Author: Gregg Olson
Publisher: Thread Books
Release Date: July 13, 2023
Page Count: 370
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Read book blurb here
Sharon Lynn Douglas Fuller Nelson Harrelson was a woman most men found attractive and exciting, while women tended to dislike her, feeling she was looking for a man, any man, preferably one with money. "Sharon wore her hair long, her dresses tight, her blouses unbuttoned one notch lower than a woman in her position likely should. [...] Sharon Fuller sauntered like a woman who held no doubt that all men watched her every move."
Sharon married a preacher, a doctor and a fireman, killing two of them and leaving a wide swath of destruction behind her. She alienated children from their fathers, wrung almost the last dollar from anyone involved with her, convinced a man (twice) to murder for her, and almost got away with it.
Where this book really shines is in all the very salacious details. We get a pretty good breakdown on Sharon's marriages, numerous lovers, a laundry list of various illegal activities, etc. And it's a pretty engrossing tale which definitely holds your interest.
However, we never really get any insight into her psyche - Sharon is the queen of the self-serving statement, and given that she pled guilty to the murders of her second and third husbands, there was no trial, no expert witnesses to analyze her. We are left with Sharon's protestations (paraphrased by Olsen) that "she didn't do anything wrong. Not a damn thing. This was a free country. She was an American, for God's sake. She was misunderstood. She made bad choices, but she wasn't a murderer."
After 370 pages of endless details and second-hand observations, without a thorough analysis, the story reads like a regurgitation of facts with little insight. IMHO. 3 stars.
I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.