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Kill Show

A True Crime Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Riveting, original, and chillingly plausible, Kill Show is both an urgent reckoning with the ethics of true crime and a tense mystery in its own right. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough."—Flynn Berry, Edgar Award–winning author of Northern Spy

When sixteen-year-old Sara Parcell goes missing, it's an utter tragedy—and an entertaining national obsession—in this thoughtful and addictively readable novel that offers a fresh and provocative take on whodunits and true crime.

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.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 7, 2023
      Sweren-Becker (The Ones) tackles America’s obsession with true crime in this searing whodunit. Written in the form of interviews with family, friends, neighbors, police, and the film crew that arrives in Frederick, Md., after 16-year-old violin prodigy Sara Parcell vanishes, the novel is presented as a straightforward work of true crime. After a viral video brings a spike of national attention to Sara’s disappearance, her parents agree to let a Hollywood production company film a reality show about the case—her dad says yes for the money, while her mom hopes that a wide audience will lead to Sara’s safe return. When Searching for Sara becomes an overnight hit, it causes a chain reaction of unintended consequences: detectives start reluctantly taking their cues from the show, an innocent man receives death threats after producers insinuate he might be a suspect, residents of Frederick have their own secrets unwittingly exposed, and two more murders occur. But nothing is as it seems in this wily mystery, and Sweren-Becker delivers a double twist that will leave readers shocked. His sharp plotting and expert understanding of true crime tropes elevate the proceedings from clever gimmick to slam-dunk. The latest in a long line of contemporary thrillers interrogating the public fascination with private tragedy, this scorching indictment stands out.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      An ensemble of wildly talented narrators elevates this fictional true- crime case told through first-person interviews. The narrators infuse a generous amount of personality and empathy into their portrayals of the community, media, and family involved in the tragic case of missing teenager Sara Parcell. Robert Fass's weary voice portrays Dave, Sara's downtrodden father, as he recollects the case from prison. Fass's narration is made to sound like a telephone call, a device that creates a more immersive experience for listeners. Melissa Redmond's assertive performance embodies a gusty TV producer who turns the case into a media spectacle--to the dismay of Detective Caldron, whose no-nonsense attitude is evoked by Pun Bandhu in a gruff voice. A compelling audio with a winning combination of narrators. J.E.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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