Reviews for Wolves among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community

The average rating for Wolves among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-07-16 00:00:00 Alexandre Lacasse It is a rare occurrence when a published novel is used as a victim’s impact statement in a parole hearing, but that is exactly what happened with this book. In Wolves Among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community; author James Kostelniuk relives the tragic events surrounding the murders of his ex wife Kim Anderson, and their two children Lindsay (8) and Juri (10). The three were cold bloodedly gunned down in their own home by Kim’s estranged husband Jeff Anderson. The story begins in Manitoba, with RCMP on Kostelniuk’s doorstep informing him about the tragic incident that took place in Burnaby, BC on August 29, 1985. In his narration of the events leading up to the fatal event the author recalled his traumatic upbringing within the Jehovah’ Witness community that included strict beliefs and public shunnings. At his own children’s funeral he was forced to sit at the back of the church, and his name was deliberately excluded as a family member. Determined to find out what lead up to the tragedy James and his new wife Marge eventually began corresponding with the murderer with hopes of find out why the tragedy occurred. However, instead of answers the couple sought they were dragged into a web of deceit as Anderson attempts to use them as pawns for an earlier parole. I found this story heartbreaking on so many levels. James’ personal torment is evident as he fights to maintain contact with his children from Manitoba, while he struggles with his faith in general. A faith that is shattered when he discovers that the tragedy could have been prevented if Kim’s attempts to gain assistance from the Jehovah Witness’s in BC had not fallen on deaf ears. In a story that is both riveting and disturbing, it is evident that writing Wolves Among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community was part of James’ personal healing process, and a memorial to his children’s lives.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-02-12 00:00:00 Jason Burgher I think to start off with it needs to be said that this is a True Crime Novel, which tells a story of murder and is not for sensitive readers. It tells the story of James Kostelniuk a former Jehovah’s Witness who’s was shunned from the organization and banned from seeing his two children or having any contact with his ex-wife. It is the gut wrenching story told by James himself of the despair and guilt and the struggle with everyday life he went through trying to come to terms with the murder of his children and ex-wife by the hands of her estranged husband Jim Anderson. James had gone as far as to write letters to Jim in Jail trying to gain better understanding of why he did what he did. In cases like these how can you possible explain why you did something so horrid, is there really an answer that is good enough? In this book James takes you right to the beginning of how he became involved with the Jehovah Witnesses as well as how he met Kim, when they had their children Juri and Lindsay and what started driving their marriage apart. I found the book very informative on the views of Jehovah witnesses as well, so in that sense it was quite educational. I did not realize the amount of restrictions they lived with. This was a very sad story, but a definite page turner for me.