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Summary: Ann Rule "Rules!"
Review: I, too, buy all of Ann's book, and I also read them faster than she can write them!This book is as good as it gets. I have read all of her books, and as a writer myself, I love her style... At 11 years old, I read my first True Crime "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote; ten years later I read Ann's "The Stranger Beside Me." I have had an extensive library of True Crime; and the only books I keep on the shelves (and never lend or donate) are Ann Rule's! Glad to see there's a new one on the shelf this week!
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Summary: A ROLLER-COASTER OF A RIDE. Chilled me to the marrow!!!!
Review: If it weren't a TRUE story, I would say it was unbelievable. How could beautiful, intelligent women, with so much going for them be led down the garden path by such a psycho? I didn't even know how Brad could be "living" and interacting in the real world. It was such a well-written account, I never knew how it would end, and kept thinking of OJ and the obvious parallels. I was halfway into the book, before I came across the haunting photographs. How tragic! What trauma all players endured at the hands of "BLACK BRAD." It does absolutely go to show you the old adage....you can fool .some of the people ALL the time..and that was what made Brad tick. He was a con artist to the end.
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Summary: Truth is definately scarier & better than fiction!
Review: Im hooked! I was fortunate enough to pick "Dead By Sunset" as the first one of Ann Rule's books to read and I have to say that I literally couldn't put it down. In the last 3 months I have read 4 more and my second choice so far is "Everything She Ever Wanted." Both are great stuff. Partly because of the investigative & writing skills of Ann Rule but also because the characters are so intriguing and incredibly unreal that they make for a terrific read. Male & female alike, much enjoyed reading.
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Summary: Where did Neverland say she "deserved" what she got!
Review: It is stated accurately that it is hard to feel real sorry for her, and that she(Cheryl) is not "innocent"! What she did to her sorority sister was absolutely horrid in it's own right! (not murder, but absolutely horrible!) She obviosly "new" the kind of man Brad was by this point(Brilliant lawyer remember!!) He's willing to fool around on his pregnant wife, and she's married also! So Mrs Brilliant decides she wants out of her marriage to go to Mr. Charming (Apparently $ucce$$ful Brad) This is definitly the way brilliant , successful people handle their problems...yeah right! Do you really feel sorry for the Mr Macho that get's bit by a poisons snake that he was playing around with??? No! I do feel sorry for Dr. Gordon and feel she was rather heroic, the kids as always were the real victims as usual...but Cheryl...C'mon, didn't she trap herself in her own web? Neverland, happily married with kids!
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Summary: Where did Neverland say she "deserved" what she got!
Review: It is stated accurately that it is hard to feel real sorry for her, and that she(Cheryl) is not "innocent"! What she did to her sorority sister was absolutely horrid in it's own right! (not murder, but absolutely horrible!) She obviosly "new" the kind of man Brad was by this point(Brilliant lawyer remember!!) He's willing to fool around on his pregnant wife, and she's married also! So Mrs Brilliant decides she wants out of her marriage to go to Mr. Charming (Apparently $ucce$$ful Brad) This is definitly the way brilliant , successful people handle their problems...yeah right! Do you really feel sorry for the Mr Macho that get's bit by a poisons snake that he was playing around with??? No! I do feel sorry for Dr. Gordon and feel she was rather heroic, the kids as always were the real victims as usual...but Cheryl...C'mon, didn't she trap herself in her own web? Neverland, happily married with kids!
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Summary: No one could compete with the competence of Ann RUle.
Review: It used to be I only picked up a true-crime account occasionally. Now I find myself seeking them. Especially if they are written by Ann Rule. I don't know anyone who makes me feel as if I am along for the ride as she does. This man was so manipulative, and has so many believing his every whining complaint, I just wanted to smack him myself! As in all of her accounts of deception and murder, I felt as if she was speaking directly to me. I wanted to stand up in the courtroom and speak my piece. A book, which at times seems to be only words, can grab you if it contains substance and it can make you feel the tension, waiting to explode on the next page. I actually found myself with a gaping expression because I couldn't believe some of the events that occured throughout this man's life. Of course, I know it sounds ridiculous, but Mz. Rule made it ever more real to me with the detail and intense investigation needed to write this book. Thank you for all your account! ! s of true-crime, which have made me realize that one really has to be careful with the sickos we have out there today. Jeanine
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Summary: Not Ann Rule's Best
Review: It's incredibly easy to become an Ann Rule Addict, but not with this particular title. ANY other book she has written shows off her true- crime reporting skills to much better advantage. She IS the best..... of course read this title too, but only after you have read all her others. Her subject here, Brad Cunningham, is different from her other subjects in that he lures women who are not the usual vulnerable victims. Rather, they are moxie medics and lawyers who should have known better. Makes you want to box their ears for letting themselves get trapped by him. All the characters are on the boring side. And it's difficult to keep track of those with similar names, like Brad and Brent
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Summary: Could have been a better story.
Review: Let me start of by saying "I am an Ann Rule Fan Club Member." But this book would have been a better book had someone else written the story. For such a dramatic and action packed drama, little of those emotions came through in this story. What bothered me most about this book was the incredible amount of information that I had to wade through to get to the real story. Certain parts of the book go on and on about events from character's lives who are not a significant part of the story. I'm no expert, but I believe if a good editor would have gone through the book and cut out all of which wasn't necessary to the story then it would have been a better book. I can normally read a good true crime book in 1-5 days, but this one took me forever and I found myself skipping pages. And I hate to skip pages in a book I paid good money for.
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Summary: If your'e divorced and dating again, don't read Ann Rule!!
Review: One of, if not the best in the True Crime genre, Ann Rule weaves the unbelievable, (if it weren't all true) tale of Brad Cunningham, left a widower when his wife's body was discovered in an abandoned car. The car was discovered in the fast lane of traffic with Cheryl Keeton's battered bodt behind the wheel, already dead. But all is not as it seems. Ann Rule is able to piece together the facts behind the case, especuially when family and police begin to believe that Brad is not just the grieving widower. With exhaustive research, Rule fills out the story, the marriage between Brad and Cheryl that started with such promise, and the children that became pawns in Brad's quest to get away from a crumbling marriage. Piecing together facts about his childhood , Rule draws a portrait of a ruthless killer who would sacrifice anything that could no longer help him, or threatened to get in his way. Detailing his financial manuverings, legal wranglings and multiple marraiges it is soon clear the "great catch" Brad Cunningham is not at all wht he appears. So if you are newly on the dating scene, take my advice, either give up reading Ann Rule, or get a good PI!
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Summary: A really good depiction of a crime
Review: Rule is a good reporter and this book shows her strengths. She is able to deliver the details of the crime commited but not make the whole thing seem to dry. The reader winds up feeling sympathy for the victims in this case, Cheryl, her sons, and all the other lives that Brad ruined. Rule also is careful to make sure the reader does not hate Brad. She does this by painting a full picture of the man. Yes he was dishonest and a slim, but Rule shows the reader how he got this way. Brad's father taught him to hate women and his mother didn't help anything telling her son that he was the reason she got cancer. The story is well told and engaging. I wish it were fiction, sadly it is not. Certainly worth the time taken to read it.
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