Audiobook Review: Rock, Scissors, Paper: The Clifford Olson Murders by Richard Stevenson

 

Title: Rock, Scissors, Paper: The Clifford Olson Murders
Author: Richard Stevenson
Narrated By: B. Jaymes Condon
Publisher: Dreaming Big Publications, dreamingbigpublications.com
Amazon

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the early 1980s, serial killer Clifford Olson rampaged through the lower mainland of British Columbia, raping and murdering 11 victims. His heinous cash-for-bodies deal foreshortened his trial and resulted in the law currently on Canadian books that forbids criminals from benefiting financially from their crimes.

Olson was just the pimple on the hide of a misogynist culture, as this long poem sequence attests.

Sometimes a book project chooses its author, as this one did when the author recognized one of the victims from her photograph.

Rock, Scissors, Paper is written in long poem sequence, first person, as if the words are from Olsen himself.

 

MY REVIEW

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

I didn’t quite know what to expect with this book. It’s an odd mixture of poetry and nonfiction written about an actual serial killer in Canada. It’s from the view of the killer and the language and disrespect were just too much for me. Even though I didn’t care for this book at all, it’s creative and different and I’m sure the author put a lot of work into it. I also think I might like other works by him if they weren’t dealing with such a disgusting man.

I felt the same way about the narrator. He had a loud voice and I felt like he was almost yelling, but it went well with the book. I think he did a good job of portraying the killer.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Richard Stevenson was born in Victoria, B.C., in 1952 and has lived in western Canada and Nigeria. A college English teacher by profession, he taught English, Canadian and African literature, Business Communication, Creative and Technical Writing, E.S.L., and humanities courses in high schools and colleges. A former Editor-in-Chief of Prism international, he served in various editorial, jury, and writing/arts group executive capacities. His own reviews and poems have appeared in hundreds of magazines, anthologies, e-zines, and journals published in Canada, the United States, and overseas. He performed with the jazz/ poetry group Naked Ear and rock music/YA verse troupe Sasquatch and occasionally puts other ensembles together for book launches and performances and reviews books.

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A note from the Editor-in-Chief
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When Richard first approached me with this manuscript, I was intrigued. I’ve always liked True Crime books but had never read anything written in long poem sequence before. On the home page of our website, it says “…we are not afraid to push boundaries. We love books that shine a light on the good, bad, and the ugly of human nature.” We definitely pushed some boundaries with this book. This is a book for True Crime fans, and we definitely shined a light on the bad and ugly of human nature with this book. The subject matter and language may be difficult for many readers, so I understand if this is not your thing. For 

 

 

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