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M. William Phelps

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Bad Girls Kindle Edition

by M. William Phelps (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.9 547 ratings

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The true-crime story of the murder of an amateur pornographer and two teenage girls on the run, by the New York Times bestselling author.

The crime stunned quiet Mineral Wells, Texas: forty-nine-year-old Bob Dow shot execution-style in his own bed, his invalid mother locked in the next room—and a cache of homemade porn starring the town's underage girls. The two accused killers—teen lovers Bobbi Jo Smith and Jennifer Jones—were on the run, intent on going out in a cross-country blaze of glory. M. William Phelps exposes a gripping tale of sexploitation, lust, and betrayal, while questioning the court's fateful verdict in a tantalizing forensic puzzle. Were both girls equally guilty of murder? Or was one merely a pawn in the other's dainty, blood-stained hands?

Praise for Bad Girls

“Fascinating, gripping . . . Phelps's sharp investigative skills and questioning mind resonate. Whether or not you agree with the author's suspicions that an innocent is behind bars, you won't regret going along fir the ride with such an accomplished reporter.” —Sue Russell, award-winning author of Lethal Intent

Includes sixteen pages of dramatic photos

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the author of I’ll Be Watching You, If Looks Could Kill, Because You Loved Me, Murder in the Heartland, Perfect Poison, Lethal Guardian, Every Move You Make, and Sleep in Heavenly Peace. He has appeared on dozens of national radio and television programs, including Good Morning America, Court TV, The Discovery Channel, Geraldo at Large, and Montel Williams, and has consulted for the Showtime cable television series Dexter. He lives in a small Connecticut farming community with his wife and children.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00C6BFUAG
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pinnacle Books (September 1, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 1, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3609 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 545 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #165,688 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #358 in Biographies of Murder & Mayhem
- #712 in Murder & Mayhem True Accounts
- #2,351 in Biographies & Memoirs (Kindle Store)

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3.9 547 ratings

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M. William Phelps

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True-crime analyst, creator/executive producer and creator of the #1 hit Apple/iHeart podcasts PAPER GHOSTS and CROSSING THE LINE WITH M. WILLIAM PHELPS, and creator and host of Investigation Discovery's DARK MINDS (2011 - 2014), award-winning investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 45 books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series DEXTER and is a constant presence on crime film sets.

Phelps's #1 Apple podcast, PAPER GHOSTS, seasons 1&2, an investigative, narrative podcast, is available now on the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out Phelps's weekly, ongoing hit podcast CROSSING THE LINE WITYH M. WILLIAM PHELPS.

On TV see Phelps on SEX, LIES & MURDER (REELZ); Oxygen's SNAPPED; and DEADLY WOMEN. Phelps consulted and produced Piers Morgan's SERIAL KILLER with PIERS MORGAN and KILLER WOMEN; and continues his expert commentary on several series, such as KILLER COUPLES, WICKED ATTRACTION, FORENSIC FILES, ICE COLD KILLERS, EVIL STEP MOMS, TWISTED LOVE, and more.

Having written 7 books about them, Phelps is a highly sought-after expert and speaker for his extensive knowledge regarding historic and contemporary serial killers-and the psychology shaping the mind of the murderer.

He grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now lives just north of Hartford, in Tolland County.

In July 2017, Phelps published his definitive, 5-year project with Happy Face Killer, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.

Touched by tragedy himself, due to the unsolved murder of his pregnant sister-in-law, Phelps is able to enter the hearts and minds of his subjects like no one else. He lives in a small Connecticut farming community and can be reached at his website, www.mwilliamphelps.com.

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5

547 global ratings

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Xen

This and all of M. William Phelps' books are excellent

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2013

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I have read most of Phelps' books and found them to be well researched. He has a way of leading you into the murders by introduction to both the victim and murderer[s] backgrounds as far as he can. this insight plays out emotionally with the reader. Then there are the court cases with the respective prosecutor's, defense solicitor's, profiler's, psyche's, professional's and their opinions the witnesses. As far as the adversarial areas i.e. prosecutor and defense attorneys, other professional's credentials etc go, it can be very tedious indeed. I just want to get on with the trial, I don't need to know they are the best this or that...however in making this statement, Phelps is thorough and wants to give recognition to these people. Fair enough. All his books are worth reading and all the victims are worthy remembering and in death to tell their story through the courts, all of the murderer's involved need to be removed from society. If you like true crime and the drama of the court room, read his books any or all, you will note be disappointed.

2 people found this helpful

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BMMSFam

Something Different from Phelps

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2013

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I could tell pretty early on that Phelps was writing this book from a different point of view. But I guess that's what makes it so compelling. He really is laying his reputation on the line by spelling out exactly how he feels. I have to say I tend to agree with him.

My only criticism I guess is the way the very confusing many stories told by Jennifer Jones are presented. Obviously I'm no writer and maybe this was the only way to show or present all of her lies but it could get tedious at times and confusing.

But phelps is still one of my faves so keep writing Mr. Phelps and *(possible spoiler alert)*I hope you can do some good and help Miss Smith like you mentioned you would!

One person found this helpful

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HappyOne2222

Not bad

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2013

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After reading some of the reviews, I was hesitant in purchasing the book. I am an avid true crime reader, and have read some really poorly written one's. With that said....

While this one would not go in my favorite pile it was not as bad to me as some I have muddled through. I agree with the one reviewer that the poor Bobbi Jo got old fast. While Mr. Phelps says he did not go into it with the thoughts of her innocence, by the end of it, I wanted to shake him.

Isn't part of being a sociopath the ability to give people a good face or what you think people want to see? Perhaps Mr. Phelps got played a little by being emerged in a story where even the victim was slimy.

Not saying Bobbi jo was the devil but plenty of people have gone through a lot and not engaged in things she did but perhaps she was the lesser of the two evils .

3 people found this helpful

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kristal

Not Phelps best.

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2013

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I think that Phelp's is one of the best authors for a good true crime read. I don't know what happened to him with this book but its almost like he wanted to convince the reader of Bobbi's innocence which makes no sense. These characters were on drugs non-productive going over to some scumbags house to party and have sex. Just a bunch of trouble for all the people involved.I think a better title would of been Nasty girls.
Did not like this book and was hard for me to finish.

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Elisa

One of the best books I have ever read!

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2014

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I have no idea why this book is getting such bad reviews on here! I am an avid true crime reader and I read this book in about two days! I could not put it down. I think people are just mad because Mr.Phelps is questioning a true injustice that he reveals in this book. I agree with him completely...a girl is in jail for a crime she did not commit. The jurors got this one wrong. This book is amazing, and M.William is a brilliant author!

3 people found this helpful

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Elle G.

:: 2 Stars ::

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2018

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I have read many of this authors true crime books in the past and enjoyed most of them. However, this one was quite bad. Had the author written the story in about 300 pages it would have worked better. This is for a few reasons. First, it was HIGHLY repetitive. Phelps could have easily given us the details in way less than 500 pages had he not constantly repeated what happened. I am so serious. It was every-single-chapter. The same stuff, over and over again. Whoever edited the book should have noticed this because it was unnecessary and quite frankly, took away from everything. It sort of felt like Phelps was trying to convince US about the guilt or innocence of these two girls and that is NOT how a true crime book works. All the author should be doing is giving us the details in a neutral way. Secondly, Phelps was NOT neutral in this book. It was pretty clear from early on (and even mentions so in the forward) that he doesn't believe that Bobbi Joe was guilty at all. However, the jury CONVICTED her. These are people who are also neutral- those who were given details of the case in order to make their determination. So I didn't like this that much either. Finally, many of Phelps previous book give background information on the victims and perpetrators so we can sort of get to know them. Much of this was conveniently left out expect for the background of Jennifer Jones, which really irritated me.

12 people found this helpful

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Prisca Molotsi

Not the author's usual high standard book!

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2013

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I must start off by stating first and foremost that I love William Phelps and consider him to be a great true-crime writer. I have enjoyed all his books that I have read in the past but this book is a very big disappointment and I cannot believe that it was written by the same William Phelps whose work I absolutely enjoy. The book is all over the place, very repetetive and for a change (bad), William Phelps inserts himself in the narrative. For example, "She told me...", "When I asked...". etc. Horrible! Even worse is that the author doesn't seem to know what is the truth or who is telling the truth and he lets you know this. A statement will be followed by something like "she later denied it" or "so she claimed", "Bobbi later disputed ever saying this". Oh for goodness sake! I couldn't keep up. The characters in this book lead a sordid life and the crime committed is awful. The book however, is a total bore and a first from William Phelps as far as I am concerned. I sincerely hope that the author is not planning on using this writing style in his future books.

If you want to know more about this crime, watch the True Crime documentary, it is much more interesting and does the story more justice.

12 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

frances lewis

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2017

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Brilliant

Kindle Customer

Life without structure.

Reviewed in Australia on August 23, 2014

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A very in depth documentation about the lives and deplorable circumstances the girls were raised into. M. William Phelps writes graphically and places you into the surroundings as it happens.

2 people found this helpful

P. R Gray

Confusing and repetitive

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2022

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This story is so mixed up its hard sometimes to know who you are reading about. Main thing is both these people are in prison for a long time where the belong,if you live like a wild animal it's better you are caged.

True crime fan

Got very tedious early on

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

Extremely repetitive , I kept trying to persevere with this book but had to give it up in the end , well not the end of the book , about 100 pages in

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