Dee Casteel got caught up in a bad set of circumstances that put her on death row. Her alcoholism led her further and further down a path of destruction for herself and two innocent people that just happened to get in the way of her alcohol.
The author here tries really hard to humanize Dee and make her crimes the result of her bad relationships and say that it happened because she was in love with a gay man. This doesn’t hold water with me. She did it to keep herself in booze, pure and simple. She didn’t think of her children that much, at least not that was included in this book. She only seemed to think about keeping a job so she could continue to buy scotch. And she remained a loyal friend to Allen even after he threw her right under the bus when he got caught. It was unbelievable.
The truth is, Dee had every opportunity in life. Yes, she was the daughter of an abusive alcoholic. That is not a good reason to orchestrate and benefit from the murder of two people. She made her own choices in life that brought her to the point of being a waitress at IHOP and in an abusive marriage. She had an early benefactor, multiple great jobs that she let go due to her drinking. I just hope that her children are doing well and have gotten past all of the pain she put them through, even before she was arrested for the murders, because of her drinking. I felt as if the author was perhaps trying to make excuses for Dee as to why she was a party to the murders.
Kevin Pierce, as usual, was a masterful narrator of this material. He is the reason I chose to listen to this and, as always, he didn’t disappoint.
I received this audiobook for free through Audiobook Boom! in exchange for an honest review.