Richard Lee Colvin of the Los Angeles Times criticized the overly-done reconstructions of conversations, the use of an "annoying narrative device of short chapters in which no names are used", and the sections about the history of the San Fernando Valley. Colvin argued that the story "has impact" despite the book's mistakes and that the author was "most sure of herself" while writing the sections of the book dealing with the trial. He stated the book was "clumsy", that it would disappoint "many readers", and concluded that "One comes to the end of the book, however, wishing that it had been written by a more experienced hand."
