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Every Woman's Nightmare: The True Story Of The Fairy-Tale Marriage And Brutal Murder Of Lori Hacking
Well-liked and respected, Mark Hacking came from a highly successful Mormon family. His father was a pediatrician. One of his brothers was also a doctor, and his other brother was an electrical engineer. With acceptances into both George Washington University and University of North Carolina medical schools, Mark was on the road to continuing his family’s legacy of achievement. And with a beautiful wife by his side, Mark seemed to have it all. But what he had was a tangled web of lies…
For eight years, Mark lived a double life of deceptions, petty crimes, and failures, duping everyone, including his trusting wife Lori. But when Lori uncovered his most extraordinary lie, Mark Hacking turned from deceiver to stone-cold killer. On a hot July day in Utah, Mark Hacking told police that his wife had disappeared while jogging. For fourteen days, searchers looked frantically for Lori. The people who knew Mark Hacking and his wife best watched in amazement as suspicion fell on the outwardly normal, doting young husband who everyone thought was on his way to medical school.
When Lori Hacking’s badly decomposed body was found in a Salt Lake City landfill, investigators and even family members finally discovered the shocking Mark Hacking was not the man he seemed to be...
For eight years, Mark lived a double life of deceptions, petty crimes, and failures, duping everyone, including his trusting wife Lori. But when Lori uncovered his most extraordinary lie, Mark Hacking turned from deceiver to stone-cold killer. On a hot July day in Utah, Mark Hacking told police that his wife had disappeared while jogging. For fourteen days, searchers looked frantically for Lori. The people who knew Mark Hacking and his wife best watched in amazement as suspicion fell on the outwardly normal, doting young husband who everyone thought was on his way to medical school.
When Lori Hacking’s badly decomposed body was found in a Salt Lake City landfill, investigators and even family members finally discovered the shocking Mark Hacking was not the man he seemed to be...
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
33 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Steven Long
7 books10 followersSteven Long is a triple threat. He is an editor, journalist, and humanitarian most famous for his books on some of the most sensational true crime events in the nation. He has spent more than 2,000 hours in the courtroom, more time than most practicing lawyers spend there in a lifetime. He has covered some of the most important cases of the last two decades. Few can capture the drama of lawyer vs. lawyer quite like him.
Now he takes his immense talent for narrative to the pages of fiction with his new novel Ruby's Passing, a worthy successor to his bestsellers, Death Without Dignity, Out of Control, and Every Woman's Nightmare.
Long began his career in radio but quickly moved to print. For most of 11 years, he served as editor and publisher of Galveston's In Between Magazine, an award-winning alternative weekly famed for its gritty investigative work. His first freelance piece appeared in the respected Texas Observer.
In the 1982 Texas election for governor, Steven Long asked the incumbent, Bill Clements, a question that changed the state's history. "Would you appoint a consumer, for example, a housewife, to the Texas Public Utilities Commission?" The governor blundered and answered, "There isn't a housewife in Texas qualified to serve on the PUC." He lost the election.
After closing In Between, Steven Long carved out a career as a feature writer with the Houston Chronicle. One article resulted in the indictment, conviction and disbarment of the late Houston adoption lawyer Leslie Thacker for buying and selling crack babies in several Texas county jails. Another series of investigative stories ultimately resulted in the indictment and conviction of the head librarian of the oldest medical school west of the Mississippi for stealing rare and historic medical texts, some dating to the sixteenth century. He exposed the Texas prison system's wholesale practice of allowing the use of inmates as subjects for medical residents to hone their skills in cosmetic surgery at a state teaching hospital.
Steven Long covered the Andrea Yates murder case for the New York Post from the scene to conviction. For the same paper, he located rogue CEO Ken Lay who hid for ten days when the Enron scandal broke. He covered the lengthy and complex trial of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for Agence France Presse, as well as Crain's Chicago Business.
An avid horseman, he has been a contributor to Western Horseman magazine. He secured one of the last, if not the final interview with the late actor Tony Curtis for Cowboys and Indians Magazine
Steven Long is currently writing the prequel to Ruby's Passing. It too is set in the storied badlands of Texas' Big Bend country. The working title of the book, set in the 1883 Old West, is Sauceda.
Steven and Vicki Long, a fiction writer, live in Houston, Texas. He serves as Vice President of The Greater Houston Horse Council. The two own Horseback Magazine and Horseback Online, the nation's leading online newspaper covering the equine world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 5, 2009
After reading two chapters of this book I began to suspect the research that the author put into it. Instead of writing about Mark & Lori Hacking, he spent most of the book giving disinformation about the Mormon Church! I have been LDS all my life, as has my husband, and I had to explain some of the things Long was talking about to my husband! No one calls non-Mormons Gentiles--that hasn't happened since the 1800s. We do not worship Seagulls. No one but the Bishop spends 6 hours at the church building on Sundays. And no one thought Lori Hacking must have ticked off or dishonored her husband, which according to Long is the ultimate sin when you are a Mormon.
Long seemed to be trying to blame the Church for what Hacking did. What Hacking did was reprehensible and was a result of his own poor decision making, not the teachings of the Church.
Honestly, it sounds as if Long did research by talking to a disgruntled non-member from the 1890s. I would not recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the facts of the case.
Long seemed to be trying to blame the Church for what Hacking did. What Hacking did was reprehensible and was a result of his own poor decision making, not the teachings of the Church.
Honestly, it sounds as if Long did research by talking to a disgruntled non-member from the 1890s. I would not recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the facts of the case.
Read
August 31, 2008This book was AWFUL! The author did nothing but bash the Hacking's church! It seemed like the book was just thrown together. His sources weren't reliable, his writing was terrible and it was an all-in-all horrific book. I didn't even finish it because I was so offended. Bottom line..DON'T PUT YOURSELF THROUGH IT!
March 25, 2012
I seem to be on a roll with poorly written, badly researched books. I am not Mormon, but even I know that this book is full of inane comments and weird "information" (I use that term lightly) about LDS that is simply ridiculous. Another book I've just plain given up on. Please, write about the case and leave your strange opinions about religion out of it.
August 8, 2009
"When the story is all over," exclaimed the editorial page of the Salt Lake Tribune in mid-2004, "it might, in the hands of a perceptive writer, make a good magazine article."
The statement was referring to the murder of Lori Hacking, at the hands of her husband Mark. Having gained national attention as the story of her "disappearance" began to unravel - as well as the details about her husband's acceptance into a North Carolina medical school - the crime was becoming increasingly more evident with each passing day. The editorial, as a whole, was inviting the national media to leave Utah alone, and to allow the story become a "local story."
Crime-writer Steven Long, however, begged to differ, and wrote an entire St. Martin's True Crime Library book about the case. If this book proves anything to go by, it would appear that the anonymous Salt Lake Tribune writer was exactly right. Spilling past the brim with filler, Every Woman's Nightmare comes across as a contractual obligation, with an advance paid for x number of words.
Long uses the "extra pages" to go into simplistic detail regarding the Mormon faith, to which both Hackings belonged, as well as to a hefty part of Utah. Ostensibly intended to serve as a backdrop to those unfamiliar with the faith, Long reveals his bias - bordering on downright bigotry - in his selection of obsolete quotations from past tenets, and delving into the idea that women are expected to be subservient. Later on, Long discusses his belief that, "if there is a Hell, some of them [defence lawyers:] will find their particular circle to roast on for defending their clients who paid them." Fair trials are only for those making the accusations, according to Long.
What makes the book fall down on perhaps the greatest level is the fact that each of the case details themselves were made readily available through the media itself (with the possible exception being the fate of Herbie, Lori Hacking's loyal but skittish housecat, which adds another unique human dimension to the story unseen by CNN). The murder victim is beautified to the point of being above all human fallacies by Long, so anything added to make Lori a more complete person - someone to whom the reader can relate - is essential.
A string of cheap micro-biographies of the key players in the tragedy, along with stereotyped snippets of the Mormon faith (and Utah in general), this book adds precious little to the background of the case - but scads of extraneous detail which prove all but incidental to the murder.
If only Steven Long had written this as a magazine article after all - and if only he had proven to be that "perceptive writer" referenced in the Tribune...
The statement was referring to the murder of Lori Hacking, at the hands of her husband Mark. Having gained national attention as the story of her "disappearance" began to unravel - as well as the details about her husband's acceptance into a North Carolina medical school - the crime was becoming increasingly more evident with each passing day. The editorial, as a whole, was inviting the national media to leave Utah alone, and to allow the story become a "local story."
Crime-writer Steven Long, however, begged to differ, and wrote an entire St. Martin's True Crime Library book about the case. If this book proves anything to go by, it would appear that the anonymous Salt Lake Tribune writer was exactly right. Spilling past the brim with filler, Every Woman's Nightmare comes across as a contractual obligation, with an advance paid for x number of words.
Long uses the "extra pages" to go into simplistic detail regarding the Mormon faith, to which both Hackings belonged, as well as to a hefty part of Utah. Ostensibly intended to serve as a backdrop to those unfamiliar with the faith, Long reveals his bias - bordering on downright bigotry - in his selection of obsolete quotations from past tenets, and delving into the idea that women are expected to be subservient. Later on, Long discusses his belief that, "if there is a Hell, some of them [defence lawyers:] will find their particular circle to roast on for defending their clients who paid them." Fair trials are only for those making the accusations, according to Long.
What makes the book fall down on perhaps the greatest level is the fact that each of the case details themselves were made readily available through the media itself (with the possible exception being the fate of Herbie, Lori Hacking's loyal but skittish housecat, which adds another unique human dimension to the story unseen by CNN). The murder victim is beautified to the point of being above all human fallacies by Long, so anything added to make Lori a more complete person - someone to whom the reader can relate - is essential.
A string of cheap micro-biographies of the key players in the tragedy, along with stereotyped snippets of the Mormon faith (and Utah in general), this book adds precious little to the background of the case - but scads of extraneous detail which prove all but incidental to the murder.
If only Steven Long had written this as a magazine article after all - and if only he had proven to be that "perceptive writer" referenced in the Tribune...
June 29, 2010
I remember the murder of Lori Hacking well...but this book was terrible. The first chapter is FULL of untrue information...I am a Mormon but I didn't even recognize the church that Steven Long was describing in his book (I have NEVER gone to church for 6 hours or called any non-member a gentile). I thought Long centered this book around religion (his poorly researched understanding of the LDS church no less)when religion had really nothing to do with Lori Hacking's murder. When you include a source as the "Jack Mormon" taxi driver that takes you from the airport to your hotel....well lets just say I pretty much questioned all of the sources in this book. Good thing Steven Long is a writer and not an investigavitor or a detective...or the story of Lori Hacking would have had a much different ending
September 10, 2010
Well, I've been trying to get through this horrible mess for a little more than a month now. And I just can't do it and am giving up. I will never, ever, read a book but this "author". I use that term loosely because an author shouldn't, IMO, go about writing a book like this.
I only got a few pages in and could clearly see his bias towards the Hackings religon. I'm not Mormon and the only Mormons I know are on FaceBook so I have no desire to promote the religon. I have my own that I don't promote. But I do strongly believe that anything said should be true. Especially when it involves something like this that could, technically, reach the masses. The author should be ashamed of himself.
I only got a few pages in and could clearly see his bias towards the Hackings religon. I'm not Mormon and the only Mormons I know are on FaceBook so I have no desire to promote the religon. I have my own that I don't promote. But I do strongly believe that anything said should be true. Especially when it involves something like this that could, technically, reach the masses. The author should be ashamed of himself.
November 3, 2013
After reading the reviews for this book, I should have followed my instincts and not read this book. The author made many incorrect references to what the LDS people believe. In the introduction, he says he received the information on the church from an ex-Mormon who is not an Episcopal minister. No doubt this source would give him incorrect information. As other reviews also stated, the LDS church was to blame for the murder.
Book was okay. For the fact that he did not do his research well, I will not read another book by Steven Long.
Book was okay. For the fact that he did not do his research well, I will not read another book by Steven Long.
March 15, 2019
Compelling story but awkwardly written
Of course all of Utah followed every minute of the news of Lori’s murder and the search for her body. There was little doubt that Mark was guilty of this heinous crime right from the start. It all struck home with me in multiple ways and I prayed that Lori would be found one way or the other, and I prayed for the comfort of her family.
I remember where I was when the news that her body had been found broke on the radio; it was my parents’ anniversary and I had taken them on our annual pilgrimage to see the breathtaking autumn colors on the skyline drive behind Mount Nebo. We were happy, if such a word can be used at a time like this, that there was now indisputable proof that Mark had killed his wife, and that relief could come for the family to at least know where Lori was.
But the thing that irked me about this book, aside from the awkwardness of the writing, was Long’s continual unflattering and factually incorrect references to the LDS Church, almost as if it had been an accomplice in the murder. Really? How tacky! Mark’s actions were in spite of his religious upbringing, not because of it! Save the bigoted religious putdowns, sir. They did not serve your point.
Of course all of Utah followed every minute of the news of Lori’s murder and the search for her body. There was little doubt that Mark was guilty of this heinous crime right from the start. It all struck home with me in multiple ways and I prayed that Lori would be found one way or the other, and I prayed for the comfort of her family.
I remember where I was when the news that her body had been found broke on the radio; it was my parents’ anniversary and I had taken them on our annual pilgrimage to see the breathtaking autumn colors on the skyline drive behind Mount Nebo. We were happy, if such a word can be used at a time like this, that there was now indisputable proof that Mark had killed his wife, and that relief could come for the family to at least know where Lori was.
But the thing that irked me about this book, aside from the awkwardness of the writing, was Long’s continual unflattering and factually incorrect references to the LDS Church, almost as if it had been an accomplice in the murder. Really? How tacky! Mark’s actions were in spite of his religious upbringing, not because of it! Save the bigoted religious putdowns, sir. They did not serve your point.
Want to read
March 10, 2019Synopsis: for eight years, Mark Hacking lived a life of deception, petty crime, and failure. Then his wife Lori found out. And disappeared.
July 18, 2019
Heavily padded account of the 2004 Lori Hacking murder in Salt Lake City.
March 20, 2023
The book could have been written just as a short story a lot of useless info was included.
April 24, 2023
Haven’t read anything in a few weeks so this was a good book to get me back into it. True story, very interesting & upsetting.
August 22, 2025
It was a boring read.
November 13, 2025
There was a lot of unnecessary stuff in this book. I don't care how much it costs to build the courthouse or what it looked like inside. Or the other cases that these lawyers has tried.
January 7, 2011
I read this book on accident.
A patron returned it and I read the back, as I do with many of the books that get checked in, and this one really piqued my interest. I hadn't intended to finished the book; just peruse through the story. But it drew me in from the beginning and once I was far enough in I couldn't just not finish. It was a very interesting read, detailing Mark Hacking's thoughts and the actions/moments leading up to him murdering his wife, to the disposal of her body, to the aftermath and everyone else's views/experiences.
The story went into lots and lots of detail, on what it was like growing up in Orem, long descriptions of Salt Lake City, and lots and lots and lots of Mormon "facts". At first I was impressed by the fairness with which the author described about my religion--it was clear that he had done his research. However, often I felt that some of the things were dealt with too loosely, things which are very sacred to me, and because of that I felt a little uncomfortable a couple of times throughout the book.
I am fascinated by what drives people, though, and for this reason I became somewhat enthralled in the story. (Although I use the term "enthralled" pretty loosely. It was just very interesting.)I learned everything about what happened between Mark and Lori, what their families went through, and how it all felt, according to this author. I'm still curious as to where he got all his information, because he writes the beginning leading up to the murder as if he watched the whole thing. So, the whole thing I took with a grain of salt. I doubt the author could piece together every single moment of every single day during the time of that event. (I think he made some of the crap up. But what do I know?) It IS non-fiction.
Things I didn't like about this book: far too much detail (I felt) about the lives of the lawyers, store owners, etc. Basically anyone that was in any way shape or form even barely linked to the story was given anywhere from 3 paragraphs to 5 pages worth of biographical tribute. Little much for my taste, although some if it provided meaningful insight into their actions, or the actions of others.
Loose treatment of sacred things, occasionally even mocking or sarcastic.
Lots of jumping around in the story. I felt often there was a lack of flow. That bugged me, but not enough to make me stop reading.
Overall, it was a decently-told, detailed story of a local murder. An amateur Criminal Psychologist's dream.
A patron returned it and I read the back, as I do with many of the books that get checked in, and this one really piqued my interest. I hadn't intended to finished the book; just peruse through the story. But it drew me in from the beginning and once I was far enough in I couldn't just not finish. It was a very interesting read, detailing Mark Hacking's thoughts and the actions/moments leading up to him murdering his wife, to the disposal of her body, to the aftermath and everyone else's views/experiences.
The story went into lots and lots of detail, on what it was like growing up in Orem, long descriptions of Salt Lake City, and lots and lots and lots of Mormon "facts". At first I was impressed by the fairness with which the author described about my religion--it was clear that he had done his research. However, often I felt that some of the things were dealt with too loosely, things which are very sacred to me, and because of that I felt a little uncomfortable a couple of times throughout the book.
I am fascinated by what drives people, though, and for this reason I became somewhat enthralled in the story. (Although I use the term "enthralled" pretty loosely. It was just very interesting.)I learned everything about what happened between Mark and Lori, what their families went through, and how it all felt, according to this author. I'm still curious as to where he got all his information, because he writes the beginning leading up to the murder as if he watched the whole thing. So, the whole thing I took with a grain of salt. I doubt the author could piece together every single moment of every single day during the time of that event. (I think he made some of the crap up. But what do I know?) It IS non-fiction.
Things I didn't like about this book: far too much detail (I felt) about the lives of the lawyers, store owners, etc. Basically anyone that was in any way shape or form even barely linked to the story was given anywhere from 3 paragraphs to 5 pages worth of biographical tribute. Little much for my taste, although some if it provided meaningful insight into their actions, or the actions of others.
Loose treatment of sacred things, occasionally even mocking or sarcastic.
Lots of jumping around in the story. I felt often there was a lack of flow. That bugged me, but not enough to make me stop reading.
Overall, it was a decently-told, detailed story of a local murder. An amateur Criminal Psychologist's dream.
August 25, 2008
I remember following this story in the newspaper when it happened. It caught my attention because the crime was so similar to Laci Peterson: pregnant wife goes missing while jogging. This book reveals details about Lori Hacking's husband, Mark, who it turns out, had a lot of secrets that he kept hidden from her as well as his own family. All the suspicion points to him and eventually her body is found in a landfill. Although the author doesn't write like Ann Rule, I would still recommend reading this book if you want to learn more about this case.
November 3, 2014
sad story. I read this because they were in the same school I went to. though I did not know them I'm sure I saw them around.
when I told my SO at the time I she was really upset or confused why I may find this interesting to read it. there are far more worse things to read than this and every book story should not be suppressed. If she in not interested in reading it that is her prerogative but I am not a bad person just cause I want to read it.
when I told my SO at the time I she was really upset or confused why I may find this interesting to read it. there are far more worse things to read than this and every book story should not be suppressed. If she in not interested in reading it that is her prerogative but I am not a bad person just cause I want to read it.
June 11, 2012
If you read the newspaper or watched the news while this was going on, then you know the story. The book really didn't offer any more details or background. The first couple chapters were probably the most informative and the rest of the book seemed to be written because it needed to be book length.
September 21, 2014
It starts with the murder so the rest of the book takes place after with lots of jumping back and forth and other stories thrown in so it gets boring. I would have preferred build up so that you are familiar with the people first.
The story itself is heart wrenching but the way the book relays it isn't my favorite.
The story itself is heart wrenching but the way the book relays it isn't my favorite.
July 18, 2015
I wanted a refresher on this case, and this book filled the bill on the basics. I would have liked to see more background on Mark Hacking though---in-depth background stuff that would've given more insight into his development as someone with narcissistic personality disorder.
April 26, 2016
Although interesting to read, the author was so ignorant to the Mormon culture that it was at times offensive, and at other times laughable. Worse yet, the numerous grammar and spelling mistakes drove me crazy!
April 7, 2008
Yes, back to feed my occasional need for true crime! This was just okay for me. I guess I felt like it took way too many pages to tell the story. I also found it to be repetetive.
May 7, 2008
Poorly written...the narrative is often contradictory and repetitive with enough editorializing to make this count as a work of fiction. The story derserved better.
August 28, 2008
Sophomoric, tedious, and with an obvious bias against the Hackings' church that takes over the narrative.
June 25, 2009
A quick read but not a whole lot of new details over and above what was on TV at the time.
June 1, 2012
Very interesting. How he spun that tale that she disappeared but was later found in a landfill. She was also pregnant also at the time of her death.
June 16, 2013
Again, I don't know why I choose to read true crime. I guess I am always surprised that people think they will get away with it!!
September 2, 2016
Well written and fast paced, I had a hard time putting this book down.
I hope Mark Hacking is getting everything he deserves in prison and I hope the families are healing.
I hope Mark Hacking is getting everything he deserves in prison and I hope the families are healing.
July 16, 2015
Adequate story of the event!
An easy read that satisfied my curiosity about the case. We were living by Memory Grove when this took place.
An easy read that satisfied my curiosity about the case. We were living by Memory Grove when this took place.
May 2, 2016
Strange story but well written. Such a sad but bizarre tale.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews