After Etan: The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
A gripping account of what it is like to investigate the disappearance of a child. For more than 30 years, people have searched for answers to what happened to Etan Patz during the one block walk that separated him from his mother and the safety of the bus stop where surely other kids were waiting for the school bus that day. Cohen's ability to thread the story, rich with detailed information about the realities of how law enforcement work the system to come up with leads, is compelling. If you can steal yourself against the pain of Etan's family during the first few chapters, this true story will grip you in the details and let you work through the pain alongside everyone involved in the case. Adam Walsh, Polly Klass, Megan Kanka, Amber Hagerman, names that will strike terror into any parents heart. Names that when heard make you hold your kids closer and look at strangers harder. Names that now equal unbelievable heartache. Before those children though there was Etan Patz. Etan would have been only 6 months older than me had he lived. I grew up hearing the story of his abduction. When a basement of a former friend was recently dug up to search for his body I hoped that at last the case would be solved for his parents. Sadly it was not to be be and apparently the one person who does know what happened is too mentally ill or evil to tell.This book does an excellent job detailing the abduction and aftermath of Etan Patz from his NY Soho neighborhood in the 70's. Having grown up in the 70's there was so much I could identify with this story. There were also many painful moments that made this book at times difficult to read. When I got to the passage where Reve Walsh the mother of Adam is sitting at a table with Julie Patz, Etan's mom and she gets the call that her little boy's body has been found, it was so emotionally written that I had to put the book down. Equally heartbreaking is the picture Stan Patz, Etan's dad sends twice a year to the man he believes killed his son. On it are the words what did you do to my little boy?Thanks to Julie and Stan Patz and all of the parents of the murdered children listed above, the kids of today are safer. There are now alerts, and centers, and all kinds of help that were not available when those children were taken. I recently read a statistic that said 99% of abducted children are found and returned. Sadly that does nothing for the Patz's and wish with all my heart that they could have a final resolution to their case. John Ramsey, Jon Benet's father said in his book that as awful as having his daughter murdered was at least he found her. Even he couldn't imagine the anguish of never knowing where your child's final resting place is.This author did justice to Etan's story. It was clear that she was very emotionally involved in the case. This book is transcended from a quickly crafted true crime story written for thrills into something that is closer to literature like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. It's the story of how an urban oasis can go to hell in the span of the time it takes one child to walk a block to the school bus. The real life heroes and villian in this story are so richly portrayed that you will keep thinking of Etan's story long after you have finished the last page.
What do You think about After Etan: The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive (2009)?
At first it was interesting and informative, but about from the half way through it became boring.
—scg
I read this and finished it shortly before the new evidence came out about the current suspect.
—Dboy_hustler
A little too "wordy." Interesting story nonetheless.
—Peka
