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  • Murder on Birchleaf Drive

  • The True Story of the Michelle Young Murder Case
  • Written by: Steven B. Epstein
  • Narrated by: Eddie Frierson
  • Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (20 ratings)

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Murder on Birchleaf Drive

Written by: Steven B. Epstein
Narrated by: Eddie Frierson
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Publisher's Summary

Was Jason the monster who bludgeoned his beautiful wife to death, leaving his toddler alone for hours to walk through her blood? If so - would he get away with it? 

To the outside world, Jason and Michelle Young lived a storybook life - an attractive couple with great jobs, a beautiful home, a precocious two-year-old daughter, and a baby boy on the way.    

Soon after the 29-year-old pregnant mother’s brutally beaten body was discovered on their bedroom floor, a very different picture emerged. Of a marriage crumbling at its foundation. Of a meddlesome New York mother-in-law whose running critique left Jason frustrated and angry. Of a 32-year-old man who behaved like a frat boy rebelling against adult responsibilities. 

Murder on Birchleaf Drive documents the gripping tale of a family’s marathon quest for justice, confounding crime scene evidence, the persistence of law enforcement officers, and riveting courtroom combat. 

“One of the best true crime books I have read.” (David S. Rudolf, featured attorney, The Staircase [Netflix])

©2019 Steven B. Epstein (P)2019 Steven B. Epstein

What listeners say about Murder on Birchleaf Drive

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  • sd
  • 2019-09-07

loved it!!

lots of detail but never boring.
Best true crime book I have listened to in a long time.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

More about the Trial then Crime

If you like trial stories then you will like this as there are 3 trials which makes this book very repetitive. I had to stop listening. I will goggle to see how 3rd trial ended rather than listen to the same information again. I prefer crime stories not trial details.

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1 person found this helpful

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Worth a listen

I couldn’t stop listening to this compelling story of a tragic murder and its aftermath. Reader was excellent.

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1 person found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Well Written but Poor Narration

I very much enjoyed this book but the narration was very off-putting. The narrator does voices for the direct quotes; these are jarring and annoying as he employs hokey accents.
I almost didn’t finish it because of the narrator but persevered as the book tells an insightful story of one man’s narcissism.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A great story ruined by the narration

This is such a great interesting gripping true crime drama! However, the narration is so annoying I struggled to listen to the entire thing. When the narrator is reading the story it’s great, then he goes into character during the parts that are dialogue driven and no matter which person he is trying to portray he sounds like an uneducated, banjo playing redneck and I am so distracted by the lame theatrics. Instead of focusing on the dialogue I’m waiting for the theme song of deliverance to start playing. I wish he just read the story without the characterizing of the people involved. The story itself was very good.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • amyzzz
  • 2019-07-25

Awful narration

Good story, but listening to the audio was painful. If I didn't know better, I would have wondered if it was read by a robot.

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16 people found this helpful

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  • SportyM16
  • 2019-08-12

Great story.

Hadn’t heard of this story.. book kept me interested. Easy to turn the virtual pages.

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10 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • jamie_beeehive
  • 2019-09-18

I followed this horrendous crime, real time.

I'll never understand what drives a person to commit this type of unspeakable violence. Especially gruesome when the murderer is well aware his own child's life hes ending too. Sick!
The book was well done and the narrator/ narration grew on me, so to speak.
I'd recommend.

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8 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • just jan
  • 2019-08-13

Love true crime books!!!

I so wanted this to be good “true crime”. I have been reading this genre for 30 years. I think this author will grow and become a good writer but this felt very redundant in places. I think I could have overlooked a great deal if the narrator had not tried all the different southern accents. It just came across as hokey in my opinion. I grew tired of his voice.

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7 people found this helpful

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  • Susann
  • 2019-08-09

Excellent reading and content

Truly enjoyed this book and the way it was presented. It felt very objective and factual, both in tone and style.

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7 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • tammy
  • 2020-02-20

I can see the movie version of this story

This was Steven Epstein's first crime book and I feel he did an amazing job. I had not heard of this story which made it even better for me. The narrator did a pretty good job with both the long Island and southern accents. His rendition was actually funny and I am from the south.
I recommend the book for sure.

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • B. Olson
  • 2019-09-04

Those character voices (SMH)

The narrator's character accents became so cringeworthy, it was painful to finish. Also, not all southern men sound like a version of either Bill Clinton or a Mayberry drunk

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2019-10-21

Great True Crime Read

I thought Narrator was excellent. Some reviews criticized narrator. Totally unfair. Strongly recommend this book. Very well told and thorough co tent

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4 people found this helpful

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  • VC
  • 2019-09-11

good story

Excellent story but bad/unnecessary imitations by narrator were annoying
and took away from a compelling narrative.

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  • Amanda Boswell
  • 2020-07-09

True Crime Story

There is a lot of technology of the courtroom in this true story. The author stuck to the facts and really kept very neutral in my opinion with the families in mind.

I live in Raleigh so a lot of the references were something I knew so I probably like it better than some would.

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2 people found this helpful