I am not an avid non-fiction reader, but when I do read it, then true crime topics are my preference, so I thought I would enjoy this book.

Noting all of her qualifications was very interesting, but also went a long way to believing in her credibility. With that being said, the first chapter was boring and in general felt unnecessary. Going into a lot of detail about how much she respects police, when saying it once was enough, then about the fact that Kentucky is super sketchy, again fine but I don't need to hear it 5 times over, and then the definitions of psychopathy, sociopathy, and narcissism, none of which actually matter in the book but rather used as a way to slam corrupt cops (which I am all for, but do it based on what they do, not what mental illnesses they may or may not have).

Why do we need fake names? I get that they want to be anonymous, but just omit the name entirely? She said my crew mate "Fake Name" but then doesn't use said fake name until a separate chapter??? Same thing with the director "Diana West" she used "West" one single time, but just says "she said" the rest of the time. Why was the fake naming necessary?? Even more unnecessary were the fake names intermixed with real names. If you tell me the criminals real name, what the case is about in detail, where and when it happened, then why would you give a fake victim name?? I get wanting to protect victims or people involved but the guy was murdered, and I could easily look up the whole case, so just tell the whole story or say nothing.


The ORR thing was confusing too. I understand what it is, and why she was using it, but when "Stan" was wanted for a fake car theft she told him to go into the station with an ORR to request documents on the case so far... That's not how it works as far as I know. You can't request documentation on current cases, as the details are privileged until the case is settled or dropped. This is so information can't be leaked that might affect the investigation, or those involved (witness or suspect).

Several sentences needed spaces between periods and the start of the next sentence, it was rather prevalent throughout the whole book.

41% of the way into the book (sorry no page number, I was reading via Net Galley Reader) it says "Sheriff Keck"- it should have said Sheriff Speck.

Overall, I did not love this book. I like the idea, and having someone with actual credentials present this information is great. However, I think that the presentation was just lacking with this one. I was truly bored and had to resist the urge to skim pages as I went. I would recommend to a select few people but not a whole.

I appreciated that the author knows and noted the difference between psychopaths and sociopaths, rather than using them interchangeably.

An incredibly poignant memoir/exposé on the author’s incredible work trying to highlight and end corruption in the legal and political sectors in Kentucky. We need more voices like hers doing the hard work.

Why do we have a government and various authorities? Because the public wants protection on a macro level—so they can focus on their daily lives, the micro level. Why do we have laws? So everyone knows the rules and behaves accordingly. Why do we have authorities watching authorities?

Oh, wait…

This is exactly the issue here. The author is a real-life Marvel superhero—she uncovered not one, but many, many serious problems in Kentucky. When no one is watching, people run red lights, blow past stop signs, and veer off course. On a larger scale, that means authorities can feed you toxic waste, steal evidence, defraud the public, and even take lives.

The truth is, none of this is new. It didn’t happen overnight. It will happen again—and it is happening somewhere else right now.

We need more people like the author. But just as importantly, we need the public to care.

I don’t really rate non-fiction, and I don’t like the idea of rating this book. For the sake of NetGalley, I will give the book five stars, simply because more people need to know what’s happening while literally, NO ONE IS WATCHING. I live nowhere near Kentucky, but this makes me wonder…. what’s happening in my state because no one is watching? What is being swept so far under the rug that no one can vacuum it back up? This book made me so distrustful of those in power in my county, and rightfully so! Innocent people died in and around Pulaski County, and it is simply because of politicians’ ignorance, as well as (unfortunately) police ignorance, and a general unwillingness to take accountability from either parties. Darlene Price dares to speak up about a multitude of issues in this rather short volume. However she packs in as much information as possible onto a page, which props to her! Even though a lot of these issues she’s written about are in the past, that doesn’t mean that they should be so easily forgotten. What happened in Kentucky could happen in any state if we the people aren’t watching. This wasn’t just informational, this was a blaring warning.

This is one for the good guys. The heroes who may or may not wear capes. The ones who are unafraid to stand against evil.

The stories in this book are absolutely maddening, but also hopeful and inspiring.

At the end, the author mentions how she is not a wordsmith.. but she absolutely is. I was engaged from beginning to end.

Witty, passionate, inspiring, and may I say, kick ass.. now you can add "wordsmith" to that list.

One of my favourite books of the year.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."