Customer Reviews

Whisper of Fear: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Stalks the Stalkers (Berkley True Crime)

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

 

 

i felt that "Whisper of Fear" was a worthy read. It was gripping and gritty and informative. It became scarily apparent that although a celebrity stalking garners a lot of press, stalking happens to a huge number of very ordinary people and these people do not have the huge security systems nor bodyguards to protect them.

Imagine having a stalker that unbeknown to you is "living" under your house listening to you and intercepting your phone calls. This book is about unnatural obsession and fortunately gives the reader a lot of information and data with actual cases of stalking and at the end of the book, a primer on how to combat stalking.

Thank God, that the author, Rhonda Saunders, fought to protect us by continually improving the laws on stalking.

This is a thrilling and chilling work that deserves a wide audience. If you think stalking is just a problem that affects celebrities or bad relationships, this book will set you straight. And once you're aware, the authors provide readers with the means to protect themselves, which is a true public service. Get this for yourself and for people you care about.

ExceLlent, concise well written book
Amazing how one woman , DA Rhonda Saunders, is able to protect so many citizens by advocating & creating new system & law to prevent stalkers from taking control of others.
Thank You to the Legal system for listening to Rhonda Saunders

I was stalker for thirty years and didn't even know it. That's what I wanted to know when I was finally accused, was just exactly what stalking is. It's a word that didn't exist beyond twenty years ago. Thirty to thirty-five years ago when I was in high school, it was considered a nuisance that nobody really did very much about, other than maybe a father coming out onto the porch with his shotgun.

Rhonda Saunders's book spells it out very clearly with the stories she tells. She fought stalking cases throughout the 1980's and as far as I know she still does. She was a stalking victim herself as a result of her work. Her book is fascinating and terrifying all at the same time, and it's very difficult to put down from Page 1.

After reading this book, no current stalker will ever have the excuse that s/he doesn't know what they are doing, and for that, I give it five stars.

Good Job, Rhonda and Stephen

Gary Arnold Fowler
Kenton County, KY

Whisper of Fear The true Story of the Prosecutor who Stalks the Stalkers chronicles the work of Rhonda Saunders, who s been on the forefront of California's stalking laws. Using a variety of cases and motives Saunders tells the stories of victims famous and unknown. Whether triggered by anger, control or some of the psychological causes (erotomania, false victimization, rejection) she stresses that stalking is a crime with the almost certain potential for violence. One of the most compelling cases is interwoven throughout the book, the case of a young woman who at one time lived undetected under the house of her victim. Despite fines, sanctions, prison a police shoot out, and institutionalization this stalker continues to surface and wreck havoc and fear in the lives of her victims.

Most helpful is a small section at the end of the book with guidelines for recognizing stalking behavior, steps to take if a person believes they are being stalked, how to collect data, talk to the authorities and how to protect yourself. Throughout the book a portrait of a prosecutor, dedicated to protecting the public.

Stalking is a crime with three elements - unwanted pursuit, a threat, and a fearful victim. Many (most are men) who stalk are not only dangerous but also severely mentally ill - especially those pursuing ex-lovers. (The majority of this group assault their object of fixation at some time during the stalking.) Celebrity stalkers, by comparison, are almost all non-violent.

The author is an attorney who was drawn into the field by accident of case assignment, and then went on to lead the effort to make California's anti-stalking laws tougher and more enforceable.

The material is interesting, at first. After awhile, it becomes more of the same and reads more like a criminology textbook.

This is a subject you may want to ignore but shouldn't. It's alarming what stalkers can do to disrupt or even endanger someone's life, and, in some cases, how little the law can help. Ms. Saunders' extraordinary efforts mesh wonderfully with Mr. Michaud's great literary talents to tackle a difficult subject. They've done a great service combining chilling personal stories and useful information into a compelling book that's impossible to put down. I finished this book enlightened, empowered and determined to do something about this problem. Highly recommended and well worth your time.

It's very nice to see someone make it in life when they thought themselves they might not. My hat is off to Mrs. Saunders for her accomplishments in life. However, it is shameful that many chapters of her book are more exploits of enetertainers. We all know that the lives of the rich and famous are, for the most part, surreal. The book would have been much better had she left out all the entertainers and covered the cases in which a personal security squad or protection firm is not guarding someone around the clock. Those cases that sometimes make it to our own neighborhoods. Mrs. Saunders looses touch with the reader on several different occasions when mixing up the first and last names making it difficult to keep track of whose who. I think a supermarket tabloid has more to offer than what's revealed in this book.

Whisper of Fear is supposed to be an autobiography of criminal attorney, Rhonda B. Saunders' life as a California prosecutor, and her struggle to introduce laws to stop, as well as prosecute stalkers to the fullest degree.

What I found was a book filled with unnecessarily graphic and offensive material, and where the "f" word was used liberally throughout. It is written more in the sensationalistic style of voyeuristic tabloids than as a practical guide on how the laws were written or what to do about stalking.

I also found no positive purpose in glorifying the disturbed rants and malicious deeds of criminally sick individuals. Quite the contrary, in essence by publishing their word-for-word accounts, the authors have rewarded the perpetrators by giving them the fame and limelight they so desperately seek.

I couldn't help but wonder: Won't capitalizing on such exploits send the wrong message to stalkers and media seekers by showing them even more ways to intimidate and inflict suffering on innocent victims to gain the best media coverage?

The last two chapters, pages 291-324, contained the more practical information about stalking. "Combating Stalkers" chapter contained information on the laws, training and education, the media, the victims, and the criminal justice system. And last chapter, "What You Should Know about Stalking" explained what exactly constitutes stalking, what to do to protect yourself against it, and how to document any incidents that may lead in convicting the stalker.

As informative as these last two chapters were, thirty-three pages, at the end of the book, does not justify the other two hundred and ninety unsavory pages, which I would rate "R" at best, therefore, I cannot recommend this book.

Armchair Interviews agrees. What could have been an educational and helpful book was lost to graphic language and violence.