Customer Reviews

Blind Love : The True Story of the Texas Cadet Murders

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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.

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.

Blind Love is factually correct. I have read the books, seen the movie and watched both the Zamora and Graham trials on video tape. Peter Meyer's book puts it all together as best can be presented from all the evidence available.

This is the true story of two teenagers (David Graham and Diane Zamora) who where honor students that killed a young teenage girl (Adrianne Jones) in the name of love. After the murder, Graham and Zamora went about life as usual: attended classes, accepted honors, went to dances, etc. They were accepted into the Air Force and Naval Academy respectively.

For months, there were no leads about the murder until Diane Zamora confessed to her roommates at the Naval Academy one evening that she and her boyfriend had a secret that they would take to their graves. The next day, Zamora's roommates turned her in; she was required to take a leave of absence and was sent home pending investigation. Meanwhile, Graham was questioned and he typed a chilling confession discussing his part in the murder and how he carried it out. When Diane was arrested, she too wrote a chilling confession describing her part in the murder. Both were charged with murder.

Graham and Zamora had promising careers in the military where they were given special honors. They were engaged to be married. They will never fulfill their dreams and have no one except themselves to blame for that. We will never know what Adrianne Jones could have done with her life. She, too was an honors student with much promise.

Although, I liked reading this book and learned much from it, I am disapointed that the author didn't wait until the Zamora and Graham trials ended. I would have liked more information about their trials. Otherwise, the author seems to be accurate as he was writing/researching this book.

When the story broke out in 1996 about two cadets being caught for murder, I wasn't aware of it that time, and I remained oblivious about it until now. For some reason, I clicked on Diane Zamora's name since she was one of the women on the list for a TV show called Snapped. It was really random for me, and one thing led to another to another. I was looking up any internet coverage online, newspaper articles through LexisNexis, and Dateline interviews. Finally, I decided to read the book. I must say, Blind Love was the best when it came to filling in the details of an incomplete story. The newspaper articles covering the court cases were very poor in terms of getting know to David Graham and Diane Zamora's backgrounds. All I can see is the constant reminders that they were bright, well rounded, and destined to have brilliant military careers. That's not enough for me. I wanted to know what they were like growing up, their childhoods, and their personality makeups. Peter Meyer did an outstanding job on that although the most disappointing feature of the book was the scarcity of details of David Graham's family and childhood life. I am quite positive they've been hiding a lot of that and is not pretty. On the other hand, Diane's was quite revealing and said all about her. As True Crime books go, authors tended not to show much of respect for the victims, but Peter Meyer did an excellent job of not being the typical. He painted a very good picture of Adrianne Jones and what she was like. Of course, he also kept things in perspective of how people connected to her are victims as well in a direct and an indirect manner. There was plenty of details in the book that I never found online, making the read well-worth it. For 242 pages, it was an extremely quick read and very fascinating. Of course, as I already said it before I read the quote at the beginning of Blind Love, it was, "It's a modern-day Romeo and Juliet-only they kill someone else instead of each other." It was exactly what the story is about. Now, not many people realize this, but the true heroes out of this saga are Mandy Gotch and Jennifer McKearney for telling the proper authorities about Diane's wild confession. If not for them, the murder might have not been solved for at least some time. So, think about it and how all of this mess started by a night of simple girl talk. It's still amazing, especially while reading pages 167-180. And shame on Jay Guild for being a nincompoop obviously relying on Diane's looks to protect her (I actually googled his name on internet and seems that he is doing well with his life despite the inaccurate conclusion that he ultimately became a pizza boy upon discharge from Naval Academy, but he certainly lied on his resume for having wrestled for the school in 1996, impossible). That's something he is going to have to live with the rest of his life. Also, I was able to watch the interesting, albeit unnecessary, 2007 Dateline interview and read the transcript of Diane with Stone Phillips. Putting this in perspective, this interview was about 12 years after the murder happened, and Diane's contention was that she didn't do it. Stupid girl...she still doesn't get it. By definition, capital murder in Texas can mean if a person was there at the scene of murder, was a willing participant, and did not do anything to stop it, s/he is still guilty of the crime no matter what. If she was at least there at minimum and didn't do anything much during or after, she was already guilty. All you have to do is look at the case of Asel Abdygapparova who was sentenced for life by a Texas court for capital murder charge and was barely spared of a death penalty (she is supposed to get a retrial due to technicalities, and I don't know why her case has been stalled for over 3 years now) regardless the fact that she didn't murder the female victim. As for David Graham, based on what I've read about him so far including his stupid, illogical blogs, it looks like that he still remains an arrogant idiot who thinks he lives the life of righteousness just by writing as articulate and intelligent as he could possibly can. Well, it won't work. Both Diane and David got married but not to each other: the former to some convict but since then, haven't stayed in contact for years yet remain legally married; and the latter to some kook who certainly needs a reality check (As a matter of fact, his wife, Charlotte Gilliam Graham, is a regular user of Prison Talk, and she is absolutely public as she could be. I was really able to learn so much about David. Several juicy nuggets from her were: David's mother is a fanatical religious freak and a very controlling person with bipolar tendencies, he was kicked out of the family at age of 7 and used to eat dog food, he still controls his wife by making a lot of demands on her, and he lives in a dorm, not a cell, with A/C and television. Also, Charlotte first wrote to David after watching a true-life story about him the past year or two. Then, he responded back and since then, they've been infatuated with each other. After two month, they talked about marriage, and he proposed to her a month later.). My strong opinions about David's marriage to Charlotte (who seems to relish in his "notoriety") are that: David has nothing going on in his life in prison and is desperate for some outlet, he is able to finally control somebody to extend himself since he can't for himself due to prison life restrictions, and, assuming that he gets out in 25 years, will use his wife to take care of him making an easy transition from prison to real life without worrying about it if he were alone in that. I hope Charlotte realizes what she is really getting into. The funny thing is that David confessed to her that his relationship with Diane was a very unhealthy one. Well, look at who is talking because getting married within three months to a girl that he barely knew, never spent time with in person, never had sex with, and won't be able to fully see her for another 25 years isn't healthy either. Elsewhere, there was a recent blog by a misguided writer (who happens to be childhood friends with Charlotte) of last month entitled, "Has the World Forgotten David Graham?" That was an interesting update, but let's be real...the writer doesn't know David or wasn't there when it all happened. Compassion is unwarranted for him, and nobody cares. 2036 will be the first year (that's a hell of a long time) both Diane and David will be eligible for parole, and chances are both will be denied for it and will end up serving the rest of their lives in prison. I'll say, they certainly threw their lives away for some stupid illogical moment of resolve. Worse than that, they ruined the lives of a countless many people. The book really allowed me to understand why Diane reacted in this manner and how she same to that point, but for David, eh...not so much. He remains an enigma. In fact, the whole thing remains an enigma, and that's why the case is so fascinating and perplexing. Finally, the real question remains: did David and Adrianne have sex or not? Lawyers say it never happened, and the book says it happened supported by David's insistence through his confession. It does put things in perspective in either way: if it did happen, then it is interesting and just as well, but if it never happened, wow...the enigma grows. Also, interestingly as stated in the book, both Diane and David were the first cadets ever in Naval and Air Force Academies to be tried for murder in its 150 (50 for Air Force) something years of history. Very accomplished people, they are. All in all, Blind Love is a first rate piece of work, and surely Peter Meyer did his very best to gather all the details as he could. I just wished for more pictures, and perhaps it would have been better written after the trials were over, so the readers could have a very complete picture.

I*ve been fascinated with this case and watched more of this trial than OJ.I actually feel sorry for Diana and Adrienne*s family. This was the fastest I*ve ever read a book, and I really found out alot about David and Diana .I hope that Mr Meyer does a follow up after the graham trial

This book kept me awake all night. I just couldn't put it down! I finish reading it and then I couldn't go to sleep,I just kept thinking about the cold hearted teenagers that brutaly murdered another human. This book made me cried and made me realize that there's people out there who have no heart.

Tragic! Two, smart kids raised in loving families become murderers because of jealousy, and hatred!

However, I feel the book should have been written once the trial was over to give the reader the whole complete picture of the case from start to finish. I also took note that certain areas of the book repeated itself over and over and over again with the same quotes by different people or the same quotes written differently by the same people. That became annoying after awhile becuz I found myslef saying, "I just read this exact quote in the page before."

At any rate, the story itself was amazing but I'd still would have liked to find out what happened during the trial.