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  • Wish You Were Here

  • A Murdered Girl, a Brother's Quest and the Hunt for a Canadian Serial Killer
  • Written by: John Allore, Patricia Pearson
  • Narrated by: Francoise Balthazar
  • Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (30 ratings)

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Wish You Were Here

Written by: John Allore,Patricia Pearson
Narrated by: Francoise Balthazar
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Publisher's Summary

As compelling as Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark or James Ellroy's My Dark Places, this is the story of a brother's lifelong determination to find the truth about his sister's death, a police force that was ignoring the cases of missing and murdered women, and, to the surprise of everyone involved, a previously undiscovered serial killer.

In the fall of 1978, teenager Theresa Allore went missing near Sherbrooke, Quebec. She wasn't seen again until the spring thaw revealed her body in a creek only a few kilometers away. Shrugging off her death as a result of 1970s drug culture, police didn't investigate. 

Patricia Pearson started dating Theresa's brother, John, during the aftermath of Theresa's death. Though the two teens would go their separate ways, the family's grief, obsession with justice, and desire for the truth never left Patricia. Little did she know, the shock waves of Theresa's death would return to her life repeatedly over the next 40 years.

In 2001, John had just moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife and young children, when the cops came to the door. They had determined that a young girl had been murdered and buried in the basement. John wondered: If these cops could look for this young girl, why had nobody even tried to find out what happened to Theresa? Unable to rest without closure, he reached out to Patricia, by now an accomplished crime journalist and author, and together they found answers far bigger and more alarming than they could have imagined - and a legacy of violence that refused to end. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.  

©2020 John Allore and Patricia Pearson (P)2020 Penguin Random House Canada

What the critics say

"Wish You Were Here is an investigation intimate and mournful in nature, yet heroic in its level of forensic detail. By bearing witness to how a malefactor slips through the cracks of a haphazard, morally bankrupt system, infected by misogyny and cronyism - and how the legacy of that injustice connects to further calamity - the brave authors take back some of what is lost, bringing some measure of justice to an unending spiral of tragedy.” (Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls and Hidden Valley Road)

Wish You Were Here is at once a riveting mystery, an astute analysis of sexual violence, an investigation of a police force, and a study in grief and loss. On all levels it succeeds brilliantly. An engrossing, heartbreaking and necessary book.” (Don Gillmor, Governor General’s Literary Award̶ winning author of To the River)

Wish You Were Here is a heartbreaking story of the murder of Theresa Allore and a fierce, brave investigation ... Infuriating, gripping and devastating, Wish You Were Here is also a heartfelt memorial to Theresa, and a testament to her family, who have never stopped seeking justice for her and many others who were stolen.” (Jessica McDiarmid, best-selling author of the RBC Taylor Prize finalist Highway of Tears)

What listeners say about Wish You Were Here

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping True Crime Thriller draws you in

It seems strange to write the phrase 'beautifully written' about such a dark story, but Wish You Were Here really is. John Allore and Patricia Pearson pull you into John and his sister Theresa's world so deeply that you are totally invested in their fates. You follow Theresa, tracing her steps in the last few months of her life, getting to know and care about her, and follow John's obsessive journey to discover her murderer. Narrator and voice artist extraordinaire Francoise Balthazar is your guide, delivering the story with a warmth and intensity, and giving voice to the many real-life characters that all played a part in this tragic, gripping story.

2 people found this helpful

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Recommended

A review, my thoughts and feelings about this audio book.

1) Did I feel comfortable with the sound of the narrators voice?—Yes—
2) Was I motivated to keep listening?—Yes—
3) Did the story engage my emotions?—Yes—John has crafted a fitting remembrance for his late sister by his relentless search for the truth.
4) Was it a story worth listening to?—Yes-- Theresa’s murder and the investigation is told in a comprehensive and detailed manner. It is an excellent anatomy of events and the politics when the victim is deemed less important. A true Crime Gem.
5) Was there something special?—Yes—It was Theresa’s voice telling her story and giving her shortened life meaning.

Kudos to the narrator Françoise Balthazar for her work and her fidelity as a Medium.

1 person found this helpful

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The book was great

The book was interesting and gave good facts about the police not juat this case. They went over factual studies relating to the case. The only thing is the Quebecois accent was a little awkward.

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Bringing life to words

This is an interesting story that seeks to project the many emotions that accompany the unsolved murder of a loved one.

Necessarily integral to the effective sharing of these emotions, be they astonishment, incredulity, despair, angst, ebbing hope and, finally, loss is the ability of the author to convey them.

In this Audible version the Narrator does, by way of her intonations, accents, timely silences, a superb job of conveying them. Whether it be astonishment and despair at unbased assumptions by uninformed police agents or angst with the dismissiveness of inept investigators, she is able to bring life to the written word so that the reader can actually experience all of those feelings, feel that « punch in the gut » setback, roil in anger at the lack of progress of the case, a jolt of hope and then despair and resignation...masterful.

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Emotional Rollercoaster

This Audiobook completely captivated me. The brilliant story-telling and performance of the reader kept me entertained and gave me goosebumps. It deepened my skepticism about 'police' and downright angered me to learn about the history of how mishandled rape and sexual assault cases were. (Although this fact did not come as a surprise...) I would definitely recommend this for anyone who values seeking truth and justice and good storytelling!

1 person found this helpful

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The voice actor!

The story is well written. It’s a sad tale from a brother who has been haunted too long and the ending just sums up perfectly what it is to grieve. But the voice actor! Oh, I couldn’t stand the way she did accents for the male voices! If you can get past that, it is worth a read!

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WYWH

It was very well told and very realistic with no complete closure. The corruption and views of police over the decades is fascinating. As is their continuation of protection of themselves

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Audio was so slow

Audio voice was so slow that I couldn’t get into the book. Sadly won’t be continuing the book because of this. Her voice just isn’t one that should read true crime.

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The french accents are insulting

Great read but very insulting Quebec accents. very unnecessary. my heart goes out to the family in this triggering frustrating case.

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Tragic incompetence uncovered

Unfortunate and tragic mistreatment of crimes against women. I was in disbelief about the treatment of the Allore family by the police force involved in the investigation of the crime, and the level of demonstrated incompetence. A must read for anyone interested in prevention of tragic discrimination against women.

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  • Jen Roy
  • 2020-09-29

This was a Great Audiobook for a first time author

This book is told from a brother of a murder victim. The author John lost his sister in Canada while she was in college The police back then tried to say his sister was an accidental death He was able to get the cause of death changed to murder on death certificate The author also helped push to start cold case team He investigated many murders from the 70's, 80's, and on. Author was able to put together unsolved murders of woman and through one to paper with maps do a geographical profiling showing there were serial murders at the time in same area. The author has a podcast too which I am a huge fan of. This book was incredible and she's light to the victims of unsolved crimes which really need to be brought back to the spotlight. Great Job I can't wait for another book from this author. Keep up great work. If you are a true crime addict this is a must for your collection to listen too.

4 people found this helpful

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  • Garth
  • 2020-10-09

Oh boy - Scare-rration !!!

Don’t let your friends/ relatives/ significant others narrate your books - not only were the accents SNL Level over the top - and, it would seem, insulting to Canadians (American here) but took on a snarky tone so as to completely suck all the true crime flow out of the room - perhaps they might consider a career in animation voice over (although perhaps even that is a stretch)

2 people found this helpful

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  • Chip S.
  • 2020-10-01

Wow, Binged it in 2 Days

For those liking true crime genre this book is for you. Great story and great narration. For those liking "I'll be Gone In The Dark", this is a must.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Kj
  • 2022-05-18

I had to stop listening

This book doesn't know what it wants to be. A condemnation of certain law enforcement agencies? A historical perspective of crime against women that's so scattered one can't keep track of a single storyline? Fiction about bumbling characters? It is definitely not a brother's tale of seeking justice for his sister. The voices used for various characters made me feel like I was listening in on a Fred Flintstone impersonator contest. And the disjointed story made my head hurt. I stuck it out much longer than I should have - I'll never get that time back. Now I need to go find a good book to eradicate this numbing drivel from my brain.