Rating: 
Summary: quicksilver in the jaws of justice
Review:
In "Everything She Ever Wanted" we are introduced to Patricia Vann Radcliffe Taylor Allanson, a woman fixated on emulating her role-model Scarlett O'Hara, a modern-day refined southern belle of infinite selfishness and a complete lack of remorse or empathy, devoid of conscience and incapable of love for anyone or anything save for herself, in search of her paradisaic "Tara".
While some have mistaken this as a story of a freak, it is quite the opposite - a tale of a clever, stubborn, adorable spoiled child whose submersion in unmitigated gratification and complete lack of disciplinary boundaries during her formative years turned the Shirley-Temple dream child into the Jekyll/Hyde adult. Do I recall that Pat Taylor Allanson served as the model for Caleb Carr's cold-blooded, manipulative, and realistic if fictional "Libby" in his chilling classic "Angel of Darkness"? If she didn't, she certainly could have.
The tale of a monster? Perhaps, but a common monster, one that breeds and multiplies and festers in the milieu of our modern society, that arises again and again, in ever more resistant strains, to test the limits of our enfeebled enforcement and justice systems.
Ms. Rule adroitly demonstrates the chameleon nature of the sociopath, the quicksilver-like ability to evade culpability and responsibility, while churning a carnage-laden path of ruined lives and festering emotional trauma through the lives of those who love them. We sense the frustration of a legal system than can never adequately resolve those crimes against the innocent which ultimately only a higher power can fully and fairly address, as is acknowledged in the novel's concluding and ironic axiom.
A fascinating read (I read it in about 3 long sittings) for those willing to wade into the restricting mire of non-idyllic reality far removed from Hollywood fantsies of quick revenge and violent retribution. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Great One by Ann Rule
Review: Ann Rule never disappoints me! This book spans some 20 years, telling the story of how two families came together in a Gone-With-The-Wind marriage that left some family members dead, and others nearly dead or with ruined lives. Usually I can get the gist of the story by reading the captions under the pictures in the middle of the book, but not this one. Pat Allanson's husband is convicted of murdering his parents, but you don't quite know until the end whether he really did it. Pat tries to kill her husband's grandparents, the book takes you through the trial and conviction, but there are still hundreds of pages left to read! Pat Allanson just doesn't know when to quit! You won't believe how she (and her family) treats her daughter, how she thought she could get away with more attempted murders, and how many lives she could ruin. I just wish Susan would have been tested for poison, and I wish her and her children all the best for having the guts it took to do what she did.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book - Ann Rule hits another homerun!
Review: Ann Rule weaves a tale so incredible it's hard to believe this is true crime. Pat Taylor Allanson makes Hannibal Lector look like a pussycat. The woman had no remorse at all for what she did. A twisted, chilling look at a woman who wanted her own way, and wouldn't let anything or ANYONE stand in her way. The manipulation queen: she played the seductive, little girl, helpless, delicate southern bell to the hilt. Truly an amazing story. All true crime buff should add this to their library.
Rating:
Summary: for parents who spoil their children..
Review: Everything She Ever Wanted is the true story of a southern 'belle' who makes the gradual transition from being a spoiled, selfish child into a manipulative, overbearing witch. Her ego and cold disregard for the people who love her leads her down the path of murder. From a 10,000 ft perspective Everything She Ever Wanted sounds a bit formulaic. However what makes this book compulsive reading is the fascinating interrelationship between the murderess and her manipulated family. I was amazed at how much she got away with, and how her family defended her until the end (despite being victims themselves). Familial love is indeed blind. Bottom line: Everything She Ever Wanted is typical Ann Rule stuff. That is, it is well-written and researched. No, it's not among her best works. But it makes for pure reading enjoyment nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: A textbook of a sociopath
Review: Excellent account of a diabolical woman's need to have her every wish granted. It's a textbook portrait of a sociopath/psychopath's inner workings and, as always, Ann Rule has captured the causes and effects of what these people can do in society. Pity Pat Taylor's family, friends and anyone with whom she's every come in contact.
Rating:
Summary: Pat Allanson a spoiled brat her entire life
Review: I can't much improve on the one review where the fellow who wrote it said he wish he could've reached into the book and strangled Pat Allanson. This sociopath was never made to face reality. But, then again, her mother indulged in illusion. Marguerite had three illegitimate children before she was 20 years old by a married man, but acted as if she was this paragon of virtue and looked down her nose at everyone else. Meanwhile, her precious daughter, who drove her own brother to suicide, is ruining lives right and left. I think the entire family was nuts and if Pat Allanson got the opportunity she would just repeat her past conduct because she knows her family...save the only sane member, her daughter, Susan...will continue to defend her and cover up for her! Heaven preserve us from people who think they are entitled to everything they want and don't care who they run over to get it.
Rating: 
Summary: It took me a looonnnggg time to finish this book!
Review: I found this book to be very lengthy and boring. I love true crime books and I never stop reading a book, so I toughed it out and finished it. It took me about six weeks to do so. I was finally able to finish it because of a long plane trip. The main character, Pat, was truly trash. I thought the author overexagerated Pat's beauty and refined upbringing. It is not a story of a high-society woman gone bad, but rather a trashy woman from a trashy background doing some pretty trashy things. I would not recommend this book, based on the above. I have read other books of Ann Rule that I have enjoyed, but this does not make the list.
Rating:
Summary: wicked, wicked woman!
Review: Pat Taylor Allanson suffered from Munchausen's, Munchausen's by proxy, narcissistic and histrionic personality disorder, as is obviously displayed in the book, though her doctors diagnosed her with other things at the time. She's four star performer! The sad thing is, her family practically trained her to believe that she was more important than anybody else, since she was a baby. She never learned to accept the word "no" and never really moved beyond a toddler's jealous dependance on her mother. This failed serial killer, who may have tried to kill her own daughter, is out now; a free woman. Anne Rule makes this book a real page turner. Every time you think Pat can't go any lower, she does. Had she gone legit, she could have really had "everything she ever wanted," she was so talented, but she chose a path of evil.
Rating:
Summary: Captivating Ann Rule story of the ultimate sociopath
Review: The most horrific, conniving, controlling, murderous, childish, sick person I have ever read about. Ann Rule is excellent in plotting the story of a truly heinous pathetic soul as Pat. Her enabling, sad parents and family members are to also be responsible for allowing such appalling behavior to continue. Pat would destroy anyone who was in her way, including her own children and grandchildren. There was absolutely no one who was exempt. The pain caused to her own parents was another devious act. She would keep her imprisoned husband from his only family; she would keep a small son from his sick mother (Pat's daughter); she would keep a dying old man from his beloved wife. etc. After serving prison time, and released, it was shocking to learn that she would include one of her daughters into her life of crime and deceit AGAIN. But fortunately, one daughter had the tenacity and courage to report her back to authorities. Family members become enablers and someone should have stopped her long ago, before innocent people are hurt.
Rating:
Summary: Beauty Is As Beauty Does
Review: The very best of Ann Rule. This story is amazingly bizarre - and is made even further outrageous when other "socially elite" family members join in her collusions. Ann Rule got me hooked on this genre of serial killer, - the delicate southern belle with a sharp mind, a great big gracious smile, and an icy, stone-cold heart.
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