In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession [Hardcover]

Kate Brennan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

What if the man you'd loved for years transformed into a ruthless and relentless tormentor, stealing your freedom, threatening your sanity and your safety?

This is not a fictional scenario. It is Kate Brennan's life.

A well-respected writer and scholar, Kate was wary of getting involved when she met Paul, a wealthy, charismatic businessman with a great deal of free time, but his charm and determination eventually won her over. Once they moved in together, however, Kate discovered the sordid secrets lurking beneath the Mr. Right facade: the serial infidelities, the unbalanced psyche. When she ended their relationship, Paul dedicated himself to stalking her—using his limitless resources to track her movements, interfering with her work, arranging for people to break into her home—in a campaign of cruel harassment that has been Kate's unending nightmare for more than a decade . . . and which continues to this day.

A shocking and visceral memoir that lays bare the twisted mind of a stalker, In His Sights is a gripping tale of one woman's descent into the dark side of love and her ongoing struggle to free herself.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This is a chilling book. Brennan has magnificently described the obsession and the narcissism of the stalker and the horror of being stalked.” (Helen Fisher, Author of WHY WE LOVE and THE ANATOMY OF LOVE )

“Kate Brennan...writes so sharply of her ongoing, heart-wrenching hounding it feels as if she’s using a knife to tell her story. I couldn’t put this book down.” (Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, Author of GIRLS OF TENDER AGE: A Memoir )

“This haunting book will flicker through your mind as you close the blinds at night and check the locks. It will make you glance back down the aisle in the grocery, and check your rearview mirror.” (Janine Latus, Author of IF I AM MISSING OR DEAD )

“Kate Brennan knows the torment, tedium, and intermittent terror of being stalked. IN HIS SIGHTS captures it all.” (J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D., Forensic Psychologist and Author of VIOLENT ATTACHMENTS )

“A remarkable and very powerful story . . . [Brennan] conveys her own fear and mounting sense of physical discomfort so well that we feel it, too.” (Booklist (starred review) )

About the Author

Kate Brennan (an alias) is a freelance writer who focuses on women's issues. She has taught English and women's studies at several colleges. Her stalker remains at large.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 279 pages
• Publisher: Harper (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061451606
• ISBN-13: 978-0061451607
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,084,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ALL THE MORE CHILLING BECAUSE IT'S TRUE, September 12, 2008

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession (Hardcover)

Stalk, stalking, stalker - all frightening words. They are words that we see in newspapers, online, or in books. Fortunately for most of us those words are not applicable to our lives, yet we do know that millions of women are terrorized by stalkers. Frequently these women are too frightened to speak out. Not so for Kate Brennan who has been the victim of a stalker for some 13 years. Choosing to write pseudonymously in order to protect those close to her, Kate recounts years of emotional turmoil, fear, aggravation, and anything but a normal life.

Those years have also been a time of growing self-awareness as she remembers growing up in an alcoholic family and the fact that she has always been attracted by slightly out of sync, controlling men. She wonders how she could have loved and once trusted a man capable of such fearful acts. Kate believes that the answer is "...that life with my family had left me with such a high tolerance for cruelty I couldn't recognize perversion when I saw it." Then, as she notes, when she did see it she still thought that sick people could be well, that enough love and understanding might heal. She learned how very wrong she was.

Kate first met Paul at a party in the home of friends. A writer and Bronte scholar, she went alone, comfortable with herself as a 41-year-old single woman. Paul was attractive, a charmer, and independently wealthy. He was a photographer, and the two shared a love of travel. He pursued her and despite past poor luck at romance Kate moved in with him.

However, Paul was not at all what he seemed to be. It wasn't too long before he began having affairs, there were signs of illegal dealings, his once congenial facade changed dramatically. Kate moved out. She thought this was easily done - just walk away. She learned differently. "You can do all the psychic and physical separation you want, but there's no getting away from someone who wants to remind you he can mess with your life anytime he wants." Paul has the resources to do just that, and she now realizes it will not be over as long as he lives.

She has moved repeatedly, still her phone goes dead because her account has been canceled. Small things are moved from place to place in her apartment, people are hired to intimidate her. When she goes to a movie, she first locates the exit then sits in the back row so she can keep an eye on the audience. There is nothing the police can do because there is no solid evidence against Paul.

One wonders how she has been able to maintain her sanity through all of this. Kate's story is a chilling one, even more terrifying because it is true.

- Gail Cooke

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great biography - courageous account of love and stalking, September 1, 2008

By 

Rachel Cairns (Geelong, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession (Hardcover)

Kate Brennan's, "In His Sights" is a terrifying account of her experience of being stalked by a man purporting to love her. Kate's skills as a writer bring her history to life. Kate's use of language, visual imagery and succinct style meant that I struggled to put the book down. At times, the biography chilled me to the bone, at others, her obvious strength and determination to stay sane had me cheering her on. Kate failed to recognize that she was being stalked for almost two years. As she described dismissing minor and major harassment, I felt like screaming at her to call the police. If this book helps one woman recognize her danger and to ask for help, then Kate's effort will have been worth it. Thank-you Kate for sharing your story, stay sane and stay safe.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gripping and Disturbing Book, August 12, 2008

By 

Paradise is a Library (San Miguel, Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In His Sights: A True Story of Love and Obsession (Hardcover)

The author does an excellent job of conveying the fear with which she lives every day. As I read her memoir, I acutely felt her sense of helplessness and realized that a life can be destroyed by the most subtle, and yet insidious, actions.

Ms. Brennan has shown great courage in sharing her story and it is a one that will make any woman think twice about pursuing a relationship with a controlling man.