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The Unforgiven cover art

The Unforgiven

By: Edith Brady-Lunny, Steve Vogel
Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
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Summary

It's a case reminiscent of the explosive story of Susan Smith, convicted in the drownings of her two young sons in South Carolina. But in The Unforgiven, three young children are in the back seat of a car driven by Amanda Hamm's boyfriend as it slips into an Illinois lake. Amanda and her boyfriend survive. Her three children do not. 

 The question of whether it was a horrible accident or a murderous plot divided family and friends and traumatized the entire community. The brief but intense police investigation included seven interviews Hamm voluntarily gave police without the benefit of counsel. The outcome remains controversial to this day and comes full circle with state child welfare workers' concern about children born to Hamm since the fateful day at Clinton Lake.  

The Unforgiven coauthor and journalist Edith Brady-Lunny covered the case from start-to-finish, beginning the night of the drownings. Her coauthor Steve Vogel lives nearby. His Reasonable Doubt, considered a true crime classic, was a New York Times bestseller. Together, they have extensive first-hand knowledge of the case and access to nearly every record related to the court proceedings.

©2019 Edith Brady-Lunny and Steve Vogel (P)2019 Tantor

What listeners say about The Unforgiven

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Horrific, tragic story.

The narrator was not great but I stuck with it. Interesting and tragic to the core. I feel most for the children involved, I won't say more as I don't want to spoil the book. Worth a listen.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Long-winded description of a horrific story

An incredibly detailed account of the death of the 3 children, the ensuing court case and the repercussions after the mother had finished her sentence.
Spoiler alert:
Some questions remain unanswered. What did the parents do, while the kids drowned.
And why, after the mother had served her time, did they doctor at the hospital find it necessary to have her kids ripped from her - even the baby that was one DAY old, resulting in severe trauma for the kids.
How can the state argue that they have the benefit of the kids in mind? I would have hoped for the author to explore these questions.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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The unforgiven

Why oh why did she get less time than him. iMO she should have gotten more. She’s the mother. And mothers do anything to protect their kids. Evil to the core. Both of them.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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couldn't finish

I just can't get on with the narrator: his impersonations of female voices, and the way he pronounces vee-hickle. too irritating.

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1 person found this helpful