text: Tina Dirmann did a fantastic job writing about this difficult case, which encompasses motherhood, mental illness, child abuse, and matricide. Dirmann does not interject her own biases or agenda into her writing, rather she presents the many different angles of this story in a compassionate fashion. That, in and of itself is impressive, because many writers of true crime tend to lean one side or the other,get caught up in emotion, and appear unable to really present all sides of the story. Lessons can be learned from this book regarding mental illness and society's responsibility to help families who are in need of intervention. It is so sad that the extended families of these boys failed not only them, but also tragically failed their mother.
  