#Book #Review: 5 out of 5 stars for Invisible Darkness by Stephen Williams @stephenwms @littlebrown

TITLE: Invisible Darkness: The Horrifying Case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka

AUTHOR: Stephen Williams

PUBLISHER: Little Brown, & Co.

PUBLICATION DATE: June 1, 1997 (first published 1996)

FORMAT: Paperback

LENGTH: 649 pages

GENRE: True Crime, Nonfiction

ISBN: 0316949914

The horrifying sex murders committed in southern Ontario by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka caught the attention of the media and public of Canada like few, if any, cases in that country's history.

Readers of either of the two previous books about the case (Deadly Innocence and Lethal Marriage) may be skeptical that another retelling is necessary, but Invisible Darkness benefits from Stephen Williams's prodigious research and his unique perspective on Karla's culpability. Williams had to jump several legal hurdles unique to Canada's "Crown disclosure" protocols, but eventually was able to gain access to more than 70 hours of videotaped police interviews with Karla, interviews with Paul by his defense attorney, and even psychiatrist's notes.

MY REVIEW:

I'm actually the same age as Karla Homolka. I remember when the story broke in the early 90s of this notorious Canadian couple that it was so hard for me to fathom that someone my age could be capable of doing the things that Homolka had done. From what I heard in the news, Bernardo's guilt was clear but I always felt that Homolka got off way too easy. She tried to portray herself as a victim, but she not just condoned and encouraged Bernardo's rapes but was equally culpable in planning them.

This book is a very tough read given the content. It's extremely graphic in all its sordid detail. This is not for the faint of heart. It is very dark and disturbing, but it's like a tragic car wreck in that you can't tear yourself away. Reading this book made me feel sick in the pit of my stomach, but at the same time it was fascinating. Williams' investigative reporting includes details that I don't recall hearing about in the news. I was absolutely sickened to hear that police artists had composite sketches of Bernardo that were never released based on previous attacks on multiple victims. The pattern of violence escalated. Could the murders of Mahaffy and French been prevented had the sketches been released which may have led to Bernardo's arrest sooner? We will never know, but that question must gnaw at the parents of those girls every day.

While this is a lengthy tome at 649 pages, my fingers could not turn the pages fast enough and it was a fast read for me. Bear in mind that the details won't leave your mind once you read them, and you are going to want to keep your daughters closer to you and make you paranoid about their safety.

MY RATING:

5 stars!! It was superb. You should definitely put it on your TBR if you enjoy true crime!

This book qualifies as:

#37 for my Strictly Print Reading Challenge

#3 for my Goodreads 2018 Chubby Chunkster Challenge
#3 for my 12th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
#53 for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018
#9 for my The Official 2018 TBR Pile Challenge
#14 for my 2018 Reading Assignment Challenge
#77 for my Beat the Backlist 2018 Challenge

#70 for my The Backlist Reader Challenge 2018

#45 for my New Authors 2018 Reading Challenge
#46 for my 2018 Try Something New Challenge
#32 for my 2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
#10 for my Read Harder Challenge 2018
#14 for my 2018 Badass Books Reading Challenge
Bonus #5E for my 2018 Literary Escapes Challenge

#77A for my Good Rule Reading Challenge
#4 for my Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2018

Task #19 for my Goodreads 2018 Summer Scavenger Challenge: Music Styles

#28 for my COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash
#4 for my Chapter Break Bingo August 2018

#8 for my Big Book Summer Challenge

#20 for my Summer TBR Wipeout
#11 for my Reading Challenge Summer 2018
#7 for my Book Challenge by Erin 9.0
#29 for my A Non-Fiction Adventure

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