"An engrossing true-crime story is elevated by Rear’s heft and energy in investigating the investigation . . . Compels readers' attention to the haunting acts of violence against women that shape their lives." - National Book Review
“Catch the Sparrow is true crime at its most personal and purposefulheartfelt and intimate, noble and determined, meticulous and brave.” —Robert Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD and LOST GIRLS
“Catch the Sparrow is a one-of-a-kind true crime narrative, meticulously reported and compellingly written. The real twist in Rachel Rear's pursuit of this cold case murder is the stunning relationship of the teller to the tale. No novelist could have invented it.” —Jonathan Dee, author of THE LOCALS and THE PRIVILEGES
“A poignant and honest memoir combined with a suspenseful tale of a vibrant young woman's senseless murder and the lengthy and often shocking investigation that followed, Catch the Sparrow is my favorite type of true crime bookcompassionate, compelling, and achingly, heartbreakingly real. I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come.” —Alison Gaylin, Edgar Award-winning author of THE COLLECTIVE
“In this engrossing account of the murder of a step-sister she never met, Rachel Rear shows us how complex the relationship between victim, perpetrator and those affected by loss can be. Like the best true crime books, it transcends the genre.” —Dean Haycock, author of MURDEROUS MINDS
“Compellingly suspenseful reading. But the book's greatest strength by far is the way it evokes the 'fragility of [human] existence' while reminding readers of the terrifying and random violence to which women continue to be subjected, both at home and in the world. A chillingly candid memoir and work of true crime.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Rear's work is both thoroughly researched and deeply intimate . . . An insightful, moving tribute that will resonate with readers who appreciate a blend of true crime and memoir, such as Ellen McGarrahan's Two Truths and a Lie.” —Library Journal
“The mystery of someone's disappearance or death compels people to find answers. Here, Rear methodically unravels the death of her stepsister, Stephanie . . . readers will appreciate the detail and care Rear takes to reach the culmination of the case.” —Booklist
“Engrossing . . . This combination of true crime inquiry and revelatory memoir will linger in readers' minds long after they finish it.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Rachel Rear's beautiful, heartbreaking memoir is also a fierce interrogation of violence against women in American culture, and essential reading to understand the experience of the families left behind.” —Crimereads
"Compelling . . . Exceptional . . . Chilling." - Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA)
"A true-crime saga that is as much an emotional and psychological journey for Rear, untangling the life and murder of a stepsister whom she never met, as it is a revisiting of the homicide investigation." - Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
11/01/2021
In 1991 Stephanie Kupchynsky, the author's stepsister, disappeared from her apartment in Greece, NY, before a trip; her bones were found years later in a nearby county. Although they never met (Stephanie had already gone missing when Rear's mother married Stephanie's father), Rear (a public-school language arts teacher, writing her first book) felt drawn to her stepsister and compelled to tell her story. As Rear explored Stephanie's life, particularly the days leading up to her death, she discovered similarities between her own life and her stepsister's, which deepens her connection. Rear describes the investigation into the disappearance, particularly the lengths that Stephanie's loved ones went to in order to find her. Police suspicion eventually fell on Ed Laraby, a maintenance worker in Stephanie's apartment complex who'd been previously convicted of rape, and police obtained a confession from him. Rear's work is both thoroughly researched and deeply intimate as she details her own life, speculates about Laraby's mindset, and conveys the impact of Stephanie's death on friends and family. VERDICT An insightful, moving tribute that will resonate with readers who appreciate a blend of true crime and memoir, such as Ellen McGarrahan's Two Truths and a Lie.—Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
2021-10-07
A New York City public schoolteacher’s account of her quest to discover the truth behind her stepsister’s brutal murder.
Rear was 14 when her stepsister, Stephanie, vanished from her Greece, New York, apartment in 1991. At the time of Stephanie's disappearance, the author still lived with her mother and father, “who was a cruel man, abusive by any measure.” Rear’s mother married Stephanie’s widowed father seven years later; not long after that, Stephanie's remains were discovered in a shallow creek several miles outside of town. Rear unsuccessfully tried writing about her stepsister, a "beloved violin teacher," months before her stepfather died in 2009, but it would not be until 2015, six years after a Greece police chief had quietly reopened Stephanie’s case, that the author decided to investigate her death. “She’s become more than my muse now; she’s my creation. I see her now when I look in the mirror,” writes the author. The details that slowly emerged told a troubling story that began with the gentle stepfather Rear had known. Friends revealed that Jerry had been mentally and physically abusive and that Stephanie had been in therapy since childhood. Further research revealed that Stephanie, who was periodically depressed, had endured further trauma from a boyfriend who forced her to have an abortion. The gradual revelations Rear makes about her gifted stepsister’s life—along with the tense cat-and-mouse story of how two police investigators elicited a confession from the psychopathic serial rapist who killed Stephanie—make for compellingly suspenseful reading. But the book’s greatest strength by far is the way it evokes the “fragility of [human] existence” while reminding readers of the terrifying and random violence to which women continue to be subjected, both at home and in the world.
A chillingly candid memoir and work of true crime.