Full description not available
F**S
excellent true crime account.
extremely well written and gripping account of a crime and a trial . To this date the body of Gina Hall has never been found but her killer was imprisoned for life based upon compelling circumstantial evidence.
S**I
Not well written
This was not well written and was not a good or interesting read. I feel like it was written by a child due to the bad grammar and construction of the paragraphs. Not recommended.
B**H
A Very Sad, but Gripping True Crime
Best true crime book I’ve read in a long while! Very well written and gripping throughout.
K**R
Good transition between characters
A good easy read
C**E
Worthwhile read
There's a reason why so many reviews of this book include the words "I remember": the case was memorable in itself. I was a child in Roanoke at the time of Gina Hall's disappearance, but I read the newspapers, even at that age, and the thought of this girl being killed and her body never found saddened me. I moved to Pulaski County as an adult and have continued to wonder whether her remains will ever come to light.This is a well-researched, well-organized, clearly-written account of the facts known about Gina Hall's disappearance, as well as the investigation and court proceedings involved. I've come to know some of the law enforcement and legal personnel involved in the case over the past 20+ years, and I can say that the author's presentation of the people I know personally seems accurate. His descriptions of the geography and local norms likewise seem true to life.This book is generally written in a journalistic style fairly common to "true crime" stories, with occasional lapses of ascribing emotion or thoughts to people who, because they were either dead or imprisoned, were not available to be interviewed directly by the author. I'm not troubled by the author's assertion that, for example, Trooper Hall had a sinking feeling; it's clear that the author spoke directly to him. I'd rather not read about the suspect's emotion or lack thereof, when we do not know what he was thinking or feeling; I'd like to see, rather, that the suspect's facial expression implied a certain thought. The book is, further, marred by multiple grammatical errors and spelling inconsistencies, and frequently there are awkwardly phrased sentences that make me long to line-edit it myself.All the same, it's a very detailed, thorough, and *relatively* unbiased look at this case which held so much heartache and controversy, which set precedent in Virginia for the trial of a murder case without a body, and which still captures the minds of people who remember a summer forty years ago, when a Radford University student went missing. She stayed missing, and she's still missing -- and we still remember. Under the Trestle is worth reading.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
1 month ago