Twentynine Palms

A True Story of Murder, Marines, and the Mojave

By: Deanne Stillman

Narrated by: Jay Snyder

Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

August 2, 1991, Twentynine Palms, California: a troubled Marine who has recently returned from the Gulf War savagely murders two young girls. One was about to turn 16, the other 21. Exquisitely and inexorably, Deanne Stillman uses this tragedy as a prism through which she examines a rootless culture of fatherless families, shattered dreams, and relentless violence. She also traces the family histories of each murder victim back for generations, in one case to the Donner Party and the other to a shack in the Philippines. In haunting, vivid prose, she creates a far-reaching story of America itself, carrying us into the empty white heart of the Mojave, as we meet and come to know the modern nomads who turn to the West for salvation, only to be devoured by its false promise.

©2001 Deanne Stillman (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This is a strange and brilliant story by an important American writer.“ (Hunter S. Thompson)

"A best book of the year." (Los Angeles Times)

“A book as stunning as it is shocking. In Stillman’s prose, you can almost feel the blistering heat of the Mojave Desert, smell the stale beer of the seedy bars... This book is unforgettable.“ (Arizona Daily Star Sunday Book Review)

back-stories carry a good drama.

very well written. Slow in developing, but the back stories and descriptions were very insightful and interesting. As a vet, I related well to the Marine mentality and code.

A solid B+. Well worth the listen.

Way too wordy

The story is good, the narrative pleasant but way too many extraneous details not really related to the story. Off topic quite a bit.

I like it but it was all over

I like the narrator and the overall story was good however it jumped around a lot.

Editorial more than documentary or true crime

Came away with way to much insight to the writers own beliefs, including how she feels politically and environmentally.

Distracted a lot from the real story. Disappointing really and did a great disservice to the women, girls and families involved.

The American we don’t see.

A tragedy of murder and violence is told in a tale of history of women experiencing abuse in generations of one family. The setting in the dessert town of 29 Palms introduces the reader to a land of bikers, misfits, exploited women and Marines from the nearby base. A mix of the social misfits and outcasts who seemed trapped in a land of bleakness.

Well written

Not just the crime and the court room.
The author digs deep in to the back story of the people and the place. Some times first or second person. A blend of documentary and saga.

I know Debbie

Interesting. So sad for my friend. Narrator gave a lot of information about what happened

Outstanding work by the Author!

Such a stunning crime, place, people. Author captures perfectly the intensity of all these elements.

Beautifully Wrtten and Haunting

Stillman guides the reader through a devastating tale. Beautifully written. Haunting. Poetic. Spiritual. Masterfully done.

Profound and moving

This book is a stunning piece of literature. For me, an amazing find with its lyrical descriptions of the Mohave area geology and biology - written seamlessly one with the impoverished people who live there. But this is book is a true story about the Marine code and how its war culture was complicit in the rape and murder of two young women.