Blind Love : The True Story of the Texas Cadet Murders [Mass Market Paperback]

Peter Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Play by Ear Series | Publication Date: 1998

A handsome overachiever...
A beautiful honors student...
Together they would commit savage murder...

A Teenage Love Pact Sealed In Blood

Outside a small Texas town by the side of the road, high school sophomore beauty Adrianne Jones lay with her skull bashed in and two bullets in her head. She had been driven to an isolated spot outside of Mansfield, Texas by star student David Graham while David's girlfriend, Diane Zamora, hid in the trunk. First David tried unsuccessfully to break Adrianne's neck, then Diane came out of the trunk to attack her with a set of weights. To finish off the job, David shot her between the eyes. For months, there were no leads on the killing until Diane confessed to her military school roommates about the secret she and her boyfriend would take to their graves...

Tainted Love

The brutal killing shocked the entire town of Mansfield. Even more shocking were the killers, David and Diane, model teenagers, devoted high school sweethearts, military academy-bound honors students-- and desperate lovers who feared that Adrianne's sexual encounter with David had come between them. Killing Adrianne was "the only thing that could satisfy [Diane's] vengeance," said David in his confession to police-- the only way, she told David, to restore the 'purity' of their love...

Pure Vengeance

Here is the unbelievable true story of a macabre love triangle-- and the startling lengths one couple went to in the name of...

Blind Love

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312964129
• ISBN-13: 978-0312964122
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very captivating!!, October 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Blind Love : The True Story of the Texas Cadet Murders (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book before the I had ever heard of the case..If it hadn't been for this book I probably never would've watched the trials or got interested in the case at all

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Enough Filler to Stuff a Christmas Turkey, July 18, 2007

By 

Dan Bogaty "Mr. Congeniality" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Blind Love : The True Story of the Texas Cadet Murders (Mass Market Paperback)

BLIND LOVE IS the story of David Graham and Diane Zamora who commit, in the name of proving David's love for Diane, what might possibly be the stupidest murder you will ever read about. Graham and Zamora were bright, driven, successful high school honor students. Tragically, they also fell obsessively in love with each other leading to the irrational kidnapping and killing of Adrianne Jones, one of Graham's classmates.
The author, Peter Meyer, proved he can be a thorough researcher and thoughtful and committed writer in one of his previous books, THE YALE MURDER. However none of those qualities is present in this book.
BLIND LOVE has the feel of the kind of book, familiar to veteran readers of true crime, which was rushed out before the suspects were even tried in order to capitalize on a sensational story; for which the publisher required a minimum number of pages; and which provides little information of interest that was not already available in newspapers and magazines.
Meaningful research is virtually non-existent. Meyer apparently used to a large extent an article by Skip Hollandsworth which appeared in TEXAS MONTHLY MAGAZINE. I have read articles by Hollandsworth, a fine writer, and since BLIND LOVE is really just a magazine article which Meyer has padded to 243 pages in order to turn it into a book, anyone who is interested in this case would probably be better off just reading the article.
BLIND LOVE is not the worst true crime you can find, as it doesn't approach the platinum standard reached by Maria Eftimiades in GARDEN OF GRAVES or by Michael Benson in BETRAYAL IN BLOOD. It is, however, pretty bad. I submit the following:

1. The book is loaded with uninteresting, irritating filler. This is especially true from about page 190 on when, apparently, Meyer began to realize that he was running short of the mandated number of pages. On page 200 he tells us that Graham appeared in court wearing a "bright orange, jail-issue jumpsuit---like the ones Timothy McVeigh, suspected Oklahoma City Bomber, and Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber suspect wore...".

An inordinate amount of time is spent on people like Gary Foster and his wife. Other than the fact that Jones' body was found on their land, they really have nothing do do with the case.

Meyer wastes a lot of our time reporting, over and over, the reactions of the friends and families of Jones, Graham, and Zamora. I can understand why he uses their quotes, even though they are pretty obvious, once. But we learn over and over that Adrianne Jones was a vivacious and much loved girl and that Graham and Zamora were also loved, respected and of the highest moral character. And each of the numerous times Meyer does this, he uses enough quoted material to fill at least a page.

On page 57 Meyer provides the number - 1187 - of a combination lock Graham is opening. I can only hope that, by divulging the number in this review, I have not ruined a potential high point for any readers.

2. I agree with previous reviewer Colle2000 that BLIND LOVE is annoyingly and sloppily repetitive. On page 141, Meyer tells us about David helping Amy Franklin to her feet during a Junior ROTC exercise. Two paragraphs later he advises us that Amy Franklin is a Junior ROTC member.

On page 220, Meyer quotes attorney John Linebarger saying about Diane, "All she wants to know is when she can see (David) or talk to him."
On 221 he quotes Lineberger as saying, "One of her main concerns is seeing David and talking to him."

And on pages 228-230, in a masterful stroke co-mingling repetition with totally tedious filler, he includes - word for stilted court-speak word - the entire formal indictment of Graham and Zamora. He also tells us Diane's and David's case numbers (0632829 and 0632999 respectively) and then, amazingly, repeats this information a page later. Again, I hope I have not, by revealing these numbers, ruined anyone's enjoyment of this book.

The main reason why this book is readable at all, and why I have not rated it 1 star, is that Meyer clearly is a professional and literate writer. But he has in this instance mailed it in. BLIND LOVE is lacking in energy, inspiration, and effort, and it is ultimately just boring. There is really no reason to read it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book I have EVER read in my life!, April 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Blind Love : The True Story of the Texas Cadet Murders (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought this book at a grocerie store just to have something to do when I was bored. I found myself hooked on the book and I finished it in 3 days which is pretty amazing for me(and my mom!). It had great details and it makes you want to follow up on the trial until is over.