An interesting take on a story/crime I knew nothing about. The narrator/author was great. Kept the story flowing and kept me engaged and interested in the outcome. I do think it also helped take a very personable feel of the story and grief. I think the parts about the authors personal life and career could’ve been left out completely

Thank you to the publisher and author for this ARC! I devoured the audio. As someone from Indiana, this case hit home and I remember hearing about it during that time. I appreciate the work the author put into this book. He really did a thorough job trying to touch everything and everyone attached to this case. My heart breaks for this family and that they still don't have answers. Someone knows something and isn't talking. I'd love for her family to get the peace they need by finding out the truth. The only way this book could have been better is if it had all the answers. The truth will come out.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book.

As someone who has never heard of this case before, I think the author presented the case in an easy-to-follow way. It was written in a way that allowed the reader to go back to 2011, when she disappeared and get a glimpse of what was going on in the life of Lauren and her group of friends.

A very sad story of a missing girl and everyone that was impacted by her disappearance.

Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook early.

As someone who was entirely unfamiliar with this case, this book was really interesting to me! The author did a really good job of providing details of the case in a clear, interesting, and objective manner. The case was clearly well-researched! Especially listening to this in audiobook format, I felt like I was engaged in a long true-crime podcast episode and listened to this within a day.

I'm rating the audiobook 3 stars because the story did lose some of its focus in parts where it talked about the author's career rather than the storyline. This seemed out of place in the story. Additionally, I found the narration made the story feel a bit like a news report rather than storytelling. However, I think this is a great audio listen for anyone interested in true crime and especially anyone unfamiliar with the case!

Thank you to NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for early access to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Shawn Cohen has covered the story of the disappearance of Lauren Spierer from the moment her parents asked for media publicity when they were in search for their missing daughter, to today, as the 13th anniversary of her disappearance has been mourned in June. I appreciate how thorough Cohen has been in his journalistic endeavors while also keeping the writing extremely objective and easy to read.
As a woman in my 30s, I experienced college during the same years Lauren attended IU. It’s heartbreaking how the catastrophic events that happened at young woman’s life, become a smudge on the past of the male colleagues who were last seen with her. The dynamic of this story reminds us very much of sexual assault cases reported on campuses and how far universities are willing to go to preserve the frat culture intact.
I appreciated that Shawn Cohen has alluded to the media eagerness to report on the disappearance of white blond upper class women and completely neglect other less affluent victims. I wish his regard for the unfair underrepresentation would also extend to his past relationship with a sex worker, which he seemed quick to categorize as someone he “… wasn’t ready to introduce to his family.” The way he decided to depict his firing from the NY Post is the reason I’m giving this book 4 stars instead of 5. It sounded to me like he was overemphasizing her profession, as opposed to why ethically speaking, he was the one who should not have gotten involved with his source.
Overall this audiobook was hard to put down, by lining all the facts and evidence, while also conveying the tragedy of a family that never got the closure they need after losing their loved one. It is also another awful case of police disinterest in solving crimes. The way law enforcement gets to fail upwards, while neglecting their duties is truly baffling.
As a final note, the narrator of this book Kyle Snyder made this experience very engaging. I will be looking for other works he has narrated.
Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the opportunity to listen to the advanced audiobook.

This book is exceptional in showing Shawn's point of view of the unforgettable and unfortunate events as one night becomes a parents worst nightmare when their youngest daughter disappears. The true events and story telling of this book allows the reader to relive these events in time as they occur through over 10 years of this unsolved disappearance. Hopefully this case can be solved one day, and this book reaches audiences to restart the conversations that have not occurred yet or have not been shared.

This case is obviously devastating, and I hope Lauren gets additional coverage because of this book; prompting someone to come forward. However, the book itself seemed more about the author than the case. This book could have been a Crime Junkies episode (and probably would have gotten more hype that way, especially if the author worked with the Crime Junkies girls and did a two-part episode or something). In fact, if he started a podcast talking about all the cases he reported on, that would have been better than this book with absolutely zero answers, zero pertinent info and nothing prompting the reader to help.

I was already familiar with the Lauren Spierer case prior to being approved for this audiobook, but this was a good refresher into the case which I listened to in one sitting.
I thought Shawn Cohen done an excellent job with this, it’s very well researched and written, and you can really feel his deep connection to the case.
My heart goes out to Lauren’s friends and family.

Narrator Notes: I thought he did a great job in getting Lauren’s story across, I was engaged the full time.

★★★★
———————
I want to thank NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for the opportunity to review this book.

2.5⭐️ rounded up simply because it’s nonfiction.
I am thankful to have gotten the audioARC for free from Netgalley and HighBridge Audio so I can leave my voluntary and honest review.

This was hard to rate as is all non fiction as how can you assess factual information and such? However, there were issues with this book. I consumed the audio book which also impacted my feelings on the book.

The narrator did a decent job just reading the content. It was neither remarkable or anything wrong with it. However it did help the understanding of some things.
The book seems to be not well edited at all. There was nothing new from the case as any person who followed along with basic news reporting got the same information. Usually when a book like this is published rhetorically audience can have that “aha” moment and have some thoughts of how things may have played out or hearing some new info, etc.. but this did not offer that at all.

The prose also seems a bit disjointed. A few times I was listening and thought I had zoned out as my thought was “wait how did we get here?”. So I would rewind only to find that I had not missed anything.

I feel so much for all involved in the situation and hope a resolution of some kind can happen to give folks peace of mind.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Thank you to the publisher and author for this ARC! As a fellow Hoosier and as someone who lives just about 90 minutes away from Indiana University, I was intrigued by this book on first glance.
It has been several years since I have read/heard any updates on this tragic missing person’s case.
I enjoyed this overview of the case from the author/journalist perspective. If you’re a true crime fan, this is definitely a book you won’t want to miss on the mysterious case of Lauren Spierer.
From an investigative standpoint, I think I would have enjoyed more of the author’s theory on what happened to Lauren; but I respect the intention to remain objective nonetheless.

Thanks to NetGalley for the audiobook version and for access to this title. All opinions and feelings are purely on my own.

This well-researched true crime book is heartbreaking. It chronicles the story of a young woman who disappeared one night, an incident that gained national attention. However, certain people remained silent, and the police investigation was short-lived. Prior to reading this book, I was unaware of the case, despite being an avid true crime fan. My heart goes out to the parents who never learned what happened, as well as the friends who may feel racked with guilt. The inconsistencies in witness accounts are frustrating, but the most maddening aspect is that she was never found, and her fate remains a mystery. While there are many theories, no one knows for certain what occurred.

As for the audiobook narration, I had some difficulty keeping up and ended up rewinding at times to stay focused. The overall tone could have been more storytelling-oriented, rather than feeling like a news report or lecture.

Despite these minor issues, I would still recommend this book to any true crime enthusiast, in the hope that one day, justice or answers will be found for this tragic case.

I listened to the audiobook.

Review of the audiobook: 5 stars
The narrator is expressive and makes the text feel alive, which is particularly important when relating people's direct quotes and with such an emotional topic.
Everything is clear at speeds x05.-x2.

Review of the book: 4 stars
As someone who has never heard of this case before, I think the author presented the case in an easy-to-follow way, starting with a chronological retelling of the night the victim went missing, then going over the initial reactions and search efforts, and ending the book with how things are now, putting an emphasis on how obvious it is that people know things and aren't speaking.
That said, I am a bit confused by how much the author talks about their personal life, when no part of the description or summary mentioned this being a memoir or about the journalist's journey? It did make me question whether it was useful to mention it, and why the author made that choice.


Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook early.

This book is like the real-life version -- of Ruth Ware`s The IT Girl. How the wealthy are more capable of hiding the truth, working to find the truth at the same time. The book shows the discrepancies, and prejudice in the justice system- as well as how those involved are affected, whether from hiding the truth or trying to get closure by finding the truth. The investigation definitely shows that something is fishy with the witnesses and events flow of the night this girl went missing.

I enjoyed the narrator's voicing of the story and recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and the effects it has on everyone involved.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio/RB media for this ALC. This is my honest review.

narration 4/5 stars
information in book 3/5 stars

This is such a sad case and my heart goes out to the family. I was familiar with this case from various podcasts that I have listened to. While I didn't learn much that was new from this audiobook, it was still an engaging listen. It is a quick listen. If you are looking for a case that has a conclusion to the story then this is not the book for you since as of this recording her case is still cold.

The narrator was engaging to listen to.
If you know a lot about this case you probably won't learn anything new, but if you are not familiar with it then you will learn the details and mystery surrounding this case.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the ALC of this audiobook. I voluntarily listened and gave an honest review.

In 2011, a college girl in Indiana went missing. The events of that night are still shrouded in mystery.
Let me begin by saying, I absolutely flew through this audiobook. My preferred way of consuming nonfiction is through audio so this was the perfect book for me! I thought that the narrator was engaging and easy to follow along with. My only gripe with this work is more of a personal pet peeve, I don’t totally love when nonfiction authors insert personal narratives while telling the story. I understand the author goes into to detail of how he came to write the book and while it does provide context as to why some involved in Lauren’s case would not speak with him, it’s just not my personal thing. However overall I had limited to no knowledge on this case (I had seen approximately one TikTok about it which prompted me to add it to my Goodreads tbr) and i walked away feeling as though I was decently knowledgeable on the subject. Thank you NetGalley for the audio arc!!

𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍, 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟏 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐧—𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 (𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭), 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞.

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥, 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭.

**𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒖𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒅.**

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓌𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝒽𝑒𝓃, 𝒮𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.