Gone in the Night: The Springfield Three

by Alan Brown, Brian Brown

June 7, 1992, is the day that changed Springfield, Missouri, forever. That's when the "three missing women," also known as "the Springfield Three," disappeared without a trace. The day before was one of celebration for Stacy McCall and Suzie Streeter, for that was when they graduated from Kickapoo High School. June 7 was supposed to be light-hearted and fun for the new graduates as they planned a trip to a water park in Branson with several of their classmates. Following a night of parties, the young women made a late-night, last-minute decision to sleep at Suzie's house - the home of her mother, Sherrill Levitt. It was a fateful decision because by the morning of June 7, the three women had vanished and were never seen again. Based on a true story, this novel explores the details of a real missing-person's case via a father-and-son's fictional search for truth. In the spring of 2020, co-authors Alan Brown and Brian Brown were facing a downturn at the family's St. Louis-based marketing firm. During their idle time, they began discussing and researching the most famous unsolved case from Brian's hometown. Soon, Brian was headed to Springfield to meet with his father's friend, an Ozarks' original, Private Investigator Booger McClain. What follows is an investigation like no other; one which ultimately reveals the gratitude friends and families can share with one another as they live lives of chance.

266 pages, Paperback

Published September 19, 2020

Reviews

[Amanda Newland-Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think long and hard before giving a book a rating of anything less than three stars, but if I’m being incredibly honest with this one- I’m probably being generous giving it two. The title itself is a bit misleading; it gives you the impression that the book you’re about to read is in fact solely a true crime non-fiction piece about the Springfield Three, co-written by father and son Alan and Brian Brown.
What you get is a book that reads a bit like someone read a lot of Perry Mason in their youth and had too much time on their hands during the shutdown. Also, I’m decently certainly that Alan and Brian are brothers rather than father and son- but this guess is only based on their pictures in the back of the book.

When I had first seen the book touted on The Charley Project, they had indeed said that the book was “inspired” by the case of the Springfield Three. Which I suppose is true, however misleading the title might be. It probably just should’ve been written a bit differently.

[Karista · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a lot more information from this book. I didn't learn much more than what I'd already researched myself. There were many typos and overuse of pronouns. I do like there was hope that someday we will find out what happened, for the families sake.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through my own personal research on this case, I found it difficult to find much literature written. I was however, over the moon to find a small production of this book in 2020 on the case. The case itself, is still unsolved to this day and the book doesn't pretend it has all the answers. Yet, what is successfully does is take you on a journey of the case but also the effects it has had on this small town. It shows how desperate locals are to solving it but also there is an undercurrent of certain parties who want this case left alone. I was extremely ingrossed in the writers journey and learned some new facts about the case, that I hadn't came across so far.

[Lynn Smart · Rating 4 out of 5]

New look

The Springfield Three have not been forgotten. Although there are still more questions and few answers there is still hope of finding the truth.

[Tori Janacek · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really wish these authors had stuck to keeping this a non-fiction piece or even wrote a memoir of their own journey of researching the case rather than this strange buddy cup semi-fiction.

[Lynn Laughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many people, have been quite interested in the true case of the three women missing together from Springfield, Missouri since June of 1992. I found this book to be a rather sophomoric look at the case from a mostly true standpoint but the emphasis is on "sophomoric" as it could have been written by a 15 year old.
The author took what little facts we actually have about the case and wove them into a book of fiction, which in itself is not necessarily a poor idea, but when you invent a character you call "Booger", you are not promising reading of a sophisticated sort. The author's fictional character is investigating the case, and he turns to a semi retired investigator (Booger) who has had some near run-ins with shadowy figures and a lady friend who makes egg salad sandwiches with raisins (we are treated to this description more than once). To his credit, the author does not seem stray from the true facts (there aren't many) as we know them. What he does do is have his central character state, in a lengthy speech, who he believes did it and how he did it, and to his credit, he does make sure to say that this is his opinion and not a proven fact. Still, I would stick to reading articles and even some interesting social media posts about the three missing women if you want what Joe Friday of Dragnet (showing my age now) used to say were "just the facts, ma'am." As for me, I can do without Booger.

[Jonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d say 3.5 stars. Living in Springfield, this case has intrigued me for years & I did enjoy having all the leads/potential suspects summarized for me. Would have given it 4 stars if not for the typos and amateur dialogue. Definitely worth reading if you have interest in this story which has left this community scratching its head for nearly 30 years.

[karen karker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book !!!

I've heard and watched many versions of this crime but this book goes into much more details and I really enjoyed the way it was put together and the story of the people telling it.If you want a different spin on this crime then this books for you.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should plainly state that it is a work of fiction. It is not a true crime book based on facts.
Poorly edited. No interviews. No facts. No sources cited.
I was completely disappointed in this book.

[Amaris Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually hate speed reading through a book, but this was a tough one to stick with, so I speed read to ensure I finished. The premise of the book is that a man, on the advice of his father, goes to visit a PI named Booger to see if he can interview him and figure out what happened in the Springfield 3 case. I got really annoyed having to read the word Booger every couple of seconds as it isn't a very pleasant name and I am easily disgusted by things like that. The character development of the PI, his woman friend, and the main character are all lacking. Their interactions are little more than rehashing publicly known information about the case in discussion and an inexplicable running gag of the female character's poor coffee making and cooking skills. In fact, she must have made 100 pots of coffee over the course of the book because on nearly every page she is asking if the boys need more coffee and the PI jokes about how bad it is. Or she is making them food with nauseating descriptions. This is not exaggerated. This book also requires you to suspend your disbelief quite a lot. You are supposed to believe that the PI is carefully protecting his gold mine of information on the Springfield 3 from slick and cunning invaders who will break into his office and take the information as a way to keep a hush on everything. The reality is that the information that he has is the same as everyone else has. It's not a believable storyline.

It was just really difficult to motivate myself to finish this. My main motivation is that I absolutely hate quitting books. Also, there are some strange errors that I was surprised finding in a published piece of literature, mostly just words that don't exist such as rampid instead of rampant, etc. I would not read any of the other books in the series.

[Chango Salamanca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am absolutely infatuated with the Springfield Three case. It is a tragedy that sinks it's teeth into you and never lets loose. Oddly though, there is very little about it in book form. I find this odd because it is one of the most famous cases in the true crime universe. So when I saw there was a book about it, well, I grabbed it. Truth be told, I read it in a couple of days. Was it what I thought it would be, no. The book is actually one in a series of books about a fictional private investigator. However, mixed in with the fictional story are accounts related to the tragic case. It's kind of an odd approach. To be honest, my interest was almost exclusively focused on the actual study of the real life Springfield Three case. I can't say I ever really got into the fictional story of Booger, the private eye. Some of that story was tiresome and repetitive. However, in the end, maybe this book generates interest in this still unsolved case. I pray that it does, because the families of these three innocent victims deserve to know the truth before they pass. And to be fair, the authors of this book relay the same desire in this book. They even relate their view of what happened and who did it. I don't agree with their theory, but I am always interested in other perspectives.

[Breanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fiction sections are a fun read and I’d be interested in reading more fiction from this author(s) one day. I see what the authors were trying to do in blending reality and fiction to push the story and lay out the information, but the factual portion of known information is so limited it becomes redundant throughout the book. I really didn’t care for the chapter of made up dialogue and small interactions of the women’s “last moments in the house”. It felt wrong to do that.

Perhaps instead of giving us all the suspects and their possible role early and then repeating that same information later they could have spread introducing them throughout the book and ended with their theory of the person they believe responsible. It still would have worked for the fiction portion of the book that drove the story.

The copy editor seemed to skip page 167-169 as there were a couple grammatical and format issues that were distracting and pulled the reader out of the story.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel, based on the facts about three women who disappeared without a trace in 1992. In Springfield MO. The night of high school graduation. Stacy, her mother Sherrill, and her friend Susie. They are referred to as The Springfield Three. The case is still open, unsolved, 31years later.

This is a fascinating, if heartbreaking, account of the aftermath of the disappearance: The tips, the police investigation, the clues, the suspects, the interest of the FBI and America’s Most Wanted. The Fear. The Tears. The days and months that turn into years.

Library Book. Published by W&B Publishers, Kernersville, NC, 2020

[Ida Langston · Rating 1 out of 5]

Exploitation. Don’t waste your money. If you know ANYTHING at all about this case, you will learn NOTHING by reading this book. I lived close to the Streeter home when this happened and have wondered for years what happened to those three ladies. This “book” has a great cover. The inside is pathetic. This is written like anyone reading it is a hick. There is no new information. I could care less about Booger or the Brown family. Frankly, this book is an embarrassment for Springfield and just an over-priced moneymaker for the Brown family. Pathetic waste of time.

[Heather Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this book 4 stars instead of 3 because it was entertaining and kept me engaged. However, I just can’t. That’s due to all of the typos and grammar issues, as well as a few factual inconsistencies/contradictions within the book itself. For those reasons, I couldn’t help but lose trust in the authors.

[Jjean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not being from Missouri originally, I was interested in reading this, as it is based on a true story - it was very "wordy" which made me want to skip over some but it also had some humor and an interesting main character -

[Sarah Keeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this one in less than a day. There are some really interesting parts, and I learned quite a bit (but admittedly hadn't done a ton of research of my own), but other aspects were just wacky, Booger, the PI, in particular.

[Amy West · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not one to criticize editing, but.... However, I enjoyed connecting with a story I very much remember. Maybe someday the truth will be revealed.

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was somewhat disappointing I was looking for more fact and last fiction..

[Michelle Handy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice “mystery” but knowing the facts were based on an unsolved missing persons case made me feel some kind of way about it. It was a good book tho.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8*

[Raven Rollins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't think this is non-fiction because while the Springfield Three case is real, everything else is made up.

[Sherri Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three chapters actually had material on the missing case, the rest of the book was a fictional story about how the material was shared.

[BluMoon Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I had looked into this book further and realized that it was a novel and not a true crime nonfiction book. There were several spelling and formatting errors, and once I got to page 200 I though to myself there was no way this book could be real. Alas, it's not. I think Alan and Brian could have done a better job writing a real account of investigative actions taken. Writing a novel almost seems hurtful to these families.

[Karen Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

399 or Less Book Club:
Book was too much supposition, innuendo, and rehashing.