When the Moon Turns to Blood

Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith, and End Times

By: Leah Sottile

Narrated by: Leah Sottile

Inspired by Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven and Jess Walter’s Every Knee Shall Bow, WHEN THE MOON TURNS TO BLOOD explores modern-day survivalism and end-times extremism through the story of Lori Vallow and her husband, grave digger turned doomsday novelist, Chad Daybell.

When police in Rexburg, Idaho perform a wellness check on seven J.J. Vallow and his sister, sixteen-year-old Tylee Ryan, both children are nowhere to be found. Their mother, Lori Vallow, gives a phony explanation, and when officers return the following day with a search warrant, she, too, is gone. As the police begin to close in, a larger web of mystery, murder, fanaticism and deceit begins to unravel.

Vallow’s case is sinuously complex. As investigators prod further, they find the accused Black Widow has an unusual number of bodies piling up around her.

WHEN THE MOON TURNS TO BLOOD tells a gripping story of extreme beliefs, snake oil prophets, and explores the question: if it feels like the world is ending, how are people supposed to act?

Informative

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I wish there was more in-depth details about the finding of the children etc but maybe another book can cover those details another time. Didn’t notice a speech issue as another reviewer mentioned.

Enlightening

If you want the scoop on the Daybell murders plus how they would get to their beliefs based on history of the LDS faith this is the book for you.

Leah Sottile Provides New Insights

I couldn’t understand why a reporter of Sottile’s stature wanted to write about a murder case. True to form, she has given tremendous insight into the extreme beliefs that fueled this crime. I learned more than I had ever thought possible.

Solid, with a side of "true-crime"

well written and enjoyable. the "true crime" narrative sometimes overwhelms the thesis that addresses the problem of discernment & the opportunity for faith-driven violence.

Beautifully written and very well researched

It is strange to describe this book as beautifully written considering the subject but the author uses amazing imagery to give a very detailed account of this situation. I also enjoyed that it was read by the author, They clearly invested years into this project. I appreciate that the book is fair and at no point did I feel it was attacking the religion, in fact I left with the impression that they held respect for those of LDS faith. I highly recommend.