A New York Times Bestseller A #1 New York Times Bestselling Author
The dark side of love is no fairy tale - and while we may like to believe that crimes of the heart only victimize those who aren't careful, this collection will convince you otherwise. America's #1 true-crime writer, Ann Rule reveals how lovers become predators, how sex and lust can push ordinary people to desperate acts, and how investigators and forensics experts work to unravel the most entangled crimes of passion.
Ann Rule is the author of more than two dozen New York Times bestsellers, all of them still in print. A former Seattle police officer, she knows the crime scene firsthand. She is a certified instructor for police training seminars and lectures frequently to law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and forensic science organizations, including the FBI. For more than two decades, she has been a powerful advocate for victims of violent crime. She has testified before U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittees on serial murder and victims' rights, and was a civilian adviser to the VI-CAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program). A graduate of the University of Washington, she holds a Ph.D. in Humane Letters from Willamette University. She lives near Seattle and can be contacted through her Web page at www.annrules.com.
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
I am an author of true-crime books, and I'm now working on my 25th and 26th: NO REGRETS and TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE. I have lived in the Seattle Area for many years. Before that, I grew up in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and lived in Texas, Oregon, and near Niagara Falls, N.Y. I always wanted to be a police officer--because my grandfather was a sheriff in Michigan. I joined the Seattle Police Department when I was 21, worked a year and a half, but then I couldn't pass the eye test. After five years of rejection slips, I finally sold my first article for $35! Soon, I found my niche when I began writing for the fact-detective magazines like TRUE DETECTIVE in 1970, and I wrote more than a thousand homicide cases, and went to hundreds of trials. My first book, THE STRANGER BESIDE ME, was about Ted Bundy, but, amazingly, I had the book contract to write about an unknown killer six months before Bundy was identified as the "Ted Killer." And I had known him all along, and didn't realize it; he was my partner in the all-night shift at Seattle's Crisis Clinic! Oddly, I started out writing humor, but unless you are Erma Bombeck, Garrison Keillor, or Fanny Flagg or Dave Barry, it's hard to make a living. Now I write humor for fun and for my friends.
I graduated in Creative Writing from the U of Washington, with minors in criminology and psychology. I also have an AA degree in law enforcement, taking classes in crime scene investigation, arrest, search and seizure, crime scene photography and forensic science. I've lectured in seminars all across America to detectives, prosecutors, and even at the FBI Academy. My subjects have been serial murder, high profile offenders, and women who kill. I write two books every year--one hardcover single-case book, and one Ann Rule's True Crime Files original paperback. Although people tend to think I write only about the Northwest, I go wherever the cases are most interesting. I've written about murder cases in Florida, Georgia, New York, Kansas, Texas, Hawaii, and California, too.
I raised five children on my own--starting out with articles for baby care magazines, Sunday features, true confessions, and then "slicks" like Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest. Now, my children are grown.
I like to keep in very close touch with my readers, and I'm able to do that with a weblog and a guestbook on my website pages at www.annrules.com This also gives readers a chance to talk with each other, and its' a pretty lively spot--as I'm sure this page will be.
To choose a book subject, I weed through about 3,000 suggestions from readers. I'm looking for an "anti-hero" whose eventual arrest shocks those who knew him (or her): attractive, brilliant, charming, popular, wealthy, talented, and much admired in their communities--but really hiding behind masks.
I'm a reader myself, and I always have several books going at once--one upstairs, downstairs, near the bathtub, in my car, and beside my hammock (in the summer, of course!)
I have read and loved all of Ann's books, even her Crime Files series. This one however was very disappointing. If feels as if it were thrown together just to get it on the market. Another thing was the fact that so many of the names were fake. I understand why that is necessary in certain instances but to give fake names to the killers is in my opinion demeaning to the victims. I like to do research on certain cases and it is very time consuming to research for the killer's real name first. If they have been tried and convicted then their real name should be used, even if they have done their time and have been released. IMHO
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
I am an Ann Rule fan but these Crime Files books become more and more disappointing. While I like that there is a collection of stories in these books, of late I find that the main story drags on and that some of the shorter stories are stories that Ann has previously written about. If I am paying the price of a new book I don't want to read old fodder. I understand that Ann has a background in police work (making it near and dear to her heart) but I think there is too much focus on the detectives in the stories. I don't want to see photo after photo of detectives and D.A.'s. I'd much rather see photos that support the real life impact of the victim who was a real person. I do, however, appreciate that Ann avoids graphic and gruesome photos. I like how Ann tries to make the victim come to life but I often think she goes overboard in relating how absolutely beautiful, intelligent, generous, and vivacious each victim is. If you have not read very many of Rule's books then I recommend this one; if you have already read several then I would recommend passing. Although the book is truly entertaining you probably don't want to reread something she already wrote about--especially when there is no update to the story. Also, in Ann's defense, she wrote about some old, cold cases but they have recently been solved due to DNA evidence. I can't fault her for writing about these cases. Indeed, I applaud the diligent people who brought the psychopaths to justice.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
I count on Ann Rule to really detail the criminal's background and develop their motives, plus give in-depth coverage of the detective work and trial and profile of the victim.
In this collection, the emphasis is mostly on the crime. You get the feeling that she couldn't find enough to build her usually thorough coverage and that's why they are collected together. Without the other aspects, there is too much description of blood spattered crime scenes and the harrowing last minutes of the victims.
All the crimes relate to the theme of love, albeit warped and murderous relationships or situations. That does pull the vignettes together, but for the most part they are just too skimpy.
"The Highway Accident" was maybe the best developed of the accounts in this collection. It's an old case that parallels the more recent Mark and Lori Hacking case.
The early part of the book puts closure to some old, cold cases through the use of DNA breakthoughs, but still it lacks the drama of her usual police work descriptions.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
