THE AMITYVILLE MASSACRE by R. Barri Flowers – AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS

THE AMITYVILLE MASSACRE: The DeFeo Family Nightmare

Author: R. Barri Flowers

Type of Book: Audiobook Unabridged

Narrator: Scott Clem

Length: 1 hour, 6 minutes

Genre: Non-Fiction, True Crime

Release Date: October 14, 2014

Publisher: R. Barri Flowers

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐

* I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook was much shorter than I expected. The official length of this book is listed as 66 minutes. However, that number is deceiving. In fact this audiobook contains the short true-crime tale of the Amityville Massacre, but it also contains a bonus true-crime story entitled “Murder in Bellevue: The Killing of Alan and Dianne Johnson.”

This is the true story of the massacre of the DeFeo family at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville, New York on November 13, 1974.

Ronald DeFeo, Senior, his wife, Louise and four of their five children were murdered in their beds. Convicted of the crime was the fifth, and oldest child, Ronald Junior.

I would have liked to learn more about the DeFeo family and what their lives were like before the night of the murders. What information is included is well written, I had just hoped for more detail.

The narrator of this audiobook speaks way too quickly. Because of this the listener is unable to immerse themselves in the story. I also felt that the narrator’s voice was very monotone and lacked inflection. This is unfortunate and detracts from the enjoyment of listening to this audiobook.

Due to the audiobook’s lack of back-story and the narrator’s speed, I rate this audiobook as 3 out of 5 stars. ⭐⭐⭐ I had been hoping to learn more about the murders and also more about how the massacre ended up causing such a media firestorm and how it ended up spawning multiple books and movies over the years.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

R. Barri Flowers has written several true-crime books as well as multiple fiction books. He is an American mystery novelist, non-fiction author and criminologist who lives in Hawaii.

To find out more about this author visit: http://www.rbarriflowers.com