I don't think anyone likes writing one-star reviews. No one picks up a book and thinks, "I really hope I spend the next three to eight hours reading something I don't enjoy." I think the important thing is the lesson the reader takes away from the one-star book. After all, there must be a reason we finish some books and toss aside others. What I took from this book was a profound sense of respect for the privacy rights of the family of the missing. It's not something I'd given much thought to before. I don't think sometimes we, the public, realize how invasive our interest in missing persons cases can be. It's important to know where the line is between having a genuine, harmless interest and being a vulture.
For the most part, I think how I feel about an author should have no bearing on how I feel about their work. The exceptions for that are memoirs and cases where the author's writing has the potential to cause actual harm. True Crime Addiction ticks both boxes. I don't hold back here. I think lowly of James Renner. His behavior toward the Murray family and friends disgusts me, and I'm not impressed with his theorizing. I honestly don't know how this book got published.
Title: True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself In the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray
Author: James Renner
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date: 5/24/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC courtesy of NetGalley
Rating: ★
James Renner is a creep. This is a man who posts pictures of random women on his blog, plucked from social media and other sources, and encourages his internet troll army to speculate whether or not they are "really" Maura Murray. This is a man who has called Maura Murray a sociopath, a baseless accusation that in no way suggests Renner cares about the subject of his obsession. This is a guy who drove drunk to simulate Murray's possibly inebriated drive through New Hampshire. He could have killed someone. This is a guy who punches a cop and thinks he's the victim. According to a personality test, he tested as "similar to Ted Bundy." Hmmm.
Despite assuming a position of authority and asserting himself to be an important part of the investigation, Renner has no real press credentials. He's on the outside of this investigation, looking in, demanding answers he's not entitled to and making it up as he goes along.
A large portion of this book focuses on Renner himself-- his serial rapist grandfather, his almost-abduction as a child, his inner demons. I have to say, it's not a boring story. And it's honest. That's more than I can say about the portions about the Murray investigation. Those are less honest. There he relies on inane details fed to him from internet sleuths that he then sensationalizes and puffs up. He treats rumor and innuendo as fact.
Renner stalks Murray's family and friends, and when they won't talk to him he decides it's because they are hiding secrets-- secrets he makes up in his head. Renner hints that Maura's father won't talk to him because he's hiding sexual abuse. There's no evidence of that, at all. A friend won't talk to him because she's hiding that she helped Murray escape. There's no evidence of that, at all. Families of the missing are NOT public property. They don't have to answer questions from every Tom and Harry just because. They have no obligation to satisfy curiosities or entertain conspiracy theories. No one owes Renner an interview no matter how badly he wants one. The Murray family clearly does not believe talking to him will help find Maura. They are entitled to make that determination, and I don't disagree with it.
Renner speculates that Maura may have been pregnant. There was birth control pills found in her car at the time of her disappearance, a detail that's pushed aside in favor of veiled hints. Renner isn't shy of portraying Murray as a promiscuous woman with lots of secret men in the shadows. He insists Murray was followed to New Hampshire by a tandem driver. No one saw the headlights or saw the car or heard the car. His theory is that the driver "doubled back" once Murray crashed, very possibly drunk (wine spilled all over the car) and ushered her off to her new life in Canada. It doesn't make a lot of logical sense. If the second car had seen Maura crash, it would have been seen by the eyewitnesses. If it was too far ahead to see the crash, Maura would have needed to contact the driver-- but there is no cell service in that area. Plus, she left her car full of her possessions, things she must have felt were important enough to take to her new life. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's unlikely enough that a "journalist" like Renner should have the sense not to treat it as fact.
Maura Murray was not a perfect person. She was, however, by all accounts, a nice girl with flaws. She was in her early 20s and had her whole life ahead of her. Who knows what she could have achieved. James Renner has turned her disappearance into a cottage industry and is banking on it, big time. And goodness knows a tabloid-style story sells. I just feel sorry for the people caught up in the tidal wave of Renner's ego.
Please don't read this book.
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