Alice & Gerald

A Homicidal Love Story

By: Ron Franscell

Narrated by: Chris Lutkin

True-crime master Ron Franscell tells the grisly story of Alice and Gerald Uden, a loving couple who murdered at least four people and lived happily ever after - while cops tried for decades to piece together a petrifying tale of murder and secrets.

In 1974, Alice, a desperate young mother in a gritty Wyoming boomtown, kills her husband and dumps his body where it will never be found, then slips away and starts a new life. But when her new man's ex-wife and two kids start demanding more of him, Alice delivers an ultimatum: fix the problem or lose her forever. With Alice's help, Gerald fixes the problem in an extraordinarily ghastly way...and they live happily ever after...that is, until 2013, almost 40 years later, when somebody finds a dead man's skeleton in a place where Alice thought he'd never be found.

This pause-resister by best-selling true-crime author Ron Franscell revisits a shocking cold case that was finally solved just when the murderers thought they'd never be caught.

©2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC (P)2019 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Deep Dark Putrid Hole

2.8 STARS As far as the story goes, it's a crazy story, it just wasn't presented and told well here, imo. The hole in this story is deep and dark and disgusting. Be mindful of the dark hole. In it lies death and decay and rot. It's a hot mess (well, not so hot as it is cold, very cold). Another true crime book that is worth checking out. I am a picky reviewer and don't give out 4 and 5 stars lightly. You gotta WOW me...sorry. It's enough to satisfy the need for a little true crime in your life.

A scorpion, a clumsy oaf & a parade of detectives

A genuinely engrossing listen. Rather than mastermind criminals and doggedly motivated investigators, it's a story more of the mundane stupidity of criminals and law enforcement alike, Which is not to say that there aren't a numerous well-intentioned detectives presented, all in some way deterred from the case, either by lack of resources or institutional inertia. That's one part of the book of which I may take slight issue. I found increasingly unlikely the presentation of a string of investigators with hearts of gold, promising resolution, only to fail. It became more of a trope, to rationalize the long delayed justice of the crimes of a couple of not-too-brilliant killers. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely, virtually a non-stop listen for a long plane flight.

Suspense, fine writing, intriguing characters!

In this gem you get not only suspense, fine writing and intriguing characters but a solid, nuanced performance. Narrator is spot on time after time, his accent perfect for the material. Of my many dozens of Audible true crime listens, this is among the very top.

HORRIBLE narration!

This novel is well-researched and well-written. I will give the author credit for taking time to dig into emotions, dialogues, and context, which a lot of true crime authors do not do. Many true crime books are simply a long and boring account of the trial and interrogation, because these are elements which are already written up. Franscell doesn't rely on this, and I commend him for not doing so.

If you're listening in the Audible app, however, save yourself the torture. The narrator is atrocious. He has no concept of sentence or paragraph pauses, or even basic words in some places. In some places of the book, it's maddeningly sped up, in others, excruciatingly slow and monotone. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and this was truly one of the worst narrators I've encountered. Please don't listen to this book. A shame that a great story had to be read by someone with the oration skills of a middle schooler.

A pretty good listen

The narration isn't "horrible", it's a little clipped, but it's not awful. The only thing I didn't like about the book was all the detail he goes into about one specific investigator, I thought that whole backstory was kind of irrelevant, especially since (like so many others) he ended up retiring and passing it on to someone else. The most interesting thing about this story, as it is written, is how a few inept police departments who don't ask enough questions, and two people who know a few really good hiding places, can result in neglected victims, and injustice for the victim's families.