Synopsis In 1977, Terri Jentz and her Yale roommate, Shayna Weiss, make a cross-country bike trip. They pitch a tent in the desert of central Oregon. As they are sleeping, a man in a pickup truck deliberately runs over the tent, then attacks them with an ax. The crime is reported in newspapers across the country. No one is ever arrested. Both women survive, but Shayna has amnesia, while Terri is left alone with memories of the attack--their friendship is shattered. Fifteen years later, Terri returns to the town and makes an extraordinary discovery: the violence of that night is as present for the community as it is for her. Slowly, her interviews with the townspeople yield a revelation: many say they know who did it, and he is living freely in their midst. Terri then sets out to discover the truth, and ultimately finds herself face-to-face with the alleged psychopath.--From publisher description.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2006-05-02 |
| Size | | Length: | 542 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 31.2 oz |
Publisher's Note A screenwriter who survived a brutal attack while on a cross-country bike trip with her college roommate describes how she returned to the scene of the crime determined to identify their would-be killer, only to learn that many of the locals knew his identity but would not come forward.
Industry Reviews "Imagine that it had been Truman Capote himself who'd been savaged in Holcomb, Kan., and that he had survived to describe his ordeal. That is the level of command and sinew at work in [STRANGE PIECE OF PARADISE]....Understatement is the quiet power that fuels Jentz's writing....There is more horror in [one] blink than in a hundred caterwauling pages of James Frey." (05/14/2006)
"[Jentz's] story is chilling and will enthrall true crime readers." (02/27/2006)
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