Pretty long for a True Crime novel, and not nearly as well written as some others I've read. Many grammatical errors and spell-check misses. But seemed to give actual facts based on interviews and police reports, without being overly "enhanced". ( )

true crime, murder, family, incest, sexual violence, abuse, children, father, novel, Florida, child abuse, death row, novel, hardcover

Fascinating tale of an incredibly horrific family in which the father achieves total domination over his wife and children. The story grows increasingly dark as an incredible web of incest is revealed, as is the complicity of the mother.
Reasonably well written, but the copy editing is pretty sloppy. ( )

Article first published as Book Review: House of Secrets by Lowell Cauffiel on Blogcritics.House of Secrets is the story of the very dysfunctional Sexton family. Eddie Lee, his wife and children. Dysfunctional is not strong enough a word. Incest, abuse, torture, satanic rituals and, yes, all this led to murder. You have to read it to believe it.Lately, I have become addicted to true crime and have read many — all of them disturbing but in different ways. House of Secrets made me sick. Not like other true crime books did with killings and blood — this book had those, too — what made me sick was that this was a family. Parents who are supposed to love and protect their children did just the opposite. They abused them, brainwashed them, had sexual relations with them, boys and girls. I could go on and on. Grandchildren who are really not grandchildren but the father's children.I was shaking my head just about the entire time that I read this. Where were the social workers? Child protection? Teachers reported things, but for whatever reasons these people fell through the cracks and were never caught — until one daughter had enough and told it all, breaking the ice for her sisters and brothers to choose to reveal how they were forced to live. The authorities finally caught up with them but not before they murdered at least two people.The writing was excellent. Author Lowell Cauffiel did a very good job transporting the reader into the sick world of the Sexton family. My heart goes out to these innocent children whose lives were ruined by their parents.If you like true crime, this is a book for you. Read more: http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-house-of-secrets-by/#ixzz1J36hy... ( )

House of Secrets is probably the most twisted true crime book I've ever read. It's just such a sad case. It's even sadder when you realize that the social workers, police officers, and lawyers had tons of chances to do right by these children and by Joel Sexton, yet ultimately intervened a little too late. Had they acted right when the first got an initial complaint, I have no doubt in my mind that more lives would have been saved. It's sick what Eddie Sexton did, but it's even more sick that he escaped detection for so long.

House of Secrets was meticulously researched. This book held my interest from the first page right up until the last page. I couldn't have stopped even if I wanted to. However, I do have to say that House of Secrets does have some clunky writing. Lowell Cauffiel doesn't tell the story in one straight narrative, but rather shifts around through the timeline. Not only that, but he refers to the people in this story (particularly the Sexton children) to their actual names, nicknames, and, when appropriate, their married names. It's very confusing. It took me a while to figure out who exactly he was referring to. I thought he should've picked one name to call each person and stuck with throughout the whole book. But other than that, House of Secrets was a good read that is definitely not for the faint of heart. ( )