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Better Off Dead by Michael Fleeman

OK, guilty pleasure time! For fans of my guilty reading pleasure, True Crime. Not to be confused with “literature” but DEFINITELY entertaining!!!

This story revolves around some truly disgusting people, whose level of hypocrisy is unmatched. Sabrina Limon is a young wife and mother living in Helendale (a town in the high desert of Southern California, the name which (in my opinion) could be shortened to just the first syllable. She has a husband named Rob, cute kids, big house, boat, etc. She works as a “sample girl” at Costco, where she meets a hunky young fireman named Jonathan when he comes to buy food for the station where he works. They hit it off and begin an emotional affair that soon turns physical. Things get so involved that they just HAVE to be together, so they hatch a plot to get rid of Sabrina’s husband, who will, they agree be “Better Off Dead.”

So far, a straightforward true crime story, right? But this one gets totally weird as we learn that Sabrina and her husband and their group of friends are involved in “the lifestyle,” which means swinging. (I found this out by accident some years ago when I was looking to book a vacation at a beach resort and they kept clarifying for me that this place was for people involved in “the lifestyle.” I was totally naive and quite surprised and a bit embarrassed when a nice man told me on the phone that we were welcome to book a stay, AND that we needed to be aware of the expectation that we would participate. (We went elsewhere)

OK, so if THAT isn’t enough, here comes the hypocrisy: Sabrina and Jonathan are devout Christians, and spend an incredible amount of time quoting Scripture and justifying their actions with Biblical quotes etc. I personally didn’t find this surprising but did find it fascinating. As it turned out, Jonathan decided that prison was not where he wanted to spend his life, so he took a plea deal and ratted out Sabrina,  testifying at her trial. Both were convicted (her  appeal was just rejected this past month, so she will be locked up even longer than he will, even though he committed the actual crime). And I really hated Jonathan. First for being an idiot (“it was inevitable that Rob needed to die for Sabrina and I to move forward with our relationship“) and even more for testing out the poison by feeding some to the neighbor’s dog, who was never seen again.

Like I said, weird but entertaining for sure. With thanks to Wild Blue Press and NetGalley, this one gets five True Crime Stars.

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Who Is the Littoral Librarian?

I am a librarian who is fortunate enough to live on the beautiful Central Coast of California. I have worked in public and academic libraries,  I teach Information Competency and Literacy online part-time, and spend huge amounts of time reading and enjoying the amazing place I live.

 

Contact me by email:   LL@littorallibrarian.org

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