Wish You Were Here (book)
| File:WishYouWereHerebook.jpg | |
| Author | John Allore and Patricia Pearson |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre | True crime, Autobiography |
| Publisher | Penguin Random House |
Publication date | September 22, 2020 |
Published in English | September 2020 |
| Media type | Print, Audio, E-Book |
| Pages | 376 |
| ISBN | 0735277168 Search this book on  . |
Wish You Were Here: A Murdered Girl, a Brother's Quest and the Hunt for a Serial Killer is a 2020 book, part investigative journalism and part memoir, by John Allore and Patricia Pearson about the 1978 unsolved murder of Theresa Allore.
Summary[edit]
19-year-old Theresa Allore was a Canadian college student who vanished on November 3, 1978, from the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Her body was discovered five months later, on April 13, 1979, approximately one kilometer from her dormitory residence. Authorities initially suggested she was a suicide, the victim of a drug overdose, or perhaps was accidentally killed, then disposed of with the assistance of fellow college students.
The Allore family, assisted by investigative reporter and friend, Patricia Pearson, developed compelling evidence suggesting she was murdered, and that her death was linked to the unsolved cases of 10-year-old Manon Dube in March 1978 and Louise Camirand in 1977. The book links two other unsolved murders from that era; the 1977 deaths of Helen Monast from Chambly,[1] and Denise Bazinet from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.[2] Wish You Were Here suggested systemic and criminal investigative failures at the hands of the Quebec police allowed for a serial sexual predator named Luc Gregoire to operate in the Quebec region in the late 1970s.[3]
Gregoire moved to Alberta in the late 1980s. In 1993 he was charged with the murder of a 7-Eleven clerk in Calgary. Gregoire was given an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. He died in Quebec's Archambault prison in 2015. He is suspected of several other 1993 murders in the Calgary area.
The book ultimately is a study of perception and memory ending with the words, "Closure. I've never heard a crime victim use that word. It always comes from the mouth of a journalist, or an inexperienced justice activist. They've heard someone else use it when discussing victims' issues, so the figure it must be right."[4]
Critical reception[edit]
Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls and Hidden Valley Road, said:[5]
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.
According to Don Gillmor, Governor General’s Literary Award̶ winning author of To the River, said that "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."[5]
According to Jessica McDiarmid, bestselling author of the RBC Taylor Prize finalist Highway of Tears, "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."[5]
James FitzGerald, Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize-winning author of What Disturbs Our Blood, likewise said of the book: “Unfolding as a hard-headed, finely detailed mystery, the story gradually leads us into a deeper pool of reflection on the alchemy of trauma, loss and memory, and its rippling, lifelong effects. In this shared labour of love, we taste the elusive vapour of ‘proof’ and ‘closure,’ the spiritual dangers of gazing too long into the abyss."[5]
Continuing investigation[edit]
John Allore hosts the podcast Who Killed Theresa?, concentrating on unsolved murders in Quebec, and other justice issues. He launched one of the first crime blogs and the website theresaallore.com, which is now a trove of information on unsolved cases in Canada and the US.[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ Allore and Pearson (2020). Wish You Were Here. Penguin Random House. p. 284. ISBN 978-0735277168. Search this book on
- ↑ Allore and Pearson (2020). Wish You Were Here. Penguin Random House. p. 285. ISBN 978-0735277168. Search this book on
- ↑ Allore and Pearson (2020). Wish You Were Here. Penguin Random House. pp. 263–290. ISBN 978-0735277168. Search this book on
- ↑ Allore and Pearson (2020). Wish You Were Here. Penguin Random House. p. 321. ISBN 978-0735277168. Search this book on
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Praise". Penguin Random House Canada. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Allore and Pearson (2020). Wish You Were Here. Penguin Random House. p. 377. ISBN 978-0735277168. Search this book on
External links[edit]
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