When I was invited to read this ARC, I was beyond excited. I followed the disappearance of Lauren Spierer since the very beginning in 2011. True crime is a huge interest of mine, but I don't always love to read it unless it's a case I'm super familiar with. I can't believe that after 13 years closure still hasn't been given to the Spierer family and it breaks my heart for them. Very interesting read, even if you're familiar with the case.

Very quick and straight to the point read, but I really didn't care for the details about the author's personal life that they included. This case is super sad, but I don't know if this book necessarily did it justice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for sending me this book!

It may be strange to say, but I do read, listen, and watch true crime. So when I saw this book, I knew I wanted to read it. It’s a story that I didn’t know about. Lauren Spierer was a college student a Indiana University. She went out one night and then disappeared, never to be found. This incident gained national attention, but certain people weren’t talking, and the police investigation was less than stellar. Who was Lauren, what happened to her? Cohen provides us this information, along with new information in this book.

I thought this book was well done. It was tasteful, but it didn’t hold back the facts that are known. Which means, that Cohen presented Lauren as she was when she was in college, and didn’t try to put her in a nicer light. This was probably hard for the family, but as a reader, I appreciated it.

I appreciate how much time and effort Cohen put into conducting his own investigation. His efforts resulted in garnering new information surrounding the circumstances of the night that Lauren disappeared. Like I said, I didn’t previously know about this case, but from what I’ve read in this book, I do have some suspicions about what happened. But, unfortunately, I don’t think we will ever know.

"College Girl, Missing" delves into the true crime case of Lauren Spierer, who vanished after a night of drinking at Indiana University.

This quick read offers insight into a case with limited information. The narrative focuses primarily on the events of that fateful night, providing only one perspective due to its isolated nature within private areas. Witnesses are tight-lipped about the incident, leaving much to speculation. While the book presents a factual account from a journalist's viewpoint, some readers may find it enriching to explore theories from online forums like Reddit.

Personally, I believe Lauren may have succumbed to a drug/alcohol overdose, possibly worsened by a head injury, with the involvement of the boys who may have concealed her body in a construction site or dumpster.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

"College Girl, Missing" is the story of the disappearance of Lauren Spierer and the investigation that followed, through the eyes of Shawn Cohen who has been covering this story since the beginning. I did not know much about Lauren, but reading this book was very interesting and I want to research further. A must read for any True Crime reader. This is a very sad case and hopefully this book brings awareness for Lauren and her family. Justice for Lauren!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC to review!

College Girl Missing, The true story of how a young woman went missing in plain sight by John Cohen. When Lauren Spierer went missing from A friend‘s apartment near Indiana University. Despite she was around multiple friends and different acquaintances throughout the night, in the end no one claimed to know what happened to her. She had a long time boyfriend Jesse and she was even seen by his fraternity brothers who tried to intervene to bring her home but due to a violent act, they ran away and leftter with the guy she barely knew. There’s much more to this intriguing True Crime and John Cohen does a great job telling the story. He initially met the parents because he was one of the first reporters on the scene and their first meeting was not so amicable but he is older the case is cold and he feels compelled to get this case solved and this is his very well done effort to that end. There were some questionable things in this book like for one how was her boyfriend a suspect and secondly how could five guys not know what happened to her when their apartment was the last place she was seen? This is a story about the dangers of drinking and drugs with strangers but mostly it was a story about Lauren who is missing and whose family desperately wants to know what happened to her. This was well done with eyewitness accounts conversations with her parents and we even learn about the beginning of Lauren‘s life in her love other athletics. Stories like this make me so sad but it’s so good when someone gets their story told we need more books like this especially books like this about minorities in those in the LGBT community I just want to state Lauren wasn’t neither one of those communities I am just saying we need more stories from those communities. I want to thank the publisher and Net Gally for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you to the publisher for this advanced copy. I was not aware of the disappearance of Lauren Spierer. This book was detailed and informative about the case. If you like true crime you’ll like this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Firstly, I want to highlight that my review is about the writing and the author’s telling of the story. What happened to Lauren is a horrible tragedy and I hope that the truth eventually comes out.

The book starts off sounding like the author is going to give us the timeline and details of Lauren’s life in a story format. Unfortunately after the first chapter it switches to be retelling of the authors involvement in her case. He’s a journalist writing a book about Lauren’s disappearance, there’s no real story or new information provided, no leads or new developments. The anniversary of her death is upcoming and it seems like the author is trying to get his name out there by using Lauren.

This book seems to be more about the author than Lauren. There’s part where he rambles about his own life and his own shortcomings which are in no way relevant to Lauren. He goes off on a tangent about his career, his family, and the relationship he had with a woman involved in a sex scandal. Completely inappropriate to be included in the story of a missing woman. It seems like the author jumped at the chance to make some money and a name of himself at the expense of an unsolved case.

Secondly, it was hard to keep the timeline and details together. A lot of the same information was repeated over and over again. The author bounces from first answer last names of people involved. It’s harder to keep track of who was where and when, and their relationship to Lauren this way. There was run on sentences, irrelevant tangents, and poor sentence structure. For a journalist, I expected better.

This book was rather accusatory and highlighted the author’s opinion of what happened rather than facts. He seemed to be putting pressure on those involved, trying to get them to reveal information to him so he could be the saviour. I’m sure he had the best intentions in mind, but this book makes him like a little egotistical and arrogant.

I feel like this had so much more potential. If this was done well, the goal would be to have people read it and maybe generate leads that were overlooked. Ultimately, everyone wants to know what happened to Lauren so her family can have some answers. There was no new information provided. I hope this book provides awareness of Lauren’s case and some answers. Otherwise this book was in poor taste and takes advantage of vulnerable family members desperate for answers on their missing loved one. This book just didn’t sit well for me. The description was misleading and provided no real substance. I hope this author isn’t capitalizing on someone else’s story and that there is a fund set up help solve Lauren’s case.

This book pieces together the disappearance of Lauren Spierer, a college student at Indiana University who vanished into thin air after a night out with friends on June 3, 2011. She has not been found to this day. Shawn Cohen, one of the first journalists covering her case, decided to crack it back open in hopes of getting new people to speak and uncovering new information. While Cohen managed to track down and have interesting conversations with some of the key players involved in the night of Lauren's disappearance, I personally did not feel as though the new information was that groundbreaking and doesn't add much new to the case. I came into this already pretty knowledgeable about the case from various podcasts and documentaries. I found it interesting the journalist has developed such a close relationship with Lauren's family over the years, and felt the narrative slipping into bias at times (but this must be hard not to do after investigating a case for so long)! I think this is a great overview of Lauren's case for those who aren't as familiar, and it sets up the facts in a clear and concise way. I also appreciated that it touched on the "missing white girl" phenomenon, in which missing person's cases get more coverage if the person is white, affluent, and conventionally attractive. It touches on a few cases of women who were missing and murdered around the same time as Lauren whose cases did not get nearly as much coverage, and I appreciated that.

I went into this story blind, as I had never heard about it in the news media. Because of that, I was quite interested in all that transpired on the night Lauren went missing, as well as her backstory and those of some of her friends.

What I found most concerning was the fact that she had a heart condition, yet was still drinking and doing drugs. So many questions about that night! I do believe that at least one or two of the boys involved know something. If she suffered a heart attack, they might have felt the need to cover it up since they wouldn’t necessarily know about her heart condition.

Or did foul play occur, either with a boy(s) or from some stranger? It’s hard to not suspect her friends that “lawyered up” and didn’t join in the search for her right after she disappeared. Definitely someone knows something and I hope her parents learn the truth before their lives end.

I think Shawn Cohen did an incredible job relaying the facts around the case and what obstacles law enforcement faced in trying to solve her disappearance.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am pleased to give my honest review and recommend this to other true crime readers.

This book and your "enjoyment" of it (I put enjoyment in quotations because this is a heavy true story and enjoyment does not feel like the right word to describe this) will entirely depend on how much you know about the case of Lauren Spierer. I am heavy into the Reddit True Crime world but Lauren's disappearance happened when I was also in college so I remember hearing her name but I never did my own deep dive into her case so I felt like I learned a lot from this book. The author works closely with Lauren's parents and because of that this book does feel respectful and it is reassuring to know that everything put in the book was okay with her parents. However, at times, the author did feel like they were "tooting their own horn" a few times and that felt a little ridiculous at points.

Cohen, the author, also states that there are things in this book that has never been discussed before but I cannot verify that claim because most of the information in the book was new to me personally.

I do think that if you like to read True Crime books and you are not super familiar with this case then this will be a good book to read. But, be prepared, it will have you leaving the book with more questions and a lot of frustrations. Somebody knows what happened to Lauren Spierer and her family deserves to know the truth and Lauren deserves to be put to rest.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this novel for my honest review!

College Girl, Missing
The True Story of How a Young Woman Disappeared in Plain Sight
by Shawn Cohen
Pub DateMay 28 2024
SOURCEBOOKS \(non-fiction\) |Sourcebooks
True Crime


Netgalley and Sourcebooks provided me with a copy of College Girl, Missing for review:



The disappearance of Lauren Spierer drew global attention from celebrities and news outlets including CNN, People magazine, and USA Today. Lauren's disappearance wasn't just a random kidnapping. The case is especially puzzling since the 20-year-old was out with dozens of classmates on the night she went missing. Security cameras and witnesses saw her in public, and she ended up in a townhouse complex with several wealthy, well-connected male students. Despite the media frenzy surrounding the case, the police investigation went nowhere and her body was never found.  In spite of the media frenzy surrounding the case, the police investigation didn't lead anywhere and her body was never found.  


Using the support of Lauren's parents as well as never-before-seen evidence detailing a cover-up, a botched investigation, conflicting testimony, and new interviews, Cohen leads readers through a gripping narrative until he finally sheds light on the innocents left behind in true crime. College Girl, Missing provides a minute-by-minute account of Lauren's last hours. Readers are urged to ask themselves: What happened to Lauren Spieler?


Find out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

When a young woman goes missing, seemingly in plain sight, law enforcement began searching for her. Instead of a quick resolution, there were bungles and stops along the way, keeping Lauren missing, and never found.

This was very intense at some times, and others held a good flow. This true crime will not leave you disappointed. I feel for Lauren's parents. While someone knows something, murder charges will never go away. Hopefully this book will open the doors to have someone come forward and finally put the case to rest.

I got 30% through and was enjoying it but got nosey and wanted to know what happened in the case. I googled and found out something that ruined it for me so I gave up.

This was an interesting read, but I was hoping that this book would bring some new information about this case. Most of the information was not new. I also struggled that the focus seemed to shift to the author talking about himself in the second half of the book.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Well, my daughter can cross Indiana University off her college list.

College Girl, Missing by Shawn Cohen tells the story of Lauren Spierer, who in 2011 disappeared after a night of partying with friends. Cohen tells the entire story almost completely linearly and very effectively provides the reader what they need to know without excessive details. For a true crime tome, this is very succinct, in a good way.

The mileage you will get out of this book will depend upon the following question. How much do you remember about Lauren's case? I do not remember hearing about it at all. This was entirely new to me, and I found it to be very engaging. Cohen also adds in some color such as how many reporters are pushed towards stories with affluent victims and his own scandal and subsequent firing. Since it was all new to me, this all felt very fresh.

If you remember this story and followed it at all, then you may not get nearly as much out of it. I'd say about 75% of the case can be gleaned from a few articles written on it and while Cohen certainly tried, he could not uncover anything substantial since the case went cold years ago. His attempts and limited success reaching out to the main players while writing the book left me underwhelmed.

So do you like true crime stories and don't remember this one? Definitely grab it. If you followed this story back in the day, then it may still be worth it but don't expect too many surprises.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Sourcebooks.)

This was challenging to read as I have a child headed off to college in the fall. It was insightful, straightforward and sad. My heart aches for this family and not knowing what happened to their daughter. The POV from the journalist was excellent. The relationship that he built with the family after so many years was heartfelt. If anyone had to write this, he was the right one for it. I highly recommend this to all parents and teenagers as a way in to college life and the so many ways things can go wrong.

Lauren Spierer, a college student at Indiana University, went missing on June 3, 2011, never to be seen again. Shawn Cohen reported on this case for the NY Post because Lauren and her family were from New York. Cohen always felt like the case wasn’t properly investigated and the right questions were never asked. Years later, he completed his own investigation into what really happened the night Lauren went missing. This book contains information never before made public in relation to this case.

As a mom of a college-aged daughter, I admit I was apprehensive about reading this book. I don’t need any more reason to worry and I tend to take these types of books to heart, even losing sleep over them. Yet, I also wanted to know what happened, what I could learn from Lauren’s situation to share with our daughter, and what might have happened to her.

It isn’t a spoiler that you will not find out what happened to Lauren. This cold case had many leads that all resulted in no further charges. Were the college boys she was with the night that she disappeared to blame? What about her boyfriend (she wasn’t with him during the evening of partying)? Or was it a local sex offender who had committed other crimes in the area? You will have to draw your own conclusions, but I have my own suspicions and opinions.

Cohen doesn’t hold back by painting a not-so-pleasant picture of the night Lauren went missing. The evening was full of drugs and alcohol, partying with boys Lauren didn’t know very well, and not staying with people she trusted and who would have taken care of her. Lauren had a history of drugs and alcohol and partying so hard that she often needed help getting home. This night was similar except this time, she never made it home.

Many mistakes were made in the investigation, but most of all the search was hampered by her own friends and roommates not calling the authorities right away…assuming she was sleeping it off somewhere. Dumpsters that lined her walk home had already been taken to the landfill early that morning. A building site with a big empty dirt hole was filled with concrete right away that morning. Two easy places to hide a body, never to be found again.

Carlene Spierer used the following quote from a German American Rabbi who confronted Nazism to issue a plea for information…

“The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most tragic problem is silence.”

Cohen interviews (or tries to interview) everyone who was with Lauren that night, her closest friends, her roommates, and her parents. He then retells what happened that night by gathering the most accurate information he can from those interviews. Even though his book doesn’t lead investigators to the killer, it still brings her case back to the forefront and hopefully someone might feel compelled to come forward. Someone knows something and they aren’t saying anything.

Next week will be thirteen years since Lauren went missing. Laurens’s parents don’t believe in miracles. Technically, she is still alive because they have never filed the paperwork to declare her officially dead. But, they also know in their hearts that she is gone. The not knowing is the hardest part. But, they eventually hope someday, someone will come forward so they can bring her remains home.

“‘The only way it’s going to happen’, she sighs, ‘is if somebody comes forward with information.'”

The investigation into Lauren’s disappearance is still open with the Bloomington police department. If you have any information about the night Lauren went missing, please come forward.

True Crime is def one of my favorite and most interesting genre.

It starts out a little slow but as you read into the story that is what this is meant to be and how the author has written it and makes sense the further into the story you get. I think the reason for the writing style is so that all the facts are on the table and there is no speculation as you read into the story.

The story is gut wrenching and just heartbreaking. I am hoping with the author writing the story that eventually these boys will talk about what happen and give this family some closure.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

I was initially skeptical about reading and reviewing this book because the central victim involved is another All-American girl and it’s written by a man who’s worked for two media outlets I completely despise (the New York Post and The Daily Mail). What made me change my mind is the fact that I’m always intrigued by the stories of disappearances that just don’t make any sense. So many people saw Lauren Spierer the night she disappeared. She was seen in multiple locations and on multiple cameras. There just happened to be no cameras in the last place she actually might have been, and then it was a handful of rich college boys who were all in that same spot and had enough time to cover their butts before anyone came after them with questions about what happened that night.

I would’ve been really into this book if I felt it wasn’t anything but a waste of everyone’s time, in the long run. It’s not that Cohen is a bad writer, it’s just that all the new “testimony” that Cohen collected isn’t really testimony: it’s more like anecdotes from friends, potential witnesses, and some of the potential suspects. None of this comes into play until far into the back half of the book.

Otherwise, the book feels rather repetitive, somewhat exploitative, and more than a little tawdry. I feel like there were some discussion topics that could’ve been explored here that would’ve contributed well to the book and to who Lauren was as a person but maybe weren’t approached, possibly out of courtesy to the Spierer family, but if you want to paint a portrait of a college girl gone missing, you should paint a complete one.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. This review is rated three stars or under, which means it will not be appearing on my social media pages. Thank you.

File Under: Nonfiction/True Crime