In this book, Madison Salters has curated nine cases of murder and crime that involve influencers, either as victims or perpetrators, from all over the world. Cases like Trey Sesler, Pekka-Eric Auvinen and Yuka Takaoka and more, each of which explore how this recently emerging career path, that of influencer or content creator, has created a space that may attract people with massive ego wounds that can be exacerbated by the social media space, with the darkest of consequences.

This is such a fascinating and chilling subject, because it’s a new area, a new technological and social space that’s still evolving, but it not quite like anything else in history that human nature and human ego has faced before. I liked that the author sets out here to not villainize or overly empathize with any of the perpetrators here, though I don’t think she always succeeds in this aim.

First of all, I noticed words being misused in this book. It means that this book wasn’t edited well, because these should be picked up by an editor right away. We are told that living in prison can be “prolific”, someone is described as a “salacious bully”, Halloween costumes are described as not being “make believe”, the awkward phrase “gobs of admirers” and a person is “perceived” as attending something rather than being seen there. It’s odd. Misusing words seems to be something that’s more commonly prevalent in modern books and it makes me cringe. If you misuse a word, it sounds like you’re trying to be smart and failing, and it undermines the readers trust in you. Most especially in non-fiction. It also stops the flow of the book, as the reader stops to wonder what you were trying to say, to check themselves in what they’re reading. I don’t always blame authors for this because this stuff is meant to be weeded out in the edit. It’s publisher laziness and it makes me wonder if AI was used as an editor rather than a human being. (Not that I’m saying that’s the case here, just in general) Either way, it’s not OK. This isn’t fan fic, but a product the reader is paying for. There’s no discount for a book that’s not edited properly. The reader and the author deserve properly edited and correct text.

That being said, the author has created a pretty good true crime book here. The cases are really diverse, from different parts of the world and with each featuring different types of people from different niches and circles of interest. Almost all of these I hadn’t heard of or knew nothing about. The author has done original research here and reached out to family, primary sources in cases. I really like this. These are not just rehashed cases, but thoughtfully chosen and actually researched. The cases all are detailed and researched, and are quite compelling. Some of the background can be a little too detailed and repetitive at times, and I think inclusion of photographs in the text would elevate this book, but that’s more of a minor concern. Compared to the classics of the true crime genre, it’s not up to that high standard of writing and reportage, but I was interested and got something out of reading this.

Read It If: looking for some contemporary cases that reflect our current lifestyl and concerns? This is it. Original and researched, but has it’s flaws.

Thank you to Ulysses Press for the copy of this book for review.