Catch the Sparrow
A Search for a Sister and the Truth of Her Murder
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Narrated by:
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Julia Locascio
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By:
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Rachel Rear
About this listen
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.
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Boring reader,boring writing
- By P. Minor on 02-03-08
By: Helen Morrison M.D., and others
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Unholy Messenger
- The Life and Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer
- By: Stephen Singular
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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To all appearances, Dennis Rader was a model citizen in the small town of Park City, Kansas, where he had lived with his family almost his entire life. He was a town compliance officer, a former Boy Scout leader, the president of his church congregation, and a seemingly ordinary father and husband. But Rader's average life belied the existence of his dark, sadistic other self: he was the BTK serial killer.
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It's a Christian Book!!
- By Nick on 07-07-16
By: Stephen Singular
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Burned Alive
- A Shocking True Story of Betrayal, Kidnapping, and Murder
- By: Kieran Crowley
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Beautiful, bubbly, 20-year-old Kim Antonakos was returning to her New York City apartment after a night of clubbing with a friend. A business major with wild black hair, long polished fingernails, and a new Honda her loving father had bought her, Kim took good care of herself and looked forward to a bright future. But on her way home in the early morning darkness of that Ash Wednesday, Kim was abducted - and her mysterious kidnappers would be the last people to see her alive. Kim's father, wealthy computer executive Tommy Antonakos, launched a widespread search for his daughter.
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Well written..Great narrator...Sad, sad story
- By JBT3 on 02-01-19
By: Kieran Crowley
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Bind, Torture, Kill
- The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door
- By: Roy Wenzl, Tim Potter, L. Kelly, and others
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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For 31 years, a monster terrorized the residents of Wichita, Kansas. A bloodthirsty serial killer, self-named "BTK" - for "bind them, torture them, kill them" - he slaughtered men, women, and children alike, eluding the police for decades while bragging of his grisly exploits to the media. The nation was shocked when the fiend who was finally apprehended turned out to be Dennis Rader - a friendly neighbor...a devoted husband...a helpful Boy Scout dad...the respected president of his church. Written by four award-winning crime reporters who covered the story for more than 20 years, Bind, Torture, Kill is the most intimate and complete account of the BTK nightmare
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Stomach churning
- By 6catz on 02-19-18
By: Roy Wenzl, and others
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Son of a Grifter
- The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, the Most Notorious Con Artists in America: A Memoir by the Other Son
- By: Kent Walker, Mark Schone
- Narrated by: John Glouchevitch
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1988 a troubled young man and his flamboyant mother were arrested for murdering a wealthy widow in her New York City mansion. Suddenly America was transfixed by a pair of real-life film noir characters. The media couldn't get enough of the twisted relationship between Sante Kimes and her 23-year-old son Kenny. But the most chilling story of all was never told - until now. Kent Walker, Sante's elder son, reveals how he survived 40 years of "the Dragon Lady's" very special brand of motherly love and still managed to get away.
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CON PEOPLE AT THEIR WORST!
- By jaye on 07-03-17
By: Kent Walker, and others
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Wilde Lake
- A Novel
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney, Nicole Poole
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Luisa "Lu" Brant is the newly elected - and first female - state's attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It's not the kind of case that makes headlines, but peaceful Howard County doesn't see many homicides.
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In a word saccharine and boring
- By Rena on 05-12-16
By: Laura Lippman
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Getting Life
- An Innocent Man’s 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace
- By: Michael Morton
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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On August 13, 1986, just one day after his 32nd birthday, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time. By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couple's bed - and the Williamson County Sherriff's office in Texas wasted no time in pinning her murder on Michael, despite an absolute lack of physical evidence. Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed
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A must read
- By Kevlar314 on 04-23-15
By: Michael Morton
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The Dating Game Killer
- The True Story of a TV Dating Show, a Violent Sociopath, and a Series of Brutal Murders
- By: Stella Sands
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1978, Rodney Alcala was a contestant on the The Dating Game, one of America's most popular television shows at the time. Handsome, successful, and romantic, he was embraced by the audience - and chosen as the winner by the beautiful bachelorette. To viewers across the country, Rodney seemed like the answer to every woman's dreams. Until they learned the truth about his once and future crimes.
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Like listening to a news report
- By E.J. in Pa. on 09-18-18
By: Stella Sands
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After the Eclipse
- A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search
- By: Sarah Perry
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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A fierce memoir of a mother's murder, a daughter's coming-of-age in the wake of immense loss, and her ultimate mission to know the woman who gave her life.
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True crime memoir
- By Julie on 11-03-17
By: Sarah Perry
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The Surgeon's Wife
- A True Story of Obsession, Rage, and Murder
- By: Kieran Crowley
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1985, in his exclusive Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, Robert Bierenbaum, a prominent surgeon and certified genius, strangled his wife Gail to death. He then drove her body to an airstrip in Caldwell, N.J., and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean from a single-engine private plane. The next day he reported her missing.
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Well Written
- By Susie Q on 12-21-17
By: Kieran Crowley
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Wasted
- Inside the Robert Chambers-Jennifer Levin Murder
- By: Linda Wolfe
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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On an August night in 1986, Jennifer Levin left a Manhattan bar with Robert Chambers. The next morning, her strangled, battered body was found in Central Park. Linda Wolfe goes beyond the headlines and media hype to recreate a story of a teenager whose immigrant mother was determined to make a better life for her son, a petty thief and drug user who'd been expelled from the best schools. Wasted powerfully depicts the freewheeling 1980s society that spawned a generation steeped in violence and the fatal impulses that drove Robert Chambers to kill.
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A very thorough reporting for the time
- By Amazon Customer on 12-28-16
By: Linda Wolfe
What listeners say about Catch the Sparrow
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Claire P.
- 02-06-22
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.
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2 people found this helpful
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- danakm
- 01-06-23
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.
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- Jamielee Smith
- 09-10-23
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.
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- COJoebro
- 04-09-22
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.
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- Colleen T. Mizeres
- 04-03-22
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.
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- Rachel
- 11-14-24
Great book - I really loved the narrator. If you like true crime you can't go wrong here.
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- Lori D. Reim
- 11-29-22
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.
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- Seypup
- 05-27-23
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.
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