Salt of the Earth: One Family's Journey Through the Violent American Landscape - Hardcover

Olsen, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312144067 ISBN 13: 9780312144067

Publisher: St Martins Press, 1996

Synopsis

Describes the impact on Elaine and Joe Gere of the disappearance of their twelve-year-old daughter Brenda, a crime that led to Joe Gere's suicide

About this title

Review:

In September 1985, 12-year-old Brenda Gere was taken from her family's home in Clearview, Washington. What followed was a search for the girl and her abductor, and a family's pain. Jack Olsen, whose previous books explored some of this country's most heinous crimes, now gives us an inside look at a simple family thrust into grief and the spotlight by a senseless act. A fine reporter, Olsen traces the Gere's background, the seven-year crime drama and the effects of tragedy on a family.

From the Back Cover:

"Pulls you along irresistibly." - The New York Times

"The powerful, absorbing true story of the terror and tragedy that stalks our violent land, and how an ordinary woman triumphed over all of it."--Joseph Wambaugh

Joe Gere said he died on the afternoon his twelve-year-old daughter Brenda disappeared. It was left to Brenda's mother Elaine to sustain her stricken family, search for her missing child, and pressure the authorities for justice. From the first minutes of the investigation, suspicion fell on Michael Kay Green, a steroid-abusing "Mr. Universe" hopeful, but there was no proof of a crime, leaving police and prosecutors stymied.

Tips and sightings poured in as lawmen and volunteers combed the Cascades forest in the biggest search on Northwest history. Years passed with no sight of the blue-eyed girl or the bright clothes she'd worn on the day she disappeared, but Elaine remained undaunted.

Salt of the Earth is the true story of how one woman fought and triumphed over life-shattering violence and how she healed her family-and herself.

"Jack Olsen's particular gift is his ability to illuminate the souls of his characters." -Jonathan Kellerman

"A literary achievement of the highest order...A beautiful book."-David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0312144067
• ISBN 13: 9780312144067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 376