Oliver

Fantastic and Fascinating (Scholarly) Text

Revisado: 01-28-25

I was apprehensive given the number of poor reviews, but I LOVED it and couldn’t stop listening. I think that part of the problem is that people are expecting a pop non-fiction approach, and this is not quite that. It’s really a very well-written and well-researched scholarly history of murder and its depiction in the arts.

If you, like me, live for delicious nuggets of information and bizarre historical details, there’s a decent chance that you’ll love this. It is thorough!! But so fun, in my opinion.

If you want something a little more big picture and less granular, I would say to still give it a try, but have something like The Poisoner’s Handbook (also incredible) lined up just in case you get bored.

I didn’t mind the narrator at all either (I thought the dry humor of the book came across nicely, and her accents aren’t distracting), but taste in narrators is a subjective matter.

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Fascinating story, great journalism

Revisado: 01-15-25

I was completely sucked in here! I really appreciated how the folks involved were actually curious about what was real or not, and not just completely dehumanizing Coco as a monster or psycho. And, at the same time, spending a lot of time with people that were really harmed by her, collecting their stories, making space for them, and trying to find some semblance of justice.

Also, I didn’t have any problem with the episode play order? Maybe it’s been fixed, or maybe it was a fluke. In any case, it’s worth a listen!

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Great Overview!

Revisado: 01-08-25

Although it’s not my own area of expertise, I’ve read quite a bit about classic horror. Even so, I was immediately sucked in, and really enjoyed this series of lectures. I definitely learned some new information, and (more importantly, I would argue), gained some fresh perspectives on these seminal works! A+

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Great Overview

Revisado: 01-08-25

As someone who is interested in the history of film but didn’t have a thorough grasp of it, this was incredibly helpful. I really appreciated the author’s thorough overview that covered the topic from many different angles. I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially given the condensed format, but I came away very impressed.

I personally didn’t mind the narrator.

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Fascinating Tale, and Well Told

Revisado: 10-05-24

Bizarre and complex tale, well and thoughtfully told. Some of the biographical chapters can get a little tedious, but 90% had me hooked, and there are so many details of her crimes and lies that are just… so brazen and strange. I really feel for her victims, and the author is careful to keep them in sight as well.

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Bizarre, seemingly AI-created jumble. No refund...

Revisado: 06-15-24

I bought this because it has almost exactly the same title (this title has "techniques" instead of "skills", but is otherwise identical) as a *legitimate* work by Sonny Jane Wise. I should have double checked the author's name before purchasing, but I guess I thought the title and subject were so specific that there wouldn't be another work copying it. I was wrong.

Nobody should be getting advice from this book, which has multiple repeated passages, often refers to therapeutic clients as "customers", and is so unspecific and oddly worded that I can't help but think that it was at least partially written by AI. This all feels very scammy, and borderline deceptive.

In my opinion, Audible should do a better job at vetting the kind of material they're selling, especially in regards to mental health related responses. Since I bought it outright instead of with a credit, there does not seem to be a way for me to get my money back. Shame on Audible.

Be careful out there, everyone!

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Unlistenably Cringy

Revisado: 10-31-23

I really wanted to be able to get through this, because the author clearly knows what she’s talking about, but the style and slang are so awkwardly used and out of date that I just cannot bring myself to keep going. It’s painful.

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Great Advice, if Cringily Written

Revisado: 10-09-23

I thought the author gave a lot of great points and a diverse range of strategies, clearly explained and well laid out, and I learned a lot. There are many concrete examples, which I found very helpful as well.
The downside is that the slang, and even many of the swear words (the oft-repeated use of the phrase “butt hurt” for example…) feel dated and awkwardly used. There’s a real Steve Buschemi’s “how do you do, fellow kids?” feel to the whole thing.
If you can get past that, however, there’s a lot of good material.

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Alright if you just want the BTK story

Revisado: 05-19-20

I thought the narrator was a little stilted, but honestly I can’t put too much blame on him because there were so many stilted phrases and cheesy jokes... I found it choppily written and structured, and it was difficult to get through. I finished it because I wanted to get the full info on the case, but I would choose a different book next time.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Great book, Strangely Inconsistant Narration

Revisado: 06-11-18

The main narrator was wonderful, but there was also (occasionally, but not always) a cast of voice actors of varying ability. It wouldn't have been so bad if the narration hadn't alternated continually between voice actors and narrator together for about half of each chapter, and then switching over to the main narrator doing all of the voices himself for the last half of the chapter. Very strange and distracting choice.

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