Features
- Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 424 pages
- Published by: Pocket Books October 1, 1996
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0671793551
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0671793555
-
Book Dimensions:
6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
- Weighs: 10.6 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
From the premier writer of true crime comes A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases, the third volume in Ann Rule's Crime Files series. Here, she collects four cases that "subconsciously or inadvertently share a common theme: personal betrayal. Since I am a great believer in the premise that we do nothing accidentally, it must be the right time to contemplate homicides that occur because the victim or victims have been betrayed by someone they have come to trust." Like her bestselling Dead by Sunset, A Fever in the Heart is scheduled to be made into an NBC-TV miniseries currently scheduled to air in May 1997. (Pocket, $6.99, 480p, ISBN 0-671-79355-1)
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Crime writer Rule has produced another gripping compilation of true-crime stories, all set in Washington State in the 1970s. Her themes are of personal betrayal and sexual predators. The title story tells of an obsession fueled by jealousy and lust, ultimately leading to death and the ruination of many lives. After his wife left him, beloved high school coach Gabby Moore became obsessed with the wife of a former student and friend, Morris Blankenbaker. Morris's wife, Jerilee, began a relationship with Gabby that deteriorated as the alcoholic Gabby's behavior became increasingly erratic. She returned to Morris, who was soon found murdered, but Gabby, the most likely suspect, had an airtight alibi. Other stories also tell tales of obsession, lust, murder, secret lives and false identities, and sexual depravity. A welcome addition to true-crime collections; highly recommended.
Sandra K. Lindheimer, Middlesex Law Lib., Cambridge, Mass.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: A Fever in the Heart (True Crime Files) (Paperback)
Ex-cop and serial killer expert Ann Rule isn't a profound writer. She tells the same story over and over again with new victims and grisly variations on the way a human being can die. I suppose there's nothing profound about me either, since I read her stories. But it's a relief to know that no matter how badly my life is behaving, I'm profoundly better off than the victims of Rule's psychopaths. The title story, "A Fever in the Heart" is 245 pages long, and the author admits she had a problem writing it, possibly because she was so close to one of the victims. My impression is that she also blames one of the other victims for causing the whole affair. Briefly, two high school coaches are in love with the same woman, who marries one then divorces him and marries the second coach, then returns to husband #1 who is promptly murdered. It seems like a fairly straightforward case, since only coach #2 had a motive to kill coach #1. Then the prime suspect is also murdered. "A Fever in the Heart" is an interesting mystery with good police-work, and sad, intricate relationships between the victims. However, I believe it is about 220 pages too long. Possibly because the author was so involved in the story, she tells it over and over again, each time in a slightly different way, but not different enough to hold my interest. The other five cases included in this volume are as follows: "The Highway Accident"--A man murders his wife and tries to make it look like an automobile accident. "Murder without a Body"--"Oregon's last murder conviction in which the body was never found was in 1904." Then a lovely, young teacher disappears, leaving behind lots of blood but no corpse. The prosecutor decides to go ahead with the case, anyway. "I'll Love You Forever"--Ann Rule found the murderer in this case so sinister that she changed her pen name so he wouldn't be able to find her. This is another sad story of a woman who marries a charming psychopath. "Black Leather"--A murderer who trolls for young men, then tortures them to death gets his just reward on his own killing ground. "Mirror Images"--Two convicts bond to the point where they take on the same alias. Both are sexual offenders who torture their victims, and both are on the loose way too long.
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