When I started reading this book I didn’t realize it was non-fiction. As you know, I normally ‘wing it’ with books and try not to research or look too far into to them before starting. I’d rather just dive in. Which is what I did with this book. I DOVE RIGHT IN. 
    It started out fine, a PI with special powers to make people confess to them. Fun! The book was set up with a fun opener. Then as it got drier, I did some research mid-read and found out it was all true. Note: Yes, I know the author gave a blurb at the beginning saying it was true… but I read too many books of authors messing with readers so I took the warning with a grain of salt. 

Any who … now that you are done making fun of my ability to believe and not believe beginning author notes… 
       So this book gets dry. It get’s very non-fiction-like. As you start reading you wonder where this is going? You wonder what is the point of the story? You wonder if you should put the book down and just try to figure out what case this is so you can know the ending. That’s where I ended up. The story goes on and on in some parts and jumps way ahead in others. It is so  close to be well done. 

I go back and forth between this point (and I can see other reviewers seem to be split on it as well). Do we like that the author weaved in her personal story while telling the ‘main’ story. As of right now, I’m still flipping on how I feel. No, it didn’t add anything to the story. Maybe it showed that she was a bit more emotionally attached to the victims than she should be? BUT – who wouldn’t feel for the victims? You don’t have to have childhood trauma to identify with the victims, feel for them and want to help them. Additionally, I know you shouldn’t say ‘this’ crime is worse than ‘this’ crime… but what Erika went through was … ‘worse’. It was her childhood home, it was where she was supposed tot be safe and she wasn’t even mature enough to know what was going on when it was happening. So I really felt for the author and feel she was very brave to share it with her readers. I jus think … that could be it’s own story. Maybe writing the story of her work against her old school, while weaving in her own story was a kind of therapy for her. A way to talk out her feelings without giving ‘X’ the satisfaction of having a book written about him. That is my two cents. 

Now – as a person, I feel for Erika and congratulate her on her bravery to tell this personal story that was so raw and open. As a reviewer, her personal additions didn’t add to the story. They only added more chaos to the over arcing plot that I believe most readers were struggling to grasp as they read through the book. In the end, it’s a book. It’s not a paper. It’s not a legal document. It’s a book, a story and most likely not what most readers expected when picking it up. 
    One last comment and I’ll get off my soap box. The political one-two punches were equally as annoying. I hate when anyone blames a situation or has negative feelings towards someone due to politics. It’s why we are so divided. I can lean one or the other way politically, but the ‘Thanks Obama’ or ‘Thanks Trump’ or ‘Thanks Biden’ crap has to stop. Or hating someone only because they like Obama, Trump or Biden. Like, stop. 

So I’m going with 3 stars. Maybe 2.5 rounded up to 3. I didn’t really like this book. I didn’t like the way it was told. Yet, I do enjoy learning that this happened. I enjoy that I’m made aware that someone is fighting against this macho-football-culture. I like that the real ‘Simone’ was brave enough to stand up to the school and players. Money will never take away what she went through, but not doing anything at all won’t help either. So I’m glad I now am aware of this little piece of history that happened out there…. I just didn’t need to purchase/read it through a novel to have that same satisfaction. 

_{Note: since posting I realized I have offended a few people on my review. For that I apologize, but we’ll have to agree to disagree… as what often happens with opinions, rather than facts.}