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Wish You Were Here

A Murdered Girl, a Brother's Quest and the Hunt for a Canadian Serial Killer

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Wish You Were Here

Written by: John Allore, Patricia Pearson
Narrated by: Francoise Balthazar
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About this listen

As compelling as Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark or James Ellroy's My Dark Places, this is the story of a brother's lifelong determination to find the truth about his sister's death, a police force that was ignoring the cases of missing and murdered women, and, to the surprise of everyone involved, a previously undiscovered serial killer.

In the fall of 1978, teenager Theresa Allore went missing near Sherbrooke, Quebec. She wasn't seen again until the spring thaw revealed her body in a creek only a few kilometers away. Shrugging off her death as a result of 1970s drug culture, police didn't investigate.

Patricia Pearson started dating Theresa's brother, John, during the aftermath of Theresa's death. Though the two teens would go their separate ways, the family's grief, obsession with justice, and desire for the truth never left Patricia. Little did she know, the shock waves of Theresa's death would return to her life repeatedly over the next 40 years.

In 2001, John had just moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife and young children, when the cops came to the door. They had determined that a young girl had been murdered and buried in the basement. John wondered: If these cops could look for this young girl, why had nobody even tried to find out what happened to Theresa? Unable to rest without closure, he reached out to Patricia, by now an accomplished crime journalist and author, and together they found answers far bigger and more alarming than they could have imagined - and a legacy of violence that refused to end.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 John Allore and Patricia Pearson (P)2020 Penguin Random House Canada
True Crime Young Adult Disappearance
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What the critics say

"Wish You Were Here is an investigation intimate and mournful in nature, yet heroic in its level of forensic detail. By bearing witness to how a malefactor slips through the cracks of a haphazard, morally bankrupt system, infected by misogyny and cronyism - and how the legacy of that injustice connects to further calamity - the brave authors take back some of what is lost, bringing some measure of justice to an unending spiral of tragedy.” (Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls and Hidden Valley Road)

Wish You Were Here is at once a riveting mystery, an astute analysis of sexual violence, an investigation of a police force, and a study in grief and loss. On all levels it succeeds brilliantly. An engrossing, heartbreaking and necessary book.” (Don Gillmor, Governor General’s Literary Award̶ winning author of To the River)

Wish You Were Here is a heartbreaking story of the murder of Theresa Allore and a fierce, brave investigation ... Infuriating, gripping and devastating, Wish You Were Here is also a heartfelt memorial to Theresa, and a testament to her family, who have never stopped seeking justice for her and many others who were stolen.” (Jessica McDiarmid, best-selling author of the RBC Taylor Prize finalist Highway of Tears)

What listeners say about Wish You Were Here

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Bringing life to words

This is an interesting story that seeks to project the many emotions that accompany the unsolved murder of a loved one.

Necessarily integral to the effective sharing of these emotions, be they astonishment, incredulity, despair, angst, ebbing hope and, finally, loss is the ability of the author to convey them.

In this Audible version the Narrator does, by way of her intonations, accents, timely silences, a superb job of conveying them. Whether it be astonishment and despair at unbased assumptions by uninformed police agents or angst with the dismissiveness of inept investigators, she is able to bring life to the written word so that the reader can actually experience all of those feelings, feel that « punch in the gut » setback, roil in anger at the lack of progress of the case, a jolt of hope and then despair and resignation...masterful.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Tragic incompetence uncovered

Unfortunate and tragic mistreatment of crimes against women. I was in disbelief about the treatment of the Allore family by the police force involved in the investigation of the crime, and the level of demonstrated incompetence. A must read for anyone interested in prevention of tragic discrimination against women.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Honest, painful and thorough

A true crime book made all the more tragic based on the author's connection to the central victim, his beloved sister.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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WYWH

It was very well told and very realistic with no complete closure. The corruption and views of police over the decades is fascinating. As is their continuation of protection of themselves

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Accents and Voices are distracting

A captivating story that is overpwetrd by numerous stereotypical accents and unnecessary funny voices. I wanted to give up many times but toughed it out, out of respect for the victims

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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The book was great

The book was interesting and gave good facts about the police not juat this case. They went over factual studies relating to the case. The only thing is the Quebecois accent was a little awkward.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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The french accents are insulting

Great read but very insulting Quebec accents. very unnecessary. my heart goes out to the family in this triggering frustrating case.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Audio was so slow

Audio voice was so slow that I couldn’t get into the book. Sadly won’t be continuing the book because of this. Her voice just isn’t one that should read true crime.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Hated the ending

great performance, however the story is all over the place.
i wish it ended differently.
Gave more information on where the people are now

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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The voice actor!

The story is well written. It’s a sad tale from a brother who has been haunted too long and the ending just sums up perfectly what it is to grieve. But the voice actor! Oh, I couldn’t stand the way she did accents for the male voices! If you can get past that, it is worth a read!

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