Such Good Boys

By: Tina Dirmann

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

An abusive mother

Raised in the suburb of Riverside, California, 20-year-old college student Jason Bautista endured for years his emotionally disturbed mother's verbal and psychological abuse. She even locked him out of the house, tied him up with electrical cord, and on one occasion, gave him a beating that sent him to the emergency room.

A son's revenge

On the night of January 14, 2003, Jason strangled his mother. To keep authorities from identifying her body, he chopped off her head and hands, an idea he claimed he got from watching an episode of the hit TV series The Sopranos. Jason's 15-year-old half-brother, Matthew, would later testify in court that he sat in another room in the house with the TV volume turned up while Jason murdered their mother.

A crime that would bond two brothers

The morning following the murder, Matthew went to school, and Jason returned to his classes at Cal State San Bernardino. When authorities zeroed in on them, Jason lied and said that his mother had run off with a boyfriend she'd met on the Internet. But when police confronted the boys with overwhelming evidence, Jason confessed all. Now the nightmare was only just beginning for him.

©2005 Tina Dirmann (P)2016 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Tina Dirmann tells this story exactly like it is. There are no added frills. It is straight forward and factual and I personally love this style of writing." ( True Crime Book Reviews)

Could have been much more

Was this researched or based on gossip about the victim? Interviews, if they were interviews sounded more like gossip than fact. Understandably it may have been difficult to get many people to open up honestly about the situation these boys were in and the treatment they suffered at the hands of their mother and it shows in the telling of this story. The folks who gave input should be ashamed that they did nothing then to try & help & likely that made the gossipy feel come thru. To have thoughts that tge mother was leaving her kids alone to turn tricks to the extent of following her 1 night, finding a crying child who had been locked out of his house, verbal abuse and seeing her paranoia and mental instability yet they did nothing to help the boys or the mom. My opinion is that they should have continued doing nothing now rather than grabbing at 15 minutes of fame for the sake of this book. Where were these people when this went to trial did they try to help then? The story seems to have so much left unsaid and seemed to have been rushed to conclusion. And there was a hurried feeling over the investigation and trial to conclusion. I wish it was better researched and written. Narration was great tho!

3 people found this helpful

This book had me on the edge of my seat!

From beginning to end this story was so well told. It was really great! Awesome!

Sad story

I found this story very interesting. However, the story but could have been much more developed.

1 person found this helpful

Horrible Story - I almost stopped listening to it

Would you listen to Such Good Boys again? Why?

No - I wouldn't - I think that the story was glamorized by the writing of the book - I'm not sure why I listened to the whole thing

Any additional comments?

The story was horrible - the mother was truly sick and none of the family - the parents, grandparents, and everyone around her - they all knew she had a problem and nobody helped her.

2 people found this helpful

Sad but interesting tale

I am a crime enthusiast and loved this book. A mentally ill mother and two boys left to suffer her madness. Great story but a sad one.

1 person found this helpful

Tedious

Too much detail, too slow moving, nothing happens. Probably something that would be really enjoyable for someone who likes carefully written interpersonal drama type stories. I don’t. Got to about chapter 5 and gave up.

Narrator spoiled it for me

Absolutely gripping story one of the best but the narrator speaks sooo quickly!! every sentence starts off throaty and harsh...very annoying after a while.

Excellent

Would you consider the audio edition of Such Good Boys to be better than the print version?

Not read print version

Who was your favorite character and why?

More than one favourite

What about Gabra Zackman’s performance did you like?

Good

Any additional comments?

I throughly enjoyed this book and would recommend .

Review

Thoroughly enjoyed. Highly enjoyable book. Well researched IMO, well presented and narrated. Shame the author hasn’t published anything else.