Shattered

The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder

By: Kathryn Casey

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

In Creekstone, Texas, a small, quiet suburb of Houston, football was king and David Temple was a prince. A former high school and college gridiron-star-turned-coach, he had a fairy-tale marriage to bright, vivacious Belinda Lucas, a teacher at the local high school who was so warm and popular her colleagues called her "The Sunshine Girl".

The fairy tale ended savagely on January 11, 1999, when Belinda's lifeless body was discovered in a closet. Her skull had been shattered by a shotgun blast at close range. She was eight months pregnant.

There was no damning evidence directly linking the brutal murder to husband David, who stood by emotionless and dry-eyed as police searched the crime scene. But a dogged eight-year investigation would expose a shocking history of cruelty and domination, infidelity and rage - ultimately resulting in an epic courtroom battle for the ages - as the scandalous truth was revealed about love betrayed and innocent lives shattered.

©2010 Kathryn Casey (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Kathryn Casey is one of the best true crime writers today." (Ann Rule)

Belinda Lucas

I am from East Texas and knew of Belinda and had seen her through shared acquaintances. Her pictures do not do her justice. She really was beautiful. I would like to see a follow up to the other trials that followed years later

The twists and turns in the story kept me interested!

Such a sad and impactful true event ! It took so long for justice . So glad it had a happy ending .

a very good story told very well!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

YES! the story was really well told, interesting, and if you like true crime it is a no brainer--this book should be in your library.

What did you like best about this story?

that it had a conclusion. some books are written before the whole story plays out and the end of the story is not there. this book was written, researched, and read well. i got a snapshot of what it was like to be belinda temple.

the book was very sad but it had closure.

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

i am not sure. but she read well. reading an audiobook must be murder (excuse the pun).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

several reactions, anger at david, sadness for belinda and her family, satisfaction that david was tried in a court of law and exposed for who he was--a worm.

i felt rage at the way david had a double standard. one for him and one for everyone else.

Any additional comments?

i will read this again and it is a welcome addition to my growing library.

Good for this genre

This was an interesting and captivating story, a good listen for what it is. True crime stories tend to have a sameness and this was true of this book,as well. But it was fascinating despite it's predictability.

Somewhat dull and lots of mispronounciations

I picked this up because (1) true crime is one of my guilty pleasures (2) this happened very close to where I grew up, even though it was many years after I moved away from Houston. As a true crime, it was not bad. The storyline was unfortunately too common to be of much real interest and the writing was serviceable. The setting being of particular interest to me adds another star to the overall rating. The narration performance unfortunately detracted from my enjoyment, but I don't blame the Coleen Marlo for her consistent mispronunciation of place names. Tantor Audio should have given her the necessary information to do her job. But hearing Alief pronounced as "uh-LEEF" instead of "AY-leef", amongst several other gaffes, was annoying. Also, like many audio narrators, she substituted a vaguely Southern U.S. accent for a Texas drawl.

Crossposted from Booklikes

Guilty

I known the the younger brother through high school and have seen David my freshman year in high school. I was shocked to hear about this on the news, yes David was a bully and everything had to be picture perfect and domestic violence is hidden from friends and family and starts off as lies and alcohol doesn’t help, but in a nutshell, David did murder his wife and unborn baby and the Temple covered for him

Brilliant!

This is one of the most engrossing true crime books I’ve ever read. The author really dives in and as a result you really get to know the characters. Kathryn Casey is an amazing writer!! Her afterword sent shivers down my spine. Great narration as well!!

Narrator sounds like a bad robot

I like this author a lot, and she writes compelling stories, but this narrator ruined this book for me. She sounds like a bad GPS voice at 1.5 speed, pronouncing “family” “fAH m AH lee” making this tough to listen to.

very good

Captured my attention from the start. made me want to see what happened to his last wife

Loved this true crime story!

Thoroughly enjoyed this selection! Well written, amazing attention to detail, great narration, and most importantly, justice!