Not Great, Not Horrible
Review by Kim Cantrell
Nineteen year old Brigham-Young University student Brooke Wilberger was working for her sister and brother-in-law when she disappeared from the Oak Park Apartments in Corvallis, Oregon, on May 24, 2004.
Even though an almost immediate search of the area was started by thousands of volunteers from the community and Mormon church members, there would be no trace of Brooke…or her killer.
Little more five months later, however, the case of the missing young woman would get a boost when Joel Patrick Courtney abducted and raped a Russia-native student just outside the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque. Using quick wits and primal survival skills, she would escape and give police a very detail description of her attack and his car.
On the trail of a rapists, Albuquerque detectives had no idea it was a winding road that would lead to a small community in Oregon and the story of a budding sex offender, a parking lot pervert, and other colorful characters.
True crime author Robert Scott details the disappearance of Brook Wilberger and the search for abductor in his 2012 book The Last Time We Saw Her.
As you may recall, I really took Scott to task over his book about Jaycee Lee Dugard because it was nothing more than a compiled collection of media reports told in story form. Well, this is isn’t much different, Scott just seems to have gotten more creative. I’ll admit it didn’t make it easier to read.
Unlike the story of Jaycee Dugard, Brooke Wilberger’s story is a little less told and the book does contain a lot interesting information that hasn’t been told on every television station or newspaper, so The Last Time We Saw Her isn’t redundant – especially since the inclusion of other related cases makes for good short stories.
Half good, half bad, I won’t give a recommendation just a suggestion: if you don’t mind a book with no person interviews, short versions of other related crimes, and stories created only from court documents and media reports, then you may find The Last Time We Saw Her interesting. Otherwise, skip it.
BUY THIS BOOK:
