Customer Reviews

Fatal Embrace: The Inside Story Of The Thomas Capano/Anne Marie Fahey Murder Case (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Even having read and heard a fair amount about this case, I thought Fatal Embrace was captivating. The level of detail is what makes this book stand out. Obviously, the authors didn't put this tale together by investigating the story after the fact. They were there, and the book reads like it. Even if you think you already know the story, this book breaks plenty of new ground. If you don't know much about this murder mystery, good luck putting this book down.

Mr. Barrish has captured an intriguing story with an insight that only someone who has followed this tragedy from it`s beginning could possibly have written. The story itself is fascinating with its subplots of family turmoil, sexual adventures,drug abuse, political connections, and eventually murder. Mr. Barrish`s coverage of the trial and his ability to add new and insightful details of Capano`s personal life made this book a must read . The author has added much to an already riveting story. His closeness to the story can be felt. He has been able to add to this story by his obvious closeness to this murder story. Mr. Barrish was able to take you into the minds and hearts of the people who were touched by Ann Marie Fahey. He let you know the intimate details of local police officials,the prosecutors,witnesess,and seems to have been able to talk with almost evryone except the defendant himself about this crime.I can recommend this book highly to readers because of its captivating subject and the quality of Mr. Barrish`s writing. This a definite made for TV piece of work. Thumbs up for a quality investigation and reporting on a most intiguing sexual/murder/courtroom drama.

This is the best of the four true crime books on Capano-Fahey. The others are warmed-over court testimony. Fatal Embrace brims over with facts never published in the Wilmington or Philadelphia newspapers. It reads like a movie script -- unfolding scene by scene. I kept it on my car dashboard. Cris Barrish has outdone master crime storyteller Ann Rule this time around.

I agree with all the other reviewers who gave this 5 stars. I've read 3 of the other books on this crime & this is definitely the best--even better than Ann Rule's. The authors seem to have had more of an inside view than Ann Rule & tell a more well rounded story.

I read both Ann Rule's book and Summer Wind, and I found Fatal Embrace to be much better that the other two. I thought that Fatal Embrace simply presented the story without too much of the author's spin on what transpired. The authors of Fatal Embrace let the story speak for itself, for the most part, while the authors of the other two had to interject the own theories about what happened and why.

Of the 3 books currently available concerning the Capano-Fahey case, this looked to be the best. It did not disappoint. The book was written by a reporter who covered the case from beginning to end, Cris Barrish. His grasp of the details of the case and descriptions of the way the case impacted the community make the book truly enthralling. The writing style is excellent, never too wordy. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the author(s) were a little too vehement in their dislike for Capano and were not as objective as they could have been. However, that doesn't mean I don't highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding out what happened to Anne Marie Fahey. The reviewer who said the book was boring is plain wrong. It's as much a "couldn't put it down" book as I've read in the true crime genre.

Having read another Peter Meyer book, I anxiously looked forward to this one. I was keenly and sorely disappointed. It obviously isn't a Peter Meyer book.

There are multiple references to author Chris Barrish at seemingly every turn. There are curious and strange twists that seem to highlight the author more than the terrible crime of Capano and the murder of innocent Anne Marie FAhey.

I really didn't care that Chris Barrish knew Tom Capano nor Anne Marie. I wanted to know about the case, not Chris Barrish.

Peter Meyer's excellent prose enters in on a few occasions, but unfortunately it is bullied and crowded out my meaningless ramblings by his co-author's vain attempts to legitimize himself as "The Authority" on the Capano case.

Barrish may well have been that, but he should have deferred more of that authority to Peter Meyer's writing ability and cared less about tooting his own horn. Only read this book if you're interested in finding out about a reporter who is apparently as arrogant in his prose as Capano was when he killed Annie.

Tom Capano was a successful attorney, husband to nurse Kay, and father of four daughters in one of Delaware's prominent families. He even had two mistresses on the side as well. He was one busy fellow but one of his mistresses, Anne Marie Fahey (appointments secretary to Delaware Governor Carper at the time) went missing. We would learn later that she killed but never how except that a gun was involved and her remains dumped in a cooler off the coast of the Jersey Shore in Stone Harbor with the unwilling help of his brother. Tom would spend the rest of the time spinning a web of lies out of control. He would blame his first mistress, Debby McIntyre, as the woman behind Anne's death. Ironically, Anne Marie had no use for the older attorney who was controlling, manipulative, and obsessed with losing her or part of his ego. Anne Marie had come from a tragic childhood where her mother died young and her father became an alcoholic. She and her siblings managed to maintain a close relationship. One night after dinner at the Panorama Restaurant in Philadelphia, Anne Marie was never heard from again. The worst happened because Tom couldn't let go. The authors here do an excellent job in bringing the story alive with different perspectives but without being complex. The story is well-known and was also written by other authors. But the purpose of the story is that a man who had everything lost it all because he was so selfish over a loss of a good woman who he shouldn't have had in the first place. Finally, the people he loved turned on him including his brothers and his longtime mistress, Debby, who he would try to destroy as well. It's a story that is Shakespearan in size and tragic as well to be told over and over again.

This is a really good piece of work done by a reporter that knows "how" to get the real story. This NEEDS to be published in hardback!!

I must be on a different planet than the previous reviewer, but it's clear that person is in the minority of Fatal Embrace readers. Having also followed Cris Barrish's scintillating accounts in the newspaper, I was amazed at how he developed the charactersa and countless pieces of new information into a complex yet fast-paced and easy-to-follow narrative. My hats off to Mr. Barrish and his collaborator, Peter Meyer, for writing this masterpiece of true crime.