Rage by Gary C. King (July 2010)

Where’s the Good Stuff?
Review by Kim Cantrell

The Mack was such a contenious divorce, the parties had been ordered to remain in their cars when exchanging their eight-year-old daughter.

Darren Mack would take advantage of this time to kill his estranged wife, Charla.

He then turned his rage on the judge who had been presiding over the couples’ acrimonious divorce. 

True crime author Gary C. King’s lasted book Rage, details the story of Darren Mack’s divorce struggles, his murderous solution, and his attempt at revenge on the man he held responsible.

But, beware, it’s done in a technical, mundane, very repeatitive manner.  If you saw the Dateline episode on this case, you’ll learn nothing new.

There are several important things that most true crime enthusiast look for in the books they read that is missing in Rage, such as:

• Photos of the victim.  There is not one single photo of Charla Mack.  How are readers to envision the victim if there are no photos?
• Background on Charla Mack.  A couple of paragraphs tell us about her childhood.  The author mentions she had done a little bit of acting but, other than the names of the movies, provides nothing more.   As a result, readers are unable to get a “feel” for who Charla really was.
• Background on Darren Mack.  We want to know what makes killers tick.  His mother (a very biased individual, of course) tells a couple of good things about her son’s growing up years, but that’s it.
• The back cover mentions the couples’ “swinger” lifestyle, but it’s mentioned in passing here and there throughout the book.  Nothing but hype!

Rage is not one of 2010′s true crimes book I can recommend.  While Gary King has great writing skills, his style of writing is choppy, lacking and reads more like Court documents rather than a book.

Why buy the book when the same information is available online…for free?