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Aphrodite Jones
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Cruel Sacrifice Mass Market Paperback – May 3, 2005

by Aphrodite Jones (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,182 ratings
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On a freezing January in 1992, five teenage girls crowded into a car. By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. The fifth had been tortured and mutilated nearly beyond recognition. Her name was Shanda Sharer; her age - twelve. When the people of Madison, Indiana heard that a brutal murder had been committed in their midst, they were stunned. Then the story became even more bizarre. The four accused murderers were all girls under the age of eighteen: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence.

Here, for the first time, veteran true crime journalist Aphrodite Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history - a tragic story of twisted love and insane jealousy, lesbianism, brutal child abuse, and sadistic ritual killing in small-town America...and of the young innocent who paid the ultimate price.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    333 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Pinnacle Books
  4. Publication date
    May 3, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    4.25 x 0.75 x 7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0786010630
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0786010639
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pinnacle Books; New Edition (May 3, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786010630
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786010639
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.25 x 0.75 x 7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 1,182 ratings

About the author

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Aphrodite Jones

Aphrodite Jones

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Aphrodite Jones is a best-selling true crime author and media personality who focuses on some of the most bizarre murder cases in America. Through her eyes, Jones brings readers and viewers into the hearts and minds of murder victims and their killers. In recent years, the author became the executive producer and TV host of the ID series, "True Crime with Aphrodite Jones," which airs on Discovery +. In it, Jones uncovers secrets about high profile cases that shocked the world: O.J. Simpson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Casey Anthony, Phil Spector, Scott Peterson, and the BTK Killer, among others. Jones is known as a TV persona who has a penchant for "telling like it is." In her 30 years of True Crime reporting, she's appeared on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, and FOX News. Her most recent appearances, on Dr. Oz and ABC's 20/20 have shed new light on mind-bending murder cases that are less known. Her books have been transformed into films, including The Staircase Murders on Lifetime, Betrayed By Love on ABC, and the Oscar award-winning film, Boys Don't Cry.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
1,182 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

cheyenneaugustine
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad and scary
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024
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This was a truly terrible crime committed by and on children. But I will say this was a well researched book. I appreciated that it wasn’t overloaded with a ton of repetitive information like true crime books can sometimes be.
2 people found this helpful
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Diana
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but sensationalized
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2023
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I came across this case while reading “End Times Investigations” by David Heavener, so I had to read about this case. It was disturbing, I’m a horror movie fan but I can’t fathom how teenage girls could brutally murder a 12 year old over a romantic dispute. I think the author wanted to soften a blow by saying that Shanda was a lesbian, instead of calling Hearvrin a predator. She was perusing this little girl, it wasn’t the other way around. I recommend watching Hearvrin’s interview on Dr. Phil, to get insight into this girl’s mindset.
2 people found this helpful
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Sheryl Wasnich
5.0 out of 5 stars Can't put it down
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2023
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I read this back in the 90s when it came out ,hit close to home as it happened in same town I lived in , such a tragedy, all girls are out now ,if your into true stories, this one is vividly ( in your mind ) almost like you can imagine everything, very good writing again a tragic story.
I give it an easy 5***** easy . A must read book , very detailed story .
3 people found this helpful
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FRANCINE PRUITT
5.0 out of 5 stars 4 Teen girls engage in the senseless torture and murder of 12 yr old Shanda Sharer.
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2019
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A 17 year old's burning jealousy and hatred of a 12 yr old little girl who stole her lesbian lover's affection away from her prompted her to gather 3 other girls one night in order to kidnap, hideously torture, and finally murder the little girl by burning her alive. Stripped of clothes on a freezing night, locked helplessly for 10 hours in the trunk of their car, they stopped throughout the night to repeatedly bash her with tire irons, stab her all over, rape her with same tire iron destroying her insides, and finally set her on fire while she was still clinging to life. None showed remorse except for one who found she couldn't live with hereeelf and broke the secret to police. Then ensued court cases for each as they tried to promote themselves as victims and begging for mercy but ending with them getting the justice they deserved for the beautiful, little girls life they so cruelly destroyed that night. Written beautifully by the author, it goes in depth on all the girls lives and reads easily like a story, not like a reporter's article. Very interesting, in depth, very hard to put down, and never once does it lose sympathy for the murdered child even whilst explaining some of the mitigators the other girls experienced. One of the best true crime novels out there!
10 people found this helpful
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Bridget Shinn
3.0 out of 5 stars Horrific Crime
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2024
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The book could have been much shorter. Having the gruesome details repeated over and over wasn’t necessary and began to feel like sensationalism. It’s a story that needed told.
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Bill wofford
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2022
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This is a amazing book these girls were all around my age I'm from a bigger town than them but I can't imagine treating a twelve year old girl the way they did over a relationship where the girl was clearly playing both girls idk why no one pointed that out to Melinda or maybe they tried to but this is just a shocking story with a little bit of everything in it I honestly believe everyone of those girls except for toni who told should have got life in prison with no parole if you enjoy true crime novels this is a must it's a shocking story of how the justice system seems to have failed everyone involved
2 people found this helpful
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B. McKee
4.0 out of 5 stars Unfortunately this is a true story.
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2018
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This is a sad story about a teenage lesbian love triangle in which jealousy led to violent torture and murder of a 12-year-old girl.

Here's the deal. Melinda loved Amanda. Shanda loved Amanda. Amanda couldn't make up her mind and was playing on both teams. Melinda requested, ordered, threatened, and warned Shanda to stay away from Amanda. Finally she decided to kill Shanda.

Together with three of her friends, Melinda kidnapped Shanda and took her out of town. Melinda assured her friends that she only wanted to scare Shanda, maybe beat her up a little bit.

What followed was a living nightmare.

13
6 people found this helpful
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Excellent book and delivered on time
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2023
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Excellent book
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Cliente Kindle
2.0 out of 5 stars Desnecessário os relatos do casamento dos pais de Melinda
Reviewed in Brazil on March 30, 2021
Verified Purchase
Relato cansativo do casamento do Lovess, desnecessário e repetitivo. Ter relatado melhor as investigações, os peritos, a autópsia, o julgamento.
Ordenado melhor a cronologia dos fatos.
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little a
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly researched and detailed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2022
Verified Purchase
Lucky to have caught this book on special offer for free, Ms. Mine's version of the case has been on my wishlist for years and came highly recommended so this was a treat for me...if that's even the right sentiment!

My heart breaks a little for poor Shanda every time I remember this horrifying story and this book held the right amount of detail without being sensationally graphic or crass. Very very well researched and written in a clever mix of the style of a true crime novel and press fact sheets. Thank you, Ms. Jones.
One person found this helpful
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Tara Figueiredo
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and well written!
Reviewed in Canada on May 30, 2020
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Cruel Sacrifice Review

This is one of those true crime stories that has always stayed with me. This book is fantastic in its writing style. Aphrodite Jones is such an amazing true crime author and I wish she would write more! This story is devastating and this book doesn’t shy away from the details. I found that even though the details are horrific this book was very well researched and informative. This story is not for the faint of heart. RIP Shanda

SYNOPSIS

On a freezing January in 1992, five teenage girls crowded into a car. By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. The fifth had been tortured and mutilated nearly beyond recognition. Her name was Shanda Sharer; her age--twelve.

When the people of Madison, Indiana heard that a brutal murder had been committed in their midst, they were stunned. Then the story became even more bizarre. The four accused murderers were all girls under the age of eighteen: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Veteran true crime journalist Aphrodite Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history--A tragic story of twisted love and insane jealousy, teen lesbianism, and the sadistic ritual killing of a young Innocent girl.
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Cliente Amazon
4.0 out of 5 stars Un caso real, recomendable para criminología.
Reviewed in Spain on May 16, 2020
Verified Purchase
Un buen libro sobre un caso real de asesinato. No es una novela. Está muy bien explicado. Ideal para criminólogos o apasionados de la criminología. Gracias.
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Joan mcgovern
4.0 out of 5 stars Recommend this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
I couldn't put it down,finished it in one day,really enjoyed it,Aphrodite go's into every little detail of the crime .
One person found this helpful
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