Friday, July 19, 2019

Review of "Race to Justice"

While this book could be considered more of a true crime book instead of sports, it does involved the murder of a very popular member of the Penske Racing Team's hospitality crew and it shook up the racing world.  This is a good book on the subsequent investigation and trial for that case.  Here is my review of "Race to Justice"


Title/Author:
“Race to Justice” by Larry Sells and Margie Porter

Tags:
Auto Racing, crime, legal

Publish date:
May 21, 2019

Length:
337 pages

Rating: 
4 ½  of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:
On October 25,1992, Cindy Albrecht went missing. She was a popular member of the hospitality crew for the Penske Racing team, serving as the executive chef. Two of her friends on the hospitality crew were concerned and called the authorities.  Weeks later, Albrecht’s body was found in a remote area with her head removed. The date of her disappearance was the date her divorce from her husband Michael was finalized and she had started dating a new boyfriend. Michael had just been fired from his job as a mechanic for the Dick Simon racing team and was not handling the divorce well.  His arrest for the murder of his wife and subsequent trial is the story behind this true crime book written by the prosecutor of the case, Larry Sells and journalist Maggie Porter.

Before the book focuses on the criminal investigation and trial, the description of Cindy’s life of working with the Penske team is described well. The reader will lean not only about the inner workings behind that food that is served in the tents to race team members, visitors and other VIP’s, but also about the races, mechanical teams and drivers. There are photos of drivers and some excerpts from exciting races, such as the close finish to the 1992 Indianapolis 500.

While auto racing is an important part of the book since it was the industry in which the Albrechts and others worked, the book is mostly about the investigation into the death of Cindy Albrecht, the subsequent arrest of her husband and his trial for murder.  With one of the authors being the lead prosecutor during the trial, it would be expected that there would be much focus on the courtroom proceedings. That was the case and it was done so in very specific detail, down to the description of each of the witnesses.  As one who enjoys reading about court trials, I found this part of the book riveting and could not put it down.

If a reader enjoys legal or true crime stories, then this book is highly recommended and is one to pick up.  If the reader would prefer to not read such details but learn more about the people, then the beginning of the book will satisfy that person. 

I wish to thank Wild Blue Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Format Read:
E-book(Kindle)                                                                                                                                

Buying Links:

No comments:

Post a Comment