Born and Raised to Murder

A Failure of Foster Care

Non-Fiction - Social Issues
264 Pages
Reviewed on 05/14/2024
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers' Favorite

Born and Raised to Murder: A Failure of Foster Care by Irene Sullivan is a fantastic peek behind the scenes of a foster care system that fails its wards. Following on from Raised By The Courts, A Failure of Foster Care delves into the case of 19-year-old Leo Boatman and what led him to kill two college kids in the Ocala National Forest, among other cases of neglect and abuse in the foster care system. Irene acted as a defense witness for Boatman, and her correspondence with him provides us with a unique insight into what led him to murder, giving us some insight into why he wound up on Death Row. With plenty of different perspectives from experts, this book provides us with a shocking look at a failing system and the consequences of those failures.

Born and Raised to Murder: A Failure of Foster Care by Irene Sullivan is an eye-opener. It isn’t for the faint-hearted, and it will shock you to the core. We are taught to believe that the foster care system is there to help and protect children, but sadly, that is often far from the case. This book is incredibly compelling reading, as it shines a light on what went wrong for Leo Boatman and shows us what led to him murdering two people he’d only met minutes before. It is a horrifying story, skillfully written, and all too disturbing, as it highlights how children are failed day after day by the very people put there to protect them. There is no excuse for murder, and this book doesn’t aim to excuse Boatman’s crimes, but it does allow us to see another side. This is a must-read for any fans of true crime, especially those who like to know what causes a person to snap and kill. It’s also a must-read for anyone interested in how the foster care system works – or doesn’t, in many cases.