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** spoiler alert ** It is important to note that the majority of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the subject matters of the book & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on abuse, child endangerment, extreme violence, parental neglect, the sexual abuse of adults & children, psychological distress, racially motivated crime, & others.

For those unfamiliar with the Canadian landscape intimately looming between the tree line, one might find themselves shocked & surprised that violent crimes pollute our cities just as they do every other country in the world. For some reason, we have become comfortable with believing that certain parts of the world are absolved of human tendency; placed beyond the confines of behavioural extremities. However, this is simply, & sadly, not true. Canada is home to all forms of criminal activity. Within this reflected account, the author revisits seven (7) cases that he says haunt him still; cases that changed the rules of the game as he knew it.

First & foremost, I think that shedding light on the realities of society is important. I am a born & raised Canadian who is from the part of the country where these recollections take place. Much of what transpired within this book, both in the written word & in the actual matter, influenced my life even if indirectly. I am acutely aware of the reputation that my country holds both internationally & within the confines of our borders. For the most part, violent crimes such as the ones listed in this book, become well-known to the majority of Canadians through simple word of mouth.

Just as the ties between each of us in this country link our experiences through travel & relationships, so too do crimes. We are not immune to curiosity. Because there are different kinds of people living in Canada, the news is shared at a very rapid rate. In that same breath, I have found reading stories about the criminal activity that has transpired within my country to be, oftentimes, rather tedious. This is primarily because I have already amassed a lifetime of knowledge by simply sharing information—word of mouth—alongside my own research on the matter. When there was a manhunt across Canada, we quickly became aware.

Yet, within this text, we read about the recollections of a retired homicide detective who was able to uphold a seemingly naive view of Toronto, Canada, & people at large, even while working cases that highlighted the graphic extremes of human nature. This is my first point of contention with this story. I struggled quite heavily with this book because I have never held the naive point of view of the world that Ryan does. This is largely due to my life experiences & the availability of information.

It becomes rather impossible to ignore everything constantly happening in the world. Through social media, documentaries, literature, film, & trusty word of mouth, information & facts are splattered over every facet of our lives. At the age that I am writing this review, I have been acclimated to the obscure terrors that lie dormant within people as well as the brilliantly kind acts that may befall us. Therefore, I was faced with the realization that this book was not meant for people like me.

There is nothing wrong with believing in the best of people & society—I admire that trait quite strongly. There is also nothing wrong with holding a youthful naivety about the world. However, at what point are we purposefully ignorant due to our beliefs?

I found it difficult to believe that a homicide detective in Toronto would be flabbergasted that parents abuse their children beyond recognition & until they are dead. I found it difficult to believe that the author, after introducing one of the more graphic violent crimes involving a child, proceeded to list all the times they were shocked that bad things happened.

I reside at an impasse of being confused & simply concluding that this isn’t the style of book that would be recommended to a person with a great deal of exposure to life, shall we say. For those readers who are not acclimatized to the world, to human beings & their behaviours, & to the more gruesome side of our abilities, this book might read as something of a gentle introduction to the larger-scale occurrences that plague the world over.

On my side of the scale, I found the manner in which the subject matter was presented interesting in a disconnected fashion. Primarily, when Ryan was detailing a case involving the death of a seven-year-old (7) child by her guardians. When the two (2) biological children of the offenders were seen to be showing no physical signs of brutal violence (i.e. bruises, cuts, bumps) he claims that he felt relief because that meant that those children were safe.

This is atrociously ignorant. Setting aside the fact that the male caregiver in this instance—the boy’s father—was an alleged pedophile, how can you, as law enforcement, assume that a child is safe from the person who was directly linked to the death of another child? This instance made no sense to me & quite honestly, left a bad taste in my mouth. There is no world in which the indications of clear skin would mean that a child is safe in their home; a home where their parents brutally abused another child.

Regardless if these boys were beaten to pulps, they lived in a home where they would have been privy to witnessing the deliberate & quotidian abuse of another child. They are psychologically far from being in the clear & it is beyond ridiculous to think otherwise.

This leads me to my next qualm, though the information presented in this book gave a generous overview of the cases, there was nothing of detail that might surpass a genial addition of a casual opinion garnered thanks to a Google search of the case file. I can appreciate what Ryan might have been doing when trying to get these cases out of his psyche. However, there could have been a more intentional approach to this book. Where it stands, we read en mass about how emotionally distressed he became when being presented with cases that revealed the possible nature of the species, over & over again, whilst focusing little on the tangible aspects of the situations.

The rehashing of public opinion regarding the last case was not necessary. For those amongst us who were aware of the situation at the time, this information would have been known. If a reader is not amongst the first group, this section does nothing but add gossip into what is meant to be a more strict recounting of factual events & information. Should a reader long to know the gross way that the general public approaches criminal cases, they could type in the case information online & be faced with the rags themselves. All of this commentary sets aside the book from what it is. I thought that I might be going into a heavier account of some of the more gruesome cases. Instead, I read about a police officer & detective who went into a job blind to the truth which is particularly curious given this all takes place in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

I am glad for those folks who can view the world through rose-coloured glasses & keep the youthful splendour of the innocent. I wish that for all the children in this life. However, I could not fathom it coming from the mouth of an officer of the law. We cannot all afford to be so naive as to wonder that evil does reside in the hearts of species. How many people’s situations have been misunderstood because they were unfathomable?

If you are in the market for a gentle approach to rather horrific events, this is the book for you. With everything said, I know to whom I would recommend this book & I am certain that there is a great audience out there for the content & the approach of the subject matter. It just so happens that I am not among them. Overall, I hope that the families of these cases were consulted before writing about them, given that their full government names were written & the locations described in mounting detail. I hope that the surviving loved ones of the victims of these crimes are doused in waves of reprieve—though I acknowledge that this is an ambitious hope quite impossible to believe & achieve.

Thank you to Edelweiss+, Dundurn Press, & Steve Ryan for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!