Crossed Over: A Murder, a Memoir

by Beverly Lowry

Book Overview

The novelist Beverly Lowry was mourning her son's death in a hit-and-run accident when she came across a newspaper story about Karla Faye Tucker, the infamous Houston murderer who was then on death... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679411844
• ISBN13: 9780679411840
• Release Date: August 1992
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

This book is fabulous

All I read is true crime. This book is one of the best I have ever read. I will never forget this book. If you are a true crime fan you have got to read this book!!!

Astonishing, brilliant, soul-shaking

"Compassion" seems to be in short supply when it comes to Karla Faye Tucker --- starting with then-Gov. Bush's smirk on the occasion of her execution and continuing in these reader comments. This she-got-what-she-deserved feeling stems, I think, from the view that People Don't Change. What grim philosophy! Change --- the hope of it, the longing for it --- is, in fact, what drives most evangelical religions. Given that, you'd think Karla Faye Tucker would be the Poster Child for Christian conversion. She never denied the terrible crimes she committed, she prostrated herself before her Lord, and, if you believe her, Jesus bathed herin His love. That is the subject of the book Beverly Lowry has written --- a book powered by a head-splitting irony: The murderesss gives comfort to the professional writer (a mother whose son was killed in an unsolved highway accident). My advice: Just read the book. Decide for yourself.

Lowry's talent makes the "unthinkable" readable.

Lowry's way with words and with the flow of the story is exquisitely rendered. She has told a story that is far, far too hard to tell and made the reader glad she did. She weaves the tragedy of her own son's death with the horror of Karla Faye Tucker's life and crime and death with such a soft touch and consummate skill it can only be a gift. I am a voracious reader and can tell you that I've never read a harder story to tell, told with so much light, so much compassion, so much beauty, so much gut-wrenching honesty. I have worked with abused people and with people who have experienced great losses, and I learned from this book. Thank you, Ms. Lowry, for giving us your bone marrow in this one.

A compelling reason why the death penalty must be abolished

This book is one of the most in depth and intensive examinations of a death row inmate (now deceased) and the reasons she got there. Like its subject, Karla Faye, the book does not revel in the crime committed but makes it extremely clear that it was a terrible thing for a person to do. As is the death penalty. I challenge even the most committed death penalty supporter to read this book and still believe that the State of Texas did the right thing on Febraury the third of this year.

Strangely compelling

I am a regular reader of the true crime genre and picked up this book the same way I have picked up the others ... go to the true crime section and take something from the shelf. At the time I chose this book, I had never heard of Karla Faye Tucker or her crime. I read the book and enjoyed it for the same reason the author became close to her subject ... Karla Faye Tucker is a compelling character, despite the horrible crime she has admitted to committing. Karla Faye is surprisingly likeable, forthcoming about her life before the crime, and talks about the crime candidly, although not in a boastful or graphic way. She does not try to blame her upbringing, anyone or anything for her crime and does not plead for understanding. She simply talks about herself, what she did and how she feels about herself now. The reader is given the opportunity to make their own decision about her. About two months after I read this book, I began to hear about Karla Faye Tucker every day as her execution date drew closer. I support the death penalty and have never felt badly about the execution of a convicted murderer, in fact, I applauded this nation's ability to carry out these punishments. When Karla Faye Tucker was executed this week, I felt terribly sad. I still can't fully explain why, but this book was certainly the reason.