…continued from page one
The 1st chapter gives you a summary of the events of that tragic weekend in the summer of 2007. It is thorough enough to give you a fairly clear picture on the events of that weekend, and also begins exposing and debating upon some of the evidence. For example using references to autopsy reports Muchnick gives you insight into what exactly were the causes of death.
From there you get chapters on the lives of Chris Benoit and his wife Nancy, as well as a recap of the problems Benoit had to live through as his close personal friends began to drop off like fly’s. These are expected chapters but not the strength of the book as it attempts to maintain the balance between telling the story of their lives without delving into too much detail. Depending on how much you know about Chris Benoit’s life you could love or hate these chapters as its easy to point out some of the missing information and point out what should of or should not of been included. That being said the life and times of Chris Benoit is not what this book is intended to be and not what you should be buying this book for, after all the title eludes to the fact that it wants to tell you the true story of the Benoit murder-suicide.
The most important question to answer then is whether or not the book is able to establish itself as the best reference tool when researching this topic. Covering the events of that weekend, the progression of who knew what and when, the Monday night tribute, the text messages, how the investigation was completed and how the media handled the entire mess, as well as the fallout from the tragedy including the Dr Phil Astin investigation and congress’s smackdown on the world of wrestling and it’s rampant substance use, this book is undoubtedly a strong reference tool. Along the way there is some conspiracy theory thinking and personal opinion which you may agree or disagree with. If you disagree with it you may be one to not put as much stock into what he is offering as the truth, but you shouldn’t as this is an extremely well written account of the tragic events.
Concluded on page three …
