Scan barcode
A review by taherasplace
A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime by Casey Sherman
medium-paced
3.25
In my opinion marketing the book as an 'untold story of tinseltown's most shocking crime' is bit of a stretch considering one has to just type Lana Turner's name in the search bar to find detailed stories and articles about this case spread across the internet. I knew about this case years before this book published.
There is nothing new added to this book except for fictional dialogues and a separate narrative of Mickey Cohen's life and dealings as a gangster which in the grand scheme of things has no strong connection to the actual case except for him being Johnny Stompanato's boss.
Lana Turner's story covers her childhood and her journey towards Hollywood success which is, in proportions, filled with physical, sexual and substance abuse. I don't know if it was her insecurity or plainly her preference but Lana Turner had terrible taste in men! With one disastrous relationship after another, Lana still continued to choose violent men, who not only mistreated her but also sexually preyed on her young daughter Cheryl.
The one place where the author veers away from the narrative is his 'claim' that it was not Cheryl but Lana Turner who stabbed Stompanato to death and as a minor Cheryl only took the blame to protect her mother, with the subsequent murder trial being Lana's performance of a lifetime.
I don't know if the author has any solid proof for this 'claim' because he never shares any evidence for his POV in the book but anyone who has read the articles on the internet will know that even to this day, after years having passed and all the main players being long dead, Cheryl maintains that she solely acted on her own accord when she stabbed Stompanato to protect her mother, with Lana having no prior knowledge as to what would tranpire.
I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author himself.
There is nothing new added to this book except for fictional dialogues and a separate narrative of Mickey Cohen's life and dealings as a gangster which in the grand scheme of things has no strong connection to the actual case except for him being Johnny Stompanato's boss.
Lana Turner's story covers her childhood and her journey towards Hollywood success which is, in proportions, filled with physical, sexual and substance abuse. I don't know if it was her insecurity or plainly her preference but Lana Turner had terrible taste in men! With one disastrous relationship after another, Lana still continued to choose violent men, who not only mistreated her but also sexually preyed on her young daughter Cheryl.
The one place where the author veers away from the narrative is his 'claim' that it was not Cheryl but Lana Turner who stabbed Stompanato to death and as a minor Cheryl only took the blame to protect her mother, with the subsequent murder trial being Lana's performance of a lifetime.
I don't know if the author has any solid proof for this 'claim' because he never shares any evidence for his POV in the book but anyone who has read the articles on the internet will know that even to this day, after years having passed and all the main players being long dead, Cheryl maintains that she solely acted on her own accord when she stabbed Stompanato to protect her mother, with Lana having no prior knowledge as to what would tranpire.
I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author himself.