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Review for When Fates Collide
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
When Fates Collide
The title not only fits the story but the way it begins too. There have been many pairs of outlaws that have teamed up. Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise and of course Batman and Robin. But, none of these pairs can compare to the zany and seriously wacky bounty hunter who teams up with a receptionist working in corporate America to hunt and bring back and track down a jumper who has eluded the law and will stop at nothing to get their man.
Meet Hope: Sitting innocently having a drink in her usual hangout the Crypt feeling sorry for herself and saying that she has no life and nothing ever happens to her of any consequence. Maybe she should have been thankful for that. All too often when we complain and wish for more or some changes in our lives we might get our wish but not exactly in the way we might have liked. Hope lives in Tampa and thought that she would be there for the rest of her live doing her everyday and mundane job and just going through the motions. But, then she meets Alex. No, she does not just come up to her and say, “Hi, you wanna be friends or BFF’s.” That would be boring and not make this great story what it is funny, comical and extremely creative for first time paired authors Yvonne Mason and Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc.
Alex is a bounty hunter who is looking for someone named Hope Harrington, who you would assume is a woman or a young girl. But, you know what happens when you assume. I don’t have to explain that to you. Well, she goes into this bar the Crypt thinking that she now has her man and will earn the bounty or the money for bringing him in. Walking into the bar with the guys jacket or rap sheet she sees what she thinks is her jumper and proceeds to execute the arrest and telling the suspect not to even think about trying to get away. Of course I am using different words for this review. Spinning her around she slammed her onto the floor and what came out of Hope’s mouth cannot be written but you can just imagine what you would say if it were you getting slammed dunked. After realizing that she had found Hope Harrington but not the one she was looking for the two decided to get to know each other and team up to find the real suspect.
The guy that they were really looking could change his appearance at the drop of a hat and was out to make Alex look bad to her boss and to herself too. But, Alex is a force to be reckoned with and timid and not so forceful Hope is about to learn the ropes and learn a whole new meaning of not so boring life or job.
After losing the suspect twice they try to figure out his next move. Alex feels that he might try and steal a boat and head for the Florida Keys. How she manages to lose the suspect you will have to read for yourself. With the help of a friend named Tyrell, Alex and Hope take off for the Keys and what happens is hysterical and yet creative that you would think this was an episode of America’s creative and funniest videos or the new and improved Unsolved Crimes solved in a very unique and different way.
With all of the boats at the dock and many there for Gay Pride week it was easy to lose the suspect in such a big crowd. But they would not give up and Alex would not lose the bounty and her time was short and she needed to find this guy and fast. There was a festival in St. Duvall and Alex thought that since this guy was a master of disguise he might be hiding in plain sight and of course looking anything but like himself. Splitting up and searching for this guy Tyrell gets a lead and relates the suspects true appearance to Alex. How they finally get him will make you double over and yet show pure admiration for our girl Hope and her clever mentor Alex. How far would you go as a law enforcement officer to get your man? Would you have yourself body painted as a nun in order to hide your true identity? Would you have yourself body painted as a zombie to create a diversion and not allow yourself to be noticed? Would you come up with a clever way to make these disguises work for you and against the suspect who is not only full of himself and loves attention but has his body painted too. I won’t tell you as what because that might give too much away.
Hope is quite smart and she comes up with a way to not only help Alex foil this guy but help others too. There is a contest for the best costume being held on Mallory Square. She convinces the people in charge of the contest to add a new twist to it: They were going to sell off the contestants to the highest bidder. Yes: there own contest and whomever gets the most bids during the contest, as in who wants to own that person the most, as the authors state, will go out on a date with the lucky winner. The proceeds will go to a children’s charity fund.
What happens during the contest and how they finally get him will not only give up pause for thought about how dangerous the job of a bounty hunter really is, but also how creative and cunning you have to be. Just when Alex apprehends the suspect as he comes on stage another twist and turn occurs and she needs the help of her Uncle Max a higher up in law enforcement to help complete the takedown of this man. The rest and the outcome you will have to read for yourself. The friendship between these two gets as tight as the handcuffs on a criminal and they decide they make a good team. Will Hope chuck her job in corporate America for a life of danger, the unknown, sleepless nights, travel and not many amenities, or will she decide to go back and complain about having no life and being bored? Will Alex entice her to take a step on the wild side and be her partner? You will have to wait and see. I can feel a sequel coming on and I know that you the reader will want to see what trouble these two will get into next.
Five stars would not be the right things for this book: Five Bounty Hunters and Five Gift Cards for Body Painting by Mr. Van Goth.
Fran Lewis: reviewer - Blog post
- 2 months ago
- Views: 34
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When Fates Collide A New Relea
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
Alex Morgan is a bounty hunter. Hope Harrington is a woman with no life. Combine the two of them and you have one of the most tongue-in-cheek and hilarious mysteries ever written!
Best seller and award winner Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc and critically acclaimed author and real life bounty hunter Yvonne Mason have teamed up to give their readers one heck of a good time.
With a flair for the comical, and a wit and way that only these two talents could provide, the readers better hold on for their lives because this journey is just beginning!
Alex Morgan has lost her jumper…a master of disguises...and tracked him to Tampa Bay where he has assumed the name of Hope Harrington.
Mistakenly trying to arrest Hope, the blunt and traveled bounty hunter finds that she has been outwitted again and the under appreciated receptionist finds herself in the midst of one melee she could have never dreamed of. Where Hope never had a life before, she finds herself getting ready to have one…and one of non-stop action at that!
Alex's reputation and a big stash of money are at stake and she's losing precious time. From Tampa to Key West Alex, with an eager Hope in tow, are going to track down the jumper and that is when the hilarity and adventures ensue!
Told entirely in the first person, this book WHEN FATES COLLIDE is the first of what will be one of many in the Morgan and Harrington mystery series, this is one book not to be missed!When Fates Collide can currently be found on Lulu.com and will soon appear on Amazon.com
It can also be purchased at Ms. Mason’s online bookstore at http://thebookattice.ecrater.com along with her other great novels.
- Blog post
- 4 months ago
- Views: 55
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masoncarter101
- Views: 19
- Since: 6 months ago
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h3mamma
- Views: 89
- Since: 7 months ago
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Silent Scream Latest Review
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
Silent Scream: Yvonne Mason
Reviewed by Fran Lewis
In a world that has changed so much, where young people go missing daily, this novel reminds us that we need to warn our young women and young men to always be on the alert for sexual and social predators. The lives of so many families changed in 1972 when Gerard Schaffer, serial killer, whose twisted and maniacal mind decided to take the lives of young women he felt were unworthy of living. Comparing these young women to whores, he would trick, lead, and deceive these girls by leading them into his lair. Gerard Schaffer, a man of superior intelligence, believed in his own mind that what he did was right. He felt justified in his killings and bragged about them to anyone who would listen.
Pamela Sue Wells and Nancy Ellen Trotter were his first victims to get away. As a Deputy Sheriff, Gerard Schaffer, used his position of power and authority to terrorize these two girls by claiming he wanted to teach them a lesson. The lesson being not to hitchhike with strangers. He felt that they were nothing more than whores who needed to be taught a lesson. Handcuffing by girls and hanging them from different trees with a noose around their neck, he left them hanging from the trees. He took them to Hutchinson Island a remote place, which he thought, would be their final resting place. He told them the evils of hitchhiking and he would be back with men who would sell them to slave traders.
Little did he know that Nancy Ellen Trotter with everything she had would manage to get out of her noose and get help for herself and Pamela Sue Wells.Although he was fired from his position this did not stop his reign of terror. Charged with two counts of aggravated assault, he did not seem to be fearful of the consequences he might face because of his actions. Although arrested and put in jail for only two months, the Judge D.C. Smith released him and helped to set off a chain of killings that would span many counties in Florida and other states too.
Throughout this graphic novel, this reviewer read of the heinous mutilations, decapitations and dismemberments inflicted on Shaffer’s victims. The list of victims and crimes seemed endless.
Trying to convince everyone he was mentally insane and should be sent to an institution, was not only a ploy of Schaffer to try and get out of going to prison for life, but one more way this reviewer realized just how evil and cunning this man was.
Although, there were many who interviewed him in jail, and many who corresponded with him and wanted to try to write his story and listen to his words, none was as powerful as those of the victims that were silenced by him.
Georgia Jessup, Susan Place, Collette Goodenenough, Barbara Ann Wilcox, Nancy Leichner, Pam Nater, Nancy Trotter, Pamela Wells, Carmen Hallock, Leigh Hainline, Elise Farmer, Alice Briscolina, Belinda Hutchins and those that we do not know about, this is your chance to have your Screams Heard forever. Having no regard for the pain he inflicted upon you, not amount of remorse for what he did and using the media for more than 30 years to tell his sick and twisted stories and taunt the families of his victims, your voices will now be heard and his will forever be silenced.
When Gerard Schaffer finally got his just rewards in prison, an inmate silenced his human voice. He used his knowledge of the law and his skill to write appeals and more to rat out his fellow inmates and try to get the courts to allow him to be set free.
In order to really understand and know just how twisted; insane and sick this man was, you need to read this book and make sure that their messages is sent aloud and clear to all young people.
To the real heroes of this story Philip Shailer, the Broward State Attorney, Judge Trowbridge who presided on the bench, was relentless, and made sure he would never go free, the girls thank you. To all of the detectives on this case, to Jack for his diligence and hard work investigating these killings and to all of those in law enforcement that made sure that this sick and twisted man did not go free, we the victims of Gerard Schaffer yell loud and clear: THANK YOU!
To the victims of Geralr Schaffer:
A special Eulogy to the Victims:
From Fran Lewis
Your families gathered with great attitude
To come and honor you
To share the sweet recollections
And express their gratitude
You were a great example
Of the way one should live
Your generous and loving spirits
Were the greatest gifts you could give
You took each day as a challenge
Exactly as it came
Your spirits remained steadfast
Life and its ups and never made you change
Your families would often would marvel
At the strength and determination found in you
How much we will miss your courage
How fearless your attitude
Life is a fragile thing
And it can change within an instant
Nothing is safe from the effects of change
No person or possession we’re given
The only things we can hold forever
Are the memories of you in our hearts
The love you bestowed upon us on earth
Before it came time for you to depart
Goodbyes are not forever
And nor is this the end
When the angels came to call you away
They led you to a play to of peace to stay
The empty spaces in our hearts that is left behind
Within this world we all know
Reminds us just how we must cherish each day
And how precious our time is before we go
MAY YOUR VOICES BE HEARD AND YOUR SCREAMS NEVER SILENCED! MAY THE SOUL OF GERARD SCHAFFER KNOW NO REST AND BE TORTURTED UNTIL ETERNITY.
There are not enough stars to give this book. I would give this five stars and five more for the outstanding and amazing author who wrote this important novel.
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 142
- Not yet rated
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The Latest Review for Silent S
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
Silent Scream: Yvonne Mason
Reviewed by Fran Lewis
In a world that has changed so much, where young people go missing daily, this novel reminds us that we need to warn our young women and young men to always be on the alert for sexual and social predators. The lives of so many families changed in 1972 when Gerard Schaffer, serial killer, whose twisted and maniacal mind decided to take the lives of young women he felt were unworthy of living. Comparing these young women to whores, he would trick, lead, and deceive these girls by leading them into his lair. Gerard Schaffer, a man of superior intelligence, believed in his own mind that what he did was right. He felt justified in his killings and bragged about them to anyone who would listen.
Pamela Sue Wells and Nancy Ellen Trotter were his first victims to get away. As a Deputy Sheriff, Gerard Schaffer, used his position of power and authority to terrorize these two girls by claiming he wanted to teach them a lesson. The lesson being not to hitchhike with strangers. He felt that they were nothing more than whores who needed to be taught a lesson. Handcuffing by girls and hanging them from different trees with a noose around their neck, he left them hanging from the trees. He took them to Hutchinson Island a remote place, which he thought, would be their final resting place. He told them the evils of hitchhiking and he would be back with men who would sell them to slave traders.
Little did he know that Nancy Ellen Trotter with everything she had would manage to get out of her noose and get help for herself and Pamela Sue Wells.Although he was fired from his position this did not stop his reign of terror. Charged with two counts of aggravated assault, he did not seem to be fearful of the consequences he might face because of his actions. Although arrested and put in jail for only two months, the Judge D.C. Smith released him and helped to set off a chain of killings that would span many counties in Florida and other states too.
Throughout this graphic novel, this reviewer read of the heinous mutilations, decapitations and dismemberments inflicted on Shaffer’s victims. The list of victims and crimes seemed endless.
Trying to convince everyone he was mentally insane and should be sent to an institution, was not only a ploy of Schaffer to try and get out of going to prison for life, but one more way this reviewer realized just how evil and cunning this man was.
Although, there were many who interviewed him in jail, and many who corresponded with him and wanted to try to write his story and listen to his words, none was as powerful as those of the victims that were silenced by him.
Georgia Jessup, Susan Place, Collette Goodenenough, Barbara Ann Wilcox, Nancy Leichner, Pam Nater, Nancy Trotter, Pamela Wells, Carmen Hallock, Leigh Hainline, Elise Farmer, Alice Briscolina, Belinda Hutchins and those that we do not know about, this is your chance to have your Screams Heard forever. Having no regard for the pain he inflicted upon you, not amount of remorse for what he did and using the media for more than 30 years to tell his sick and twisted stories and taunt the families of his victims, your voices will now be heard and his will forever be silenced.
When Gerard Schaffer finally got his just rewards in prison, an inmate silenced his human voice. He used his knowledge of the law and his skill to write appeals and more to rat out his fellow inmates and try to get the courts to allow him to be set free.
In order to really understand and know just how twisted; insane and sick this man was, you need to read this book and make sure that their messages is sent aloud and clear to all young people.
To the real heroes of this story Philip Shailer, the Broward State Attorney, Judge Trowbridge who presided on the bench, was relentless, and made sure he would never go free, the girls thank you. To all of the detectives on this case, to Jack for his diligence and hard work investigating these killings and to all of those in law enforcement that made sure that this sick and twisted man did not go free, we the victims of Gerard Schaffer yell loud and clear: THANK YOU!
To the victims of Geralr Schaffer:
A special Eulogy to the Victims:
From Fran Lewis
Your families gathered with great attitude
To come and honor you
To share the sweet recollections
And express their gratitude
You were a great example
Of the way one should live
Your generous and loving spirits
Were the greatest gifts you could give
You took each day as a challenge
Exactly as it came
Your spirits remained steadfast
Life and its ups and never made you change
Your families would often would marvel
At the strength and determination found in you
How much we will miss your courage
How fearless your attitude
Life is a fragile thing
And it can change within an instant
Nothing is safe from the effects of change
No person or possession we’re given
The only things we can hold forever
Are the memories of you in our hearts
The love you bestowed upon us on earth
Before it came time for you to depart
Goodbyes are not forever
And nor is this the end
When the angels came to call you away
They led you to a play to of peace to stay
The empty spaces in our hearts that is left behind
Within this world we all know
Reminds us just how we must cherish each day
And how precious our time is before we go
MAY YOUR VOICES BE HEARD AND YOUR SCREAMS NEVER SILENCED! MAY THE SOUL OF GERARD SCHAFFER KNOW NO REST AND BE TORTURTED UNTIL ETERNITY.
There are not enough stars to give this book. I would give this five stars and five more for the outstanding and amazing author who wrote this important novel.
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 125
- Not yet rated
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Silent Scream Gets a Face Lift
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
My true crime Silent Scream has gotten a face lift and just in time for the latest review by fellow author Sheri who is also a nurse and works for a group of lawyers. Below is her review:
Why do serial killers intrigue us so much? I've always been drawn to the criminal mind for some reason, especially if it has to do with the mind of a serial killer.
I've watched documentaries on the likes of Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, Son of Sam, The Zodiac Killer , etc. However, I have never before come to know such a sick twisted perversion, as the psyche of serial killer Gerard John Schaefer.
I've just finished a book detailing the heinious serial killings perpetrated by Gerard Schaefer in the the south Florida area from 1966 through 1972.Schaefer has been linked by physical evidence to murders of at least 34 young women but only convicted for the disappearance and double murders of Susan Place age 17 and Georgia Jessup age 16. He received life in prison for this particular crime.
He's been known to admit, while in prison, to as many as 80 to 110 killings. He could possilby be one of the sickest psychopathic serial killers there ever was.
He's claimed at various times to have perpetrated his cunning assaults on 3 different Continents and had sadisms and sexual perversions that would make other serial killers look like angels of mercy.
The particular book that I read was written by Yvonne Mason and entitled Silent Scream. Not only is Yvonne an accomplished Bounty Hunter and Author, she is also a very special and dear friend to me.I met Yvonne when I was looking for volunteer writers on my MySpace page Write in the City. She often did daily blogs for our page and I came to know her as a gifted author who believed in "paying it forward" by sharing her literary talents and helping others.
Yvonne Mason
So comes time for me to "pay it forward" by giving this gift to her. A review of her Masterpiece Silent Scream that is currently being used as a resource to teach law enforcement officials throughtout the country the mechanisms, manipulations, and paraphelias that serial killers like Schaefer have the propensity to exhibit.
Yvonne Mason brilliantly exposes the psyche of the sadisticly gruesome brutal serial killings of Gerard Jonh Schaefer across south Florida. Not only does she allow you to venture into the taboo world of Schaefer and his paraphelic obsessions, but she gave every victim that met their final fate with Schaefer a voice to be heard.
She exposed their silent screams for all to hear so that the young women who were robbed of the lives may now rest in peace and that their families may find some closure through her story and tribute to them as well.
She tells the saga of how a trusted law official who took an oath to serve and protect abused that privilege by turning the tables with his badge and power. Using them in a way to manipulate and lure young women into desolate swampy areas that became his playground of torture and sexually perverted games. Only to repeatedly mutilate and desecrate the corpses for his twisted sexual gratification going back again and again to their graves and collecting trophies of his kills.
The one thing he never planned on was the escape of two of his victims that led to his ultimate demise.
Mason takes you through the circus event of the media and court during the trial and conviction of Schaefer. Once convicted his shenanigans don't end with his incarceration.His narcissistic behaviors continue to gain him attention and noteriety long after the trial ends. He befriends other serial killers in prison such as Ted Bundy and Ottis Toole, known cannibal and confessor of the kidnapping and beheading of Adam Walsh.
While in prison Schaefer continues to whet his appetite for his twisted sexual deviant behaviors by penning stories under other pseudo names with the help of his ex high school girlfriend, Sondra London.These stories take you deep into the mind of Schaefer as he relives some of his gruesome killings by labeling them as ficition. You can almost taste the fear of his victim in an excerpt in the book detailing one of his killings.
You see and feel his every incessant thought as he walks you through the torture and sheer gratification he acquires through humilating his prey.
Yvonne Mason pays tribute to each of the 10 victims that were linked to various physical evidence found at Schaefer's residence. Yes, their screams may have been silent then but she gave them a voice to tell their stories.And hopefully they may rest in peace and their families may find the closure that Schaefer so selfishly denied them. Mason delivers an entertaining and disturbing account of his modus operandi that will hopefully help to catch other serial killers in the future.
She credits her book to the team that helped bring down Schaefer from an ambulance driver, to the investigators, prosecuters, judges, defense attorneys and finally to the man that robbed Schaefer of his last breath.
This is an excellent read that will both repulse and intrigue you. Once you pick it up it's hard to put back down.
- Blog post
- 7 months ago
- Views: 268
- Not yet rated
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Tangled Minds Has Been Re-rele
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
Tangled Minds is a masterpiece. In the fine tradition of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Yvonne Mason leads the reader through the twisted and tangled lives of Brianna Van Pelt and her son, Josh, thrusting us into a Pygmalion dilemma that has consumed scholars for decades. Is there such a thing as a "bad seed", an individual whose feet are placed upon a path of crime and evil almost from the beginning? If the circumstances of one's birth or the choices one makes cannot be overcome with love, patience and the rarely grasped opportunity for redemption, what chance is there for any of us?
Thwarted by her parents' tough love, seventeen-year-old, single mother, Brianna, allows herself to be drawn into a new world glittering with easy money and false promises, accepting that proposition that no good girl ever should. With her young son, Josh, in tow, she dazzles with new prosperity, fulfilling the fantasies of not only her glorified pimp, Ken Morgan, but those of a judge and a host of depraved, desperate men in their wake. Ms. Mason's familiarity with the legal system and law enforcement showed through clearly in several well orchestrated scenes, as the long arm of the law repeatedly tried to halt the ring of drugs and prostitution and Brianna and her son fled for the safety of the mountains.
Ms. Mason's understanding of mountain people was stellar. These simple folk protect their own with fierce loyalty and Brianna and Josh find shelter beneath their net of poverty, love, moonshine and madness. Here, transgressors simply disappear, never to be heard from again and the mountains hold their secrets close to their chests as nature smoothes the pothole's dark waters and envelops the hills in song and greenery. Even murder seems somehow justified in a place such as this, but the twisted and convoluted logic of its inhabitants finds no sympathetic ear in the outside world and Josh must ultimately face the consequences of his actions.
And yet, within this story, there lies hope. In Hannah and Miss Amy, we see the opposing force of love, the light of goodness that can blaze through even the meanest dark, if only one has the courage to reach for it. Fragile yet steadfast, this gentler emotion finally reaches even Brianna, a woman some would have classified beyond redemption. In love's golden glow, we find hope, hope for Brianna and Josh and perhaps even for ourselves, as well.
Tangled Minds should be required reading for every high school senior or college freshman, although its audience is clearly much wider. Life is, indeed, full of choices and consequences. An individual may be able to run fast and far, but in the end, he cannot outrun the ultimate judge - himself. True redemption begins from within. May love's tiny flame light the way as we reconcile our past, lift our face into the winds of change and set our feet once more upon the good road. An excellent read!Ann B. Keller, Author
Briggen
The Devils Crescent
- Blog post
- 8 months ago
- Views: 156
- Not yet rated
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Update for Silent Scream
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
Silent Scream finished number #5 out of 26 in the Preditors and Editors Poll for Mainstream Novels for 2008. This is quite an honor as this book was only released in November 2008. This is just one more tool fo giving the victims of Gerard Schaefer a voice and making sure they are never forgotten again.
On March 7th. I will be at the Breavard County Book Fair in Cocoa Beach at the Brevard Libary. I will be signing books from 1-4. At 4:00pm I will be giving a speech on Schaefer. It is a compelling speech of the victims of Schaefer and how it was uncharterd waters for law enforcement. All who live in the area or have a day to spare come and join me. I will have plenty of books. I will also have my other two releases Stan's Story, A Touch of Love and Brilliant Insanity.
I look forward to meeting all of you there.
Yvonne
- Blog post
- 9 months ago
- Views: 158
- Not yet rated
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Join Me March 7th
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
On March 7th between 1-5pm I will be in Cocoa Beach, Fl at a book fair. I will be signing my books and I will also be speaking about my true crime documentary Silent Scream. The story of the victims of Florida's first Serial Killer Gerard Schaefer. I will be speaking at 4:00pm
BREVARD AUTHORS BOOK FAIR
Where: Central Brevard Library, Forrest Ave, Cocoa, Fl
When: Sat., March 7th, 2009, - 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Blog post
- 10 months ago
- Views: 199
- Not yet rated
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Silent Scream is up for #1 on
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
I need the help of each of you here. Silent Scream is up for Novel of the Year on Preditors and Editors which is a big name in the publishing Industry. At this moment it is sitting at #9 - I have until the 14th to get it to #1.
This book is so important- it gives the victims of Gerard Schaefer, Florida's first serial killer a voice. A voice which has been screaming silently for over 34 years. Please be a part of that voice. Please help me to get it to #1- This will only help them.
the site is:
http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novel.shtml
Thank you in advance
Yvonne
- Blog post
- 10 months ago
- Views: 216
- Not yet rated
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Silent Scream Review by Angel
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
" This book is one of the best books I have read this year. A real page turner. Once you read it you will sit back and think about everything that happened in this book really happened. Then you will have a streak of fear run through your spine. This is one book everyone who reads murder mysteries or detective novels should read. Also every author should read it as well. The serial killer Gerard Shaffer has 10 serial killers in him. It is just amazing this man was a teacher and law enforcement. Makes you wonder, that the peers of our community that should have been able to see that person was crazy. The truth is they did notice and fired him. But he would get hired somewhere else. A must read for sure. I wish I could give this more stars.”
- Blog post
- 11 months ago
- Views: 253
- Not yet rated
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Incredible, Powerful! - Silent
- From: YvonneMason
-
Description:
Dear Yvonne:
I've just finished Silent Scream, Yvonne. I read your book in one day and I can honestly say it is one of the most incredible, frightening and compelling books I've ever read. And you put my words on the back cover, too! My goodness. I'm so very honored. Thank you for doing that.
You know, when I picked up Silent Scream this morning, I sort of paged through it from the back to the front, as my mother often does. A certain face on page 412 struck me. I had the book resting in my lap and the blanket I had wrapped around me (it gets kind of cold here in Elyria, Ohio in the mornings!) hid the caption below the photo. I stared at that picture and got chilled. Who was that, I wondered? The boyish looks of this man were at war with his eyes. I've heard that the eyes are the windows of your soul. For Schaefer, I guess this was true. His eyes bothered me. I raised the book up, saw the caption, and knew why I was afraid. The photo was of Gerard J. Schaefer.
Page by page, chapter by chapter, I was drawn into Silent Scream, into the stories of these girls and the madman who held them captive, then destroyed them in every way that it is possible for one human being to do another in. Schaefer was different from the average criminal, wasn't he? He was smart and wily as a fox. He played every angle, even maneuvering law enforcement officers, the press, supposed girlfriends and family in an attempt to achieve his twisted goals.
Schaefer's trial, jail time and subsequent unending appeals were, indeed, a "circus", as you described them. I liked the way that you broke everything up into short chapters. This is powerful stuff. I think if the chapter were longer, the reader couldn't handle it. I know I had difficulty - yes, even in daylight!!!
I also liked the way you put in some brief notes and photos of the individuals involved in the end of the book. That's a stroke of genius. It really brings home to the reader just how "real" this story is. Silent Scream is a book you really want to forget, but you can't. Your own sense of self-preservation pleads with you to file the story away in the depths of some deep, dark dungeon of your mind, where you don't have to deal with the pain and anguish Schaefer caused so many people. I can't. I won't. And I know that you won't, either, my good friend.
I'm still reeling from what you've written here, Yvonne, and very, very honored to call you my friend. You deserve every iota of praise you receive for writing this masterpiece. I shall be honored to declare that wherever I can find your book.
For the innocent girls and unnamed victims yet to be discovered, we thank you.
Ann B. Keller
--
Ann B. Keller
Author/Screenwriter - Blog post
- 11 months ago
- Views: 274
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The Newest on Silent Scream
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:
I received this e-mail today. The sender is an Assistant State Attorney for the State of Florida, her father helped prosecute Gerard Schaefer in 1973. This was her take of Silent Scream. The girls continue to have a voice
OMG!!!!!!!!!! I was literally up ALL night reading the book. I couldn’t put it down. It was amazing and written so well. How much are they? I would like to buy a few for some of my friends that work here for Christmas. I am so glad you took the time to memorialize what happened to these poor defenseless victims. And I loved the final thought---that you hoped they slept well. Thanks again for sharing that! I know my dad will really appreciate it. You need to write one on Gore and Waterfield too. There have been many tv interviews on that case---one on Psychic Detectives and one on the Biography channel and also a book was written awhile ago, but I think you would do a great job.
Thanks again!
Robyn
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- 11 months ago
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Stan's Story, A Touch of Love
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:
Chapter One
The Beginning
Every life has a beginning. Some are more famous than others. Some end before they have really begun. This beginning was neither. It was a normal middle class beginning in a middle class neighborhood on a quiet street where children could play without being hurt or bothered. All of the people who lived there had moved in about the same time. The house was a three bedroom ranch that was new when the Robinson family moved in it in 1951. There was no air conditioning and the heat was a floor furnace. Daddy worked about 16 hours a day installing heating and air conditioning. The average weekly salary for that time was about $50.00 bring home. Gas was purchased by gallons, milk was about .25 per gallon and still delivered to the door. Bread was a nickel and the mortgage on the house was $7000.00.Mother bought about $20.00 worth of groceries and it feed us for a week. Even though things were inexpensive, times were still hard. The country had just come out of two wars, a recession was on and work was not easy to come by.
Mother did not work, she stayed home and took care of the house and me, until Stan arrived. The second child of Clinton Leonard and Doris Robinson Stan was born on July 13,1952. This as a time when "handicapped people" were as out of place as frost in July. As a general rule those handicapped ( the title given to the disadvantaged at the time and will be used here until later), were frequently placed in institutions, left in a back room and rarely seen or mentioned. Mostly they were forgotten human beings. It was something one didn‘t mention. It was considered a “bad thing” to admit one had a child or other family member who was “handicapped.” Mother’s prayer was that with God’s help Stan would be socially accepted.
Stan's birth was not historic, nor was it difficult. He was carried to term and he had me, Yvonne, an older sister already at home. There was no reason for this child not to be "normal". God's plan, however, was not our plan. Stanley had purpose. As I look back on this purpose now, it becomes clear as crystal (and at times as a glass darkly)!!! At times I see the results of his reason for being handicapped and at other times I wonder what he could have done had he not been handicapped. He is so driven in his goals, I wonder if maybe he would have been a greater force to be reckoned with. I wonder if maybe he might have been a successful businessman or the owner of a ball team. But, when I look again I see his influence on others, his popularity and his drive to be the best he can be with the talents that he has. I have to ask myself does he already have the greater gifts and talents? Would not being handicapped have made him a better man or would it have been a curse?
Stanley arrived. He came into our world. He weighed in at 7 lbs and 3 ounces and was name Stanley Clinton Robinson. Mother felt as if something was not quite right from the beginning. Stan cried all the time, not just the normal cry of a newborn wanting to be fed, changed or suffering with colic. His cry was one of undetermined origin. She would talk to the doctors about it and they told her it was nothing. But she knew.
Everything appeared fine, except for the crying and the usual challenges newborns face, and an older sibling! I had been the only child and then there were two. The usual rivalry between children started. I wanted the attention that a newborn required. I think I may have loved Stan, but he was intruding on my space. I have no memories of this time as I was only a toddler.
But, one day when he was 9 months old, something happened which was to change everyone in the Robinson’s lives-forever. San got sick. He was taken to the doctor who, diagnosed his illness as a virus and sent him home saying, “he will be fine”. Mother was also sick with this same mystery virus. Mema, mother’s mother, had come to stay to help with Stan and me. Stan never ran a fever, but he cried all night long and pulled at his ear. Mema sat up and rocked him not knowing what was really wrong. Sometime during the night Stan began to take his left arm and move it in a circular motion. This motion never stopped. As he continued to move this arm the right arm started the same motion. It was as if they had a mind of their own. As they continued to move his legs began to jerk as if they were at the end of a puppet string. Mema got mother up and they put Stan in the car and drove to Dr. Tucker’s office in East Point. On the way Stan’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and his back became rigid. Mother knew at once something was seriously wrong. Once, at the doctor’s office, Stan was sent to the hospital, where he was admitted. The doctors at the hospital started the necessary tests to see what was causing this child to have these attacks. They ruled out meningitis, hepatitis, and number of other problems. But what they did find baffled all of them. He was given a spinal tap and diagnosed as having Encephalitis. The cause of this infection has never been found.
The doctors explained that this disease generates inflammation around the brain causing drowsiness, slowing down of the mental and physical facilities, and frequently - coma. The doctors were not very optimistic. Stan did fall into a coma and the concern was over the extreme possibility of brain damage, whether he came out of the coma- or not.
All that mother and daddy could do was wait, pray and watch the drip, drip of Terramycin seep slowly into Stan’s tiny arm to fight the infection. The days and nights of hurt, concern and worry continued until Wednesday- when Stan finally began to slowly emerge from the coma. Doctors were called to examine him to determine what further struggles and challenges lay ahead. To their surprise Stan’s eyes were crystal clear, and he appeared to be looking at the world around him in wonder and awe. The doctors were not only surprised and stunned, but enormously pleased. This, they told mother and daddy, meant that Stan had faculties they had not expected to see after such a bout of sickness. They told mother it seemed Stan’s intellect was returning, yet they were not sure how much. This was a very good sign. It meant Stan not only was going to survive but that God had answered the many prayers offered for him. Being cautious, as doctors are, they explained to mother that although the intelligence factor was there, Stan would never be “normal”, in the way society understood the term. They indicated he probably would not achieve a level, mentally or physically, beyond that of a three year old. He would always have problems that could not be fixed, nor perhaps even improved. In any other family this might have been like a death sentence; but not to mother, and not to Stan. The doctors did not factor in Stan’s determination or his sense of self-preservation.
Shortly after his awakening from the coma it was discovered that Stan was one third clubfooted on both feet. In order to straighten out his feet the doctors placed casts on both feet and legs. The casts were heavy and awkward because they were made of plaster.
He was then released home wearing these heavy casts on both legs and feet up to his thighs. Mother began reading anything she could find regarding brain damage. She sought out medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and others who were researching or working in the field of brain damage. She was not one to sit by and wait for the end to come or accept his condition as final. Further, she would not take him home or put him in an institution and allow him to waste away. Not our mother, she would have none of that reasoning. She knew there had to be something or someone somewhere who could provide the help Stan and his family needed. She did this with no insurance and very little money. She never gave up on her quest to get Stan every opportunity to help him become the person that she knew he was inside. Prayer was as much a part of her day as eating, drinking and sleeping. Reading, which had always been a passion, now became that which she devoured, as food for a starving man. No article was too small and no book too thick. She refused to take ‘no’ for an answer. She refused to believe there was nothing to be done that could help Stan. She became a one woman army in this war against a monster that had affected not only Stan but ‘the family.’ It was not easy; there were many tears, sleepless nights, and feelings of not being able to cope. Giving up was never an option.
Due to the illness, Stan did not have the ability to feel pain and he was too small to even try to communicate to us when or where he might hurt. Also, he did not the coordination skills to begin learning the simplest words. He never made the usual baby sounds of cooing or gurgling. But tragedy began yet again for this courageous little fellow: he was struck with multiple boils all over the top of his head and was suffering from dehydration. No one knew why. With that latest incident, I, his 18 month old sister had had enough. I was too small to understand all the time and effort being given to care for Stan. I didn’t understand that my mother was not well, either. I began to lash out and the most obvious target of my unhappiness was Stan. While he was lying on a pallet on the floor, I began hitting him over the head, the source of his greatest discomfort. I can’t even began to imagine how my poor mother felt at this juncture. Here, she had a eighteen month old trying to assert her place in the pecking order of affection. But she also had a
nine month old son who not only had been very ill and near death, but was now mentally and physically challenged, and finally with boils on his entire head. Adding to all this, Mother was herself sick and Daddy was working day and night to support the family. I wonder. Did running away cross her mind, or Daddy’s? Did they think of just throwing up their hands in defeat and calling it quits? Not ever. Now, once again God in his divine providence intervened. My grandparents, Mema and Daddy Wiley were visiting and mother in her knowing way knew that I needed the attention which presently she could not give. Mother knew that I loved my Mema so she sent me home with them. She knew that Mema would give me what I needed most at that time. Yet, it seems that I resented, for many years, being sent away . I did not understand that mother was looking out for both Stan and me. Would Stan survive all that was burdening his small body, plus the jealousy of a sibling and her childish desire for equal time? We often forget the fortitude that we possess in times of trial. Stan had enough for a entire Army.
During this time Mother prayed without ceasing. Her prayers were not for things which were not in the realm of reality, but that Stan would be socially accepted in a world biased in their acceptance of that not perfect or ‘normal‘. Her faith and trust in God saw her thru the turbulent waters overwhelming her at this time in her life. Had it not been for her faith and trust in God, I truly believe that Stan would not have had a chance at life, much less survival in his desperate condition. He would have been lost in that myriad of hidden- forgotten people, due to non-acceptance from society at that time.
God answered mother’s prayer in the form of a wonderful physician. This physician’s name has been lost over the years. She taught mother exercises to train Stanley’s coordination. These same exercises are used today for sport and accident injuries. This same doctor put mother in touch with a child psychologist to test Stan’s intelligence. Due to the fact that Stan did not have anything but abstract cognizance ability at this time, he would throw temper tantrums because of his inability to verbally express his thoughts and feelings. This saint of a doctor gave mother advice which in this modern day and time would result in her arrest for child abuse, the child would be removed from his mother’s care. This doctor told mother that when Stan entered into one of his uncontrollable tantrum fits, to place him in a closet for a very short period. This, the doctor said, was to let Stan know, in his abstract language, that his behavior was unacceptable. The reasoning for this was to prevent further damage to the brain.
One day Stan went into one of his ‘famous’ fits. Mother took the doctor’s advise and put him in the closet for a very brief time. Once the door was closed, she stood outside and cried. She cried for having to take this unorthodox action, which though seeming inhuman, did help Stan to understand, where words had no effect. She cried for that small boy child alone in yet another dark place. She cried because this child could not make his wishes, hurts, needs or unhappiness known in the verbal world. She cried because this was her child and she loved better him than life itself. She cried because all she wanted was to be a mother and she felt a mother would not do this to her child. The closet ’treatment’ never had to be employed again. Stan was a quick study and he learned other means of making his wishes understood.
As Stan’s brain began to heal and the natural order of development started to come into play, he began to learn and he learned many things. His sphere of reasoning took over and began to compensate for lack of motor and language functions. The instinct of wanting to be mobile took a new form. Stan learned that he could pull himself around on the floor with his elbows, dragging his legs which were still in casts. He moved from one place to another, with relative efficiency, using this method. He was no longer as dependant on others to move him. He seemed thrilled with this accomplishment. Once this was mastered he figured out that by dragging himself to an object he could pull himself upright and stand, even in his casts. He found a bookshelf that served this purpose very well. He would drag himself to the bookshelf and stand. He still had not mastered sitting and walking, so a child’s walker was provided to aid in this advancement. Once he was placed in the walker and learned he could manuaver with his feet and legs, even in the casts, he was free. One must remember those casts were not the light weight casts of today. They were heavy plaster casts of the 1950’s. So Stan had to deal not only with the lack of motor skills, and the weight of those casts, but he was still unable to verbalize discomfort, and the inability to experience pain. This still was a small delicate but tough child of less than two years old.
February 1953 arrived, and what a month it was! It shall remain forever a red- letter month. On the 23 of February 1953 Stan was 19 months old-- and took his first step, unaided. He had done this in spite of being told he couldn’t, not being able to verbalize, and was still clad in heavy casts. The impossible, the improbable become a reality. The doctors were wrong. Stan still could and did achieve. He had determination and a sense of self-perseverance to over come his handicaps and inconveniences.
God had allowed this child to take a step closer to becoming accepted. Three days later on Feb.26,1953 another sibling arrived to help make Stan whole.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
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Stan's Story, A Touch of Love
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:A true story about success when failure was the only option
- 1 year ago
- Views: 273
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New Writers Group
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:WRITERS FREE MEETINGFlorida Writers Association will provide a public meeting Saturday, November 22, 3:30 - 5:00, at Morningside Library in Port St. Lucie. This will be a planning meeting led by author Yvonne Mason. Your writing will also be editorially reviewed. Come and meet other local writers. Question? Phone 772.879.3400
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
- Views: 256
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My Interview in the Scripps Ne
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:
This interview appeared in all four of the Scripps Newspapers this morning. The Fort Pierce Tribune, The Vero Beach Press, The Stuart News and the Port St Lucie News.
The interview was done by the respected and well known journalist Joe Crankshaw. The Link is below
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/oct/20/monday-chat-port-st-lucie-author-yvonne-mason-sewe/
Monday chat with Port St. Lucie author Yvonne Mason Sewell
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Port St. Lucie resident Yvonne Mason Sewell, 57, has a degree in criminal justice and has written a book about a former Martin County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was a serial killer, now published under the title “Silent Scream.”
Q. What is this book about?
A. It is about Gerard John Schaefer, a former Martin County deputy sheriff, who was convicted of killing two young women in St. Lucie County, may have killed another nine and bragged he had killed 34 young women. He was Florida’s first serial killer. He started killing young women as early as 1966, but no one knew he was doing it until 1972. He had been a deputy in Martin County for only four months. Before that he had served with the Wilton Manors Police Department but was fired. He used a forged letter to get on the Martin department. Law enforcement at that time did not communicate well with each other, and Martin needed deputies.
Q. How many people do we know he killed?
A. We know he killed at least nine. The last two bodies were found in 2007 in the Ocala National Forest, and they were the first two women he killed in 1966. That was Pamela Nater and Nancy Leichner. They vanished from Alexander Springs in 1966. Schaefer bragged about killing them, and their remains were found after he died in prison.
Q. How would he go about killing?
A. Gerard Schaefer would pick up young girls in pairs, who he would see walking about. He would take them to remote spots, such as Hutchinson Island. There he would bound and gag them, then hang them from a branch. They would be made to stand on a ladder or tree root, very precariously. Then he would proceed to torture, rape and mutilate one while the other had to watch and scream silently; hence the name of my book. He wasn’t finished when he killed them. He would bury them, and later return, dig them up and commit sex acts on them. When the bodies started deteriorating, he would chop them up and throw away the heads. He said that was the way to commit a perfect crime.
Q. What finally caught him?
A. In July of 1972, Nancy Trotter and Pamela Sue Wells had hitchhiked through Florida, and were at Jensen Beach. Schaefer was in his patrol car, saw them and told them hitchhiking was against the law. He said he would take them to the beach the next day. His wife was gone to the dentist. He picked them up and took them to Joe’s Pointe, then a wild area on Hutchinson Island. He bound and gagged them, and left them standing on mangrove roots with ropes around their neck. He was so confident he told them his name. But he didn’t kill them and went away. Sheriff Robert Crowder of Martin County thinks he may have left something he needed for the crime and went to get it. The girls managed to escape. Nancy Trotter ran down A1A and was found; Pamela Wells fled into the Indian River.
Q. What happened then, was that the end?
A. No. He had to resign but the judge let him out waiting trial and he killed two more women. Eventually, he was arrested, tried and convicted of murdering at least two women, and sent to Raiford, where he was killed by an inmate for informing on other prisoners.
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
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Brilliant Insanity
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:
- 1 year ago
- Views: 286
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Book Signing at Circle Books
- From: YvonneMason
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Description:
On November 8th from 11:00am - 1:oopm I will be signing my books at Circle Books in Sarasota. I not only will be signing my newest release Brilliant Insanity published by Kerlak Publishing - I will also be signing Stan's Story A Touch of Love and Silent Scream. I would love to see each and every one of you there.
Remember Circle Books from 11:00am to 1:00pm on Novemeber 8th.
I hope to see you there.
Yvonne Mason Author
- Blog post
- 1 year ago
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