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I Know My First Name is Steven: The True Story of the Steven Stayner Abduction Case
In 1972, the Steven Stayner story shocked the nation. Now, the next terrible chapter unfolds as his brother Cary admits he's the Yosemite Killer.
Bright and likeable, seven-year-old Steven Stayner always listened to his mother. Especially about talking to strangers. But when soft spoken "Reverend" Parnell asked to speak with his mother about church, Steven guessed it would be okay. Until he got into the man's car. By then, it was too late.
Held captive by convicted child molester Kenneth Eugene Parnell for seven years as his "son Dennis," Steven was forced to endure abuse so terrible that he forgot his own name. Parnell evaded a statewide search for Steven, keeping his young prisoner moving from one cheap motel to the next. Finally, Steven made a desperate escape with five-year-old Timmy White, another kidnapped boy, return home to their parents, then courageously testifying to convict Parnell for his inhuman crimes.
The basis for the blockbuster TV movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven is the compelling true account of Steven Stayner's seven years of horror and of his parents who never gave up hope for his safe return. It is also the complete, updated story of how Cary Stayner made headlines of his own—as the cold-blooded killer who terrorised Yosemite.
Bright and likeable, seven-year-old Steven Stayner always listened to his mother. Especially about talking to strangers. But when soft spoken "Reverend" Parnell asked to speak with his mother about church, Steven guessed it would be okay. Until he got into the man's car. By then, it was too late.
Held captive by convicted child molester Kenneth Eugene Parnell for seven years as his "son Dennis," Steven was forced to endure abuse so terrible that he forgot his own name. Parnell evaded a statewide search for Steven, keeping his young prisoner moving from one cheap motel to the next. Finally, Steven made a desperate escape with five-year-old Timmy White, another kidnapped boy, return home to their parents, then courageously testifying to convict Parnell for his inhuman crimes.
The basis for the blockbuster TV movie, I Know My First Name Is Steven is the compelling true account of Steven Stayner's seven years of horror and of his parents who never gave up hope for his safe return. It is also the complete, updated story of how Cary Stayner made headlines of his own—as the cold-blooded killer who terrorised Yosemite.
351 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1991
275 people are currently reading
8,755 people want to read
About the author
Mike Echols
2books7followersThis author is set up as Mike^^Echols. There is another author with this name on ŷ.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
October 31, 2019
This book describes tragedy after tragedy. What happened to Steven, how his brother Cary turned out, the missteps of the police and lawyers and justice system.
The writing is not great. The author abuses adverbs. One of the first things you learn if you’re an aspiring writer is to avoid overusing adverbs. In one paragraph he writes “cheerily greeted,� “uncomplainingly got up,� and “visited casually.� Lots of the prose simply made me cringe.
Steven was abducted when he was seven years old and was Ken Purnell’s self slave/”son� for seven years. Steven been taught to obey adults, and Ken told him his parents didn’t want him anymore and couldn’t afford him. Steven became Dennis and started living the lie that Ken was his father. He didn’t like being sexually abused, but children are adaptable, so he accepted this new reality and only tried once to run away but was thwarted by weather. He even attended school and never told anyone about the fact he used to have a large family.
What was possibly even more heart breaking was how badly the lawyers did with prosecuting Purnell. Also, the judge didn’t even have the option of life in prison because California law at the time thought kidnapping and multiple rapes was only worth seven years incarcerated, even though we know pedophiles do not change.
I won’t give anything else away, but I guess the only thing we can take away from this is that we can hope that technology and public opinion and more awareness has at least improved since when this trial took place in the early �80s.
For more reviews, please visit
The writing is not great. The author abuses adverbs. One of the first things you learn if you’re an aspiring writer is to avoid overusing adverbs. In one paragraph he writes “cheerily greeted,� “uncomplainingly got up,� and “visited casually.� Lots of the prose simply made me cringe.
Steven was abducted when he was seven years old and was Ken Purnell’s self slave/”son� for seven years. Steven been taught to obey adults, and Ken told him his parents didn’t want him anymore and couldn’t afford him. Steven became Dennis and started living the lie that Ken was his father. He didn’t like being sexually abused, but children are adaptable, so he accepted this new reality and only tried once to run away but was thwarted by weather. He even attended school and never told anyone about the fact he used to have a large family.
What was possibly even more heart breaking was how badly the lawyers did with prosecuting Purnell. Also, the judge didn’t even have the option of life in prison because California law at the time thought kidnapping and multiple rapes was only worth seven years incarcerated, even though we know pedophiles do not change.
I won’t give anything else away, but I guess the only thing we can take away from this is that we can hope that technology and public opinion and more awareness has at least improved since when this trial took place in the early �80s.
For more reviews, please visit
September 7, 2013
This book touched my heart. I have watched the movie several times and it still upsets me and the book broke my heart. the time the man got for doing what he did to steven was just horrible. Then boy sufferd for 10 years and parnell got 7 years and he told steven he would get him when he got out. well it was like a year after parnell was released from prison steven was on his way home from work on his motorcycle and was involved in a hit and run and was killed. no one ever looked at parnell in the accident. He would have been my first choice. But that is just me. And his poor family. Not only was Steven kidnapped but when steven finally was returned home his brother became the Yosemite killer in CA. He is on death row so the Lost one son for ten years and then he ended up getting killed and lost the other for murder. Cary said he did it because of all the attention Steven was getting. Any way I could go on and on about this but if you don't really no the story read the book it really was good and if you haven't seen the movie watch it on youtube.
the movie has the same title
the movie has the same title
February 5, 2017
Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a true crime junkie, and so my sister had ordered this book and just finished it so she gave it to me on Christmas break to read. I could barely put it down! I had never heard of this book before, but what makes it so different from so many abducted children books I've read is that Steven was able to go to school and he wasn't even necessarily tortured in the way that so many children are that are abducted. Yes, Steven (who was told his name was Dennis from his new father) was sexually assaulted by his "new father" Kenneth, but Steven was abducted at such a young age and told that this man was his father, and he really didn't know anything different. He truly saw Kenneth as his father figure, and he was still able to go to school without telling others that he was growing up as a child named Dennis by a man who kidnapped him on the way to school.
This book also discuss pedophilia in much detail. The epilogue is an entire chapter basically talking about what pedophilia is, and how the author has the viewpoint of it in the same sense as addiction in that it's a disease that can't be helped but can only be treated. I learned that pedophilia truly is not that uncommon, and it's really quite repulsive to me. I don't care if it "can't be helped", having sexual feelings towards a child and FORCING those feelings is just repulsive.
This book had quite a thorough account of every part of this story, and I did learn that one of Steven's siblings named Cary ended up becoming a murderer at Yosemite. I ordered a true crime book about him while reading I Know My First Name is Steven. I'm very intrigued how a brother who seemed to love and care for Steven could end up murdering a handful of women after his brother escaped Kenneth Parnell. So sad for that family. Great true crime book!
This book also discuss pedophilia in much detail. The epilogue is an entire chapter basically talking about what pedophilia is, and how the author has the viewpoint of it in the same sense as addiction in that it's a disease that can't be helped but can only be treated. I learned that pedophilia truly is not that uncommon, and it's really quite repulsive to me. I don't care if it "can't be helped", having sexual feelings towards a child and FORCING those feelings is just repulsive.
This book had quite a thorough account of every part of this story, and I did learn that one of Steven's siblings named Cary ended up becoming a murderer at Yosemite. I ordered a true crime book about him while reading I Know My First Name is Steven. I'm very intrigued how a brother who seemed to love and care for Steven could end up murdering a handful of women after his brother escaped Kenneth Parnell. So sad for that family. Great true crime book!
February 1, 2024
I've read this one many times and it still affects me each time. It's now made even more sad by knowing the trouble his brother Cary has caused.
December 11, 2012
I think this book is amazing, but it made me slightly paranoid as a parent. Parents WORST nightmare. I think I would be close to giving up if this happened to my son.... leaves you with a horrible horrible sick feeling.
October 12, 2010
one of the many tragic child abduction and abuse cases. i cannot even begin to imagine going thru something like this with one of my children. RIP : Steven Staynor - u are finally at peace.
April 26, 2008
Very chilling and disturbing... It was hard for me to read at some points, as I am a mother. A good read for true crime lovers.
January 10, 2012
Compelling case, really awkward writing and editing. :(
August 2, 2023
I've been fascinated by the Steven Stayner case since I was a kid and watched the TV miniseries (1989). Steven was 7 years old when he was abducted off the street by pedophile Ken Parnell and kept for 7 years. At age 14, Steven had aged past Parnell's tastes when Parnell kidnapped another child. Steven made a desperate attempt to rescue 5 year old Timmy White, and in the process rescued himself. His life after his rescue was tragically difficult and short. Stayner family tragedies had not yet ended with Steven's death. It was later discovered that Cary Stayner, Steven's older brother, is the Yosemite Park Killer. He is currently on California's death row, convicted of killing 4 women and suspected of killing many more.
This is the original book about the case used to make the original miniseries. Since then, there have been more than a dozen documentaries, including a 3-part HULU series in 2022. It continues to fascinate a lot of people. So, it's interesting that this book is out of publication. Kindle now has it, which is how I'm able to read it, finally, after having it in my TBR for more than decade. I don't think this book is that well written - taking a just the facts approach - but I can't criticize the depth of research and effort Mike Echols made in writing it.
I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you're ready to be filled with consuming rage at the number of adults who knew and did nothing or at what happened to Parnell after his arrest.
This is the original book about the case used to make the original miniseries. Since then, there have been more than a dozen documentaries, including a 3-part HULU series in 2022. It continues to fascinate a lot of people. So, it's interesting that this book is out of publication. Kindle now has it, which is how I'm able to read it, finally, after having it in my TBR for more than decade. I don't think this book is that well written - taking a just the facts approach - but I can't criticize the depth of research and effort Mike Echols made in writing it.
I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you're ready to be filled with consuming rage at the number of adults who knew and did nothing or at what happened to Parnell after his arrest.
June 18, 2016
This book is on my read pile but I became interested again in this case after I watched a documentary about Cary Stayner the Serial killer. So after watching that they mentioned his little brother being kidnapped. I decided to buy the kindle version because I was curious and did not have a copy of the book I supposedly had read.
Well Finished it last night and I did enjoy the book although enjoy is not the best word. I find it very hard to read about kids being repeatedly abused by adults but I knew (though) there was a good ending and that was why I was able to finish the book.
That being said I did not find the ending very good. The kidnapper only got 7 years? That was so shocking to me. Plus that he did not even have to do all the 7 years. Here I thought that in the USA there were very strict and severe punishments when you abduct a child but I guess i was wrong.
Would someone who abducted a child now for years still just get such a small penalty?
The blame was laid onto the police department of.. forgot the name. They did not do anything with all the research other cops had done about all the abuse that Parnell creep had done. Not just to Steven aka Kenneth but to other children.
But is abducting a child from its parents not enough to be given a punishment of at least 20 years?
Back to Steven. How sad to come home and not even been given therapy. Yes he said he did not want to but his parents should have made him but instead they decided to never talk about it with him or the other family members. I understand them but I know now that that was probably not the right way for Steven.
It was also obvious Steven loved and hated his "dad" Parnell which I can understand.
This book was well written and the author was emotionally invested.
I had hoped this would also be about Cary but I have to find another book about the Yosemite Killer.
p.s Reading this book did not ring any bells so or I have totally forgotten this book or I have made a mistake thinking I had read it. I think it is the latter How can you forget a story like this?
Well Finished it last night and I did enjoy the book although enjoy is not the best word. I find it very hard to read about kids being repeatedly abused by adults but I knew (though) there was a good ending and that was why I was able to finish the book.
That being said I did not find the ending very good. The kidnapper only got 7 years? That was so shocking to me. Plus that he did not even have to do all the 7 years. Here I thought that in the USA there were very strict and severe punishments when you abduct a child but I guess i was wrong.
Would someone who abducted a child now for years still just get such a small penalty?
The blame was laid onto the police department of.. forgot the name. They did not do anything with all the research other cops had done about all the abuse that Parnell creep had done. Not just to Steven aka Kenneth but to other children.
But is abducting a child from its parents not enough to be given a punishment of at least 20 years?
Back to Steven. How sad to come home and not even been given therapy. Yes he said he did not want to but his parents should have made him but instead they decided to never talk about it with him or the other family members. I understand them but I know now that that was probably not the right way for Steven.
It was also obvious Steven loved and hated his "dad" Parnell which I can understand.
This book was well written and the author was emotionally invested.
I had hoped this would also be about Cary but I have to find another book about the Yosemite Killer.
p.s Reading this book did not ring any bells so or I have totally forgotten this book or I have made a mistake thinking I had read it. I think it is the latter How can you forget a story like this?
April 17, 2014
This is every parents worst nightmare. Steven Stayner dissappeared on his way home from school one day when he was just 7 years old. He was kidnapped by Kenneth Eugene Parnell with the help of another man, and was kept as a captive and abused for over seven years. It wasn't until Steven was around 14 years old and Parnell had kidnapped another little boy named Timmy White that Steven had the courage to escape. He didn't want that little boy to go through the abuse that he himself did.
I think the saddest part about this story is that even though he survived and escaped he only had about ten years to live before he was struck and killed by a car. He lost seven years of his life from his loving family, had to endure so much abuse by a sick individual, lived in filth and squalor, changed schools often and had to go by the name Dennis, to die and be taken away from all those he cared about for a second time.
I am also horrified that because of the laws at the time Murphy who was the one that helped Parnell capture Steven, was sentenced to more time in jail then Parnell. Parnell only got something like seven years then was out and got a job working around kids again! I think eventually he was back in jail because he tried to by a young boy for 500 bucks. Parnell has now since died at the age of 78 in 2008 of natural causes while still incarcerated.
This event clearly took a toll on the whole family and sad to say that the oldest son Cary became known as the Yosemite killer having killed four people before getting caught. His reasons was that he was jealous of all the attention that Steven was getting, both when he was missing and when he returned. He still is in prison.
I hope the family has finally found some sort of peace and that Steven is in a better place. I just don't know about this world sometimes.
I think the saddest part about this story is that even though he survived and escaped he only had about ten years to live before he was struck and killed by a car. He lost seven years of his life from his loving family, had to endure so much abuse by a sick individual, lived in filth and squalor, changed schools often and had to go by the name Dennis, to die and be taken away from all those he cared about for a second time.
I am also horrified that because of the laws at the time Murphy who was the one that helped Parnell capture Steven, was sentenced to more time in jail then Parnell. Parnell only got something like seven years then was out and got a job working around kids again! I think eventually he was back in jail because he tried to by a young boy for 500 bucks. Parnell has now since died at the age of 78 in 2008 of natural causes while still incarcerated.
This event clearly took a toll on the whole family and sad to say that the oldest son Cary became known as the Yosemite killer having killed four people before getting caught. His reasons was that he was jealous of all the attention that Steven was getting, both when he was missing and when he returned. He still is in prison.
I hope the family has finally found some sort of peace and that Steven is in a better place. I just don't know about this world sometimes.
February 25, 2014
I Know My First Name Is Steven is one of the best "true crime" books I have ever read. I put the quotes around true crime for a few reasons, the biggest which is that I am a snob. It's true. I view this genre as sub-par to "real" writing. (Real writing, of course, uses the quotation marks with a lot less frequency). Now I admit there is some real great stuff out there, Helter Skelter, and In True Blood being great examples, but over all I find the genre to be sensationalized soap opera trash that is designed to exploit the base animal nature of humankind. It is for this reason, I am sure, that people love it. This book is no different, except that the main "character" Steve was alive and well to tell the tale with honesty and a knowledge few of us could comprehend. The writing doesn't distract nor does it embellish. It allows the story to be told with a straight forward view point. Yes, we as a society know that child abuse is a monstrous thing, but the author wisely lets Steve not play the victim, does not paint him into a corner of self pity. Nothing could be greater to help us wrap our mind around this tale.
May 5, 2009
The true story of the abduction of a young boy and how he had the courage to run when his abductor picked out a new victim. It is difficult to read about him trying to blend back into his family. He never really had a normal life afterwards. Ironically his brother went on to murder women in Yosemite Park.
December 21, 2008
What an enthralling True Crime book! It was astounding how this boy was stolen when he was young, yet somehow they still managed to have him come back to his parents when he was a teen, and he managed to integrate! This one definately made me cry.
August 28, 2011
I give this one a "4" for the inherent power of the story and the insights provided by the author's research and many interviews. A fifth star is lost due to spotty writing skills and the inappropriate, sleazy sensationalism of including the Cary Stayner story in this 1999 edition.
December 17, 2007
I really loved this book. Very hard to put down, and a compelling story to read. It was so interesting to see the other side of such a situation. I am sure a story not likely always known.
May 6, 2024
I’ve been waiting to read this book for years, and while it was worth getting to, I’m left feeling disappointed...but I can’t tell if it’s because of the writing or because this is such a devastatingly sad story. This writing was really engaging until the trial portions, which were dry and hard to follow. The tacked-on portion about the Cary Stayner murders at the end was lacking, too. Maybe I should be forgiving since it was indeed a last minute update written very shortly after his arrest, but I still think it could’ve served as a stronger ending than it did. I’m also not crazy about the fearmongering about crimes against children in the author’s note section; to modern eyes, it reads as a little sensational. That being said, I admire Echols for his compassion and his advocacy, and I can forgive some of the melodrama given the era.
I’m just not sure how to feel about this book, though. I liked reading it, and I felt so much compassion and admiration for Steven, but by the time I turned the final page, I felt a crush of sadness that didn’t have any resolution. I can’t really blame the author, since he couldn’t foresee Steven’s sudden death or Cary’s killing spree. Sometimes, true stories are tragic, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. I definitely don’t expect Mike Echols to change that. But as well-written as this book was, there’s no changing that fact that it’s a very sad story of very bad things happening to very good people for no reason at all. But I guess the only thing sadder than what happened to Steven would be people forgetting him and his bravery. His story matters, and I’m glad I was able to read it, even if it will haunt me for awhile.
I’m just not sure how to feel about this book, though. I liked reading it, and I felt so much compassion and admiration for Steven, but by the time I turned the final page, I felt a crush of sadness that didn’t have any resolution. I can’t really blame the author, since he couldn’t foresee Steven’s sudden death or Cary’s killing spree. Sometimes, true stories are tragic, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. I definitely don’t expect Mike Echols to change that. But as well-written as this book was, there’s no changing that fact that it’s a very sad story of very bad things happening to very good people for no reason at all. But I guess the only thing sadder than what happened to Steven would be people forgetting him and his bravery. His story matters, and I’m glad I was able to read it, even if it will haunt me for awhile.
August 3, 2021
I just can not believe the life that this child had to endure.
The legal system has and still to this day fails so many people in getting justice and protecting the community when it’s detrimental for the safety of others.
My heart broke reading this but i just could not put this book down. The further i read the more i could not understand how this man could prance around with a kidnapped child and no one not notice.
He continues to be freed from prison to walk through life with a record for doing unthinkable things to children with a slap on the wrist.
This is a very in depth book describing everything about this case and the addition of how this kidnapped child’s (Steven) brother turned out to be a serial killer himself. * a twist i did not see coming*
When you think it can not get any worse it just keeps piling on.
This has opened my eyes to the unimaginable life of child abductions and how easily it can happen.
The legal system has and still to this day fails so many people in getting justice and protecting the community when it’s detrimental for the safety of others.
My heart broke reading this but i just could not put this book down. The further i read the more i could not understand how this man could prance around with a kidnapped child and no one not notice.
He continues to be freed from prison to walk through life with a record for doing unthinkable things to children with a slap on the wrist.
This is a very in depth book describing everything about this case and the addition of how this kidnapped child’s (Steven) brother turned out to be a serial killer himself. * a twist i did not see coming*
When you think it can not get any worse it just keeps piling on.
This has opened my eyes to the unimaginable life of child abductions and how easily it can happen.
March 2, 2015
This is that rarest of true-crime books, one with a happy ending. A boy kidnapped for seven years comes home safely—and rescues a recently kidnapped five-year-old in the process. Such is the triumph of a young man’s instincts for survival and self-preservation.
This is also the story of a monster of a man who robbed a boy of his childhood and innocence and destroyed a family in the process. And the monster abused numerous others and appears likely to have gotten away with the murder of at least two. And the system failed, allowing the monster to attack children again and again and again. For the two kidnappings for which he was convicted, one lasting seven years, the other three weeks, he received a total of seven years in prison. The failures of law enforcement and investigators and prosecutors (and the California legislature) is shocking.
By far the most interesting conflict is the one at the center of this story: the ambivalent feelings of the victim toward his kidnapper. Because he was seven when snatched, because the monster gave him clothes and toys and food and unrestrained, nearly limitless freedom, because the man forced him to call him “Dad,� and told him the judge had ordered the parents to give their son to the new Dad because they were unfit, because “Dad� was the only parent the boy knew for half his life, he had some affection for the man.
But because the man sodomized him and forced him to perform all manner of sex acts with not only “Dad� but others, because he was often ignored and lonely and forced to change schools and move constantly, because he had begun to have a creeping feeling that this “Dad� was actually a monster, and even if not, was a sorry replacement for his real dad from whom he had been stolen, the boy had also nurtured a flame of hate for his weird new “Dad.�
It does not appear that he was ever able to completely resolve these issues.
The afterword and epilogue contain some excellent material as well, including the author’s undercover research of NAMBLA and his attempts to keep track of the kidnapper long after he was released from prison. The story of the kidnap victim’s brother, Cary Stayner, and his unexpected life as a serial killer was also fascinating. That these two tragedies could befall a single family seemed a horrible case of the truth being stranger than fiction. What a world.
The author, a counselor who has worked with hundreds of abused children, played a larger role in this story than authors usually do. Yet, I enjoyed his role and appreciated his expert commentary where it was included.
Finally, I picked this up because my name is ‘Steven.� My wife could not believe the book, and swore that the picture on the cover looked just like me (Steven Stayner was about six years older than me). Ironically, after kidnapping Steven, the monster changed his name to ‘Dennis’—my brother’s name. Such weird coincidences required me to read the book. I’m glad I did.
This is also the story of a monster of a man who robbed a boy of his childhood and innocence and destroyed a family in the process. And the monster abused numerous others and appears likely to have gotten away with the murder of at least two. And the system failed, allowing the monster to attack children again and again and again. For the two kidnappings for which he was convicted, one lasting seven years, the other three weeks, he received a total of seven years in prison. The failures of law enforcement and investigators and prosecutors (and the California legislature) is shocking.
By far the most interesting conflict is the one at the center of this story: the ambivalent feelings of the victim toward his kidnapper. Because he was seven when snatched, because the monster gave him clothes and toys and food and unrestrained, nearly limitless freedom, because the man forced him to call him “Dad,� and told him the judge had ordered the parents to give their son to the new Dad because they were unfit, because “Dad� was the only parent the boy knew for half his life, he had some affection for the man.
But because the man sodomized him and forced him to perform all manner of sex acts with not only “Dad� but others, because he was often ignored and lonely and forced to change schools and move constantly, because he had begun to have a creeping feeling that this “Dad� was actually a monster, and even if not, was a sorry replacement for his real dad from whom he had been stolen, the boy had also nurtured a flame of hate for his weird new “Dad.�
It does not appear that he was ever able to completely resolve these issues.
The afterword and epilogue contain some excellent material as well, including the author’s undercover research of NAMBLA and his attempts to keep track of the kidnapper long after he was released from prison. The story of the kidnap victim’s brother, Cary Stayner, and his unexpected life as a serial killer was also fascinating. That these two tragedies could befall a single family seemed a horrible case of the truth being stranger than fiction. What a world.
The author, a counselor who has worked with hundreds of abused children, played a larger role in this story than authors usually do. Yet, I enjoyed his role and appreciated his expert commentary where it was included.
Finally, I picked this up because my name is ‘Steven.� My wife could not believe the book, and swore that the picture on the cover looked just like me (Steven Stayner was about six years older than me). Ironically, after kidnapping Steven, the monster changed his name to ‘Dennis’—my brother’s name. Such weird coincidences required me to read the book. I’m glad I did.
September 5, 2014
I grew up having seen the movie about this case. We all watched it, and I think it's one of those that sticks with you - especially when you're a kid and to watch another kid go through so much. The book did a great job detailing out the when, where, how, what, and who of this tragic story. For anyone who watched this movie as a kid, you'll find the book insightful and, in a strange way, a closure to the story.
July 20, 2021
I've read this many times and it never ceases to me feel heartbroken over what was done to and what eventually happened to this boy. He didn't deserve any of it. Also tragic is the story of what became of his oldest brother, Cary. The miniseries made from the book is very good and Corin Nemec is wonderful of Steven Stayner. If you get a chance to see the mini series or read the book, do it. Sadly both boys, Steven and Timothy White, died young.
January 17, 2016
This is a wonderful, albeit tragic book. I was saddened to hear that the relationship between the author and the family soured and that it was published without their blessing. Be sure to also read "The Yosemite Killer" about Steven's older brother, who killed three women in the Yosemite area. There are many references to Steven.
May 19, 2016
Well written, researched, and very intriguing although inevitably very disturbing. For a long time I found the cycle of abuse incomprehensible and this book provided me a new point of view. Still horrible, but it's a tiny bit clearer to me now. I feel so sad for the family. The only section I found slow was the legal process, but that's just my personal preference.
September 24, 2012
I know that this is a true story, but it felt hollow when I was reading it. It didn't ring true for me. In one of the three prefaces, the "best friend" describes how horrible everything was for her and not once shows genuine concern. The author said that he wanted the tre story out but it did n way.ot read that
January 31, 2008
I picked this book up in the Winnipeg Airport on our way to Toronto. I read it in a day or two. It is the story of a boy that was abducted and returned to his bio-family seven years later. His brother was the Yosemite Killer, Cary Stayner. Strange...
January 29, 2009
I had to read this after I saw the movie when I was kid. When I saw it I don't think I was old enough to understand it. I read it and cried almost through the whole book. Read in 2 days. It keep me hooked.
March 8, 2013
I remember reading this as a young adult and the story still is ingrained in me...
When I became a parent it was always in the back of my mind and will never leave...
Eerie and haunting but definately worth reading!
When I became a parent it was always in the back of my mind and will never leave...
Eerie and haunting but definately worth reading!
June 20, 2008
I've read this book a couple of times. It's so shocking and sad. A true story of what happens to children who are kidnapped and not murdered. What it does to them and their families.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
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