No Angels

I received a copy of this book from WildBlue Press In return for an honest review:
Jackson revisited the case of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Brandy DuVall, a case so brutal that he considered no longer writing true crime. It's a sobering and violent read; DuVall was raped, tortured and murdered by a group of other teenagers. Jackson does a fine job of balancing sharing the details in order to honor Brandy's suffering and not lingering over them in the service of salaciousness. I think knowing what a victim suffered is important; when true crime consumers hear “raped and murdered” over and over, it loses its meaning. What happened to DuVall at the hands of seven boys and young adults is not encompassed by that throwaway phrase, and Jackson understood this, but also did not overwhelm the reader—the details were dealt with sensitively and powerfully over the period of the book, which also gives the reader a fascinating insight into gang culture, which also led to the related murder of young Venus Montoya.