⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent account of a surviving family member navigating tragedy

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2022

Unfortunately, I belong to the same club as Ruth Markel, although it was my sister who was murdered. This book describes so well the agony of waiting for justice, the stress of the trial process, the unending grief of someone’s life taken so suddenly and way too soon.

My situation does not however involve the incredible restraint Ruth has had to navigate around her grandsons who were heinously ripped from her world by a person who, very likely, played a role in her son’s murder. I can’t imagine the torture of having to play in this person’s web in order to preserve, or hope to preserve, a connection with the only remaining remnants of her son’s life, beyond memories.

Those boys should be connected to all of their family, period. This absence will haunt those boys their entire lives as they try to piece together their origin stories. This book, hopefully, will stand as a testament for them about who their father was, how important they were to him and how hard his family sought to retain a connection with them against all odds. I hope that resolves someday for all of them.

People like me are out here rooting for and praying for this family and for the correct consequences to fall. Ruth is a very strong woman, yet straight up about her vulnerability through all of this. It’s not easy, I know.

I read this book in two days and am so glad she wrote it, for many reasons. I learned a lot, felt validated a lot and felt like I got to know Dan much better. Thank you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting and gripping true-life account written by a loving mother and grandmother

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2022

This is a must-read for anyone who cares about the murder case and cares about getting justice for slain law professor Dan Markel. In this heart-wrenching memoir, Dan’s mother Ruth Markel gives incredible detail about her son’s life, his murder, and how it has affected her. She goes on to give advice to others who may have lost loved ones due to violence. This gives another, much deeper side of what really happened in the years leading up to as well as after Dan Markel was murdered. Ruth Markel is a powerful writer who leaves the reader with hope that justice will eventually prevail.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Everything Is Illuminated

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2022

For anyone who has ever lost a loved one and had to dig deep to find the strength to keep going, The Unveiling is for you. With incredible candor and vulnerability, Ruth Markel shares the deepest wound a mother can have with us. It is a powerful journey of strength, resilience, and perseverance in a long quest for justice. Eight years after Dan Markel’s cold-blooded murder, the true masterminds behind his murder-for-hire have not been arrested and/or convicted. If you read, listen to, or watch anything else about Dan Markel’s life and death, it is markedly incomplete without the context and behind-the-scenes insights in The Unveiling. Read what other authors/reporters are too afraid, too uninformed, or too inclined toward a partial view to write. Share Ruth’s courageous journey to healing and justice. You’ll be glad you did.