Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Fatal Vision  By  cover art

Fatal Vision

By: Joe McGinniss
Narrated by: Christopher Reeve
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $8.99

Buy for $8.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The true crime tale of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald, who murdered his pregnant wife and two young daughters and blamed it on hippies.
©1983 Joe McGinniss (P)2008 Simon & Schuster

What listeners say about Fatal Vision

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    57
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    20
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Being unabridged

If you’ve listened to books by Joe McGinniss before, how does this one compare?

n/a

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Christopher Reeve?

undetermined

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I read the book, and though it met the general qualities of the printed version, abridged versions miss so much. Especially when you know what should be there.

Any additional comments?

I would like to see more 'True Crimes' (unabridged) in your library. I'm having difficulty finding any and that's what I listen to.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Abridged version.

Why is there no warning or notation when the audible version is not the entire work? Very disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Unabridged version not available.

I find the story fascinating. I always have. I watched the TV series when I was a teenager in the 80's. Frightened me to no end. I bought the book and read it in my 40's. I realize I'm the age of the would be son and third child of Colette (Stephenson) MacDonald. It is such a tragedy that this book is not the fully unabridged version. It was exquisitely and meticulously written. I would purchase it flat out if available! Otherwise I would have given this book at top notch rating! It deserves is. But without the fully unabridged version, that is not possible. I loved Christopher Reeve's narration. Excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Christopher Reeve Secret Book Reading Genius: Reads True Crime Classic

I never cared much for Reeve's acting in movies, but I quickly discovered that he had a talent for reading books that was savant-like. You feel like your sitting next to the Narcissitic convicted murderer Jeffrey MacDonald as Reeve sighs, and huffs arrogant through his dialogue. I challenge the listener to listen to Reeve's portrayal then play an interview with the real MacDonald and try to tell them apart. It's that accurate a portrayal. Reeve is equally convincing as MacDonald's distraught mother-in-law. I love true crime books and this is a great one. However, it's Reeve's amazing reading and acting of all the parts in the book that make this so special.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Abridged version

What would have made Fatal Vision better?

having the original version

What was most disappointing about Joe McGinniss’s story?

The abridged version has gutted the original book

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

narration was ok

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Fatal Vision?

If I was the editor, I would have left it alone - I think there were legal issues attached to it though

Any additional comments?

read the original book, its a true classic, very well written

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fabricated but Enjoyable as Fiction

Which character – as performed by Christopher Reeve – was your favorite?

Reeve was phenomenal. He is missed.

Any additional comments?

Joe McGinnis is the worst sort of 'journalist'. Had he presented this book as fiction, I could've given it a wonderful rating, but it isn't. Fatal Vision is responsible for incarcerating a man who may be innocent and, even if guilty, never had a fair trial thanks in part to McGinnis. Read this as fiction as enjoy. As fact, it's disgusting and unconscionable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

interesting story

the story was interesting, full of ups and downs, seemed like it could never end but the narration was lack luster.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

True Crime! Made for TV? Except it really happened

The story of a military officer, a medical doctor, who committed a heinous crime, and his legal efforts to exonerate himself. Did he do it? Is he innocent, a victim himself of this crime? The case spans 10 years. The author gives you all the facts as they were uncovered and documented by the courts. Listen carefully. Then decide.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Did the Doctor kill his wife and children? 3 STARS

PLOT: a marine green beret claims 4 hippis killed his family in a manson type murder.

BASED on a real life event. Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald is a green beret officer and his pregnant wife and children are murdered. Dr. MacDonald escapes with a few wounds. BEFORE the CSI forensics of today you name the flub it happened from important clues being dumped in the trash or moved or tampered with. When the horrific scene of the family killed in a bizarre way the only one alive is Dr. MacDonald who's story changes each time he tells it. AT first there is no real tie in and the military police who do not want to prosecute him he goes 10 years or more before a grand jury indites him. MacDonald hired an author to write his "version" of the story to raise money for his legal fees soon has the author deciding maybe he really did do it. The audio is a bit of a bore with a tiresome reader. I give it 3 STARS all the way. Dr. MacDonald is currently in prison for the murders and is up for parole~ this fall.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very bad job with the abridging.

There is a tremendous amount of evidence against McDonnell that has been edited out of the audiobook. It might be good as a starter if you know nothing of the case but then look further for a real understanding.

Christopher Reeve is a wonderful narrator and the story itself is very interesting.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!