Dead By Sunset By Ann Rule

This is the horrific account of a charismatic man adored by beautiful and brilliant women who always gave him what he wanted...sex, money, their very lives.... When attorney Cheryl Keeton's brutally bludgeoned body was found in her van in the fast lane of an Oregon freeway, her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the likely suspect. But there was no solid evidence linking him to the crime. He married again, for the fifth time, and his stunning new wife, a physician named Sara, adopted his three sons. They all settled down to family life on a luxurious estate. But gradually, their marriage became a nightmare.... In this gripping account of Cheryl's murder, Ann Rule takes us from Brad's troubled boyhood to one of the most bizarre trials in legal history, uncovering multiple marriages, financial manipulations, infidelities, and monstrous acts of harassment and revenge along the way.

The next time you hear someone described as charismatic,I suggest you run a mile,away from the charismatic man.These are just a few of the actions of THIS charismatic man:
-Served divorce papers on 7 month pregnant wife
-New lawyer girlfriend serves the papers
-Disconnected phone at pregnant estranged wife’s apartment,she really needed the phone in case she had to phone emergency if she went into labor,being all alone.
-Had the car repossessed while estranged wife was in hospital giving birth
-Paid child support by cheque religiously every month so that ex could not claim from welfare then would have the cheques cancelled.
-Convinces his daughter to come live with him,tormented her,then when she asked to go back to her mother he took all her clothes away because he bought it.She then caught the bus wearing tattered clothes
-Picked up kids for weekend visit,then destroyed the new clothes the mother bought and sent them back with old clothes
-Beat up wives and convinced them they were stupid
-Sent faxes to estranged wife’s work with naked photos taken while they were married
-tried to convince estranged wife’s co workers that she was loose and wild
-when all else failed,killed wife and made sure one of their kids was there to see that happen
-Then he got involved with a new woman,convinced her to adopt the kids,then left this woman and sued her for child support (while she was still paying off the USD1 million debt he incurred and left her with)

And the list goes on...
This man was cunning hence I introduce you to Brad Cunningham!

This book centres around the murder of Brad Cunningham's fourth wife,Cheryl.Ann Rule takes us back into the past of Brad Cunningham,and from witness accounts,the details of his life lived and the cruelties he imposed on the people in his life,including his own children.This man is a piece of work!You know how we all moan about the man in our lives from time to time.This man,Brad, made me realise that most of us are actually with brilliant,wonderful,loving,amazing men if we use Brad Cunningham as the yardstick with which to measure how great our partners truly are.

It took me a while to get close to Cheryl(the murdered wife) specifically because she was the attorney girlfriend who had served divorce papers on the pregnant wife.I just could not get past the fact that in my opinion any man who would do that to the mother of his child,would obviously not be prime husband or boyfriend material.PLUS I have my own views on the "sisterhood" and one of the basic rules is "Do not go anywhere near a married or committed man".But as time went on and I saw what Cheryl went through I began to empathize and the eventual feeling was "No one deserves this,not even if they looked for this trouble"

And to meet a truly amazing woman,read about Sara Gordon,his fifth wife, a doctor who despite all the trauma she suffered at the hands of Brad Cunningham,did the ultimate selfless act.But I won't tell you what she did.You will have to read the book!Hint: it has to do with the three sons that Cheryl has with Brad.

This book was brilliant and I have yet to meet a man like Brad Cunningham,even in my true crime books.He had such an massive sense of entitlement that I am now convinced that there should be a study into what kind of childhood creates this "abnormal" feeling and what kind of crimes it can lead to,and possibly the different ways to avoid and treat this problem.

If you would like to read this book,here are some links:
Dead by Sunset
or Kalahari Books-South Africa

And for those who would like to find this book elsewhere here are some more book details:
Country: United Kingdom
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 9780671001131
Pages: 544
Illustrations: Illustrated

To see what Cheryl looked like go hereand a photograph of the amazing Brad Cunningham is here

Worth More Dead and other true cases by Ann Rule

Worth More Dead is the 10th true crime file by Ann Rule.The crime files usually consist of one longer true crime story,and a few shorter stories which all run in a similar vein.This book as the title suggests are all crimes where the victims were worth more dead than alive.The main story in this case is called:

Worth More Dead
Marie Archer and Roland Pitre had a relationship while they were both still married.When Marie's husband was found shot to death,Roland Pitre confessed to the crime stating that he had paid another man,Steven Guidry, to commit the crime when Marie Archer had asked him to kill her husband.All three appeared in court but only Roland Pitre and Steve Guidry were convicted of murder.Marie Archer had pleaded not guilty,stating that she had happily reconciled with her husband,Dennis, and that Roland Pitre had murdered her husband out of jealousy.Marie Archer went on to live her life.Roland Pitre was sent to jail.Remember the wife that Roland Pitre had left for Marie Archer? Well,her name was Cheryl and Roland convinced her while he was in jail that he was innocent and she took him back.Once he was released,they reconciled and had a second child.Roland Pitre,as was usual,carried on with his extra marital affairs and eventually left Cheryl again.But this time Cheryl Pitre was found dead...(215 pages)

It's Really Weird Looking At My Own Grave
This case highlights how important it is for the victims of rape to try and memorise as many details as possible of their attacker.This rapist-murderer killed one victim,but two young girls managed to outsmart him and once released by him after being raped,their memories of their attacker helped tremendously in catching this killer.(44 pages)

Old Man's Darling
This is the story of Teresa Perez and Justyn Rosen and their love affair.Justyn Rosen was 80 while Teresa was barely 40.Teresa was extremely beautiful and could have any man she wanted but Justyn Rosen was already married.The twist here is that Teresa was dumped by Justyn and SHE plotted to murder him...(42 pages)

All For Nothing
A woman,Cheryl Sweiger,fatally injured by stabbing,was taken to hospital where she later died.The police entered her house to investigate the crime further and found two dead men,one was in the bath.Police enquiring closely,saw the dead man in the bath sit up and surmised that it was the dead body in its final convulsions but this time the dead man was actually alive.He had slit his wrists and taken several sedatives but as the water in the bath cooled down,his body had come out of its self imposed sedation.

Bill Pawlyk,after being rejected by Cheryl Sweiger, had come to her house to murder her and her lover, Larry Sturholm, a semi-celebrity who hosted a series of shows called "Larry At Large".(40 pages)

A Desperate Housewife
This is a story especially for those people who think that verbal abuse is maybe not as serious as physical abuse.Robert and Carolyn Durrall seemed the perfect couple.Underneath this facade was a husband who was a control freak and a wife who submitted to his obsessive demands to keep the peace.Once Carolyn established a career and realised that she was not as useless as Robert had made her out to be for many years,she decided to get a divorce.This was the first and last decision Carolyn had made in many years....(73 pages)

This book is one of the best books in the true crime files series of books.I would recommend reading this book.

If you would like to find out more about this book:
South Africa-Kalahari Books
OR
Worldwide-Amazon

Too Late To Say Goodbye by Ann Rule

Jenn Corbin was found dead early one morning by her young son,Dalton Corbin.She had died from a gunshot wound to the head and a gun lay next to her.It was initially presumed that she had committed suicide although the gun being partially covered under the bedcover raised some doubts with the investigating officer.To rule out a possible homicide an investigation was started.The husband Dr Bart Corbin,was obviously the first person to try and rule out.

The investigation revealed that Jenn Corbin had been intent on divorcing Bart Corbin and had also started an internet affair.Bart Corbin had been emotionally abusive all throughout the marriage and had conducted many affairs out of the marriage,including one with a married woman even from before he married Jenn.

But the plot thickens.The person Jenn had been having an affair with was not who everyone thought this person was.Dr Bart Corbin avoided speaking to the investigators at all costs and had "lawyered" up very early in the investigation.Then the investigation revealed that some years earlier a previous girlfriend of Bart's,Dolly Hearn,had also died by committing suicide.

Little Dalton's first words were,without prompting "Daddy killed my Mommy" although he had not actually seen this happen.This story is an amazing account of the brilliant investigators who refused to give up,especially when it came to tracking the origins of the gun found next to Jenn Corbin.Due to these tenacious and determined investigators,this crime case ends with the ultimate climax.

I would recommend reading this book wholeheartedly.You can feel Ann Rule's compassion throughout the book.Her relationship with the families of the victims is so very real and loving.Despite this,the story unfolds with no bias but the facts.

Usually in books where the one spouse murders the other,there are always children who for the most part,are either abandoned or put in the care of the murderer's family.In those cases I always wonder how the children are doing and it is absolutely heartbreaking.Thanks goodness I don't have to worry about these two little boys.Jenn's sister,Heather Tierney,is raising them with her own two children and doing a wonderful job.

Little Dalton,strikes me as such a clever little boy and Dillon,the younger brother,was too young at the time to remember much,and is faring better.Both boys have no wish to see their father.I cannot give the whole story away but I just want to add some interesting bits.

Dolly Hearn,the ex girlfriend who had apparently committed suicide had a cat called Tabitha.When she broke up with Bart Corbin he made her life a living hell by stalking her and even kidnapped her cat and abandoned her far away.After a month or so,Dolly convinced him to tell her where he had abandoned Tabitha which he did and luckily the cat was found,a little worse for wear after living on the streets for a month,but otherwise okay.This same Tabitha lived for 21 years,that was amazing to me.

Dolly Hearn,who had been studying to be a dentist,was murdered a year before she completed her studies.Despite her fellow students lobbying for her degree to be awarded posthumously,it was denied as the board believed she had committed suicide as she had not been doing well at her studies(this stalker Bart Corbin had destroyed a few of her important study projects causing her to nearly fail in her studies)and believed the rumors that Bart had spread about her being suicidal.Well the good news is that a few years ago they did award Dolly Hearn with her degree and she is Dr Dolly Hearn.

This book has so many twists and turns.There are even some unsolved murders of women who knew Dr Bart Corbin.Really you have to read this book to understand what I mean.If I had not known it was a true crime story I would have really believed it was fiction.But all of it is true and Ann Rule is at her best in this book.



Here are some more book details:
Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal
Author: Ann Rule
Country: United States of America
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing
ISBN: 9781597224116
Publication date: June 2007
Pages: 602
Illustrations: Illustrated

My Kindle Shelf & True Crime Reviews Coming Soon!! 24/8

I am not sure how many of my readers know that I have a kindle but since I got one it's been VERY difficult to read "real" books.I decided about two weeks back to catch up on reviews of my old true crime books and that means doing a post on each of my Ann Rule books.The problem was reading the books again so what did I do?I got a few of them in Kindle format.

Also I desperately want to take part in the "It's Monday-what are you reading?" meme which I cannot (even if I bought "real" books) as I live in South Africa and no one would dare to leave anything in anybody's mailbox because it would last about 20 seconds and then would magically be spirited away,never to be seen again.

So this is my version of the "It's Monday-what are you reading?" meme which is hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog which I love reading.And the picture above is of my kindle in the mailbox (next to pruned rose bush and between security palisade bars)to which my 15 year old daughter said"Mommy,you are such a freak!"Out of the mouths of babes...

So here are my Ann Rule books which are now in my Kindle and waiting to be read.

Savage Grace: The True Story of Fatal Relations in a Rich and Famous American Family
A spellbinding tale of money and madness, incest and matricide, Savage Grace is the saga of Brooks and Barbara Baekeland -- beautiful, rich, worldly -- and their handsome, gentle son, Tony. Alternately neglected and smothered by his parents, he was finally driven to destroy the whole family in a violent chain of events. Savage Grace unfolds against a glamorous international background (New York, London, Paris, Italy, Spain); features a nonpareil cast of characters (including Salvador Dali, James Jones, the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and European nobility); and tells the doomed Baekelands' story through remarkably candid interviews, private letters, and diaries, not to mention confidential hospital, State Department, and prison documents. A true-crime classic, it exposes the envied lives of the rich and beautiful, and brilliantly illuminates the darkest corners of the American Dream.

Savage Grace: The True Story of Fatal Relations in a Rich and Famous American Family
Country: United States of America
Publisher: ibooks
ISBN: 9781416572961
Publication date: December 2007
Edition: illustrated edition
Pages: 498

Heart Full of Lies: A True Story of Desire and Death
Author: Ann Rule
An idyllic Hawaiian wedding held the promise of a wonderful future for handsome, athletic Chris Northon, an airline pilot, a confirmed bachelor-turned-devoted family man; and Liysa, an acclaimed surf photographer, loving mother, and aspiring Hollywood screenwriter. But few, including Chris, had seen Liysa's other side -- her controlling behavior and dark moods, her insatiable hunger for money and property. And no one anticipated the fatal outcome of a family camping trip in an Oregon forest. Liysa soon revealed herself as a victim of domestic abuse that culminated at the campsite, where she shot Chris in self-defense. But crime scene evidence led detectives to wonder if Liysa was a killer, not a victim. Her controversial trial stunned all who thought they knew her. A lifetime of sociopathic manipulations and lies had been expertly hidden behind her facade of perfection -- as was her rage to destroy any obstacle to her ultimate happiness, even if it was the man she vowed to love forever.

Heart Full of Lies: A True Story of Desire and Death
Country: United States of America
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 9780743410137
Publication date: October 2004
Pages: 447
Illustrations: Illustrated

Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal
Author: Ann Rule
Country: United States of America
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing
ISBN: 9781597224116
Publication date: June 2007
Pages: 602
Illustrations: Illustrated
Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal







Without Pity: Ann Rule's Most Dangerous Killers
Author: Ann Rule
A collection of true-crime tales, selected from the author's "Crime Files" series, is accompanied by three new cases that chronicle the crimes of seemingly ordinary men possessing a twisted obsession with violence and death.

Without Pity: Ann Rule's Most Dangerous Killers
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 9780743448673
Publication date: December 2003
Additional format: illustrations
Pages: 433
Illustrations: Illustrated


Dead by Sunset: Perfect husband, perfect killer
Author: Ann Rule
The horrific account of a charismatic man adored by beautiful and brilliant women who always gave him what he wanted...sex, money, their very lives.... When attorney Cheryl Keeton's brutally bludgeoned body was found in her van in the fast lane of an Oregon freeway, her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the likely suspect. But there was no solid evidence linking him to the crime. He married again, for the fifth time, and his stunning new wife, a physician named Sara, adopted his three sons. They all settled down to family life on a luxurious estate. But gradually, their marriage became a nightmare.... In this gripping account of Cheryl's murder, Ann Rule takes us from Brad's troubled boyhood to one of the most bizarre trials in legal history, uncovering multiple marriages, financial manipulations, infidelities, and monstrous acts of harassment and revenge along the way.

Dead by Sunset
Country: United Kingdom
Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 9780671001131
Publication date: April 1996
Pages: 544
Illustrations: Illustrated

Every September since September 11,2001 I have tried to do something in memory of the people who died that day.On my own,usually, just to remember and this year seeing as I am a book blogger now I thought I would read a book on 9-11 and this is the book below.I will do my post in September.



Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow
by Kristen Breitweiser
From Publisher's Weekly:
In September of 2001, Breitweiser had a tumor in her breast, was suffering from colitis and lupus and recovering from the death of her mother from cancer of the mouth. Then terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center, killing her beloved husband and hundreds more. Devastated, the New Jersey stay-at-home mom became an activist, channeling her pain and rage into learning everything she could about the U.S. government's role in the attacks—an excruciating journey that is carefully chronicled in this emotionally charged memoir. Colloquial in tone, Breitweiser recounts how she and three widow pals—her fellow "Jersey Girls"—began lobbying the government to establish an independent 9/11 commission to explore all that went wrong that day. With narrative ease, the author, who has a law degree, breaks down complex arguments and political theories: one chapter is dedicated to a single footnote from The 9/11 Investigations, while another segment explains why negligence is cheaper than prevention for airlines and governments.

Wake-Up Call: The Political Education of a 9/11 Widow
(Author)
- 304 pages
-Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; illustrated edition edition (September 6, 2006)
-Language: English
-ISBN-10: 0446579327
-ISBN-13: 978-0446579322

The Unbreakable Child by Kim Michele Richardson

Grim yet ultimately inspiring, this harrowing biography catalogues years of institutional abuse that took place in the Saint Thomas-Saint Vincent Orphan Asylum, a Catholic orphanage in Anchorage, Kentucky. After many years of neglect by their drug-addicted mother, Kim and her three older sisters were abandoned to the uncharitable care of the Sisters of Charity. Detailing daily regimens of physical and mental abuse at the hands of the nuns, this chilling memoir explains how the Roman Catholic Church kept the orphanage hidden from prying eyes, miles from any main thoroughfare, allowing mistreatment to continue for decades. Describing her life through adulthood and the decision to finally expose the injustices after more than 30 years, this courageous tale chronicles the lawsuit initiated by 45 survivors, the two years of litigation, and the first successful prosecution of a lawsuit against Roman Catholic nuns in the US for decades of abuse in an orphanage.

How do I begin to tell how this book took me right back to my childhood.I was raised Roman Catholic.I attended The Regina Mundi Convent(run by Irish nuns) from my first year of school and remained there for 5 years until the new government (who had overthrown the previous president) decided that everyone was equal and there would be no more private schools so the convent had to close down as only the rich kids went there.How to explain a convent for only the rich?My mother had attended this convent as a young girl on a bursary(one spot allocated per year to a very poor,very clever child.)There she made friends with the rich kids and met my dad which then meant I got to go as a paying student.

Before you all start thinking I was abused by these nuns,I was not at all abused.I just want to highlight some minor events as a way to impress on you how a young child's mind can be affected by small little things, never mind the absolutely horrific experiences that Kim Michele Richardson went through as a child.

The whole school stood every Monday morning for assembly outside on the school field.It was against school rules to chew gum.One bright morning as Sister Scholastika started with morning prayers she stood on a piece of gum.Out of the entire school I was the only one to go "yeeew".I was ordered to clean and scrape this piece of gum from her shoes and the floor.To this day I will not chew gum.My children are not allowed to chew gum.I hate watching people chew gum.I will not sit in a restaurant without checking under the table to see if anyone has stuck their piece of gum there.I hate,hate,hate chewing gum and luckily,my teeth are still in perfect condition, thank you.

That is just about the only bad experience I had with my nuns.I was lucky.The class distinctions between the rich,very rich and obscenely rich can be found at any private school so that would just be a life experience.

Going over to the Roman Catholic Church is a whole other story.While being a Roman Catholic to me is something that I am more than something that I do,even as a young child I thought a few things a bit strange.Like the one time,this statue of the Virgin Mary came to the island(only 1 of 3 in the world apparently) and was transported at the back of a truck from village to village.The locals would stand on the side of the road and throw flowers and cry and then visit the church every day for the week that it would remain in that specific village church.The very holy followed the statue from village to village and attended every church service on the entire island of which there were about 30 parishes.When it passed by our village my grandfather instructed me to go throw flowers.At the age of 9 I thought this very strange and dawdled and managed to avoid throwing any flowers much to my grandfather's chagin.My point is my mother as a young child would not have hesitated to throw flowers,I pretended to want to and avoided doing so,my daughter would have laughed in my face if I asked her to go do that.I think people are far more inclined now to think for themselves than follow the masses.For all our issues and complaints about the world being a worse place than in the old days,people are now less worried to think out of the box,to judge what is best for us as individuals,to accept differences in each other,while still remaining focused on being good people with basic values.I might read a lot of true crime books but I firmly believe that people are more good than bad.We are all trying to do the best job we can and trying to instill values in our children which will help them be productive members of society.

I am not a regular church goer and while I acknowledge that I always have such a nice feeling when I attend a church service I am still so reluctant to go because my memories of church were that I was absolutely bored and the services were so long,and in latin and not much interaction for me as a child and being forced to go didn't help matters much.Because of this I haven't really gond to church a lot with my children and this point hit home for me about a month back when I said to my daughter that "maybe we should go to church this sunday" and she replied "can we just go?don't we need a subscription?".That made me sad as I need to get over my own negative feelings and help my daughter form her own opinion by at least exposing her to the positives of having a balance in life,as in going to church occasionally as she is actually a very moral child with a good head on her shoulders.

I could go on and on but I will say this.The book was excellent.Again I picked up that the writer,although being of such strong character,tended to downplay her strengths,more telling her story as if every person would have dealt with the trauma the way she did.Well,Kim Michele Richardson,even if you won't acknowledge this fact (probably from the lesson of "be humble")you are a very strong lady and you have inspired me to be grateful for all that I have,for the amazing childhood that I did have,for reminding me that I was one of the lucky ones,that while I was having the carefree childhood that all children should have,there were others like you suffering and yet you not only survived but rose above it and stood up for yourself.Thank you for sharing your story!

I would recommend reading this book.It made me realise how lucky I was and still am.My heart breaks for the lost childhoods which some children will never know,never mind get back.A beautifully told inspirational story of a life lived,a lesson that it is never too late to begin having a good life,that while you are a child and adults can decide your fate,biding your time until you make your own decisions and keeping your wits about you so that those eventual adult decisions are good ones.It is never too late to salvage the pieces of a broken life and start living well as every single human being on this earth is entitled to.



For More Book Details:
The Unbreakable Child
Country: United States of America
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Kunati Inc.
ISBN: 9781601641632
Publication date: April 2009
Pages: 235
Illustrations: Illustrated

A Slaying In The Suburbs by Steve Miller; Andrea Billups

The true story of the Tara Grant murder. To their suburban Detroit neighbors, Stephen and Tara Grant were happy as could be. But their marriage, plagued by resentment and extramarital affairs, was held together only by their children. Until the night Stephen snapped, strangled and dismembered his wife, then disposed of her body piece by piece in the very park his children played in.

While I do not regret reading this book,I am starting to get a little irritated with the misleading blurbs of some books I have read recently.The term "plagued by resentment and extramarital affairs" would imply that the book would offer "real" proof of these facts.Not one bit of proof is given of an extramarital affair by the wife,Tara Grant and apart from some suggestive e mails the husband and murderer,Stephen Grant had one shortlived affair with the au pair which must have lasted 7 days in its entirety.On my own personal level,I can imagine that an overworked wife and an unemployed husband would fester a resentful environment,this book does not really offer any witness accounts or otherwise of the marriage being plagued by resentment.

I should possibly stop with the "murder by spouse" books for a while as all the information is starting to blur into one big "I marry You,I kill You".

What was good about the book was the absolute unbiased relating of the facts that were indeed available.While unbiased writing is put forward as the better way to write a true crime book,I have noticed that a little bit of bias does seem to inspire more emotions in the reader as the writer expresses their views with more passion.I have now even turned what was good about this book into a not so good thing.

This book was an easy book to read probably due to the fact that I was able to read it without any emotion.I never felt connected to the wife,Tara Grant.I never got to bond with the children as they played extremely minor roles and the husband struck me as a mass of nerves and ineptitude,someone who should have perhaps gotten a spot in the book "America's Dumbest Criminals" instead of an entire book devoted to his crime.

So much for not posting negative reviews but really,this isn't a negative review but more of a personalized one.I did read this book and read it really quickly so it wasn't the writing at all.I just didn't feel the emotions that I usually do.Also bear in mind that I have been reading a LOT of "murder by spouse" books lately so that is definitely affecting my judgement???



Here are some more book details:
A Slaying in the Suburbs: The Tara Grant Murder (Berkley True Crime)
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Berkley Trade Pub
ISBN: 9780425225486
Publication date: January 2009
Pages: 294
Illustrations: Illustrated

Father Of The Year by Glenn Puit

The Father's Day shocker of the year,this dad was so perfect, it was frightening.Bill Rundle may have won Las Vegas's Father of the Year award, but when his wife's corpse was found, the other side of the all-American dad was revealed: a manipulative con man, professional thief, and savage killer whose crimes reached back through the decades.

Bill Rundle won the Father Of The Year Award after his son,Richard Rundle,sent a letter describing his dad.Little Richie Rundle was a diabetic and his father,Bill,had been raising him as a single father.Richard Rundle then died after a woman in a car ran him over as he was waiting for the bus.He was 11 years old.

The childhood of Bill Rundle is covered briefly in this book,probably because it was so uneventful.His parents by all accounts were normal people.After that begins the multiple marriages,children who would be deserted by their father,even one wife who was deserted while she was still pregnant.This man seemed to have an aversion to normal work as we know it.He preferred making his money gambling and even better,by having a woman look after him.He also went through a stint where he pretended to be attending college but in fact had given up years before.

This true crime story proved to me that while society may be accepting of men who desert their wives,their families even covering up for them by saying the woman was a terrible wife,petty crimes like gambling and small scam jobs,living by the seat of your pants with petty crimes and legal forms of desertion and treating people terribly whilst still not breaking the law will in the end result in a crime which is found to be illegal accompanied by a jail sentence.What I am trying to say is beware the member of your family who indulges in these petty crimes that the family laughs about on a Sunday.Small crimes which they consistently get away with creates a mind that believes it needs to move the goal post a little further until eventually it is too late.Regardless that the offender's life will be over in the "free" sense this final ultimate crime normally has a victim who loses their entire life.

I actually know someone just like this and this book has made me realise that perhaps all is not well.This man had his first child with one woman he never married.He also refused to claim the child as his own and has never met this daughter.She will be 18 on the 6th December this year.Then he had another daughter,also did not marry the mother(relationship ended when daughter was 2).This daughter,he has had a relationship with but did stop paying maintenance 4 1/2 years ago.This daughter is 15.Then he went on to marry a girl and had a daughter with her.He started an affair and they got divorced when this daughter was 2.Also did not pay maintenance until about 6 months ago when this mother took him to court and the arrangement is that he pays 25% of what he should actually pay.He has now married the woman he had the affair with,and now has another daughter who is about 10 months old.He has for the past 5 or so years insisted on being self employed.He has not really brought in any money to even talk of and this new wife seems to be supporting him.He insists on living the life of the upper middle class and she supplies the money to help with this facade.

This book was good reading,although when we got to the court case I started dreading a rehash of all the details supplied earlier.Mercifully the court case was quite short and the book ended with Bill Rundle getting sentenced (after a plea bargain).



Here are some more book details:
Father of the Year (Berkley True Crime)
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Berkley Trade Pub
ISBN: 9780425228661
Publication date: May 2009
Pages: 258
Illustrations: Illustrated

Never Enough By Joe McGinniss

At thirty-nine, Nancy Kissel had it all: glamour, gusto, garishly flaunted wealth, and the royal lifestyle of the expatriate wife. Not to mention three young children and what a friend described as the best marriage in the universe. That marriage,to Merrill Lynch and former Goldman Sachs investment banker Robert Kissel, ended abruptly one November night in 2003 in the bedroom of their luxury apartment high above Hong Kong's glittering Victoria Harbour. Hong Kong prosecutors, who charged Nancy with murder, said she wanted to inherit Rob's millions and start a new life with a blue-collar lover who lived in a New Hampshire trailer park. She said she'd killed in self-defense while fighting for her life against an abusive, cocaine-addicted husband who had forced her for years to submit to his brutal sexual demands. Her 2005 trial, lasting for months and rich in lurid detail, captivated Hong Kong's expatriate community and attracted attention worldwide. Less than a year after the jury of seven Chinese citizens returned its unexpected verdict, Rob's brother, Andrew, a Connecticut real estate tycoon facing prison for fraud and embezzlement, was also found dead: stabbed in the back in the basement of his multimillion-dollar Greenwich mansion by person or persons unknown. Never Enough is the harrowing true story of these two brothers, Robert and Andrew Kissel, who grew up wanting to own the world but instead wound up murdered half a world apart; and of Nancy Kissel, a riddle wrapped inside an enigma, a modern American woman for whom having it all might not have been enough.

I remember getting the book Fatal Vision and thinking because there was no picture on the cover that I had ordered,by mistake,a fiction crime book.I checked the back again and I was still convinced it was fiction.I started reading and only quite a way through was I completely convinced that this was indeed a true crime book when the dates started coming out.The reason I mention this is because true crime books written by Joe McGinniss read like novels,and Never Enough is another great book by Joe McGinniss.This book is about the Kissell family,the central characters being the father,and the two sons,Robert and Andrew.The book details their early lives and subsequent marriages.Then into their careers,where one son seemingly chooses the righteous path (by society's standards anyway,considering Robert made money off floundering businesses by buying them and then re selling for a profit) while Andrew although fronted as a real estate investor found every way to scam and con his partners in whichever deal he had currently going.

Their marriages and relationship dynamics within this family is expertly woven into this true crime story resulting in a family saga extraordinaire,to rival any fictional family saga I have ever read.While I am personally very irritated with excessive filler details who provide no extra value to a book,I do however expect it in books which are longer than usual and I do make certain allowances for those.This book at 370 odd pages hardly falls under the description of "short" and I can honestly say has absolutely not one bit of unnecessary information.Everything is there to be devoured and enjoyed.Joe McGinniss is brilliant and I am now going to order his other books,Blind Faith and Cruel Doubt so watch out for those reviews.Joe McGinniss has now joined the ranks of true crime writers whose books I buy just because they wrote it,the actual story being a secondary deciding factor.

I highly recommend reading this book as I do Fatal Vision (I still have to do a review for Fatal Vision-too little time/too many books to read).



Here are some more book details:
Never Enough
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
ISBN: 9781416527176
Publication date: July 2008
Pages: 373
Illustrations: Illustrated





Honestly now,is there a tiny little part of you that feels good if it turns out a person who was extremely wealthy turned out to be actually living a miserable life or do you think that all rich people are actually living miserable lives?

One Deadly Night by John Glatt

On September 28, 2000, former Indiana State Trooper David Camm made a frantic call to 911: he'd just walked into his garage, and found lying on the floor the bodies of his 35-year-old wife, Kim, and their two children, Jill and Brad, ages 7 and 5. This was the kind of crime that could tear the heart out of a community. The Camms lived the American Dream. They had what seemed like a loving marriage, a nice little house with a white picket fence, and two adorable children. To top it all off, David Camm was a pillar of the community who had dedicated his career to the enforcement of the law and the sanctity of human life. Then, this happened. Three days later, it got worse when police arrested David Camm for the triple murder. Soon, new stories started emerging: stories about mistresses and violent bursts of temper. And as the ugly truth about the Camms' marriage got uglier and the evidence against David started piling up, two families- and the community at large - took positions at opposite sides of a yawning and bitter divide. Was David Camm a dedicated, conscientious public servant- the victim of unspeakable tragedy, railroaded by an unfair system?Or was he a cold-hearted murderer who earned his three murder convictions and every one of the 195 years behind bars to which he was sentenced? Investigative journalist John Glatt finds out in this gripping new book.

I am not at all convinced of this man,David Camm's guilt in the murder of his wife,Kim and his two children.There were far too many witnesses that he was somewhere else when these murders took place.I think he was pinned for this murder because of all the extra marital affairs he had whilst married and believe me,there were many.Even the end part where someone else puts forward a "murder for hire" scenario,I failed to be convinced still.

Despite the fact that this man was not likeable and seemed to be on a one man mission to bed every woman in a 200 mile vicinity I cannot with a clear conscience find him guilty with the facts put forward in this true crime case.Like was pointed out,he got away for years with these extra marital "affairs" or brief interludes,why would he kill his entire family to be able to indulge in these activities.He was never "in love" with any of these other women apart from maybe one,but that had ended quite a while before the murders.

Being a John Glatt book,of course,I found the book to be right up my alley with the style of writing,and the decision on how to present the facts(chronological order which makes for an un-confused reader).



Here are some more book details:
One Deadly Night (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Saint Martin's Press Inc.
ISBN: 9780312993092
Publication date: May 2005
Pages: 340
Illustrations: 8 Illustrations

Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates by Suzanne O'Malley

On a June morning in a Houston suburb, a 911 dispatcher questioned the caller on the other end of the line: ARE YOU HAVING A DISTURBANCE? ARE YOU ILL? ARE YOU AT 942 BEACHCOMBER? ARE YOU THERE ALONE? It took a jury less than four hours to find Houston housewife Andrea Yates guilty of the drowning deaths of three of her five children,and a mere half hour to sentence the troubled woman with a stunning history of severe mental problems to life in prison. But beyond the media coverage of her heinous crimes, there is a story that only investigative reporter Suzanne O'Malley has fully illuminated. THIS IS THE BOOK THAT INCLUDES THE REVELATION THAT LED TO THE OVERTURNING OF ANDREA YATES'S CONVICTION. The updated edition of Are You There Alone? features a new chapter on the appeal of the Yates case, as well as personal updates on both Andrea and Rusty Yates. Having drawn upon hundreds of interviews,with expert witnesses, close friends, family advisers, and Andrea and Rusty themselves,O'Malley has produced a riveting true-crime account that shatters our notions about criminal law, mental illness, death-penalty politics, and religious fanaticism in America today.

When this story first made the news, I was shocked and horrified.The mother had murdered ALL five of her children.The reason she gave was that if they lived any longer they would be claimed by satan.So she essentially saved them.Then I started reading this book.I hate it when I form hard and fast opinions without having the facts from as many angles as possible and this book is definitely sympathetic to Andrea Yates and the issue of post natal depression.As a mother I know all about the crazy emotions we go through after childbirth.Goodness,even the pregnancy is chaotic for me.Crying at every traffic light where a poor person is begging for money.Actually I do that for a week a month as well.Okay,too much information but you all know what I mean.

Warning:some of the content below might be disturbing!

The book starts with this information:

April 17,1993-Russell and Andrea Yates are married
February 26,1994-first child born
December 15,1995-second child born
November 1996-miscarriage
September 13,1997-third child born
February 15,1999-fourth child born
June 17,1999-Andrea takes overdose of Trazodone
June 17-24,1999-Andrea Yates hospitalised
July 20,1999-Andrea attempts suicide with a knife
July 21-August 8,1999-Andrea Yates hospitalised
August 9-20,1999-Andrea continues hospital care as a day patient
October 1999-Haldol/Decanoate injections discontinued(this is due partly to cession of medical cover.This results in patient having to administer meds orally which means responsibility is passed to patient who is diagnosed schizophrenic by the way and caring for small children-in brackets is my own comments)
January 2000-Andrea's last visit with psychiatrist
March 2000-Andrea pregnant with fifth child.(Has to stop meds obviously-please note that by this time the Yates couple had been advised prior to not have any more children as pregnancy will worsen her symptoms of mental illness)
November 30,2000-fifth child born
March 13,2001-Andrea's father dies
March 31-April 12,2001-Andrea hospitalised(during this time Andrea's new psychiatrist requests a court ordered commitment)
April 13,2001-Andrea begins program as day patient(again medical coverhas run out for hospitalised care)
April 19,2001-mother in law comes to help Andrea with the kids
May 3,2001-Andrea fills bathtub with water but does nothing(she later states it is because she saw the water people and thought they had come to shut off the water for non payment and was just making sure there was enough water to carry them through until the water would be re instated)
June 20,2001-Andrea Yates drowns her children(right after husband leaves for work and before the mother in law gets there to help out for the day.About an hour window period)

By this time which is 3 pages into the book I am sympathetic.I remember how tired I was one month into my little one's birth and that was just from waking up once at night and my other child was 11 years old.Andrea Yates had 5 children under 7 years of age.And get this,she also did home schooling.And breast feeding! and keeping the middle children busy and happy!and cleaning the house and ironing!And with 4 children they had lived in a bus after taking the advice of some religious guru.I am going to assume that Andrea was too overwhelmed to make any proper decisions but does NO ONE in this family and extended family realise this is too much for one person!

The one thing with this story which made me the most sad was the fact that some news networks had reported that the oldest child,Noah, had actually tried to run away and was dragged back to be drowned.Andrea denies that this happened and I will give her the benefit of the doubt.But she then relates that between dunking Noah,he was blurting out that he was sorry.Obviously the little man thought he was being punished.This is even worse for me than the running away.This absolutely breaks my heart!Add to that the fact that she had the 6 month old sitting on the bathroom floor as she drowned each child and then placed each one on the bed and went for the next one.The baby was the 4th child to be drowned.She left this baby's body floating in the bath and that's how Noah,the eldest was called into the bathroom.He actually saw his little sister floating there and then suffered the same fate.

So my end conclusion is that I do accept that Andrea Yates had a mental breakdown but that doesn't deter from the fact that 5 children were murdered.Regardless of the fact that the medical practitioners were partly to blame for an incorrect diagnosis on Andrea,the fact that her husband was for the most part oblivious to this unfolding drama,that the extended family decided to choose conscious blindness,that the medical care provider decided that profits took a higher priority over the lives of human beings,Andrea Yates drowned and murdered her 5 children on June 20,2001.

Allowing a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity will open the floodgates for similar pleas where the mothers have just realised that their children are inconvenient and in the way,similar pleas where mothers are instructed by voices that God is requesting that they do this and the list goes on and on.

This book details a lot more information some of which is updated regarding Andrea Yate's original conviction being overturned and the results thereof.One more bit of information for those who did not know this,Russell Yate's wish was for Andrea to be found not guilty so she could get medical help and then be released.They would then have more children and resume their lives as normally as possible.Seriously?Should this man not be in jail as well,if for nothing else than for gross and lawless stupidity.

Little Noah (the first born)was born exactly 23 days after my daughter.He would be the impossible teenager my daughter is today.He would be going out to movies and probably have inspired a few crushes by now.The last born,Mary would be turning 9 in November,no doubt developing her own taste in clothes and being silly like only little girls can be.

If you would like to read this book,it offers valuable information on the treatment of mental diseases,tips on what to look out for,possibly ways to avoid disaster like this family encountered.It wil re iterate for most people how any business (despite a social name like "medical care provider")is actually a business and they are there to make money first and foremost and let's not forget it.






More Book Details:

Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
Country: United States of America
Format: Mass market paperback
Publisher: Pocket Star Books
ISBN: 9780743466295
Publication date: May 2005
Edition: Updated
Pages: 432
Illustrations: Illustrated

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death by Rita Cosby

She was famous for being famous-Americana at its Scarlet Letter-wearing best. A bodacious young girl from Texas, Anna remade herself into the centerfold of the world. She was a dumb blonde, a stripper, a Playboy Playmate, who boldly took her case against her billionaire husband's family all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her tragic life and untimely death evoke an odd mix of fascination, shock, and dismay. And through it all, there still exists a voracious thirst to discover more about who she actually was...and how she really died.
In a book that is sure to surprise even the most avid pop culture junkies, Rita Cosby blows the lid off this astounding story. After an in-depth investigation, this is the definitive journalistic account of the Anna Nicole Smith saga-with unearthed secrets and explosive, never-before-told information.

Regardless of whether all the information is correct,the fact that there are thousands of conspiracy theories out there including the fact that the Russians got to the moon before the Americans,THIS conspiracy theory ranks amongst the best of them.As this forms the crux of this book I cannot reveal all.Here are some clues,Anna Nicole Smith's son dies mysteriously,then she dies,then suddenly Howard Stern is the father of the child,then it turns out to be Larry,and now everyone is living happily.This theory of Rita Cosby which is definitely hard to NOT believe as she has witnesses willing to come forward with pertinent facts and observations, brings all these facts together and they all make absolute sense in the context in which they are written.I,for one, am a believer!

Brilliantly written,seemed to have the appearance of massive research plus the fact that Rita Cosby herself was very much an insider with these main characters lends itself to a great book,albeit a major bone of contention as to whether it is a work of fiction or non fiction.If these are truly the facts then this story will bring forth the saying of "truth is stranger than fiction."

I enjoyed the brief moments with Anna Nicole Smith.I have always liked her.I think she was largely misunderstood and criticized.I admire her for the single mother she was,for her path to stardom.I am also of the opinion that most of the truly good people of this earth always end up drug addicted,in my opinion,for having feelings that run so deep,that their only outlet becomes drugs.You have to read this book to understand what I mean.It is an amazing book!





More book details:
Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death
Country: United States of America
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 9780446406116
Publication date: September 2007
Edition: Parental Adviso
Pages: 244
Illustrations: Illustrated

No Room For Doubt By Angela Dove

On March 25, 1988, Debi Whitlock was brutally murdered in her Modesto, California, home. Debi's murder devastated her family and sent her loved ones careening on radically different paths. Debi's mother, Jacque, wanted answers. Over the next nine years, Jacque courageously fought what others called a losing battle and learned how to deal with the authorities, the media, and the public so that her daughter's killer would not go unpunished.
Debi's husband, Harold, was tossed down another path. Police investigators focused their suspicions on him, eventually uncovering motives and opportunity but never enough to make a case. Judged harshly in the court of public opinion, the once funny, intelligent, and fiercely loyal man fell into a spiral of guilt, anger, and alcoholism.
Told by Harold's adult daughter,the last person to see Debi alive,this is the story of a terrible murder and investigation that led to the ultimate end of one man's life, and a renewed sense of purpose and hope in one woman's life.

I really hope that Angela Dove will consider writing more true crime books.This book,her first,is based on her personal experiences as the daughter of Harold,the husband of murdered victim,Debi Whitlock.She was approached by Jacque,Debi's mother,to write this book and it is a true and honest account of how the events unravelled from the discovery of Debi's body,the investigation ,the suspicion that her father,Harold,was the murderer,brief but candid accounts of her own disturbing relationship with this same man,the mother,Jacque's crusade to find the murderer.Her own experiences and thoughts are expertly intermingled into this true crime story and the result is a wonderful story of hope,determination and courage.

Usually with a true crime story we know exactly who the murderer is right at the beginning.It was refreshingly different to read a true crime book and have no idea who the actual murderer was until the very end.Psychiatrists and psychologists detail their own profiles as to who committed the murder and the general consensus being "someone who knew the victim".The only negative of this book is that after being led the garden path by all these experts' opinions the actual end is a bit of an anti climax.But by delving deeper into the psychology behind this crime,and the reasons,you do realise that indeed the murderer did know his victim but not in the way you expect.I cannot say anymore without revealing this entire book but rest assured that I definitely recommend reading this book.

Angela Dove has a real gift with words.This was a wonderfully well written book and the way the events are chosen to appear and the order that they do so,is brilliant.Non fiction books are true life and crime fiction books always have an edge of mystery until the very end.This book is a perfect combination of both.






More book details:
No Room for Doubt
Country: United States of America
Format: Softcover
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780425225882
Publication date: March 2009
Pages: 372
Illustrations: Illustrated