The Darkest Night

Franscell was just a child when a brutal crime shattered his close-knit Casper, Wyoming, community in 1973, ending the life of one friend and forever changing the life of another. Franscell returns to examine the widespread effect of evil and its poisonous effect on the people and town of Casper. On a chilly autumn night in 1973, Casper, Wyoming' s picturesque steel bridge was the scene of a horrific crime.

Two young half-sisters, Amy Burridge and Becky Thomson, were abducted, raped, and thrown from the bridge into the swiftly flowing waters 110 feet below. Author and Casper native Ron Franscell was just a child when the crime shattered his close-knit community, brutally ending the life of one friend and neighbor and forever changing the life of another.

Unable to shake the demons of that night, Franscell returns 30 years later to examine the widespread effect of evil and its poisonous effect on the people and town of Casper. A gripping, poignant, and intensely personal narrative, Fall also explores the broader issues of survivor guilt, community justice, and crime' s lingering impact on society as a whole.

Review: Heartbreaking...not unlike Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. -- Chicago Sun-Times This uncommon story has every chilling component of human terror, drama and suspense that readers of true crime look for... I highly recommend this engaging book. --Vincent Bugliosi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Helter Skelter This is a very, very, good book... written by a very, very, good writer. --Ann Rule, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Stranger Beside Me and Green River Running Red It will haunt you long after you've read it.

A remarkable achievement. --C.J. BOX, bestselling author of Free Fire and Blue Heaven and Wyoming native Stand[s] out from the legion of true-crime books. The author here was an affected bystander, not a neutral observer... In the end, [ The Darkest Night ] is too horrifying to try to explain. -- Denver Post