A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder And Its Aftermath

While A Rip In Heaven succeeds on a number of levels, it does so in spite of itself. Jeanine (Tink) Cummins literary device of writing in the third-person omniscient is grating to say the least. A compelling story of murder, rape, and police malfeasance is sidetracked by a gimmicky POV. Miss Cummins wants to be Truman Capote. Still, its a good story. The police again prove themselves to be clowns and the guilty parties are brought to justice by sheer luck. Gee! What a surprise... cops acting self-righteous and stupid. I swear, law enforcement must recruit at the Special Olympics. The account of their boorish and pompous behavior that almost sent an innocent person to jail should be a warning. THEY ARE NOT ALL HEROES!!!!!! In fact, very few are. Some cops are decent I'm sure (I'm still looking) although this account should dispel any notion that the police are always on the side of the angels. Jeanine Cummins' book is worth the price of admission if it causes the reader to look at police with a more jaundiced eye.

Nevertheless, the fact that Cummins writes a first person account from an overly self aware third-person viewpoint is just plain distracting. Miss Tink, the story itself is interesting. Knowing that you cried a...well...a Mississippi River worth of tears and threw up a bazillion times adds nothing to the story.

One other thing. If I were Tom Cummins, your brother, I'd want to hide under a rock after reading your account. Tom is portrayed as the biggest wuss on God's green earth. Tom can't fight, Tom cries when the police swear at him, Tom can't handle a night in a holding cell, Tom was humiliated, Tom felt like throwing up, etc. Thanks a heap, little sis, you've succeeded in totally emasculating your brother for all the world to see. In Tink's attempt at painting a sympathetic picture of her brother she has turned him into the biggest pansy imaginable.

Okay, so what does reccomend this work? Thanks for asking. Jeanine Cummins is a capable writer. The story sucks the reader in and her sense of pacing is very good for a first time author. The book holds your attention and flows easily with only a few exceptions. So, criticisms aside, buy A Rip In Heaven. I look forward to reading her next book.

I'm so glad this wasn't one of those books where a murder occurs and it tears the family apart. The Cumminses are a great group, you can tell, the way their family only grew stronger through everything. The book reads like a mystery and memoir simultaneously, and the emotions felt by all the characters are very powerful--and absolutely interesting. The courtroom drama to it all was pretty neat, again, I was really glad it was courtroom drama and not family drama. It slightly ticked me off that it wasn't until the trial that we learned that Julie had a best friend--way to not focus on someone else this directly affected. The other thing that weirded me out was that Tink, the author, referred to herself in the third person. This would be slightly bearable, except whenever something happens that directly affected her in the story, she interjects her thoughts and draws attention to the fact that she is the one writing this, which made reading the book a little awkward and annoying at times. Tink was extremely brave to actually take the time to write this, not as a publicity stunt, but for her own personal healing as well as justice to Robin and Julie. The last two paragraphs of the book are some of the best, most powerfully honest, pieces of writing I have ever had the pleasure to read. It's a fantastic memoir that, at times, moves along a little slowly, but is well worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

(And the other thing that creeped me out? The murders, they happened on my birthday, the exact date and year.)

I applaud the author's courage in wanting to tell the story of her murdered cousins & her brother & the way the horrible tragedy of the murders impacted her family. The story is well-told & plainly written, but the author's decision to write in third person (even when writing about herself) is clumsy & tends to distance the reader in ways that feel counterproductive. A much better read in this vein is Strange Piece of Paradise by Terri Jentz which blew me away with both the author's courage & her skill as a writer.

This story will literally suck you in like a tornado and doesn't let go of you until the dust and debris settles, leaving you frazzled and perplexed. The lesson to be learned from this book, is that the majority of us at one time or another have walked to the fringe and escaped unchanged and luckier then we can imagine . A horrific tale that hopefully will save others a simliar FATE, It's difficult to comprehend that this is just one family's tragedy out of the thousands of cries of anguish that go on in silence. Trust me (or not), don't miss this book !

This is a well-written thriller that kept my attention from start to finish. An excellent book!