Sara Parcell disappeared without a trace on a crisp April morning in Frederick, Maryland. Her tragic story was a national obsession and the centerpiece of a controversial television docuseries that followed her disappearance in real-time. But is it possible that everyone missed the biggest secret of all?
Ten years after these events, the people who knew Sara best are finally ready to talk. In this genre-bending novel, Daniel Sweren-Becker fashions an oral history around the seemingly familiar crime of a teenage girl gone missing. Yet Kill Show, filled with diabolical twists and provocative social commentary, is no standard mystery. Through “interviews” with family members, neighbors, law enforcement, television executives, and a host of other compelling characters, Sweren-Becker constructs a riveting tale about one family’s tragedy—and Hollywood’s insatiable desire to exploit it.
By revealing the seedy underbelly of the true crime entertainment machine, Kill Show probes literary territory beyond the bounds of the standard whodunit; it’s a thoughtful exploration into America’s obsession with the mysteries, cold cases, and violent tales we turn to for comfort. Groundbreaking, fast-moving, and informed, this is a novel about who’s really responsible for the tragedies we love to consume.Â
Release Date: Oct 3, 2023
Publisher:Â HarperCollins
Imprint: Harper
Price: $14.99
A sixteen-year-old girl goes missing from the small town of Frederick, Maryland. It was an ordinary school day when Sara Parcell returns to the school bus to retrieve her forgotten backpack and seems to disappear into thin air. Detective Felix Calderon is on the case, but the prime suspect denies being responsible. Everything changes when a candid video of Sara’s parents taken and posted online by Sara’s younger brother goes viral. It catches the attention of reality show producer Casey Hawthorne who starts a real-time true crime documentary following the family and the search for Sara.
This fictional novel is told in the format of interviews for a true crime documentary. I love this type of storytelling and think it provides a fast-paced read. You get to see multiple points-of-view since everyone involved is interviewed for the program. A downside is there are a few important characters I didn’t feel like I really got to know since you only get to know them from what they say or others say about them in the interviews.
I wish some of the important parts of the story would have been uncovered as the story progressed instead of being revealed right from the beginning to add more suspense. There are still several twists in the case that I didn’t see coming, and I enjoyed the book. In addition to being a mystery about a missing teen, this book is also a commentary about the public’s fascination with true crime and how many people believe these types of shows exploit tragedy for entertainment and money.
~ Christine
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