Breaking Point (St. Martin's True Crime Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

Suzy Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Series: St. Martin's True Crime Library | Publication Date: February 18, 2002

One day, Andrea Yates was a loving mother. The next, the nation was shocked by the death of her five innocent children...

The 911 call that shocked the country. "I just killed my children." Why were they killed?

On June 20, 2001, in a middle-class Houston suburb, Andrea Yates and her husband Russell, a NASA engineer, prepared for the routine week-day ahead. But before the morning was over, tragedy would strike the quiet family and turn the day into a nightmare. Shortly before 10 a.m., Andrea calmly summoned the police with a grim confession...

One by one, Andrea Yates' children, ages 6 months to 7 years, had been drowned in their bathtub. No one who knew Andrea could picture the devoted mother capable of such an unbelievable crime or imagine the terror in the eyes of her trusting children. As their father struggled between overwhelming grief and loyalty to his imprisoned wife, an outraged nation struggled with an unfathomable question...

Breaking Point provides a harrowing portrait of the suffocating darkness at the heart of one all-American family, and exposes the private demons that pushed a mother over the edge.

With 8 pages of photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Suzy Spencer wrote the controversial true crime book Wasted, a 1999 Violet Crown Book Award finalist, as well as Wages of Sin. Spencer is the recipient of two Chilton Editorial Awards and a three-time semi-finalist in the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Awards. She holds a Masters of Professional Writing and a Masters of Business Administration, both from the University of Southern California. She lives in Texas.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 18, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312983093
• ISBN-13: 978-0312983093
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ABC's Primetime Live has referred to Suzy Spencer as Austin, Texas' best-known true crime writer. She is the author of Wasted, a New York Times bestseller and Violet Crown Book Award finalist; Wages of Sin, which Kensington Books reissued in 2010 for the 10th anniversary of the book's publication; Breaking Point, the story of Andrea Yates, which was a Book of the Month Club, Doubleday Book Club, Literary Guild and Mystery Guild selection; and The Fortune Hunter, which was called "riveting" and "blockbuster" by the Globe.

Suzy recently completed Secret Sex Lives: A Year on the Fringes of American Sexuality, about her journalistic research into Americans' sex practices. Secret Sex Lives will be published by Berkley Books in October 2012.

Suzy holds a Master's of Professional Writing and a Master's of Business Administration, both from the University of Southern California. She has appeared on Good Morning America, ABC World News, Primetime, Dateline NBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Court TV, Oxygen, and the E! Channel.

Currently, she is working on a screenplay.

Follow Suzy on Twitter @spencerwriter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Suzy Spencer Tackles A Hard Case, February 1, 2002

By 

Brendan Munoz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breaking Point (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

The shocking tragedy of the Yates children is hard to cope with. When this book was released I didn't want to go near it. But something about understanding how a mother could do such a thing drew me near.

Yes this is a book that seemed rushed, yes it's about a case no one wants to ADMIT to reading about. But none the less it is a GOOD true crime book. Suzy Spencer puts together a excellent story filled with details, and information on some of the explanations.

Although I will never fully understand, I feel I am somewhat more enlightened.

It's a tragic book, but then again aren't most true crime books?

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What a let down..................., August 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Breaking Point (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

The first half of this book was interesting. The second half was good, but it seemed they wrapped the whole book up in the last chapter and it left you craving for more info. What happened????????????? Also, there were booking photos of some women who were only breifly mentioned in the book and it never expanded on why in the world they were booked for anything. I felt excited at first, but just let down at the end.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book, March 2, 2002

By 

True Crime Reader (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breaking Point (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

It is a very sensational story. A quiet suburbs, a NASA engineer, a stay at home mother,and five small white coffins. Suzy Spencer takes you to this seemingly normal home in a pleasant neighborhood and strips it bare of all its pretenses. Spencer does not flinch from telling the sensational details. But she takes it one step further. She reveals the root cause of the tragedy. She does something few true crime writers dare to do; she shows us why this happened and the answer is simple. We as a society have swept mental health issues under rug. As a result, we ostrasize people with mental illness and the insurance companies are enabled to provide just enough coverage to slap a band-aid on the problem -- never enough to accomplish a cure.
By telling the story of Andrea Yates hard fought battle for mental health and her ultimate defeat, Spencer lays bare society's sins.
Breaking Point is more than a well-written, page-turning True Crime book. It is also a clarion call to action.

Breaking Point is an important read.