MWSA Review
In the late 1970s, Army soldiers Janice Starr and Eva Booker were stationed together in South Korea, where they became best friends. It was a period of rapid social change in the United States, and young American women embraced their liberation as they explored sexual freedom and new careers. Janice and Eva were two of these women. They participated in all that “liberation” meant to them: sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and job opportunities.
When their tours of duty ended, they settled into an apartment in the Washington D.C. area. Neither young woman was ready to settle down, and they pursued a lurid playgirl lifestyle. Sex was important to both women. They had myriad sex partners and a few short-term relationships. Janice and Eva were rarely sober, whether they’d imbibed in alcohol, pot, or other drugs. Living this way, they pursued careers such as continuing with the Army Reserves, holding jobs, and attending school.
Throughout their hectic lives, they shared almost everything…sometimes including sex partners. Over the years, both women readily shared the contents of their diaries. They learned that living with a best friend presented challenges, and their relationship grew strained. Janice decided to relocate, while Eva remained in D.C. After that move, the friendship turned positive again.
Only a few months after Janice moved to Chesapeake, in southern Virginia, Eva could not get in touch with her. It was as though her best friend had disappeared. Eva went to the police department in Chesapeake. The police didn’t appear to take the case too seriously because of Janice’s promiscuous history. But Detective Kay Lewis did. She battled the misogyny within the police department, and she and Eva did not stop pursuing the case.
Eva Nevarez St. John, author of When Tough Cookies Crumble, focuses on her life as well as Janice’s in the first half of the book. The second half includes some introspection into the motivations for their behaviors, follows the murder investigation, and delves into the collaboration between the author and Detective Kay Lewis. Written forty years after Janice’s death, Eva Nevarez St. John’s memoir provides an honest and comprehensive look at a deep friendship between Janice and Eva. It also shows the grit of Detective Kay Lewis, when she refuses to stop the search for Janice. With courageous honesty and compassion that matured over the years, the author makes the reader understand why each of these three women have earned the title of “tough cookie.”
Review by Patricia Walkow (January 2025)
Author's Synopsis
Janice Starr and Eva Booker were young Army soldiers in Korea in the late 1970s. As women in the military, they found themselves on the front lines of the women’s liberation movement, pushing the boundaries of what women could do in their professional and personal lives. After leaving active duty, they relocated to the Washington, D.C. area together, where the challenges they faced included continuing their military careers in the Army Reserves, navigating jobs, school, interracial dating, and a playgirl lifestyle. Their bond was often tested but never broken.
Three months after Janice moved to southern Virginia on her own in the summer of 1981, she disappeared without a trace. Eva knew Janice had been murdered by a fellow soldier who was a psychopath. The only one who believed her was Detective Kay Lewis, who had her own challenges as a pioneering woman in law enforcement. Together these tough cookies would not stop until they found Janice. After Janice’s murder, Eva also fell into a trap set by a sociopath.
The final chapters tell the story of how Eva came to write this book forty years after Janice’s murder. The process proved to be a healing journey for Eva, Kay, and Janice’s family.
Each chapter begins with one or more relevant photographs.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 284
Word Count: 74,960
