Shattered Silence: Untold Story of a Serial Killer's Daughter, (Paperback)

First things first: this book is not about the Happy Face serial killer. Rather, it is about his daughter, Melissa Moore, and her life growing up from early childhood through high school. The majority of the book details her difficulties growing up, mostly from elementary school through high school graduation. It is only in the last 40 pages of the book that we arrive at college and meeting her husband-to-be. The last 20 pages become preachy and are reflective of her time on the Dr. Phil show, her conversion to the Mormon faith, and her prescription for healing others. Only tangentially does this book describe the author's father and the impact he made on her life. Yes, Moore had a difficult childhood, much more so than the average youth. She was surrounded by adults who were either unaware of or contributed to her psychological and emotional abuse (especially her mother and step-father). Her choices led by her learned role as a victim who is subject to intimidation got herself into her own predicaments as well, which informed her attitudes about life. So, if you want to read in varying levels of detail the life of a young girl, from kindergarten through high school, and how everyone let her down, then this book is for you. If you want to read a book about the Happy Face killer, then this book will leave you feeling deeply unsatisfied. If you think this book will provide more details than the TV series "Happy Face" appearing on Paramount /Showtime, then you'll be greatly disappointed. Finally, there are about a dozen grammatical errors interspersed throughout this book, beginning in the Preface. One would think that with a co-author and editors that these errors would have been corrected.