As usual I find it very hard or gruesome maybe to say that a True Crime book was very good. A person lost their life! But I am going to say it.While the circumstances are beyond sad, the writing is very good. At times gory but murder is never pretty or nice. The author takes us into the mind of Kim imagining how she must have been feeling, thinking while she was tied to that chair, freezing and dying. It was heartbreaking to read.These dirtballs, so called friends, did this to her for what? MONEY! A kidnapping gone wrong, she wasn't supposed to die. Yet when there was still time to help her what do they do? Set her on fire to avoid getting caught. Yes, she was alive when they set her on fire but thank goodness she was already deep into hypothermia and past the point of feeling or knowing.It was so hard reading how her father was affected by this whole ordeal. How does a parent ever get over something like this? Justice was done, the creeps are in jail but that does not bring a daughter back to her family.Burned Alive is a very well written true crime book. I will look for more from this author. ( )

It's amazing what human beings can do to one another. I won't comment much on the crime - which was a horrible, horrible thing - but the book itself. The writing was good - a little dry and choppy sometimes. The author could have used a wider vocabulary. It took a little while for the book to warm up, but once I was about a third of the way into it, I could barely stand to put it down. It's a very good and thorough account of a shocking crime.

As I was googling for more information about the crime, I discovered two things. First, Nick Libretti died in 1999, which isn't mentioned in the epilogue (the book was published before his death). Second, Joshua Torres has a pen pal ad up on a well-known prison pen pal site, which is enough to make the stomach churn after reading this book.

At any rate, this book is definitely a worthwhile read if you like true crime books. ( )

lies! Lies! Lies! People should not always believe what they see, hear or read! By the way, just why would it turn your stomach to see the pen pal ad?