Well not really. But at least read this book in case. This book is about a woman who's husband hired a hitman to kill her but the story takes a weird turn when the hitman hired somebody else to do the dirty work who just so happens to be a undercover cop. Amazingly enough this book is actually really funny at times but you are going to have to read it yourself to find out why. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery.

I got this book out of my local library after seeing the TV movie starring Elizabeth Montgomery. The TV movie was based on this book. However, the movie did not even begin to scratch the surface of what Blanche Taylor Moore was really like. I was horrified to think that one human being could be this evil, yet appear perfectly normal. Her father was a terrible man, there was no question about that. He forced Blanche to do things that no child should have to endure. That is why Blanche probably turned out the way she did. It does not, however, excuse the terrible things she did to the people she supposedly "loved." It's a fascinating book.

I get the feeling, reading this book, that Mr.Schutze would much rather be writing a novel. That's certainly how this book reads.

From the very first page, which starts with a detailed analysis of Lisa Connely's room, complete with thoughts going through her head as she lay "naked on this bed", it sounds like information Mr.Schutze certainly wouldn't have been privy to.

Despite the fact that all the facts are presented at a level of detail that implies the author was almost there (or that he had an incredible research team), the trials themselves, the parts that *do* have official transcripts are barely glossed over (some of them are barely mentionned at all). Odd, don't you think?

The turning point for me was during the description of the murder itself. Mr.Schutze claims to tell us what Bobby Kent was thinking mere seconds before he was murdered. Pardon me? How the heck would he know? Is he psychic? This part made the needle on my BS-meter break off!

All this does nothing for the author's credibility. I found myself disbelieving much of what was said after that, or at least keeping in mind that a severe bias can be put in a true fiction book, specially considering alleged theories of motives, plans, etc ("Fatal Vision", anyone?).

I didn't want a novel. I didn't want an account of facts that used theories and fiction to fill in the gaps (as I suspect they did). I wanted facts. There are no signs in the book that the author talked with any of the defendants, nor their family. There's no way you'll make me believe that all the conversations that were quoted as if they were recorded could actually be remembered verbatim, as the author implies. Add to this incidents that have nothing to do with the case (like the arcade bit), but are only used to make the defendants appear more worthy of our scorn, and a strong bias is made even more obvious.

I wanted a true crime book. I got a combination between a non-fiction book and a novel. I was strongly disapointed.

Strangely enough, just one day after finishing this book, I caught the American Justice special on A&E. There were many contradictions with the book. How ironic that Mr. Schutze was interviewed on the TV show.

I did get some facts from this book (the reason I gave it more than one star), but I did have to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I also saw the movie and became very interested in the story, so I decided to read the book. The only thing I didn't like about the movie was that they had a thin Rachel Miner play the role of Lisa, the fat, frumpy girlfriend of Marty. I was taken aback when insults of how "fat" she was were made when I can see the girl's ribs, I think that's a pretty good indication of how thin she really is.

Well, back to the book. I was disgusted at the way these boys treated people (even Marty). The way they treated mentally disabled people was jaw-dropping and how they took advantage of people and their hospitality is sick. I did find a couple errors however. At the beginning when Lisa's first sexual encounter is explained, it makes reference to Bobby and not Marty. I know from further reading (and the movie that the wrong name was put in (" At the moment Bobby first touched Lisa, she froze, unable to breathe." page 9). Another problem I found was that when Lisa went to tell her boyfriend Marty she was pregnant she found that "Marty and Bobby were alone in Marty's parents house." pg. 79. When she later recalls that incident she thinks of them "inside the shadowed doorway of Bobby's parents' home." pg. 83. These editing errors make the book kind of clumsy. In all, the book is interesting and keeps your attention. Some of the things these kids do are disgusting and may not be for the faint of heart. I don't know how factual the events are in this book. The sexual encounters are very explicit. It seems that Schutze used a lot of rumor and hearsay to lead up to the events that are factual (the murder and trials). The last page does not really conclude the story too well and I recommend it if you have nothing else to read.

The murder of Bobby Kent is a good example of what happens when parents do not perform the principal job of parenting; raise children to be responsible adults. None of the parents, including Kent's, can escape the blame for the death of Bobby Kent.

This is a well written book that maintains an objective stance when describing the events that led to Kent's murder. Though Kent did not deserve to die, his years of bullying Marty Puccio obviously pushed Puccio to a deep hatred that was brought to the surface by his friends and the right place and time.

The most disgusting part of the book was the domination of Ali, Bobby, and Lisa over their parents. I cannot understand any parent who allows a child to disrespect them and make decisions as if they were providing the income to pay the bills.

An update for this story was recently provided by A&E's 'American Justice'TV series. Heather got out of prison in 1998, Ali, now known as Alice, can get out in 2003, Lisa had her life sentence reduced to twenty-five years and comes up for parole in 2006. Marty had his death sentence reduced to life.

Lisa maintains that she knew nothing about a plot to kill Bobby, she thought Marty was just going to beat him up. Marty must have been eating his Wheaties since Bobby routinely whacked him on a daily basis. Ali (Alice, she's grown up) states she had no idea that Marty planned to kill Bobby(she doesn't talk about the previous night)and was in a state of shock after Bobby was killed. These girls should have to exchange their sentences with Marty because they were the prime movers by the killing.

Just in case you think any of what this writer said is real, I'll bet you that most of it was lies.

Yes, Jack was murdered. Yes, the sisters were tried. The only injustice, however, is that Peggy wasn't found guilty.

You see, the lovely thing about tv shows and books is that they can skew reality into whatever they want them to say. They don't always show what REALLY happened.

You wanna know what REALLY happened with Jack, Peggy, James, and Betty? Why don't you read through The Huntsville Times for the past 10 years? I'll bet you didn't know that Betty Wilson had actually plotted to have Jack murdered at least once before.

Yes, James is a liar, but who knows? He could've actually been telling the truth.

I actually know one of the people who was a witness in the trial. I knew the victim (he was my family's eye doctor). I know what went on, and this book is an all-out lie.

I like to read crime books in which, at the end, justice has been done, but such is not the case in Jim Schutze's *By Two and Two*. It tells the story of two Alabama sisters charged with conspiring to murder the husband of one of them. Although apparently neither woman was involved in the crime, one was found guilty and the other was not, because of personal, social and racial issues tangential to the case. In pursuing the investigation, well-meaning police were evidently manipulated and deceived by a career criminal who sought, and won, preferential treatment by helping them make a case against the women. The author himself was clearly disturbed by the outcome

I want to know some background on Betty and Peggy. Maiden name and parents, and siblings?? What city and state they were born in? childhood pictures?