Cover Image: Kidnapped by a Client

Kidnapped by a Client

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Member Reviews

This is the second time I've read this book. The first time I really enjoyed it but I forgot to leave a review. It's unnerving to think that an investigation can be done so half ass. There are some lessons to be learned about trusting yourself and being your own advocate. The book definitely should have been shorter but with all the twists and turns, along with the authors sense of humor, I think it's worth a read.

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I loved the first half of this book when we learn the story of how Sharon was kidnapped by a madman and how she escaped. The rest of the book as she is searching for Justice felt really repetitive. I thought the second half of the book could have been condensed to make the story more appealing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book for my honest review.

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WOW, what a fantastic book! It just just shows how easy it is for everyone to drop the ball. Sharon had to go through all of this and she knows the legal system, it’s really scary to an ordinary person such as myself. I can’t imagine putting myself in her place! Keep fighting the great fight Sharon!

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I love true crime and don't get to read many.
This wasn't bad, but I felt disappointed.
This was of course very sad and heartbreaking and insightful about what's broken in the law and justice system. But too much about religion at times... and the writing style not my favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

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I just couldn't finish this book. I really tried because I love True Crime. But this book just fell short. I started it Monday and today decided to give up on it at only 40% of it read. I felt as if I was sitting in a classroom being lectured too. It's not even near the book written by Ann Rule or John Douglas. It's written by the victim, Sharon Muse. I'm sorry for what she went through, but she needed to write it differently. I hate feeling like I was being lectured too. If I was you, I wouldn't waste my time. I wasted enough on it, and I have to many better books to read.

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Author’s Bio

The authors of this monograph are Sharon R. Muse and Holly Lorincz. In order to respect the authors privacy, and out of an abundance of caution I will avoid revealing any details beyond their names.

Who is the Target Audience?

As a true crime book this has a broad readership appeal. Those who follow true crimes and punishment would also find this real-life account of Muse and her victimization to be revealing on a number of levels.

Synopsis

Kidnapped by a Client is a first person account of a horrifying tale of a true-life crime perpetrated against Sharon Muse, a Kentucky attorney at law in 2006. Sharon Muse was abducted, raped, and stalked by a psychopath. In this tome she shares a vivid stark and brutal story, detailing her highs and lows, her ups and downs in the US Judicial System. A judicial system where she struggles to overcome the inherent but necessary bias towards the rights of alleged offenders in preference to the victims of crimes. The partiality towards the perpetrator leaves the victim as a mere source of physical evidence rather than a living, breathing human being. This prejudice often leaving the victims feeling objectified and frustrated by the lack of compassion and understanding.

From Muse’s kidnapping, to her experiences in court she describes the woeful treatment metered out to her by the United States Judicial System. She reveals that even to an experienced lawyer, how seemingly insurmountable some aspects of the law appear to be.

Despite the trials of life that she was exposed to, Muse found great solace and strength in Jesus Christ.

Muse’s story is as horrifying as it is compelling and immersive. Her odyssey leaves the reader with some disturbing truths and some alarming facts about crime and punishment in the 21st Century.

Her description of panicked apprehension about being held hostage to the lack of compassion or empathy from the authorities to her plight, leaves the reader with a bitter taste. Although this crime occurred in 2006, many of the experiences described could be had by other women today. Perhaps the most galling thing about the handling of her case is the avoidable mistakes made by the police, the collectors of evidentiary materials, and the prosecution.

Conclusion

In conclusion; Sharon Muse was abducted, raped, and stalked. She fought her case until she won. She persevered through a combination of a thirst for justice, her determination to see her perpetrator punished, and the desire to ameliorate her trauma, guilt, and shame. Ultimately, the victim triumphs not just over the flagitious criminal but over the inept unfeeling justice system itself. In a manner of speaking, she is twice the person the perpetrator could ever wish to be.

If you didn’t read the chapter: THREAT ASSESSMENT: RED FLAGS please do. If you are a vulnerable woman the wealth of information there could help you in a potentially dangerous situation.

Acknowledgment

My sincere thanks go to: NetGalley, and the Publisher, Skyhorse for affording me the opportunity to review of Kidnapped by a Client.

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Hard to believe that Kidnapped by a Client is non-fiction as the details of it read like fiction. Sharon Muse has done a superb job detailing the terror she went through.

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As a huge true-crime fan I thought this book would be right up my alley. This is very different from Ann Rule or M. William Phelps. It is told by the victim of a horrendous crime. Most of the book is taken up with an education on the law and listings of filings. It was dense and at time it felt like a lecture. While I wholeheartedly empathize and support Sharon Muse, this is not what I was expecting.

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This book was very interesting. I read a lot of True Crime books but very few are written first hand by the victim. Ms.Muse had a way of drawing you right into her story. It does show us problems with our legal system. But even more importantly her story is an alarming reminder of way we must teach little girls that their safety is more important than being polite to someone!

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

This was an ...interesting read to put it simply. It does give you some insight into the law and juidicial process. Informative at times... realistic... and scary how things like this happen.

it wasn't my favorite read.... and i likely would not read it again.. but still. was a decent and informative story.

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This book was an interesting insight to the way the Law works, how it can seem to protect the suspect at the detriment of the victim.
Sharon had no idea when she defended Morrison what would follow.
this is a stark and honest view on the process from her kidnapping to her day in court. It was at times hard to read and made you want to scream and shout for her. It is clear her faith helped her to get through it all and whilst there was a fair amount of religious mentions I did not think it in anyway influenced the telling of the tale. Its hard to imagine how Sharon lived through all those years in fear of what could happen to her
I find true life stories such at this depend on how the voice of the person involved comes across and this was a thoroughly good read.
4 stars

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Fascinating read of a case I was unaware of, being from Australia. Great writing, really thought provoking and shows the strength of character that is within.

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So I thought her story was very intense and compelling however, I felt like all the bullets were fired at once. I felt like I was told everything I needed to know within the first 50 pages and I didn't really have any desire to continue reading.

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This was an okay True Crime book. It could use one more round of editing. The most interesting part was the injustices done to her. Not one of my favorites due to the writing style.

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I usually love true crime books, this one was one of the best I have read. I could feel her panic myself throughout the book. I also felt such outrage for what happened to this woman. Well written. I definitely recommend this book to anyone.

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This was really a good little book. the author made me want to get mad when she suffered injustices from the system. The only trouble I had with the book was that the language could really be tightened up to make it move better. There are also a lot of errors in word misuse. For example, she mentions fighting a dual when she meant a duel. Things like that would make the book better.

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I found this book to be interesting. It was a good read, although a little repetitive and there were many religious references.

As a former prosecutor, I found this book interesting for the problems experienced by the writer with the investigation and the prosecution of this matter. I also found her approach somewhat unsettling knowing that she is an attorney - referring to the judge as “her judge” and the prosecution as “her lawyers”. Her approach to the trial process and almost professional preparation were disturbing to read about. There are many other comments I could make, however they would be mostly of interest to another lawyer.

Overall, her story about what happened to her was gripping as was the story about her experience as a victim in the criminal justice system.

It would have been nice to include an update about whether she won the election that she was running for in 2016.

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I am not going to go on record and say this was one of the best true crime books written, it's not even one of my favorites, but I was interested in the story Muse was telling. The writing had a way of hooking me in, and although I put it down for a few hours at a time, I was always able to fall back in with ease. There was never a problem of remembering what happened, so I will applaud both authors on that.

I will say that it felt slightly repetitive in some places, but that's to be expected when quoting actual documents throughout the book. So it wasn't that big of a deal. I am glad that Muse didn't give her attacker any more attention by writing his real name, as we live in a society where killers and kidnappers get talked about and the victims get lost between headlines, so with each story where the killer is given a pen name and isn't living luxury off all the people wanting to talk to them in prison, the better.

The only thing I, disliked?? (I wouldn't say it was a dislike, it was more of an eh, I'm not a big fan of this), about this book was the amount of God-talk, however, the author is clearly a believer in a man upstairs and if that helps with her recovery I'm not going to bash her for it. It wasn't pages upon pages so I was able to deal with it.

I do find it a little odd how the book ending on the author running for some American politic campaign in 2016, but the book wasn't published until April of this year. I would have loved more of an update a few years after everything has calmed down slightly. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. We were given a small little half-assed epilogue that I felt didn't really do much for the overall feel to the end of the book. But after so much of her life being talked about in this book, maybe she wanted to hold back a bit, what do I know?

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I think that the entire book could have used less references to Jesus but otherwise the suspense was good.

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This was one of the most exciting, scary, and tension filled true crime books I’ve read. You really feel for Sharon Muse as the beginning of the story unfolds and you follow along with her. Things just get more intense and frightening as it continues and she finds herself kidnapped by someone she once represented who was convicted. And he wants revenge his own way now that he’s made her drive out to this creepy abandoned farm. This part of the book is riveting, but there is much more to this story, so check it out. I highly recommend this one. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, authors Sharon R. Muse, JD & Holly Lorincz, and the publisher.

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