Perfect Beauty: A glamorous Socialite, her handsome lover, and Brutal Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

Keith Elliot Greenberg (Author), Vincent Felber (Author)

Book Description

Series: St. Martin's True Crime Library | Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Cynthia George was the stunning wife of one of Akron Ohio's most successful restaurateurs, and mother of seven. She flaunted her money, her body...even her extra-marital affairs. Until she got in too deep with Jeff Zack, her younger, longtime lover who was also the father of one of her children--a secret that she kept for many years.

In a crime that shocked the heartland, Zack was killed, execution style, in the parking lot of a BJ's Wholesale Club in Akron. From the beginning, investigators suspected Cynthia was involved. Little did they know that her other lover was the murderer. John Zaffino knew about Cynthia's affair with Zack--and was jealous enough to do something about it...for good.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

AN EX-BEAUTY QUEEN MOM

Cynthia George was the stunning wife of one of Akron Ohio's most successful restaurateurs, and mother of seven. She flaunted her money, her body...even her extra-marital affairs. Until she got in too deep with Jeff Zack, her younger, longtime lover who was also the father of one of her children--a secret that she kept for many years.

A LOVE TRIANGLE TURNED DEADLY

In a crime that shocked the heartland, Zack was killed, execution style, in the parking lot of a BJ's Wholesale Club in Akron. From the beginning, investigators suspected Cynthia was involved. Little did they know that her other lover was the murderer. John Zaffino knew about Cynthia's affair with Zack--and was jealous enough to do something about it...for good.

* With 8 pages of compelling photographs *

About the Author

Keith Elliot Greenberg covered the Cynthia George case for Geraldo At Large. He is a writer whose works include true crime and wrestler Ric Flair's #5 New York Times bestselling autobiography, To Be the Man, for which Greenberg was the co-author. 

Detective Vince Felber's work on the Jeffrey Zack case helped secure murder convictions at trial.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312949537
• ISBN-13: 978-0312949532
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average True Crime Read, April 24, 2008

By 

KDMask (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Perfect Beauty: A glamorous Socialite, her handsome lover, and Brutal Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

Although one of the lead detectives co-wrote this book, it's still very heavy on police details and short on story. I saw the case on TV many times and read about it; the photos in this book are clearly lacking. If you like your crime books to be more about the 'inside' of the case, this is for you. There is a lot of detail on the animosity of the the key players at the police station and I sometimes felt this was the main objective of the book. As someone that reads a lot of True Crime, I didn't find this a very compelling read.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Still Wanted More Info!, April 11, 2008

By 

Sylviastel - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Perfect Beauty: A glamorous Socialite, her handsome lover, and Brutal Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

Cynthia Rohr George better known as Cindy George to the Akron community and the patrons of her husband's business, Tangier, had a long-term extramarital affair with businessman Jeff Zack. In fact, they had a daughter together. In 2001, Jeff Zack goes to BJ's Wholesale Club Gas Station to fill up his vehicle when a mysterious character (male or female) completely dressed up in June before Father's day shoots him in the head. His murder begins to unravel deep, dark secrets from the Georges and the Zacks as well. While there was no question that his wife, BOnnie, who suffered at his cruelty could have had a motive but she wouldn't kill her husband and the father of their son, Brian, the day before Father's Day. In fact, it was Cindy and her new lover who planned his death. While he rots away in prison, Cindy is allowed to live in her mansion on the hill with her husband, Ed, and their seven children. He believes in her innocence despite the fact that she flaunted her affairs in front of him. This book is adequate but the M. William Phelps book goes deeper and is full of information about Akron, Ohio and society. This book only scrapes the surface but one of the authors is also one of the lead investigators in the case.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Misses the mark, September 15, 2009

By 

BookGirl (Akron,Oh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Beauty: A glamorous Socialite, her handsome lover, and Brutal Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)

For most of us, this book and Marc Phelps' book fails to answer the one burning question. What makes Cindy George tick? No one has been able to successfully get to this. I suppose because those who know her are not talking. But, Farber's book does give you a inside view of our police department. And locals will really enjoy hearing some of the details about Tangier. But for the record, Cindy George was not a "socialite." And Tangier may have been "hot" place at one time but that was in the 70's. Today, it's used as a charity/ club meeting place because of it's banquet rooms and size. No one says, "Gee, Let's go to Tangiers tonight."