Rating: 
Summary: Shocking and it's True!
Review: An excellent book a must read to all True Crime fans. I mean it seems farfetched all of it the rituals, the tortures, and the abuse. When I saw the picture of Eddie Lee Sexton and his wife Estella it really disturbed me to think how they could ever treat their own blood, their children like that and yet act like nothing was going on. One thing is for sure this book will make you wonder if other families such as the Sextons exist out there and if they do God help us all.
Rating:
Summary: a must-read
Review: As a life-long resident of Canton, I had heard heres-and-theres of the Sexton's, which is what aroused my interest to buy the book. I couldn't put it down, and I'm not someone who regularly gets like that with books. The author is not the best writer, in my humble opinion (there are a lot of punctuation errors and some of the text can be unclear at times, although there are a lot of people in the family), but I'm trained as a journalist, so I can't help but notice mistakes. The book really leads you to wonder about who your neighbors really are and makes your skin crawl.
Rating:
Summary: a must-read
Review: As a life-long resident of Canton, I had heard heres-and-theres of the Sexton's, which is what aroused my interest to buy the book. I couldn't put it down, and I'm not someone who regularly gets like that with books. The author is not the best writer, in my humble opinion (there are a lot of punctuation errors and some of the text can be unclear at times, although there are a lot of people in the family), but I'm trained as a journalist, so I can't help but notice mistakes. The book really leads you to wonder about who your neighbors really are and makes your skin crawl.
Rating:
Summary: Why didn't the "system" stop the abuse of this family?
Review: As I was reading this well-written book, I kept asking myself, with all the police officers, social workers, neighbors and relatives who were involved at different levels in this family's lives, how did Eddie Sexton get away with all these unspeakable acts? To think that in this day and age, someone in our very own neighborhoods could be doing what he did is very scary and very sad. I've read many true crime books but none has had the impact that this one did. I think it is because many talk about what strangers do to strangers. This is a father and mother, who are supposed to protect and love their children above all else. I truly believe that Edddie Sexton epitomizes the word "dysfunction". My heart goes out to ALL of his children because they were living the world he had created for them. None had a clue as to normal. Mr. Cauffiel did a superb job investigating and reporting this tragic true horror story.
Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: First off, I do have to agree with the most recent review written by "A Reader" down below. I found myself a little confused with the names of 12 Sexton kids AND all their nicknames, relatives - and then the fact that both parents had named children after them and after other relatives. It was a bit overwhelming at first but I got used to it as the book went on. The photos helped put faces with names, too.
I have read Masquerade and Forever & Five Days in the past, both the recommended by my mother. I grew up in the metro Detroit area, but I was just a little girl and don't remember these cases when they made the area news - but it was strange to read of all of these places mentioned in Masquerade that are so close to home. Needless to say, I enjoyed the first two Lowell Cauffiel books I read and I am surprised it took me this long to get to House of Secrets.
House Of Secrets and all it contained just stunned me. It stunned me to think about what these children went through and that this was "normal" for them. These parents were disgusting, completely disfunctional. As a mother myself, knowing that May Sexton allowed and even partook in the abuse just horrified me.
This book is definitely not for those who don't like to be shocked and shocked again.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and shocking
Review: I am still haunted by this book and the incredibly disturbing story of this family. What scares me is that there are other families like this out there that we don't know about!
I can't imagine growing up in such a disgusting environment.
If anything, it will make you appreciate your family more....
Rating:
Summary: Couldnt put it down
Review: I had to give this book five stars. Lowell Cauffiel did an amazing job getting all the facts for this twisted family. Ed Sexton and his wife were demented people and the only people suffering from this was his children.It really made me think about how lucky i am to have a good family.. Theres some sick, twisted people out in the world
Rating:
Summary: I could not stop reading
Review: I just finished reading House of Secrets about 2 hours ago. I just picked up the book at the library on Wednesday. I was not able to stop reading it. I am from Youngstown, Ohio-about 1 hour away from Canton. Since I live so close to the "crime scene", this effects me very personally. My heart goes out to those children. It makes me furious to know there are people like Eddie Lee and Estella living. They should be made to suffer the same type of abuse as their innocent children. My heart also goes out to the family of Joel M. Good. I praise the hard work of Ready,Anne Greene, the Stark County DHS, and the efforts of the foster parents of these children. I, too, wonder what has become or will become of the children. What type of lives will they lead? Will they be able to function in this world? I would like a follow up story. I hope to see it soon.
Rating:
Summary: Mindblowing
Review: I just read some scathing commentary on L. Cauffiel's Forever and Five Days. I decided to see what the commentary was on this masterpiece of a story Buried Secrets, and low and behold, here we go again.... I'm reading about spelling errors. What in heck does that have to do with the story or the writing?This is a page-turner that most authors would give 5 years of their lives to be able to relay as well as Cauffiel has and someone is barking about commas and spelling. WHO CARES??? I happen to be a pretty good speller and I really did not notice any errors, I was too busy reading the story. Next, someone complained that they didn't want to see the dead baby picture. How could you read a story this unbelievably disturbing and freak out about the picture? That picture more than anything else drove home to me that this bizarre tale actually occurred. I wish there were more pictures. Not necessarily of dead babies, but as thorough as this story was told, it did make me want to find out more, very much like the Mansion Family books. If you just see a photo of Charlie Manson as weird as he is, can you really understand the gravity of his crimes? Its the photos of the murders and the horror they invoke that bring it to hideous life. I'm hoping that most of us are so removed from this type of experience that it is hard to believe. My life has been good. I'm not a ghoul, but I do need pictures or I can't grasp these atrocities. I think it is important that we do not hide or heads in the sand because that's how this creep Eddie Sexton managed to evade capture all those decades. I want to be as aware as possible of the Eddie Sextons of this world. I think that was one of the chief purposes of this book. Ps. Sorry if I misspelled. Again, thanks Lowell, you are amazingly good. Keep it up please. SH
Rating:
Summary: awesome read
Review: I really enjoyed this story, even though its a very sad story. I mean the dad, and mom both abused these 12 kids and managed to get them to do things they didnt want to really do for there dad including murder. The daughter killed her 8 month old son by overdosing him on ny-quil and then smothering him to shut him up so her father wouldnt get upset, then they kill her husband out of fear that he's going to say something to the authorities, and go on with life as if nothing is wrong. The true hero is the oldest daughter (machelle) who finally speaks up and draws attention to the right people for help. These kids had a horrible childhood, the dad married the daughters and had sex with them,and his sons too! the mom was just as sick as the dad because she not only helped hide what was going on, and didnt protect her children but she participated in it also. Im glad they got caught and are paying for what they did, at least justice was finally served. This is definately a book i would read again.
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