but also demonstrates the levels taken to understand why things went wrong, and how things can be changed to stop it happening.
A deeply emotional read, that is very well researched with remarkable writing, told in a more positive way than I was expecting. Highly recommend.
4.5 stars.
Unbelievable, at it’s heart, is Marie’s story. It’s a story of injustice, mistakes and chance discoveries. And it’s also about redemption, hope and compassion. Marie is violently raped in her apartment by a stranger. On reporting it to the police, the detectives involved choose to disbelieve her story, holding on to doubts cast by Marie’s foster mother regarding her ‘attention seeking’, and eventually force her to retract her statement and admit she lied. Except she didn’t. And her rapist would go on rape several more women before being brought to justice. It’s only through a series of chances, and the offenders mistakes, that Marie is brought back into the investigation.
I felt such rage reading Marie’s story. She was failed by both the people she trusted, and the people who were charged with discovering the truth. She’s incredibly vulnerable, and the detectives use this to manipulate the situation to the ending they want, rather than simply looking at the facts. Throughout the early chapters especially, Marie is shown without any form of judgement. We see her background, the hard upbringing she had in various foster homes and her struggles finding work and independence. She’s simply shown as what she is - a vulnerable young woman who didn’t deserve the treatment she suffered. Nothing is sensationalised for gratuitous reasons, and as the story evolves to include the other victims, the writers even go so far as to use particularly sensitive language in their narration (one disliked that term, and preferred to be known as a ‘survivor’), which I found touching, and demonstrated the level of care that went into writing this story.
I also enjoyed the way this goes beyond Marie’s story too. It explores how rape cases have evolved in the way the police collect evidence and deal with victims, going into detail about the first rape kits to help standardise testing and the impact of female officers and false reporting. It’s filled with facts and figures (some of them truly horrifying), and is very well researched. It also doesn’t set out to cast blame. It repeatedly praises the level of care and compassion Marie receives when she first reports her rape, and details the tireless efforts of the detectives who finally bring her rapist to justice. It highlights the failings in her case, yes, but also demonstrates the levels taken to understand why things went wrong, and how things can be changed to stop it happening.
A deeply emotional read, that is very well researched with remarkable writing, told in a more positive way than I was expecting. Highly recommend.
August 13, 2018
How do you defend yourself when someone accuses you of rape?", I believe that was the statement that William Kennedy Smith so stoically announced during his trial back in the early 90's. The public was glued to their television sets when Court TV was still on the air this was a tremendous trial. He was acquitted but guilty of that rape and several others. The woman who had the nerve to take him to trial had her creditability ripped her to shreds for all to see.
This book isn't about that case, but I can still picture him on the stand all smug and composed posing that question to the jury, that poor woman didn't stand a chance.
It's hard for a woman to come forward after a rape just thinking of many obstacles they face, let alone considering that chances of the perpetrator will be caught and brought to justice is slim to none. We hear of all these decades-old rape kits that are that are now being discovered in a basement at some police departments or the current ones that are waiting in line for DNA testing that may take years before they'll be tested is a daunting thought.
These women fought back; they did the right things they called the police, these survivors went to the hospital to get examined, they didn't wait.
I was stunning at the number of times that a specific survivor had to recall her assault because the detectives who caught her case kept finding inconsistencies in her statement. The survivor's prior behavior before and after the attack was in question regarding her case. I was furious that several people who were close to the young survivor went to the detectives and added more suspicions regarding her claim. There is no right or wrong way to how a survivor responds to a sexual assault.
I thought this book was very informative and I applaud the investigative reporters who brought this case to light. It was a real eye-opener, I've worked in Law Enforcement and dealt with sexual assault survivors and to quote one of the statements in the book, "You know what these complaints represent?" The Sgt. told Ms. Browmiller. "Prostitutes who didn't get their money." I've heard that statement before, and I was livid. If a prostitute reports a sexual assault they should be should be treated just as seriously as elderly Sunday Sunday teacher.
I'm glad that finally, detectives are getting the specialized training they need to handle these type of cases. In the past, it seemed as if a sexual assault case came through a police department it would always land on the females detective's desk
Another thing I liked about this book is that it's not bogged down with a lot of dry statistics it was an easy read.
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-galley in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book isn't about that case, but I can still picture him on the stand all smug and composed posing that question to the jury, that poor woman didn't stand a chance.
It's hard for a woman to come forward after a rape just thinking of many obstacles they face, let alone considering that chances of the perpetrator will be caught and brought to justice is slim to none. We hear of all these decades-old rape kits that are that are now being discovered in a basement at some police departments or the current ones that are waiting in line for DNA testing that may take years before they'll be tested is a daunting thought.
These women fought back; they did the right things they called the police, these survivors went to the hospital to get examined, they didn't wait.
I was stunning at the number of times that a specific survivor had to recall her assault because the detectives who caught her case kept finding inconsistencies in her statement. The survivor's prior behavior before and after the attack was in question regarding her case. I was furious that several people who were close to the young survivor went to the detectives and added more suspicions regarding her claim. There is no right or wrong way to how a survivor responds to a sexual assault.
I thought this book was very informative and I applaud the investigative reporters who brought this case to light. It was a real eye-opener, I've worked in Law Enforcement and dealt with sexual assault survivors and to quote one of the statements in the book, "You know what these complaints represent?" The Sgt. told Ms. Browmiller. "Prostitutes who didn't get their money." I've heard that statement before, and I was livid. If a prostitute reports a sexual assault they should be should be treated just as seriously as elderly Sunday Sunday teacher.
I'm glad that finally, detectives are getting the specialized training they need to handle these type of cases. In the past, it seemed as if a sexual assault case came through a police department it would always land on the females detective's desk
Another thing I liked about this book is that it's not bogged down with a lot of dry statistics it was an easy read.
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-galley in exchange for my honest opinion.
December 12, 2019
Unbelievable by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong really is an unbelievable true account of a young girls rape (also how they caught a sick twisted rapist) and how the police didn't believe her (yes I know horrendous 😤) it's just utterly sad how many rapes don't get report and the excuses the police make for why they believe it didnt happen when those brave enough to report it comes forward, I understand some people report false claims for revenge and attention but to basically doubt everyone is just totally wrong, the evidence can still be there and they doubt you ( my brain aches just thinking about it)
It's a fast paced kind of book with many moments of ' Oh my god ' it's not graphic but there is enough details to sicken you.
I will definitely recommend it 📖
It's a fast paced kind of book with many moments of ' Oh my god ' it's not graphic but there is enough details to sicken you.
I will definitely recommend it 📖
September 15, 2019
She knew that the universe of women who had been raped looked identical to the universe of women.
A hopeful 'must-read' that pays homage to the dedicated investigators and supporters who overturned a horrible miscarriage of justice for a rape victim who wasn't believed. Marie's story is, though, just one strand in a larger narrative about the hunt for a sadistic serial rapist - and almost reads like fiction, including interspersed sections from the mind of the perpetrator.
While this makes all kinds of points about the way rape is treated judicially it, unintentionally, contributes to an ill-informed and dangerous idea that there are levels of rape: these are so-called 'proper' rapes that happen to 'good' women raped in their homes by a dangerous stranger; the victims are described as reading their bibles before bed, some of them are older, one a pensioner. Sadly, as the book says, only 15% of rapes (is that reported rapes?) fit this model - the other 85% are 'acquaintance rapes' which, as we know, get a far more questionable response, certainly in the UK press.
Still, we shouldn't cavil at any book which strives to expose the iniquities, historical and contemporary, of the way rape victims have been/still are on trial in a way that other victims of crime are not. This is a gripping read as well as an important one.
Thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC via NetGalley.
February 17, 2018
Powerful stuff ... and (for the open minded) an incredibly important book at a unique point in time. I hope it becomes widely read and, more importantly, discussed. I'm not suggesting that this book, alone, will alter, inform, or evolve the national narrative on rape, but it's a step in the right direction.
At a time when the sentient, thinking public - when we, as a nation - have been forced (or at least given the opportunity) to rethink so many of our preconceived notions about gender (and, of course, race), books like this provide meaningful context - solid grounding - to reorient our thinking. The powerful combination of data, trends, and mind-searing individual anecdotes drive home innumerable (and important) gender-related issues. (And, yikes, the list could go on an on...) But just start with the dominant male distrust of female veracity (yeah, just stop for a moment and think about what that means in a court system dominated by male judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, and then place that atop a male-dominated police force defined by its macho culture) - and one begins to realize how fraught, skewed, loaded, and incendiary any rape-related situations can easily become.
Just as an example - and it's tangential to the larger enterprise - but I was fascinated by the book's passage that dealt with the impact of female cops. It was not surprising, but thought-provoking, to learn that, among other things, women are less likely to use excessive force; women are less likely to be involved in suits alleging police abuse; citizens rank female cops more empathetic and more communicative; women cops more readily embrace the goals of community policing; women cops "respond more effectively to violence against women"; and women cops more likely to make arrests in domestic violence cases. But dwell on this statistic, just for moment: in large metropolitan police departments, one percent more women cops correlate to one percent increases in rape reporting within jurisdiction. And, yes, ... sadly ... two-thirds of women cops report (in surveys) to suffering some form of sexual harassment. [Again, this is not the main thrust of the book, but I found it emblematic of the authors' ability to intertwine the (compelling) narrative story line with relevant research to put the larger issues in context.]
Despite its content (and more on that below), the book succeeds and is (again, in context) a surprisingly easy read because - quite simply - Miller and Armstrong can write (efficiently, elegantly, effectively). I have no hesitation throwing this into a haphazardly stacked pile of well-received, popular modern non-fiction by some of the most skilled craftsmen making history accessible and readable, sometimes referred to as the new, new journalists, including Erik Larson or Laura Hillenbrand or Hampton Sides or Jon Krakauer, and, for me, to a lesser extent, maybe Tim Egan or Robert Kurson (whose diving books, particularly Shadow Divers, have a well deserved, near-cult-like following)
Gratuitous trigger warning: This is full-length book about rape, rapes, rapists, victims (or survivors), rape investigation and prosecution, and societal perspectives and misunderstandings of all of the above. If the word RAPE in the title didn't catch your eye, just let there be no doubt in your mind that - beneath all of the veneer and sheen of accomplished journalism - what propels the book and animates the story line is a mind-numbing collection of brutal, depressing, uncomfortable, no-way-can-that-be-true, that's-the-kind-of-stuff-that-keeps-me-up-at-night facts (BOTH with regard to individual rapes and incidents, individuals, and - to me, more disturbingly - macro-level data and national trends). If this book doesn't make you uncomfortable, well, ... I'll stop there.
Shelving disclaimer: I've shelved this book with other Pulitzer Prize winners I've read, and, while I think that makes sense, it's not entirely accurate. Miller & Armstrong won the Pulitzer for the long-form article, published a while back, that formed the foundation for the book. So, to be clear, this book did not win a Pulitzer, but ... the work by these authors that became the foundation for the book did, and that's good enough for me.
Really glad I read the book, and I recommend it without hesitation.
At a time when the sentient, thinking public - when we, as a nation - have been forced (or at least given the opportunity) to rethink so many of our preconceived notions about gender (and, of course, race), books like this provide meaningful context - solid grounding - to reorient our thinking. The powerful combination of data, trends, and mind-searing individual anecdotes drive home innumerable (and important) gender-related issues. (And, yikes, the list could go on an on...) But just start with the dominant male distrust of female veracity (yeah, just stop for a moment and think about what that means in a court system dominated by male judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, and then place that atop a male-dominated police force defined by its macho culture) - and one begins to realize how fraught, skewed, loaded, and incendiary any rape-related situations can easily become.
Just as an example - and it's tangential to the larger enterprise - but I was fascinated by the book's passage that dealt with the impact of female cops. It was not surprising, but thought-provoking, to learn that, among other things, women are less likely to use excessive force; women are less likely to be involved in suits alleging police abuse; citizens rank female cops more empathetic and more communicative; women cops more readily embrace the goals of community policing; women cops "respond more effectively to violence against women"; and women cops more likely to make arrests in domestic violence cases. But dwell on this statistic, just for moment: in large metropolitan police departments, one percent more women cops correlate to one percent increases in rape reporting within jurisdiction. And, yes, ... sadly ... two-thirds of women cops report (in surveys) to suffering some form of sexual harassment. [Again, this is not the main thrust of the book, but I found it emblematic of the authors' ability to intertwine the (compelling) narrative story line with relevant research to put the larger issues in context.]
Despite its content (and more on that below), the book succeeds and is (again, in context) a surprisingly easy read because - quite simply - Miller and Armstrong can write (efficiently, elegantly, effectively). I have no hesitation throwing this into a haphazardly stacked pile of well-received, popular modern non-fiction by some of the most skilled craftsmen making history accessible and readable, sometimes referred to as the new, new journalists, including Erik Larson or Laura Hillenbrand or Hampton Sides or Jon Krakauer, and, for me, to a lesser extent, maybe Tim Egan or Robert Kurson (whose diving books, particularly Shadow Divers, have a well deserved, near-cult-like following)
Gratuitous trigger warning: This is full-length book about rape, rapes, rapists, victims (or survivors), rape investigation and prosecution, and societal perspectives and misunderstandings of all of the above. If the word RAPE in the title didn't catch your eye, just let there be no doubt in your mind that - beneath all of the veneer and sheen of accomplished journalism - what propels the book and animates the story line is a mind-numbing collection of brutal, depressing, uncomfortable, no-way-can-that-be-true, that's-the-kind-of-stuff-that-keeps-me-up-at-night facts (BOTH with regard to individual rapes and incidents, individuals, and - to me, more disturbingly - macro-level data and national trends). If this book doesn't make you uncomfortable, well, ... I'll stop there.
Shelving disclaimer: I've shelved this book with other Pulitzer Prize winners I've read, and, while I think that makes sense, it's not entirely accurate. Miller & Armstrong won the Pulitzer for the long-form article, published a while back, that formed the foundation for the book. So, to be clear, this book did not win a Pulitzer, but ... the work by these authors that became the foundation for the book did, and that's good enough for me.
Really glad I read the book, and I recommend it without hesitation.
April 18, 2018
*Thanks for the free book, Crown Publishing*
2.5 stars - Upon finishing A False Report, I had to take some time and reflect back on all that I’d read. Sometimes, when I read books such as this one, I immediately want to give it a five-star rating and the highest praise due to the courage displayed by the survivors.
“All I did was survive, and I was criminalized for it.”
I struggled with this book review, because I struggled with several aspects of this book; I worried that elements that didn’t work for me would be misconstrued, so firstly, let me be absolutely clear – I am in no way taking anything away from the strong women who survived a truly horrific experience, and I admire their bravery in allowing their experiences to be shared.
Regarding the way this book is written, I struggled to connect with the writing style and the chosen tone. From the opening page, to the very last, this book is told in a very “matter-of-fact” way and, for me, it lacked emotion. This book contains sexual abuse statistics, and a lot of background information on how certain things came into being, for example, rape kits and police databases. While this information was interesting, combined with the tone of the writing, made this read like an academic textbook at times.
I really wanted to love this book, as harrowing a subject as it was, because I think books like this are important for raising awareness and can act as a cataylst for change; most important of all, they are a platform for the survivor’s voices to be heard. And I think a lot of that comes from the emotion one feels when they read books like this, the outrage at such a crime, the failing of a police force, the treatment of victims – this ignites emotions, highlights the flaws in humanity and creates a desire for a better way of doing things. However, a lot of this was lost by the tone and way this book was narrated. I know I keep mentioning the tone, but for me personally, it weakened the “voice” of these women, in the sense that I lost the emotional connection.
In a book such as this, you are always going to be somewhat effected, so I won’t lie and say this book had no impact on me at all, it was just not the book I thought it would be. I would like to end this review by highlighting the positive – I take nothing away from these women or their experiences, their strength and courage; also, this book shows there are some very strong and dedicated police officers who work extremely hard to achieve justice. It’s evident this book has been well-researched and I appreciated the ‘Acknowledgements’ at the end, as two male authors wrote this book, it was good to see who they consulted during the journey to publication.
2.5 stars - Upon finishing A False Report, I had to take some time and reflect back on all that I’d read. Sometimes, when I read books such as this one, I immediately want to give it a five-star rating and the highest praise due to the courage displayed by the survivors.
“All I did was survive, and I was criminalized for it.”
I struggled with this book review, because I struggled with several aspects of this book; I worried that elements that didn’t work for me would be misconstrued, so firstly, let me be absolutely clear – I am in no way taking anything away from the strong women who survived a truly horrific experience, and I admire their bravery in allowing their experiences to be shared.
Regarding the way this book is written, I struggled to connect with the writing style and the chosen tone. From the opening page, to the very last, this book is told in a very “matter-of-fact” way and, for me, it lacked emotion. This book contains sexual abuse statistics, and a lot of background information on how certain things came into being, for example, rape kits and police databases. While this information was interesting, combined with the tone of the writing, made this read like an academic textbook at times.
I really wanted to love this book, as harrowing a subject as it was, because I think books like this are important for raising awareness and can act as a cataylst for change; most important of all, they are a platform for the survivor’s voices to be heard. And I think a lot of that comes from the emotion one feels when they read books like this, the outrage at such a crime, the failing of a police force, the treatment of victims – this ignites emotions, highlights the flaws in humanity and creates a desire for a better way of doing things. However, a lot of this was lost by the tone and way this book was narrated. I know I keep mentioning the tone, but for me personally, it weakened the “voice” of these women, in the sense that I lost the emotional connection.
In a book such as this, you are always going to be somewhat effected, so I won’t lie and say this book had no impact on me at all, it was just not the book I thought it would be. I would like to end this review by highlighting the positive – I take nothing away from these women or their experiences, their strength and courage; also, this book shows there are some very strong and dedicated police officers who work extremely hard to achieve justice. It’s evident this book has been well-researched and I appreciated the ‘Acknowledgements’ at the end, as two male authors wrote this book, it was good to see who they consulted during the journey to publication.
February 5, 2018
This is about a young woman's report of being raped that gets all twisted up. Written by 2 Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, the book follows the story of eighteen-year-old Marie. She is made to question herself because of doubters, so she recants, then tries to stand by her report, but police shake her confidence so badly she caves when she's actually telling the truth. She has been made to feel like she's not going to be believed by her rapist, preprogrammed before she ever came forward. Sad really, when someone who's been marginalized from birth can't get a square deal when she really needs to be heard and believed at an important crossroads in her life. People all around her fail her. What happened to Marie was bad enough. Even worse, the rapist goes free to move on to other areas and continue raping.
An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley, author T. Cristian Miller, and Random House for my review.
The date of publication is Feb. 6, 2018
An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley, author T. Cristian Miller, and Random House for my review.
The date of publication is Feb. 6, 2018
February 17, 2020
Let me start off by saying I rarely read true crime because I prefer a story to a newspaper article.
The whole thing was definitely interesting... I enjoyed the chapters from the perpetrator too. It was little hard to keep everyone, their location, and the timeline straight at times and there was definitely a lot of unnecessary filler in the book. I didn't need to know that one of the crime analysts used to work at Lady Foot Locker or that Music was her favorite class in high school...
That being said, I still really enjoyed it. Off to watch the series on Netflix!
The whole thing was definitely interesting... I enjoyed the chapters from the perpetrator too. It was little hard to keep everyone, their location, and the timeline straight at times and there was definitely a lot of unnecessary filler in the book. I didn't need to know that one of the crime analysts used to work at Lady Foot Locker or that Music was her favorite class in high school...
That being said, I still really enjoyed it. Off to watch the series on Netflix!
January 6, 2018
2.5 stars
This book was not what I expected. The focus was on specific cases in Colorado and Washington. I thought that it was going to be a broader investigative piece, and place the specific cases in a larger cultural perspective. The big picture was only 20% or so, while the other 80% was a description of specific crimes that belongs in the true crime category. If that's what You're looking for, this book may appeal to you more than it did to me. It's impossible not to feel something for these victims and law enforcement officials as the events are presented to the reader. I am a bit put off by the amount of salacious details, similar to an episode of C.S.I., or S.V.U., or Criminal Minds; followed by a quote by an admitted rapist criticising people who watch these kind of shows. It seems to me that the authors are trying to appeal to this same kind of sensationalism to tell the story.
I have so much empathy and respect for the assault survivors whose stories are told in this book. It's infuriating to read the statistics and historical references to how rape reporting has been handled for centuries. I appreciate the book for those reasons. At the same time, I'm appalled by the details and the suspenseful buildup of the narrative... we do not learn the suspect's name until the officers get their break in the case. It's a little too dramatic for me. We are given glimpses of what compels the monster that caused so much pain and suffering, which is interesting to hear what the megalomaniac rapist was thinking when he did unthinkable things... but I am not particularly moved to hear about a human side of someone after learning of the lives that he has hunted and haunted.
Thank you to Penguin's First to read program for providing me with an advance copy for review.
This book was not what I expected. The focus was on specific cases in Colorado and Washington. I thought that it was going to be a broader investigative piece, and place the specific cases in a larger cultural perspective. The big picture was only 20% or so, while the other 80% was a description of specific crimes that belongs in the true crime category. If that's what You're looking for, this book may appeal to you more than it did to me. It's impossible not to feel something for these victims and law enforcement officials as the events are presented to the reader. I am a bit put off by the amount of salacious details, similar to an episode of C.S.I., or S.V.U., or Criminal Minds; followed by a quote by an admitted rapist criticising people who watch these kind of shows. It seems to me that the authors are trying to appeal to this same kind of sensationalism to tell the story.
I have so much empathy and respect for the assault survivors whose stories are told in this book. It's infuriating to read the statistics and historical references to how rape reporting has been handled for centuries. I appreciate the book for those reasons. At the same time, I'm appalled by the details and the suspenseful buildup of the narrative... we do not learn the suspect's name until the officers get their break in the case. It's a little too dramatic for me. We are given glimpses of what compels the monster that caused so much pain and suffering, which is interesting to hear what the megalomaniac rapist was thinking when he did unthinkable things... but I am not particularly moved to hear about a human side of someone after learning of the lives that he has hunted and haunted.
Thank you to Penguin's First to read program for providing me with an advance copy for review.
May 31, 2018
Netgalley #46
Many thanks go to Miller and Armstrong, Crown Publishing, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
Extremely touching account of a serial rape investigation across state lines. What happens when police departments do not coordinate and evidence including DNA is not stored and recorded correctly.
But what was most aggravating was learning how often detectives DO NOT BELIEVE the victims. Even in the 21st century women still ask for it, women still lie, and women are still charged for filing false charges. It's just too much for me to swallow. Their lives have cracked to pieces, they have no glue, and they are being accused of being whores STILL. To give you some statistics in 2009 in Detroit there were 11, 341 untested rape kits found in a warehouse. In 2015 the White House estimate the national backlog was closer to 400,000. Rape kits were only adopted in the 70's. There even exists a blog that focuses on "false rape reports" out of England that goes back to 1674.
Obviously the system is against the victim. Women are held in the lowest esteem. There is no evidence that it's getting better nationwide, and when officers are finally proven wrong there is rarely an apology offered. This book made me sick. It tore at my insides. I feel fortunate to have read this, and I think every woman should to learn how to protect herself against " A False Report".
Many thanks go to Miller and Armstrong, Crown Publishing, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.
Extremely touching account of a serial rape investigation across state lines. What happens when police departments do not coordinate and evidence including DNA is not stored and recorded correctly.
But what was most aggravating was learning how often detectives DO NOT BELIEVE the victims. Even in the 21st century women still ask for it, women still lie, and women are still charged for filing false charges. It's just too much for me to swallow. Their lives have cracked to pieces, they have no glue, and they are being accused of being whores STILL. To give you some statistics in 2009 in Detroit there were 11, 341 untested rape kits found in a warehouse. In 2015 the White House estimate the national backlog was closer to 400,000. Rape kits were only adopted in the 70's. There even exists a blog that focuses on "false rape reports" out of England that goes back to 1674.
Obviously the system is against the victim. Women are held in the lowest esteem. There is no evidence that it's getting better nationwide, and when officers are finally proven wrong there is rarely an apology offered. This book made me sick. It tore at my insides. I feel fortunate to have read this, and I think every woman should to learn how to protect herself against " A False Report".
January 29, 2018
4 stars Thanks to Crown Publishing and First to Read for this ARC, which publishes Feb 6, 2018.
Very good non-fiction book detailing a serial rapist. Written from verbal conversations, court and police records, and newspaper accounts. This story reads like fiction -and although written by two men - due to their extensive research, they did an excellent job. They were able to find the empathy needed to put to paper the hell these women went through. This is a hard topic to read, but a topic that everyone needs to understand and be aware of.
They follow a serial rapist as he 'perfects his craft'. They start with one young woman, who police forced to recant her story, and follow this man's path as he wrecks havco on a number of other women - both young and old. It brings in numerous police departments as he travels from Washington state to Colorado and how they finally combine their resources. It speaks of the near misses as they come close to catching him and of the complications they must overcome to zero in on their suspect. It explains the cleverness of the perpetrator as he leaves nothing behind in the way of forensic clues, but also how he leaves a defined pattern of his crime.
It is easy to understand how these two authors were selected for Pulitzer's for journalism. Their work is very good and this story is one that should be read by all.
Very good non-fiction book detailing a serial rapist. Written from verbal conversations, court and police records, and newspaper accounts. This story reads like fiction -and although written by two men - due to their extensive research, they did an excellent job. They were able to find the empathy needed to put to paper the hell these women went through. This is a hard topic to read, but a topic that everyone needs to understand and be aware of.
They follow a serial rapist as he 'perfects his craft'. They start with one young woman, who police forced to recant her story, and follow this man's path as he wrecks havco on a number of other women - both young and old. It brings in numerous police departments as he travels from Washington state to Colorado and how they finally combine their resources. It speaks of the near misses as they come close to catching him and of the complications they must overcome to zero in on their suspect. It explains the cleverness of the perpetrator as he leaves nothing behind in the way of forensic clues, but also how he leaves a defined pattern of his crime.
It is easy to understand how these two authors were selected for Pulitzer's for journalism. Their work is very good and this story is one that should be read by all.
October 7, 2018
Don't be fooled by the title. This book details what happens when the police bully a young woman into recanting her rape story and how she was eventually vindicated. It will piss you off, but then you can shove it in the faces of those twits who are worried about falsely accused men.
The reporters do a very good job, and every one is treated fairly. It helps that women are very instrutmental in solving the case.
Highly recommended.
The reporters do a very good job, and every one is treated fairly. It helps that women are very instrutmental in solving the case.
Highly recommended.
October 1, 2019
Strong
Brutal
Honest
Scary
Survivors show that they can live
And find justice
To catch a predator
A smart one
Better than the Netflix series
Brutal
Honest
Scary
Survivors show that they can live
And find justice
To catch a predator
A smart one
Better than the Netflix series
December 19, 2019
I heard the hype surrounding the Netflix series before I learned of this book’s existence. Because of my belief in the almost universal truth that “the book was better”, I wanted to make sure I knew the facts first. And facts were what I learned.
I got the who, the what, the when, the why and the how, but I didn’t always get the emotion behind them. I expected to ugly cry my way through this book but for some reason (I’m still unsure if this is a personal failing or due to the investigative nature of the writing) most of my emotions remained at arm’s length the majority of the time.
I was infuriated by the way Marie was actively disbelieved and accused of making up her rape by the police and most of the people in her life. I was incensed every single time another woman was brutally raped after Marie was because these traumas were not inevitable; if only someone had taken Marie seriously the man who raped her may well have been apprehended before any other woman woke up to find him in their bedroom.
Interviews and documents described by the authors highlight how a lack of investigation, and indeed an outright dismissal of a victim’s story that resulted in them being charged with making a false statement, turned into an investigation that involved multiple police departments. How the act of not believing one victim can contribute to a perpetrator going on to violate numerous other victims. How the justice system can both fail victims and get it right. The importance of police attitudes toward sexual violence.
I learned a lot about the origins of the fear of false allegations (thanks a lot, Sir Matthew Hale, you [insert expletive of your choice here]) and how they have impacted society as a whole over time. I never knew the history of rape kits prior to reading this book, only the statistics surrounding how many collect dust rather than being tested. The wannabe criminal profiler in me pored over all of the details pertaining to the investigative processes. The pedantic in me needs to know what the Wretch contains and wants to learn cryptology so I can crack that specific code and assist in providing justice to anyone who’s affected by its contents.
While I was reading I kept thinking this story was the perfect example of police investigating gone both right and terribly wrong so I found the note from the authors at the end of the book fitting. The initial focus of T. Christian Miller’s reporting was “to profile an investigation done right”, whereas Ken Armstrong sought to “reconstruct an investigation gone wrong”.
While this story begins and ends with Marie, it is not only her story. It is also the story of Doris, Lilly, Sarah, Amber and countless others who have survived the “unbelievable”. Their resilience and courage are extraordinary. This book should be required reading for anyone even tangentially involved in the justice system.
Content warnings include descriptions of sexual assault.
If you need support or information relating to sexual assault, you can contact:
* RAINN (America) - www.rainn.org - chat online or call 800.656.HOPE
* 1800RESPECT (Australia) - www.1800respect.org.au - chat online or call 1800 737 732
You can also search for resources in over a hundred countries at:
* HotPeachPages - www.hotpeachpages.net
Please know that it was not your fault, you are not alone and I believe you. 💜
I got the who, the what, the when, the why and the how, but I didn’t always get the emotion behind them. I expected to ugly cry my way through this book but for some reason (I’m still unsure if this is a personal failing or due to the investigative nature of the writing) most of my emotions remained at arm’s length the majority of the time.
I was infuriated by the way Marie was actively disbelieved and accused of making up her rape by the police and most of the people in her life. I was incensed every single time another woman was brutally raped after Marie was because these traumas were not inevitable; if only someone had taken Marie seriously the man who raped her may well have been apprehended before any other woman woke up to find him in their bedroom.
On March 18, they arrived - two years, seven months, and one week after Marie had been raped.Survivors of sexual assault should be assured that they are believed, that the assault it was not their fault, that they’re not alone and help is not only available, but deserved. Marie lived for two years, seven months, and one week alone on her experience because almost everyone she told dismissed her, and even more infuriating, her story is not unique.
Extraordinary as Marie’s case was - a victim assaulted, then accused - others like it could be found around the country, reflecting, in some police departments, a dismissiveness toward reports of sexual violence that at times crossed into hostility.My ugly cry though? It’s still right here waiting to be released, probably when my library buys the DVD of the Netflix series.
Interviews and documents described by the authors highlight how a lack of investigation, and indeed an outright dismissal of a victim’s story that resulted in them being charged with making a false statement, turned into an investigation that involved multiple police departments. How the act of not believing one victim can contribute to a perpetrator going on to violate numerous other victims. How the justice system can both fail victims and get it right. The importance of police attitudes toward sexual violence.
I learned a lot about the origins of the fear of false allegations (thanks a lot, Sir Matthew Hale, you [insert expletive of your choice here]) and how they have impacted society as a whole over time. I never knew the history of rape kits prior to reading this book, only the statistics surrounding how many collect dust rather than being tested. The wannabe criminal profiler in me pored over all of the details pertaining to the investigative processes. The pedantic in me needs to know what the Wretch contains and wants to learn cryptology so I can crack that specific code and assist in providing justice to anyone who’s affected by its contents.
While I was reading I kept thinking this story was the perfect example of police investigating gone both right and terribly wrong so I found the note from the authors at the end of the book fitting. The initial focus of T. Christian Miller’s reporting was “to profile an investigation done right”, whereas Ken Armstrong sought to “reconstruct an investigation gone wrong”.
While this story begins and ends with Marie, it is not only her story. It is also the story of Doris, Lilly, Sarah, Amber and countless others who have survived the “unbelievable”. Their resilience and courage are extraordinary. This book should be required reading for anyone even tangentially involved in the justice system.
Content warnings include descriptions of sexual assault.
If you need support or information relating to sexual assault, you can contact:
* RAINN (America) - www.rainn.org - chat online or call 800.656.HOPE
* 1800RESPECT (Australia) - www.1800respect.org.au - chat online or call 1800 737 732
You can also search for resources in over a hundred countries at:
* HotPeachPages - www.hotpeachpages.net
Please know that it was not your fault, you are not alone and I believe you. 💜
January 7, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My first book of the new year! Listened to the 10 hour audio version which definitely held my interest. This is a true crime story co-authored by two investigative reporters about a series of rapes that occurred between 2008 and 2011 in Washington state and the Denver, Colorado area.
The first rape occurred in 2008 to an 18 year old young woman who had just aged out of foster care and was finally on her own in her first apartment. The assailant did unimaginable things to her - tied her up, forced her to pose for pictures, and repeatedly raped her for about four hours, stole her camera as well as her bed linens. When Marie reported the crime, the police were skeptical of her story. One of her foster mothers told the police that she believed Marie was making the story up to seek attention. It truly went downhill from there. Marie was even charged with false reporting.
Several years later, more rapes occurred in the Denver suburbs. Through the dedication and efforts of two female police detectives from different locales the perpetrator was eventually apprehended, charged, convicted and sentenced.
This book shed a lot of light on these topics: the fallout from rape; victim blaming; social media shaming; the behaviour of sexual predators; the question of truth; the way the American police and other authorities generally treat women who report rape. There was a chapter that provided the historical background of laws and prosecutors that have been clearly misogynistic in their treatment of women rape victims from the 1600’s to now.
Eye opening and sad.
The 52 Book Club’s 2022 Challenge
Prompt #19 - a book that has an alternate title. Unbelievable originally published as A False Report: a True Story of Rape in America
My first book of the new year! Listened to the 10 hour audio version which definitely held my interest. This is a true crime story co-authored by two investigative reporters about a series of rapes that occurred between 2008 and 2011 in Washington state and the Denver, Colorado area.
The first rape occurred in 2008 to an 18 year old young woman who had just aged out of foster care and was finally on her own in her first apartment. The assailant did unimaginable things to her - tied her up, forced her to pose for pictures, and repeatedly raped her for about four hours, stole her camera as well as her bed linens. When Marie reported the crime, the police were skeptical of her story. One of her foster mothers told the police that she believed Marie was making the story up to seek attention. It truly went downhill from there. Marie was even charged with false reporting.
Several years later, more rapes occurred in the Denver suburbs. Through the dedication and efforts of two female police detectives from different locales the perpetrator was eventually apprehended, charged, convicted and sentenced.
This book shed a lot of light on these topics: the fallout from rape; victim blaming; social media shaming; the behaviour of sexual predators; the question of truth; the way the American police and other authorities generally treat women who report rape. There was a chapter that provided the historical background of laws and prosecutors that have been clearly misogynistic in their treatment of women rape victims from the 1600’s to now.
Eye opening and sad.
The 52 Book Club’s 2022 Challenge
Prompt #19 - a book that has an alternate title. Unbelievable originally published as A False Report: a True Story of Rape in America
December 20, 2017
**Thanks to First to Read for providing me a complimentary copy of A FALSE REPORT: THE TRUE STORY OF RAPE IN AMERICAN by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong in exchange for my honest review **
In 2008 in Washington state, eighteen year old Marie, a former foster child, is raped in her home. Afterward, everyone in her life lets her down. Two of her former foster mothers decide she’s lying. Her best friend creates a My Space page branding Marie a liar. Even worse, the police force her to plead guilty to filing a false report. Three years later detectives in Colorado arrest a serial rapist who has pictures of himself raping Marie.
A FALSE REPORT: THE TRUE STORY OF RAPE IN AMERICAN covers other victims and the investigation of the rapist. I’m too saddened and angered by Marie’s story to think about the other facets of the book. I can’t imagine how abandoned and alone she was, first surviving a four hour rape ordeal in her own home, then treated like a lying criminal and finally the abandonment of every important person in her life. I don’t know how she survived and wish she’d write her memoirs about the experience.
Miller and Armstrong wrote A FALSE REPORT: THE TRUE STORY OF RAPE IN AMERICAN in such a readable manner I often felt like I was perusing a novel. Even more important than the investigation and capture of the rapist is commentary on how rape victims are sometimes treated by untrained and/or uncaring cops.
I’m a rape survivor and unfortunately familiar with the failings of the justice system. Marie will stay with me long after the rest of the story.
In 2008 in Washington state, eighteen year old Marie, a former foster child, is raped in her home. Afterward, everyone in her life lets her down. Two of her former foster mothers decide she’s lying. Her best friend creates a My Space page branding Marie a liar. Even worse, the police force her to plead guilty to filing a false report. Three years later detectives in Colorado arrest a serial rapist who has pictures of himself raping Marie.
A FALSE REPORT: THE TRUE STORY OF RAPE IN AMERICAN covers other victims and the investigation of the rapist. I’m too saddened and angered by Marie’s story to think about the other facets of the book. I can’t imagine how abandoned and alone she was, first surviving a four hour rape ordeal in her own home, then treated like a lying criminal and finally the abandonment of every important person in her life. I don’t know how she survived and wish she’d write her memoirs about the experience.
Miller and Armstrong wrote A FALSE REPORT: THE TRUE STORY OF RAPE IN AMERICAN in such a readable manner I often felt like I was perusing a novel. Even more important than the investigation and capture of the rapist is commentary on how rape victims are sometimes treated by untrained and/or uncaring cops.
I’m a rape survivor and unfortunately familiar with the failings of the justice system. Marie will stay with me long after the rest of the story.
October 1, 2017
I'm giving a lot of books 5 stars this week, but when you're good, you're good. This expansion of a magazine piece (and I love a good magazine article) is a gripping, maddening true crime story. In 2008 in Washington, a young woman was raped. Within a week police pressures and doubt made her recant her story. Several years later, women in Colorado were raped in cases that had deep similarities to one another - as well as to the case up in Washington that was closed as "unfounded." I ripped through this book in horror and in awe of the detective work that led to the eventual arrest of the rapist. This is reporting at the top of its game. It's also, sad to say, a crime story in which the worst offense is the systemic doubt that follows many women after they report an assault, instead of the empathy and compassion the situation requires.
December 29, 2023
4.0 Stars
This was a gripping piece of True Crime that explores the problems that arise in investigating rape. This narrative offers some sad case studies while challenging many of the myths and biases surrounding this crime. This is a tough but important read.
This was a gripping piece of True Crime that explores the problems that arise in investigating rape. This narrative offers some sad case studies while challenging many of the myths and biases surrounding this crime. This is a tough but important read.
April 25, 2023
Book 24/100 for the 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge.
As a female growing up in the past 20 years, this book did not surprise me. SA is so underreported because of incidents like this. Women are not believed. Girls are not believed.
Girls are shamed. "What were you wearing?" "Were you drinking?"
3.5 stars rounded down. I found myself skipping through the ending once things were figured out and it was traumatic to keep reading after the sentencing. I would recommend but strong trigger warning on this one.
As a female growing up in the past 20 years, this book did not surprise me. SA is so underreported because of incidents like this. Women are not believed. Girls are not believed.
Girls are shamed. "What were you wearing?" "Were you drinking?"
3.5 stars rounded down. I found myself skipping through the ending once things were figured out and it was traumatic to keep reading after the sentencing. I would recommend but strong trigger warning on this one.
March 30, 2018
This book is a fairly decent crime story that carries a disturbing over-all theme; that police investigations of rape (in this case, the more cut and dried “stranger rape” cases rather than date rape cases) can be tragically flawed because of erroneous assumptions by the people who judge and investigate them.
While the book highlights how one woman, Marie, was pressured to recant a legitimate rape accusation; the authors also note several cases of other actual rape victims who were not believed or even charged, by trained police detectives.
The book also provides something of a side history of those who have made notable contributions to the investigation of sexually based crimes such as Martha Goddard who worked to standardize the use of the “rape kit” nationwide.
I would highly recommend book as it helps inform and challenge many assumptions of one of the darkest crimes.
While the book highlights how one woman, Marie, was pressured to recant a legitimate rape accusation; the authors also note several cases of other actual rape victims who were not believed or even charged, by trained police detectives.
The book also provides something of a side history of those who have made notable contributions to the investigation of sexually based crimes such as Martha Goddard who worked to standardize the use of the “rape kit” nationwide.
I would highly recommend book as it helps inform and challenge many assumptions of one of the darkest crimes.
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