Salt of the Earth by Jack Olsen 364.1 Ols

If you are a fan of true-crime this is a great one to read.  The crime was the kidnapping and murder of Brenda Gere (I think she was 12 - can't remember for sure!).  What makes this book so different is that if you were to take all the sentences in the book that had to do with the actually murder you would probably have about one page.  This book is mostly about two families.  The "salt of the earth" in the title refers to Elaine Gere.  Olsen takes us back to the beginning of Elaine's life, her upbringing, her marriage, her family life, her tragedy and the years and years she waited for justice.  The other family is the Greens.  Michael Green is a suspect in Brenda's disappearance.  As with Elaine we learn all about his background.

It was a very interesting book about "One family's Journey through the violent American landscape" which is the subtitle of the book.  It is a good reminder that when a crime is committed there are far-reaching consequences for many people.

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