Blind Passion: A True Story of Seduction, Obsession, and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

John Glatt (Author)

Book Description

Series: St. Martin's True Crime Library | Publication Date: March 2, 2004

The Beauty
She was a gorgeous swimsuit model. He was a charming Greek sailor. They met on a cruise in November of 1997 and soon thereafter began a clandestine love affair. Little more than a year later, thirty-one-year-old Julie Scully left her millionaire ex-husband and three-year-old daughter behind, and moved to Greece to be with twenty-four-year-old George Skiadopoulos.

The Beast
But there was trouble in paradise. Julie, tired of Skiadopoulos' jealous and controlling nature, and badly missing her young daughter, decided to return to the States. Skiadopoulos wouldn't have it. When she told him of her plans to leave-and take her $600,000 divorce settlement back with her- Skiadopoulos took Julie to a remote area and strangled her to death. Then, to cover up his deed, her burned her lifeless body and tried to stuff the charred corpse into a suitcase. When it wouldn't fit, Skiadopoulos delivered the final blow-he chopped off her head and tossed it into the Aegean Sea.

The Brutal Murder
ow, find out the stunning inside story on a murder case that made national headlines, as acclaimed true crime writer John Glatt lays bare a shocking story of greed, betrayal, and...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

English-born John Glatt is the author of more than ten books and has over twenty-five years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. He divides his time betweeen New York and London.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312975597
• ISBN-13: 978-0312975593
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Glatt is an investigative journalist with more than thirty years experience. In the last fourteen years he has written 12 true crime books and 4 biographies. With more than half a million books currently in print all over the world, Glatt is acknowledged to be one of the best true crime writers working today.

A native of London, England, Glatt left school at sixteen and worked in a variety of jobs - including tea boy and messenger - before joining a small weekly newspaper outside London, where he honed his keen news sense. Over the next few years he freelanced for many national English newspapers, including The Daily Express, The Sunday People, The Daily Mail and Woman Magazine.

In 1981 he moved to New York, working on staff for News Limited, as well as freelancing for Newsweek, Omni, the New York Post, the Australian, Modern Business and other newspapers and magazines worldwide.

His first book Rage & Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock, was published in 1993 to critical acclaim. Two years later he wrote Lost in Hollywood: The Fast Times and Short Life of River Phoenix, a well received biography on the tragic movie star. His next book, The Chieftains: An Authorized Biography, which was published in 1997, saw him nominated for a 2000 Grammy in the spoken word category. In 1998 wrote the well-received The Ruling House of Monaco: The Story of a Tragic Dynasty, uncovering many new revelations about the Grimaldis.

In 1998 he wrote his first true crime book, For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill. A year later he followed it up with Evil Twins, an anthology of twins that kill. And since then he has written a True Crime book a year for St. Martin's Press True Crime Library, establishing him as a master of the genre.

Over the years, Glatt has appeared on scores of television and radio programs all over the world, including Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography.

He and his jewelry designer wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True crime readers will like this one, November 26, 2000

By 

J. C. (Thailand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Passion: A True Story of Seduction, Obsession, and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

Blind Passion by John Glatt is fun to read. This book is about Julie, but it starts out with the life of Julia, her mother. By the time you get to Julie, you can see what makes her tick and why she would run off for a romantic adventure in a foreign country. She leaves behind a life with a husband who worked his way up, and a 3 year old daughter. I agree with the boyfriend's mother in Greece, who voices the traditional Greek idea that a mother who abandons her child to live with a man is beneath contempt. On the other hand, what happens to the victim here is even more beneath contempt! This is an interesting book about a crime committed in January of 1999.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written, February 16, 2001

By 

Megan Twain "MT" (NYC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Blind Passion: A True Story of Seduction, Obsession, and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a really good book short and to the point... It was really sad what happened to Julie but at some point you would have to think that she had lost her mind doing what she did giving her life up in the states most of all leaving her child...I think Julie was living in a total fantasy world and when she realized the reality of what she did she wanted to go home and than This mental case lost his mind...George was definetly in it for the fantasy of love and most definetly for her money but I do believe that he did think that if he couldnt have her no one could syndrome...We shouldnt say he was a loser yet ( although he sure is now)because he was only 23 years old but i think he just got to accustomed to having julie take care of him and the thought of her leaving put him over the edge...Must read book, Very sad...

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTY AND THE BEAST..., May 24, 2002

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Blind Passion: A True Story of Seduction, Obsession, and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the sad and pathetic story of a beautiful, fun loving, young woman, wife, and mother, who went away with her husband on a cruise ship and met the man with whom she would have an affair and for whom she would divorce her husband. Little did she know that her affair would end in her murder at her lover's hands.

Julie Scully seemed to have everything a woman would want. She had a doting husband, a beautiful home, enough money to spend as she pleased, a beautiful daughter, and many friends. She was also beautiful and a popular swimsuit model for a local New Jersey newspaper. A reader's favorite, Julie loved being a minor celebrity.

After the birth of her daughter, Katie, this vivacious party girl suffered from post-partum depression. Her marriage on the rocks, she turned to cocaine. In an effort to save her marriage, however, she suggested that she and her husband, Tim, take a Caribbean cruise together. It was aboard that cruise ship that Julie would meet George Skiadopoulos, a not particularly attractive Greek sailor six years her junior. Their mutual attraction would set Julie on the path to perdition.

Julie began an affair with George while still married. Cuckolding Tim, Julie carried on a trans-Atlantic love affair with George that would see her eventually divorce Tim. She and George planned to get married and, leaving three year old Katie behind with Tim, Julie moved to Greece to be with her lover and, with the large cash settlement from her divorce, hoped to marry and live happily ever after with him.

Unfortunately for her, there would be no happy ending, as there were things about George that she did not know. By the time she realized that he had some serious issues, it was too late, as death was already knocking at her door. This shallow, self absorbed woman would meet an unenviable and gruesome death.

This is a well written and fairly absorbing true crime novel. It focuses on the dynamics of Julie's relationships but lacks some depth, mainly because the emotionally immature victim seemed to be so one dimensional. Readers may feel sorry for Julie in the abstract but do not come away feeling that they knew what made her tick. She is an enigma in death, as she was in life. This is the one weakness of the book. Still, true crime fans should find this book to be a worthwhile read.