Rating: 
Summary: WOW - WHAT A GREAT READ
Review: SAW DR. ORION ON LARRY KING AND 48 HOURS, THEN READ THE BOOK. ALTHOUGH I'VE NEVER EVEN BEEN STALKED, I FOUND IT FASCINATING, BUT THIS IS A CRUCIAL READ FOR VICTIMS, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THERAPISTS. FOR ME, IT WAS JUST A GREAT THRILLER THAT HAD THE ADDED BONUS OF BEING EXTREMELY ENLIGHTENING ABOUT BIZARRE MENTAL ILLNESSES AND THE ATTENDANT OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIORS THAT ARE BECOMING ALL TOO COMMON. I LOVE BEING SO ENTERTAINED THAT I DON'T EVEN NOTICE HOW MUCH I'VE LEARNED UNTIL AFTER I PUT DOWN THE BOOK. BRAVO, DR. ORION!
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Summary: Orion Turns Her Ordeal Into Our Education
Review: The author, psychiatrist Doreen Orion, wrote this book to educate others about stalking, especially of the erotomanic variety. Erotomania is best known to most of us through mass media, which reports on those creepy individuals who go around convinced that celebrities are in love with them, married to them, etc. But this kind of stalking also happens to regular folks -- like Orion, whose chance encounter with a psychiatric patient turned into a years-long ordeal, with the patient following her, sneaking into her house, phoning, leaving letters, and even traveling from state to state to maintain unwanted contact with Orion.
Orion recounts her ordeal and intersperses it with information she learned when she applied her psychiatric and research skills to her own predicament. The result is what she intends. Her own experiences cause us to empathize with her, and putting ourselves in her shoes, we can see that being stalked (even by a person unlikely ever to attack one physically) is a harrowing, psychologically draining, altogether awful ordeal. Over and over, Orion ran into people who, never having experienced it, consider such devotion from another no more than a nuisance. Orion proves differently. And her description of the psychological condition of erotomania and the development of laws to counter it are interesting, and deep enough to teach something new even to those with long experience in the medical or criminal justice fields.
On the other hand, Orion's conclusions about what to do with the problem of erotomania seem to directly contradict what she says in her book. After noting again and again that punishment does not stop erotomanic stalkers, she says that maybe if they are punished more, they will stop. Longer imprisonment is probably a good idea, if only because while stalkers are in prison may be the only time their victims get any rest, but Orion's justified anger may be affecting her clinical judgment when she says extra punishment will do anything else.
And this is clearly Orion's first book, and possibly her editor's too. She misspells "aid" as "aide" and "loath" as "loathe," errors a spell-checker can't catch but she or her editor should have, and her writing starts out bland and clumsy. What is remarkable about this is how quickly her writing improves over the course of the book. In the beginning, I was wondering whether I could endure her style long enough to finish, but by the end she had found her voice and I was turning pages frantically.
Even before Orion's writing gels, though, the information she imparts makes her book a worthwhile read. There is more to the "celebrity stalker" type than meets the eye, and there are more of them than we know. Those who work in medicine or the law, especially, need to learn what Orion is teaching.
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Summary: Riveting Read, Crucial Information
Review: This book blew me away. It is full of important information, not just for stalking victims, but for potential victims as well (ie all of us). But, more than that, this true story reads better than any fiction thriller out there. A friend who had been stalked, and found this book priceless, lent it to me. I could see why it had been so important to her, but even though I had never been stalked, I still found it to be a great read. One more comment - I read the review below - Dr. Orion's husband was NOT her clinical supervisor. They were just in the same residency program. I'm not sure where this person got that erroneous info, but I just wanted to set that straight, as it would certainly effect the story if it were true, and I might not have read the book if I'd read that review, first.
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Summary: A gripping and informative story of an ignored crime
Review: This book scared me. I had no idea stalking was such a frightening, dangerous AND prevalent crime. Most frightening, the legal and justice system doesn't seem to realize that either. Like everyone else, I had assumed stalking was a risk only for celebs. Untrue! It's a risk for all of us. But when it happens, especially to one of the ordinary, the chances are, the police and court system will dismiss the danger, ignore the terror and invasion of privacy the stalker inflicts on his victim. Dr. Orion's book should be read by EVERYONE, especially young women living in cities. A thoroughly researched and documented book. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible but true story of a fascinating disorder!!!
Review: This is a wonderful book. Extremely well written, Dr. Orion takes us on a horrific journey, while educating us along the way. Using many compelling examples from her own case and others (including some of the more notorious celebrity cases), she proves the point that stalking is not taken seriously enough by both law enforcement and other mental health professionals. Time and again, we learn that when the victim, the victim's family or others entrusted with helping the victim don't take the stalker seriously, at best, the behavior escalates. At worst, it turns deadly! This book should be required reading for law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, and those in the mental health field. It should also be read by anyone who likes a beautifully written thriller!
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