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14 Works 1,022 Membros 67 Reviews

Obras de Casey Sherman

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Data de nascimento
c. 1970
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
USA
Local de nascimento
Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA
Ocupação
investigative journalist

Membros

Resenhas

Great telling of LanaTurner and her involvement with many shady people in Hollywood.
 
Marcado
pgabj | outras 4 resenhas | Mar 9, 2024 |
First sentence: Lana Turner paced the pink carpeted floor with a cigarette gripped tightly between her fingers. She took a deep drag into her lungs and blew out a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling of her spacious bedroom. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Cheryl, was in her own bedroom, sobbing hysterically.

Premise/plot: Nonfiction with a gossipy twist--that is how I would describe this one. It gives brief biographies of Lana Turner and her immediate family (her parents, her husbands, her daughter) and brief biographies of a series of crime bosses (mob bosses) including Johnny Stompanato. The stories cross paths when Lana Turner entangles herself with Johnny Stompanato. This is a combustive relationship--for sure--leading to murder and scandal. Casey Sherman argues that it was not Lana's fourteen-year-old daughter but Lana herself who killed Johnny.

My thoughts: This book is troubling and disturbing both in content and narrative style. I'll try to explain. This one goes into great detail--graphic detail--of horrific crimes. Many of these crimes are of the SA of a minor child variety. Of course there are plenty of other crimes as well that do not involve children. But still. This is a HEAVY read that is treated perhaps a little lighter than I would personally like. The book's approach--in my personal opinion--is like gossip, gossip, give me all the gossip, spill all the tea, tell me everything. It doesn't necessarily--to me--seem respectful. The content IS shocking and NOT shocking at the same time. Hollywood is presented as an absolute nightmare. The more power and influence, the more guilty you are of horrendous crimes. Nothing glamorous or glitzy--just very horrific crimes going on and kept hush-hush by the powers that be.

This one is definitely more graphic than I like to read.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
blbooks | outras 4 resenhas | Mar 4, 2024 |
First off, thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

I have decided to read books this year (2023) that are either true stories, based on true stories, or about real people. This will include reading some books about real serial killers, like this one. Helltown tells the story of Antone "Tony" Costa, who was convicted of murdering 2 women in Provincetown, located at the tip of Cape Cod. He murdered more but there was not enough evidence to support those murders.

Be forewarned - this book is graphic. The author very graphically describes the murders of these two women. I actually had to skip over those parts.

Tony Costa's murder spree took place in 1969 and 1970. He was a drug dealer in Provincetown but also snitched to the local cops as to who else was dealing drugs in town. He was called "Sire" by his followers in town and had even drawn the attention of authors Kurt Vonnegut, Jr and Norman Mailer. The chapters that included these 2 authors was not necessary, in my opinion, but I kind of see why the author included them.

There is a brief mention of the Sharon Tate murders and Chappaquiddick as these events both take place during the timeframe of this book.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Cathie_Dyer | outras 4 resenhas | Feb 29, 2024 |
I expected to read a story about a tragic event in the life of Lana Turner, but I got more than that from Casey Sherman’s new book. I was absolutely engrossed in the story and learned so much about old Hollywood. Lana Turner was one of my mother’s favorite actresses and I remember discussing the murder of Johnny Stompanato with her years ago when Cheryl Crane wrote a book about it.

Sherman’s story ties in the Hollywood mob world that Johnny Stompanato was a part of and connects it with Lana Turner and other Hollywood stars. There are also some quite spicy tidbits about stars from that era included in the story.

As for Lana, Sherman includes her family background and how she rose to stardom. Unlucky in love and child-bearing, Lana had a long and successful career. Lana and her daughter Cheryl managed to get past Johnny’s murder and go back to their lives as best they could. What was so sad to me is that Cheryl was exposed to so many of her mother’s lovers and not all were decent men.

Sad to say, but Johnny got what was coming to him and his death probably saved many others from a lot of misery.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to recommend this and give my honest review.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
tamidale | outras 4 resenhas | Feb 20, 2024 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
14
Membros
1,022
Popularidade
#25,209
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Resenhas
67
ISBNs
87
Idiomas
1

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