Read Fatal Charm The Shocking True Story of Serial Wife Killer Randy Roth Audible Audio Edition Carlton Smith Keith SellonWright Tantor Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 10 hours and 17 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Tantor Audio Audible.com Release Date January 29, 2019 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07M7XJ8N7

Fatal Charm The Shocking True Story of Serial Wife Killer Randy Roth Audible Audio Edition Carlton Smith Keith SellonWright Tantor Audio Books Reviews

• Fatal Charm is exactly as advertised; it's "The Shocking True Story of Serial Wife Killer Randy Roth." It is a satisfying read only in that Randy gets convicted in the end, but it is frustrating in that he didn't get caught when he murdered an earlier wife, which would have spared the second family the never-ending grief of losing a loved one. Imagine if Scott Peterson had not been convicted after murdering Lacy. The research behind this book is meticulous and methodical, but that makes the reading slow at times. One part of the book I could have done without was the detour involving Randy Roth's brother, who is also in jail for murdering a woman whose identity is not even known. Randy; however, is an intriguing character in a macabre way. He is a chameleon who stalks his prey (any woman who might buy life insurance and make him the beneficiary) by learning what she likes, and then assuming that persona until the "I do's" are over. Then his charming side disappears and a cruel, calculating manipulator steps in. Reading about his stepchildren will break your heart. Again, he goes to prison in the end, thanks to excellent work by the investigators and prosecutors.
• I've read many of Carlton Smith's books and Fatal Charm does not disappoint, another home run in the true crime genre for Smith. I only wish he was still with us, to continue batting them (true crime stories) out of the stadium. As I was reading this book, I wondered if I'd read this particular book before, as so much of it seemed familiar, then realized I'd read Ann Rule's version "A Rose For Her Grave", another great writer, also deceased. Anyway, Randy Roth is the epitome of a conscienceless individual; to define him a sociopath would be complimentary, he falls more under the diagnosis of a true psychopath. Either way, he should have been put to death, sending him to prison simply allows him to refine his manipulative behavior and even if he lives to be released, in his 70's, he's still a threat to the public. I was horrified to learn his son Greg was living with Randy's father Gordon and that he received one third of Cindy's life insurance; how is that even possible? Why would that boy have received any of Cindy's life insurance payout. He wasn't her son, she didn't adopt him, and she'd only lived with him for less than a year ... just one more thing to scratch my head over.
  
  One reviewer said they could have "done without the detour into Randy's Roth's brother", however, I didn't think it was much of a detour and in fact helped in attempting to gain insight into his family dynamic. I would have liked to read more about Randy's mother, why he hated her and women in general by association, so much. Smith mentioned something about the mother wearing a short leather skirt and how inappropriate for the event/setting (this was more of a remark with nothing else connected to it, but I caught it and wondered more about his mother; had to assume she must also have liked perfumes, manicure's, make-up, etc. all the things Cindy wrote in her note that he hated about her, i.e. Randy hates my perfume, my lipstick, my clothes). Randy hated his mother and deliberately avoided her, so it stands to reason that he hated anything that reminded him of her as well.
  
  One sentence in the beginning of the book stood out to me when Smith wrote, "the longer Cindy went without oxygen, the more blue her face turned and the greener Randy's bank account became." That's an insightful remark, as it pretty much explains everything he's about to relay to the reader in that one visual description.
• A great read if you're into true crime and like the unusual cases. The old saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" certainly fits this situation. Randy Roth, at first glance, would be every girl's dream come true. Good looking, well groomed. He didn't smoke, drink, or do drugs. But nothing could be farther from the truth. We need to caution our daughters on how important it is to judge their dates based on inner qualities rather than physical attributes alone. Eye candy may turn out to be pretty poison.
• This book is sooo well written. Sometimes the author kinda goes all over the place and you have to keep going back in the book to remind yourself of who was who again, Carlton Smith took a very interesting story and told it incredible well. No wasted pages in this one!!!
• "Fatal Charm" was indeed a very good book! While reading the first few chapters I immediately thought the book was going to be a "dud". I thought some of the conversations sounded cheesy and made up but I quickly changed my mind as I continued to read.
  
  Carlton Smith did a very good job writing about and comparing two crimes carried out by the same man without confusing the reader. The book was easy to understand as the reader read about two similar yet different crimes. Smith did an outstanding job informing the reader about exactly the kind of person Randy Roth really was, detailing his adult years and the relationships he was involved in.
  
  Although I normally hate "filler", all of the extra things Smith wrote about were necessary in order to understand Roth. No doubt, he is a very evil, money hungry man who used women only for control and to get what he could from them...money!! There are some very lucky women out there who were indeed blessed that they were able to recognize the kind of man he really was and get away from him before they too were "accidentally" killed.
  
  I am very thankful that Roth found himself in the courtroom of a judge who clearly recognized his evilness. May Roth NEVER get out of jail!! He is such a scary, conniving and lying man but he had little trouble charming vulnerable women and enticing them into relationships and marriages that were doomed from the start.
  Anyone who loves true crime should love this book!