True crime readers enjoy a different kind of perspective than fiction readers. We already know the facts that have been released to the public and the ending. We know "who done it". This true crime is different in that 50 years after a crime was committed, a woman on her death bed makes the statements that will lead to her son's arrest for murder. Alan Warren has included lots of back story and presents a picture of those people personally involved with the case. The book is a very good documentation of the available evidence. He leaves us wondering...did he really commit this crime? Well worth the time to read.

I received this book via Netgalley in return for an honest review. This book was just not my cuppa. It was okay, and I liked the fact that they were looking into a case that seemed to be charging the wrong man. But the dialog and narrative just didn't grab me.

Very interesting, did he do it or not?? Lots of questions and some answers, but not definitive. How terrible it would be to be convicted of a murder you didn't commit! Thank you #netgalley.

Wow! This book was amazing! The author clearly did a lot of research when writing this book. The information was presented in a factual manner that was easy to understand. The fact that this is a true crime book is shocking, I cannot believe that these events occurred and that Jack Daniel McCullough had to endure as much as he did.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy the true crime genre and was excited to have been granted an advance copy of this book. I really wanted to like it but just couldn't make it through it. The story starts very abruptly and never having heard of the case of Maria Ridulph it was very confusing to me. The book also needed a lot of editing, which I hope it gets before the final publication copy. There were many run-on sentences and other sentences that were just clunky. I found myself having to re-read sentences over again to try to figure out what the author was saying. After about 20% I found it too much to try to get through. I think if you already have a basic knowledge about the case you may enjoy this book more than I did.

The Last Man Standing: Is Jack Daniel McCullogh

This book is ringing bells for me, I’ve read a book about the kidnapping/murder of Maria Ridulph somewhere along the way. It’s my second book by author Alan R. Warren. Parts are familiar about Maria having been out playing in the new falling snow with her friend Kathy, and the strange man showing up wanting to give them piggyback rides. This book is about Jack Daniel McCullogh who was later tried and convicted for the crime, wrongly he claims, and served time in prison for it. This all came about long after the crime with his mother, Eileen Tessier’s purported deathbed confession to his half-sister, Janet Tessier that he, Jack, had kidnapped 7-year-old Maria from their neighborhood back in Sycamore, Illinois back in December 1957 and killed her. After Janet contacts police, the case is reopened, and with some dirty dealing on the part of the prosecution, it leads to Jack’s conviction in 2008.

But there are those who believe in him and are working with him to overturn his conviction. There’s much more to it and it gets a bit crazy and even a bit repetitious at times, but the basic story is good. You get to decide for yourself after reading, did Jack do it, or not? In the end, this case deeply affected several families for over 50+ years, did the real killer get away with the crime? My thanks for the advance electronic copy that was provided by NetGalley, author Alan R. Warren, and the publisher for my fair review.

WildBlue Press
Pub: Nov 13th, 2018

My full review at BookZone blog:
https://wordpress.com/post/bookblog200.wordpress.com/1036