The Girl in the Leaves (Berkley True Crime)
The shocking true crime story of one of the most bizarre mass murders ever recorded—and the girl who escaped with her life.
In the fall of 2010, in the all-American town of Apple Valley, Ohio, four people disappeared without a trace: Stephanie Sprang; her friend, Tina Maynard; and Tina’s two children, thirteen-year-old Sarah and eleven-year-old Kody. Investigators began scouring the area, yet despite an extensive search, no signs of the missing people were discovered.
On the fourth day of the search, evidence trickled in about neighborhood “weirdo” Matthew Hoffman. A police SWAT team raided his home and found an extremely disturbing sight: every square inch of the place was filled with leaves and a terrified Sarah Maynard was bound up in the middle of it like some sort of perverted autumn tableau. But there was no trace of the others.
Then came Hoffman’s confession to an unspeakable crime that went beyond murder and defied all reason. His tale of evil would make Sarah’s survival and rescue all the more astonishing—a compelling tribute to a young girl’s resilience and courage and to her fierce determination to reclaim her life in the wake of unimaginable trauma.
In the fall of 2010, in the all-American town of Apple Valley, Ohio, four people disappeared without a trace: Stephanie Sprang; her friend, Tina Maynard; and Tina’s two children, thirteen-year-old Sarah and eleven-year-old Kody. Investigators began scouring the area, yet despite an extensive search, no signs of the missing people were discovered.
On the fourth day of the search, evidence trickled in about neighborhood “weirdo” Matthew Hoffman. A police SWAT team raided his home and found an extremely disturbing sight: every square inch of the place was filled with leaves and a terrified Sarah Maynard was bound up in the middle of it like some sort of perverted autumn tableau. But there was no trace of the others.
Then came Hoffman’s confession to an unspeakable crime that went beyond murder and defied all reason. His tale of evil would make Sarah’s survival and rescue all the more astonishing—a compelling tribute to a young girl’s resilience and courage and to her fierce determination to reclaim her life in the wake of unimaginable trauma.
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Community Reviews
Details surrounding the crime, victims, and suspect revealed too soon. The repetitive pattern within the writing became monotonous and disinteresting.
Not a bad book. "The Girl in the Leaves" discusses the case of kidnapped 13-year-old Sarah Maynard and the murder of her family. It moves quite quickly and covers before the crime as well as up to a year following it. It's written in an almost simplistic, easy-to-read style and covers quite a lot of ground. Things are explained in layman's terms and special sensitivity is taken regarding Sarah's rape. The prose tended to repeat itself a bit and although the case was horrifying, it somehow managed to come across as almost uninteresting. The book spends quite a bit of time focusing on how helpful and concerned the townspeople and police are, which was nice. A few photos are present, but only one is disturbing. If you're looking for a kinder, gentler read in this type of genre (and this is still disturbing based on subject matter, of course) then this might be a book to try. A solid three stars.
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