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Much of the book is based on Michael Lesy's "Wisconsin Death Trip," an historical record of life, death, and madness in Northern Wisconsin at the end of the 19th century. Lesy's book succeeds where Jones fails, simply by letting the events and Schaik's remarkable photographs stand on their own. There is no need to resort to the supernatural-reality is more than bizarre enough.
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The novel is incredibly short, just 123 pages, but manages to make of itself a rather offensive spectacle, dealing as it does only with ugly portraits of sexuality. None of the characters become worthy of our empathy or even sympathy. This is in rather bold contrast to Rod Jones' later novel "Billy Sunday." Perhaps "Julia Paradise" would have succeeded had Jones delved more into Julia's hallucinations, presenting them as the sort of surreal dream he accomplished with "Billy Sunday."
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I read this book in basically two days. I found it to be very fast paced and terribly easy to follow (in a good way...I'm a busy person). Jones obviously researched every possible detail for this book. She is thorough and knows the story nearly as well as the 5 "vampire teens."
I also enjoyed her exploration of the different angles of each persons involvement. I read a reviewer's piece in which a they critisized Jones' defense of Heather Wendorf. I don't agree with this criticism - I think Jones is right on.
Most importantly to me, I appreciate Jones explaining different levels of paganism and wicca. She didn't bunch witches, satanists, wiccans, and confused teens into one broad category. They are all different things, and people need to understand that. It should be known that Rod Ferrel's version of Satanism was way off and completely uneducated.
Nonetheless, this book is an interesting read. I recommend reading it and then looking up the case online.
The book reads almost like a novel, something I've gotten very used to when reading non-fiction. Jones's explorations into Rod's and Heather's histories was expected and I found to be very thorough. What I found most interesting wasn't the "occult" aspect of the book, but the media, police, and prosecution/defense lawyers' treatment of Heather during the latter part of the book, when the trials are being recalled. It really raises an alarm, noting that many times, the media will have us believe what they want. If Jones wanted me to sympathize with Heather, she succeeded, and I think she did a very good job of painting the various aspects of the murder's aftermath in a light that almost makes the reader feel guilty--I would have definitely believed what the media fed me. It's a thought-provoking book, especially considering recent debates over media and counter-culture influences in teenage behavior.
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