Catch the Sparrow

A Search for a Sister and the Truth of Her Murder

De: Rachel Rear

Narrado por: Julia Locascio

Bloomsbury presents Catch the Sparrow by Rachel Rear, read by Julia Locascio.

The gripping story of a young woman’s murder, unsolved for over two decades, brilliantly investigated and reconstructed by her stepsister.

Growing up, Rachel Rear knew the story of Stephanie Kupchynsky’s disappearance. The beautiful violinist and teacher had fled an abusive relationship on Martha’s Vineyard and made a new start for herself near Rochester, NY. She was at the height of her life—in a relationship with a man she hoped to marry and close to her students and her family. And then, one morning, she was gone.

Around Rochester—a region which has spawned such serial killers as Arthur Shawcross and the “Double Initial” killer—Stephanie’s disappearance was just a familiar sort of news item. But Rachel had more reason than most to be haunted by this particular story of a missing woman: Rachel’s mother had married Stephanie’s father after the crime, and Rachel grew up in the shadow of her stepsister’s legacy.

In Catch the Sparrow, Rachel Rear writes a compulsively listenable and unerringly poignant reconstruction of the case's dark and serpentine path across more than two decades. Obsessively cataloging the crime and its costs, drawing intimately closer to the details than any journalist could, she reveals how a dysfunctional justice system laid the groundwork for Stephanie's murder and stymied the investigation for more than twenty years, and what those hard years meant for the lives of Stephanie’s family and loved ones. Startling, unputdownable, and deeply moving, Catch the Sparrow is a retelling of a crime like no other.

©2022 Rachel Rear (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Undoubtedly the best true crime book ever

This one take you from the beginning to the moto the end. Here we learn about victim, crime, perpetrator and the entire resolution. We get to understand what happened and some of the closure that goes all with the system. It’s a great read.

A Great Choice

This is a beautiful, sorrowful story that is told well and brilliantly read. Often the pathos of true crime books is ruined by overly emotive narration, which robs the story of sentiment. Here, the narrator does absolute justice to the haunting glory of the writing. Well worth your time.

Great book

Loved this book! From beginning to end it was excellent. Easy to follow, yet I felt like I needed to grip onto every word to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

Interesting story

Excellent reader with a calm and steady voice. There are no wild or dramatic revelations in the books, but it’s a story well told.

Well Written, Absorbing ,Search for a Sad Truth

Catch the Sparrow will stay with me. Rachel Rear paints a vivid picture of the sister she didn’t meet in life.Stephanie leaps off the page.She is forever 27. Finding answers and finding justice are different things.Rear doesn’t shy away from the complexities.

So glad I found this book

Rachel has written a very well-told story of her step-sister's life and more so, her death - her murder.
This author has amazing talent - she has written the story on a personal level, allowing this reader to feel as though
I knew her and her sister. I felt a stronger and stronger connection with Stephanie right along with Rachel.
Rachel and her step-sister never knew each other, Stephanie was murdered before Rachel's mom married her dad.
The violence in Stephanie's life growing up, at the hands of her father incited strong negative feelings against her father.
I can relate with having violent parents. This is a must read with an ending that let me breath a big sigh of relief of justice for
Stephanie and her family. I hope Rachel will write more books - I am a huge fan of her style. Also, I would be remiss if I did not mention Julia, the narrator. Well done ! (clapping my hands) An audio book can make or break the story. Julia did a beautiful job - felt like it was her story she was telling.

Great book - I really loved the narrator. If you like true crime you can't go wrong here.

A different type of true crime book

As an avid true crime listener, I chose this book based on customer reviews. This story is told from the perspective of a distant family member who didn’t know the victim personally. The author has a great way of describing scenes and settings and has a wonderful prose and story writing ability. On the flip side though, I felt like the author used a story that happened near her and attempted to inject herself into the story. The victims actual family members asked that she not write the book in this way and she really appeared to be justifying having written it as a search for the truth. The narrator did a good job but at times I felt like I was listening to an essay that was just trying to meet the word count requirements. I would advise against this one if you are looking for a crime story with transcripts and details and facts. It’s more a memoir with a crime aside.

Disjointed

While some stories do well, jumping from the past to the present and back-and-forth, this story just was very disjointed. There were several parts of it that were in other sections of the book, which made the writing seem juvenile and not cohesive.
It is a very tragic story. The book is instead more about the author then it is about the victim.
I’m sorry to say the book did not go very deep. It just brushed over the surface and didn’t have a lot of details in it that would’ve made it more relevant and compelling. I was left with the feeling that that it was written more about the author and maybe more for fame and fortune. I would not recommend it. There are much better books out there.


The narrator, however, was very easy to listen to. I loved her voice and her cadence, and would definitely be interested in buying more books that she has narrated.