By Kim Cantrell

I have read my fair share of books that were written in a rush to be the first published about a high profile case, but none can match the quickness of that written by Joe Treen and Maria Eftimiades about the Katie Beers case titled My Name Is Katherine.

Katie Beers was the 9-year-old who disappeared in December 1992, just a day or so before her tenth birthday.

Katie’s, or Katherine as she preferred to be called, story even before her abduction is a very sad one.

Born to a single mother who did not even known the identity of her father (a one night stand following a night of bar hopping), Katie was often left to fend for herself at a very young age. And when she wasn’t managing her own survival, she was used as an errand and servant to her mother, Marilyn Beers, and godmother, Linda Inghilleri.

Before she was abducted, Katie was molested by Linda’s husband, Sal. Although he was charged with the crime, Linda filed for custody of Katie; claiming Marily unfit.

And there is John Esposito, a family friend of all parties. Despite allegations of sexual abuse by John Beers, Katie’s older half brother, at the hands of Esposito, Katie was frequently allowed to accompany Esposito to his home and on shopping trips.

Then Katie disappeared. For 16 days, police searched for her with a strong focus on Esposito; where eventually they would find her buried in a bunker beneath the his home.

To even call Treed and Eftimiades authors would be a gross overstatement. These two people, both in the writing business, should be ashamed of themselves. My Name Is Katherine is nothing but the rewriting of published newspaper accounts and police records of the case.

No interviews. No research. Absolutely no originality whatsoever.

Even a majority of the photos are taken from newspapers.

And remember my pet peeve about books written before trial date? It most definitely applies here.

Don’t waste your time or effort with this one.

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Books Written By Maria Eftimiades

Sins of the Mother
by Maria Eftimiades, Maria Eftimades
3.64 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1995
My rating:

Lethal Lolita A true story of sex, scandal and deadly obsession
by Maria Eftimiades
2.93 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1992 — 2 editions
My rating:

Secrets from the Grave
by Maria Eftimiades
3.17 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 1998
My rating:

Garden of Graves
by Maria Eftimiades
He was a beloved family physician and a ruthless doctor of death who almost got away with murder.
It was a friendly hunting trip– two men kicking back, shooting at clay pigeons on campgrounds near rural Montrose, Pa. Then, a single shot rang out. Moments later, Marty Dillon, a promising young lawyer, was dead of a gunshot wound to the chest. His friend, Dr. Stephen Scher, later tearfully explained that Dillon had been running with a shotgun after a porcupine, and tripped and fell, accidentally killing himself. But what really happened?

Marty Dillon’s violent death was immediately declared an accident by the local coroner in 1976. But as Dillon’s body was lowered into the cold ground, did a damning secret, one that would haunt his friends and family for decades, go with him?
3.00 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1993 — 2 editions
My rating:

My Name Is Katherine
by Maria Eftimiades, Maria Eftimiades
2.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1993
My rating:

My Name Is Katherine
by Maria Eftimiades, Maria Eftimiades
2.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1993

Sins Of The Mother
by Maria Eftimiades
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
My rating:

Lolita
by Maria Efatimiades, Maria Eftimiades
0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1992

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Maria Eftimiades, a journalist for more than a decade, is was the New York City bureau chief for People magazine. Maria Eftimiades has also written five books including Sins of the Mother, The Susan Smith Story and Lethal Lolita, The Amy Fisher Story. Maria Eftimiades has worked as a reporter, columnist and community editor for the New York Times, New York Newsday, Stamford Advocate, Bergen Record and Dallas Morning News. Maria Eftimiades

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Books written by Maria Eftimiades

Garden of Graves: The Deadly Passion of the Long Island Serial Killer
by Maria Eftimiades

Lethal Lolita: A True Story of Sex, Scandal and Deadly Obsession
by Maria Eftimiades

My Name Is Katherine: The True Story of Katie Beers, the Little Girl Who Survived an Underground Dungeon of Horror
by Maria Eftimiades , Joe Treen

Secrets from the Grave
by Maria Eftimiades

Sins of the Mother
by Maria Eftimiades

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