"Without forgiveness there is only insanity."

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J.Scott Bennett assumes a gentle country accent to narrate the remarkable and very harrowing story of Joseph Edward Duncan III and his planned entry into a family home where he bludgeoned to death two adults and a teenage boy and abducted two young children, a boy and a girl, to physically and sexually abuse them. That this is, in fact, a true story which made headline news at the time, makes it all the more terrifying.
Duncan, by his own boasting admission, was already a serial rapist by his mid teens. Convicted at 16 of raping a boy at gunpoint, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment but served only 14 before being released to continue to rape and kill, and eventually move to Idaho where this particular criminal attack took place. The hunt for the missing children was bungled from the beginning and only Duncan's apparent disregard for being spotted enabled his capture. The account of the investigation, the people involved, of Duncan himself and his very strange outlook on life (he even kept a regular web blog), the legal implications and the after arrest circumstances, are all documented in a non dramatic, newsworthy way, telling the facts without dwelling on the gore. This in no way negates the horror of it all, however. Throughout, J.Scott Bennet reads clearly, impeccably and with understanding, enhancing the text with his beautifully modulated voice, always staying true to the text by not over dramatising. An outstanding performance.

The story is not finished, cannot be whilst Duncan and one survivor continue to live, and whilst legal debates over what to do with inveterate disregarders of acceptable behaviour continue. The man was certainly different. But was he mad? This book is a must for all true crime officianados. It doesn't titillate but is shocking and it makes the listener think. Highly recommended.

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Could be a lot better

Interesting crime that I have not heard of before. However, some of the details are repeated over and over again - several times I thought I had accidentally rewound it.

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