Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
In 2003, college student Katie Autry was brutally raped, stabbed and set on fire in her dorm room at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. Returning to his hometown, journalist Van Meter explores Autry's murder, and the subsequent investigation and trial. But his scattershot approach leaves the account as full of holes as the suspects' alibis. Authorities tracked down several people who'd been at a fraternity party Autry had attended before focusing on Stephen Soules, a high school dropout who at first said he'd had consensual sex with the drunken girl in her dorm. But Soules blamed the murder on Luke Goodrum, a 21-year-old with a history of domestic violence. Despite mounting evidence implicating Soules, Goodrum was tried for the crime, while Soules--who now claimed Goodrum forced him to rape Autry--agreed to testify in exchange for life in prison, thus avoiding a capital trial. Instead of exploring the glaring legal errors that ran rampant during the investigation and Goodrum's trial, Van Meter instead cobbles together a melodramatic narrative that doesn't do Autry's tragic death justice. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Verdict: Journalist Van Meter's prose is serviceable at best, but the story he tells about a tragic crime and a bungled prosecution makes the book compulsively readable. Essential for regional libraries and a good choice for most public libraries. Background: On May 4, 2003, Katie Autry, a student at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, was savagely raped, stabbed, and set on fire. Investigators eventually drew a confession from Stephen Soules, who later claimed he had been forced to rape and murder Autry by Lucas Goodrum, a drug dealer acquaintance. Goodrum's trial for capital murder, solely on the word of Soules-the only suspect whose DNA was actually found at the scene-proved to be a gross miscarriage of justice.-Deirdre Bray Root, Middletown P.L., OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Freelance journalist Van Meter recounts the grisly killing of an 18-year-old college student. The murder of Katie Autry and subsequent arrests of two local men for the crime was a regional media sensation in May 2003. The victim, who moonlighted at a topless bar, was beaten, strangled and then set on fire in her dorm room at Western Kentucky University. Two 21-year-olds from nearby Bowling Green were later charged. One, a high-school dropout named Stephen Soules, eventually pleaded guilty and testified against the other suspect, a part-time drug dealer named Luke Goodrum. Van Meter follows events diligently, but his mechanical narrative proves more tawdry and depressing than revelatory. It's difficult to find any redeeming qualities in either of the suspects, their families or, for that matter, the victim's family. The grim landscape these characters inhabit is dominated by broken homes, casual sex, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy and domestic violence. Flat, inert prose fails to infuse the tale with local color or dimensionsurprising, given that the first-time author is from Bowling Green. Readers are rushed through events police-blotter style, and the skimpy account of the March 2005 trial provides few definitive answers to what actually happened in Katie's dorm room. The most memorable aspect of the courtroom proceedings are the icy glares heaped on Katie's dutiful foster parents by her biological mother and her aunts, whose air of superiority is at odds with the fact that they allowed Katie and her younger sister to be removed to foster care in the first place. Thanks to his well-monied stepfather, Goodrum got a quality defense team. Given his previous history of violence toward women, whether he actually deserved it remains unclear. Readable enough, but disappointingly short on dramatic appeal or sociological insight. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
The murder of Katie Autry would seem to have it all, true-crime-wise. Attractive coed is raped and killed in her dorm room, and her corpse set afire. Authorities quickly determine she was at a frat party the night before, so the always-enjoyable drunken witnesses and suspects come into play. Then DNA evidence points to a high-school dropout who claims to have had consensual sex with her but later contends to have been forced to rape her by a pal he also fingers for the murder. Oddly, the coppers believe him. Unfortunately, Van Meter's disorganized chronicle dissipates much of the excitement and prosecutorial glee one might expect. What could be a scathing look at a prosecution gone awfully wrong turns into a weepy narrative with more to say about the quaint college-town setting than the carnival of investigative and prosecutorial missteps that would seem to be the real story here. Imperfect though it is, Bluegrass should still satisfy dyed-in-the-wool true-crime fans, if not much of anyone new to the genre.--Tribby, Mike Copyright 2008 Booklist