Always In Our Hearts: The Story Of Amy Grossberg, Brian Peterson, The Pregnancy They Hid And The Baby They Killed

by Doug Most

Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson grew up in a wealthy New Jersey suburb, meeting and falling in love while still in high school, then set out for college with their classmates. But in November of their Freshman Year, the two young lovers spent a night in a Delaware motel room where, after hiding her pregnancy from her family and her friends for nine months, Amy gave birth to a baby boy. Only she and Brian knew the child even existed . . . until the next morning when the newborn's corpse turned up in the motel dumpster. The case caused a countrywide outrage, and the teenagers ended up in court, desperately fighting for their lives and ultimately against each other...

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Doug Most is a lifelong journalist, storyteller, editor and three-time author of non-fiction books. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts, and now works as the Executive Editor and an Assistant Vice President at Boston University.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and very frustrated at the fact these kids only got a light sentence. They should have got a heavier sentence.

[Tara Simonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced, well informed, and easy to digest. Great reporting.

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalist Doug Most has a fascinating but very sad story to tell -- that of Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson and the baby they didn’t want. Hard to believe that two privileged and educated young people could behave so selfishly, disposing of a baby as just one more piece of trash. Based on his portrayal of the couple, their families, and their communities, it appears that their privileged upbringing and the degree to which they had been protected from ever making the wrong choice, even in little things, was a primary reason for their inability to accept and deal with the reality of a pregnancy.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I considered this a good book. It was well told. I was torn in my feelings about the whole story. I felt for the baby. I couldn't believe two eighteen year olds could be this ... stupid, for lack of a better word.
I finally felt more sympathy for Brian, the father of the baby, than with Amy, the mother. I wanted to slap Amy's Mom. I just did not like the lady. I felt it was more her fault than anyone. She needed to let her child grow up and be responsible for herself, just a little bit.

[Bonni Sweet]

A startling story of two high school kids trying to play grown up and not accepting the consequences that went along with it. She becomes pregnant and neither wanted this child, but instead of gong through adoption or even abortion they tried to wish it away and then the night that it was born they threw it away. In the end they turned on each other but child was still unwanted and sacrificed none the less. A very sad sad story but very well told by the author.

[Koren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly the way I like my True Crime books. The research is incredible. He doesn't just tell us what happened with these two teenagers who had a baby and then threw it in a dumpster. He gets into their background and the background of the whole town to let us get into the minds of all the players. He also gives us a history of what has happened to other similar cases. Did these two teenagers get a break because of their upbringing? Should they be charged with murder?

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very, very good read. Never bogs down with boring details and places the crimes under discussion squarely into historical context. Worth keeping and re-reading. I have to say this book needed a thorough re-editing before its final publication; the story moved right along but some of the usage and sentence structure was just plain clumsy.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best true crime but not that bad either.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was well written... story is simply heartbreaking.

[Monica Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, how selfish can some people be!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for all..

Heartbreaking true story of a young girl with what she thinks is the worst dilemma in her life, not knowing what to do. I don't think she intentionally set out to kill her baby, I feel like she was torn about letting down her family, losing her boyfriend, and having noone to talk to, I absolutely 100% feel what she did was wrong, but at 17/18 your still a child yourself. This book was well written and is good for parents to read and know they need to speak to their children about everything and be supportive no matter what situation they are in, there's always choices, the right choices

[Hadley Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long admired T.C. Boyle's short story, "The Love of My Life," based on the story of Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson. When I was gifted this read, I was excited about reading the full, true story of this case. The book certainly did not disappoint. Most does a phenomenal job of presenting the story in a way that is engaging but also thought-provoking. The emphasis that Most places on the nature of upper-middle-class parenting in the story is especially intriguing. The book flips between more reflective reporting and authentic story-telling well, and the text itself reads easily.

[Melissa M Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a very sad story. A waste of a baby’s precious life. Selfishness on the part of the parents. The mom was selfish because she wanted to uphold her good girl image over everything, including the life of an innocent baby. The father was selfish because it was more important to protect the girl he considered himself in love with rather than protect the life of an innocent baby. Just a complete and utter waste of life. I think that they should have gotten more time in prison but then, that’s our justice system for you…

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and researched — just so heartbreaking

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly gut-wrenching!! I read this book at the same time I was enrolled in a legal program at our local college. Though it wasn't planned that way, it did help me understand the court system so much better. I found this book thorough and perfect in description in every detail. Doug Most did a fabulous job walking the reader through a very emotional situation that truly tries the readers own values, morals and personal as well as political convictions. I believe it should absolutely be a "must read" book for literature classes of high school students. In the culture we live in with sexually active kids getting increasingly younger, it's so very important that they learn this frightening lesson through the story of Amy and Brian rather than through their own experience.

[Atlantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ran across this book at the library looking for something else and on a whim checked it out. While the real-life story is disturbing I thought reading about it would be beneficial. It is hard to accept that our kids might not be the perfect creatures we want them to be and how denial plays a part in that. I sincerely hope that if my kids find themselves in a situation where they need help they they ask for it before it is too late.

[Leslie Spangler]

I saw the movie before I read the book and the story is sad no matter how one hears about it.

[Angela Dominguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another true crime book. Excellent read.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read! So very sad. The author did an outstanding job of putting forth the feelings of all involved in this tragic story.

[Lapsed Reader]

Educated guess about when I read this.

[Mellanie C]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13132461

[Jesa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an ok book, however seemed very drawn out, a bit too much for my taste.