True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray Paperback – June 6, 2017

I enjoy true crime, this book was great and enjoyed this book and how the story progressed and finding out personal things the author told made me sad that he had trauma growing up with that. I give him credit and can't wait for his next book. Great book!

If you like odd cases and a lot of maybes this is the book for you. Does not just focus on the case but also the authorslife.

Author James Renner has ripped the lid off a mystery that has been forgotten by many. I have to give credit where credit is due! Not being a police officer or even a trained private detective, Mr. Renner has uncovered loads of new bombshell clues in this utterly mysterious and confounding case via his blog (which floated theories and solicited the assistance of web sleuths) and tireless research over the course of several years.What he’s accomplished would be no easy feat for a mystery based in New England, where many seem to want the questions to just...go away! Never mind that a girl has been missing under strange circumstances for over 12 long years. It's not always easy to be the one digging, especially in a case where unflattering facts may have been covered up and where it’s unclear whether a crime has even been committed, but dig he does!While no one can argue that this much published author is a skilled and organized writer, I admit some of the criticisms here are valid. I do wish this book had a little more Maura and a little less Renner. But I think that it's fair that Mr. Renner had to flesh out the story, since he started his journey with only a few widely known facts that have already been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum.Yes, Mr. Renner did discover multiple "bombshell" clues, but there was perhaps not QUITE enough there to fill an entire book. Rather than repeat widely known facts--as a lazier author would have done--he instead shares more of his own tale as a self-appointed detective. The degree to which this is effective or entertaining is a matter of opinion; for Maura-philes, well we will always want more answers!It is clear that Mr. Renner is passionate about the case. He deserves nothing but credit for trying to get answers in unsolved cases. (One of his earlier books led to the arrest of a killer in a previously unsolved case.). With little information to go by and next to no support from Maura's family and witnesses/locals, Mr. Renner has gotten a lot of flak for his persistence, but I for one, am grateful that he persevered. I’m also grateful to all those who DID participate and assisted in his efforts.If and when the Maura Murray case is solved, I am certain that the clues Mr. Renner uncovered will have been instrumental in getting answers. We are getting closer every day.

Great book. Hard to stop reading, keep an open mind to details...

I have been waiting for this book for months and just picked up an audio copy of it this morning ,and have listened to it nonstop all day, just now completing it .Where to start ?This isn't your typical true crime book , focusing only on the case at hand . It's more of a combo true crime /memoir of the author .I was hesitant to get it at first because I've heard mixed reviews on it, but decided to give it a try and am glad I did .The missing girl in this case is Maura Murray , who has been missing for many years now . She was a nursing student ,and seemed to have just driven away from her life without a truthful explanation of why to anyone . She later had a minor auto accident on a snowy road and was never seen again .There are questions as to what actually happened to her ,whether it was a planned escape from her current life, suicide , murder .... there has never been a resolution into her fate .The author , James Renner, explains how he got drawn into the case in the beginning ,and the toll it took on his life, while dealing with many of his own demons . I can't imagine how difficult it would be to tell a story like this with no ending and little cooperation from so many people . He did the best he could do with the information he was able to gather, and came to his own possible resolution to the case, but the book leaves you dangling at the end, just as Maura's disappearance has done for so many years .Well told story , at times pretty grim with the author also trying to come to terms with his own problems . I wish him all the best in life and hope everything improves for him , and that he continues to write .... even if he chooses not to write about cases this grueling ... just keep on writing . You have the talent !* I listened to the audio version of this, read by the author, and thought it was very well done .

It was a nice book, i will love to continue reading these awesome authors. I was expecting nothing less than this

Antes de mais nada, é um livro fácil de se ler. Por ser dividido em muitos capítulos, é uma leitura que flui. Raramente um capítulo passa de 5 minutos. Como lado negativo, muito do que é apresentado fica sem muita elaboração, talvez porque, como é um crime, o autor realmente não tenha muito o que falar sobre o assunto. Mesmo assim, fica a dúvida.Em relação ao tema, o livro mostra bem como o autor mergulha fundo no desaparecimento de Maura Murray e como isso influencia e se relaciona a sua vida, no passado, no presente e no futuro. As pistas que ele apresenta instigam o leitor a continuar pesquisando sobre o "crime".Quanto ao idioma, é difícil comparar o nível de inglês de cada um, mas imagino que quem não seja uma leitura muito difícil para quem está acostumado com a língua.

Gripping true crime investigation by an author passionate about the subject. Highly recommend to lovers of this genre.

*Spoilers* (well not really, there’s nothing to spoil).Shortly after starting this book I started getting irritated by the author’s affected style of writing. It’s almost like a parody of a TV Detective from the 70s. But I was intrigued enough by Maura’s disappearance to plow on, which I regretted.To sum up, Renner tries to investigate the case and write a book despite multiple requests from her family not to. He also sets up a blog on the case which results in lots of crazy people poring over the evidence and harassing others including the author’s own family.The overwhelming majority of significant people in the case refuse to speak to him, those who do only say inconsequential things of little use to the investigation. Instead Renner relies on a mix of rumour and conjecture and testimony of brief acquaintances, some of which were implausible, unattributed and would have been hurtful to his family.There’s are weird subplots about the author’s own abusive grandfather (which doesn’t seem to serve any purpose except to cast aspersions on the victims father), his son’s own supposed psychic powers, a visit to a psychic on a pier and his faith in God being confirmed by praying to God to find a suspect then at that very moment he walks out in front of the car.Despite his little excursions with the supernatural, he fails to follow up obvious clues. For example, Maura’s phone was not recovered, but a few days after she disappeared a text was sent from the phone purporting to be from the police. He also repeatedly refers to a property which he thinks Maura may have ‘laid low’ in but he never visits.At the start of the book he begins with an ominous passage about the last person to see Maura alive saying ‘He would never have a moment’s peace again’. This kind of set the seen for some sort of wrongful allegation against the person, but despite the ominous message, he was ruled out and continued to live a peaceable, normal life.There’s absolutely no resolution. The author draws his own conclusion based entirely on conjecture, so it’s very unsatisfying as a read.It ends with a bizarre story about a suspect’s previous employer. The story is told 3rd hand by someone not involved. Apparently 3 women at the suspects work staggered out of a St Patrick’s Day party late at night. One of them had a key and they let themselves in to the office. Subsequently one of the women claimed that despite having no reason to think anyone would return to the building and there being two friends who would search for her, the suspect was waiting in the dark to attack her. It’s totally implausible, rumour and if anything did happen, it sounds like a bit of an excuse of 3 women who’d drunkenly entered the office when they weren’t supposed to and being caught by a senior manager, deflected blame.I also got the odd feeling, all the way through, that the author got even with people who’d refused to engage with him by casting suspicion at them. Eg another implausible story about finding two copies of Penthouse with a picture of a suspects cousins as young girls tucked inside. On the doorstep of a suspect’s former home. He also discloses potentially embarrassing medical problems of a relative of the victim.I can really see why the family didn’t want him writing a book. It serves no purpose in the search for Maura, it finds nothing of any tangible benefits. But it picks over a distressed family’s history and drops dark hints about their involvement without a scrap of proof.It feels like Renner just did a bit of research, realised he was getting nowhere, padded it out with some irrelevant guff and published anyway.Waste of money in my opinion.

There are two main problems that made me feel disatisfied and irritated all the way through. The first is that Renner has chosen to use this book as a vehicle to unload his personal dysfunction, his drinking his drug taking, his fits of anger, his resentments. I dont have a problem with someone writing about this but please not in a book which Renner himself holds up to be the definitive book on the disappearance of Maura Murray. It is bad enough to read about his struggles but worse when he throws his very young child under the bus and details HIS behavioural problems, what a betrayal. I cant help thinking after reading that Renner is either drunk/drugged/ in jail/ or going through withdrawals that it is hardly surprising if a child is disturbed. Renner admits to deliberately getting drunk while driving in the hope of obtaining a slip in time and seeing Maura's crash. He also hits his kid ,all in all in the country I live his behaviour would likely draw the attention of Social Services ( child protection)Say you have ploughed through this stuff, what does he say about the facts of the case? Well nothing that isnt better expressed in any of the many podcasts on the subject. Maura's father and many of her friends dont care to open their hearts to him he is furious and states that they are hiding something if they dont want publicity. No, Renner, they want publicity they don't want YOU. He punishes those who refuse him despicable behaviour is implied about Fred Murray, a completely irrelevant trash story about one of Maura's friends father, is regurgitated no relevance at all just pay back because she wont let him interview herThen there is the downright creepy obsession both with this 21 year old and worse with a murdered 10 year old girl . Renner is 'in love" with her and speculates about marrying her. Renner makes salacious un pleasant comments about a bit of harmless sexual experimentaion which may or may not have included Maura on no evidence he paints her as the Whore of Babylon and oh yes a a sociopath to boot. Talk about victim blaming this guy is a twisted obsessive mysogynist.It really is deeply unpleasant Renner got in early on this bandwagon and enjoys his so called celebrity.I have given it 2 stars for the writing which is not stylish or imaginative but is adequate in a hack journalist way. I feel sorry for Renner. he could do with finding a healthier occupation.