Beyond Bad

By: Sandra Lee

Narrated by: Kate Hood

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is the shocking, true story of Australia's most horrific crime. Cruel and evil, Katherine Knight showed no mercy when she butchered her lover in a crime that put her behind bars in an Australian prison for a record life sentence.

Swinging from a meat-hook, John Price's entire skin was in one piece, including his hair, face, ears, nose, mouth, and genitals. Slashes and stab holes tore through the human pelt, a testimony to the wounds he suffered before dying.

Knight, a 44-year-old abattoir worker, had stabbed father-of-three John Price 37 times, skinned his body, cooked his head, and served him up as a meal for his children. Drawing on first-hand accounts, Beyond Bad tells what motivated Knight to commit such a heinous act and how it rocked the small town where she lived. This is a horrifying story of love, lust, revenge, and murder that is all the more shocking because it really happened.

©2002 Sandra Lee (P)2003 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic reviews

"Given the horrific nature of the material, Kate Hood narrates with the dispassionate charge of a reporter doing her job as objectively as possible." ( AudioFile)

Really startling story! and great author!

This is the story of a woman who is, simply put, very disturbed, She conducts a charade of a life, leaving chaos in her wake. It ends with her murdering her boyfriend and mutilating his corpse in a really gruesome manner. Actually, it doesn't quite end there. There is a trial, sentencing, prison. Not to spoil the story, but she tells the author she is happy there in prison. I would imagine so - she is finally safe from herself. I HIGHLY recommend this book *IF* you can stomach some really awful, really graphic scenes - starting with graphic descriptions of animals being skinned in a slaughterhouse. It's a really good story, and really well narrated.

Now here's the thing: This author is really remarkable. First of all, aside from this story just sort of coming out of the blue (as all her books seem to do), this book is really well written. Second, check out her other titles. She covers a wide range of topics - some you would not ordinarily expect a woman to cover. One of her titles is an autobiography. I'm picking it up! Apparently she's a TV chef! I don't watch TV so would have missed her, but definitely want to read her story!

Gripping true crime

Not for the faint hearted, but well worth it for true crime fans.

Engrossing

What made the experience of listening to Beyond Bad the most enjoyable?

The story was fascinating.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

It took a good fifteen minutes to get adjusted to the Australian accent, but once I did, I found it lovely.

Have you listened to any of Kate Hood’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Australian life and justice was fascinating.

Any additional comments?

You won't regret this one, if you're a true crime fan.

Crikey Mate, I Need Some Grog

While this book's story is very interesting, compelling and disturbing, I found the narration BARELY tolerable. It is written and read in an Australian slang, absolutely riddled with words like mate, sheila, grog, crikey, de facto (slang for boyfriend apparently), copper, etc. It's the equivalent of listening to a book in Ebonics. The murder itself is fascinating, though.

So dissappointing, don,t waste your time or money

What disappointed you about Beyond Bad?

This book prattled on like a university lecture on serial killers. A lot of time was spent talking about irrelevant characters and the book was well into part 2 before the actual crime is discussed. Even then the constant reference to serial killer facts is distracting from hearing about the crime.

Has Beyond Bad turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, just other books by this author.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Beyond Bad?

All irrelevant and boring information. This however would mean most of the book.