Unanswered Cries

A True Story of Friends, Neighbors, and Murder in a Small Town

By: Thomas French

Narrated by: Mikael Naramore

Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

The fatal night

On a warm Florida evening, Karen Gregory saw a familiar face at her door. What the beautiful young woman could not know was that she was staring into the eyes of her killer - a savage monster who would rape her, stab her to death, and leave her battered body on the floor outside the bedroom.

The desperate search

Detectives frantically sifting through the evidence were tormented by one disturbing question after another: What did the strangely worded note from a friend mean? Why was the house so orderly, when it had been the scene of a frenzied struggle? Why were the bloody footprints on the carpet barefoot? What happened to the white lace teddy missing from Karen's drawer?

The shattering discovery

Police detective Larry Tosi stayed up nights watching the video of the grisly crime scene, looking for the one telltale clue that would lead him to Karen's killer - until slowly, and with growing horror, he realized that the maniac he was hunting was someone he knew...someone he called a friend.

©1991 Thomas French (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Great Writing

The great writing in this book pulled me right through it. Each step builds up to the next, with just enough context to tie it all together without bogging down. I felt like I was part of the investigation. The author revealed clues without clobbering me over the head with them, and when they reappeared later in the story I felt like I was solving the puzzle myself. After finishing the book I wasn't surprised to find out the author is an award-winning journalist.

I got this book cheap with a Whispersync deal so my expectations were low, but I really enjoyed it and would not have regretted spending a credit on it.

The narrator does a perfect job.

A very good crime book

I normally listen to true crime podcasts as I find full books to be a bit tedious; however, this book kept my attention throughout.
It is very well written and narrated. Also, it was a fascinating case which made a lot of important points along the way, including everything from racism to the bloated court system.
I found it particularly disturbing how so many supported the killer. "We know he was incapable of such things." People say the silliest things.
Thankfully Karen's family and friends were noble and courageous people, as were the prosecution and detective teams.

Excellent Book

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Written and narrated very well. I recommend this book highly.

I Expected To Like This Book

Based on the reviews, I expected to like this book but it fell short of a compelling read. Although the author wove together an excellent account of the events of the murder and the effect it had on the families and friends of the victim and the accused, the book lacked passion. The author did reveal the real workings of the criminal justice system, which was enlightening and unsettling at times. I am pleased I stuck with it because the victim and the people whose lives were shattered deserved their story being heard.

Author won a Pulitzer for crime writing

Thomas French of the St. Petersburg Times won the 1998 Newspaper Feature Writing Pulitzer for his detailed and compassionate narrative portrait of a mother and two daughters slain on a Florida vacation, and the three-year investigation into their murders. Unanswered Cries follows in that tradition. No made-up quotes. Facts. No over-the-top descriptions. Facts. What a relief. Facts.
UPDATE: I just saw an episode of Investigation Discovery's Unusual Suspects covering this very crime.

glimpse into a criminal court case

this book was a good look at a murder trial from investigation to courtroom. it is not an earth-shattering read but a very good factual story telling.

Awesome

For a true story it feels almost like a Mary Higgens Clark or Agatha Christie novel! Very well written.

Chilling true crime story

Very clean and concise reporting of the 1984 (?) rape murder of a woman in her Florida home by one of her neighbors. The lack of response to her screams brought to mind the terribly tragic KItty Genevese case from the 1960’s. It tends to leave the reader looking carefully at one’s neighbors, no matter how harmless looking they may be. Read decently, although Naramore has a bit of a radio-announcer-ey delivery.

Unanswered Cries

Very intriguing! A great true crime read! The victim has no rights which is so sad in Itself......

Excellent Book

I really enjoyed this book. It is full of frustration and anger. Clearly the miscreant that killed the victim received the correct punishment and, as it turns out, even more. However, I just have to wonder why the criminal justice system is such a big game?
One last thing. The defense attorney is C R Solino. I don’t get why this man’s name was said at least 5,000 times!!! I wanted to scream!!! This really took away from the story, so much so that I took a star away fro performance and overall.

Gripping

Just a great read could not put it down loved it took it everywhere I went

long story

I found this to be a very long draw out story mostly about the lawyer's and the trial this could have been half the length and still give the reader all they needed to know

real life courtroom procedure

brilliantly read. I struggle with the repetition of some footage, but particularly at the early stage when one person said " this murder was not special only one person, noone special or famous...it makes US public look like life is cheap and murder is no big deal...a real insight. hope this is just the authors angle and not a general viewpoint!!