FACTUAL FEBRUARY

I've only read five books so far this month (which puts me nearly two books behind my self-imposed schedule, if you'll recall), but all of them have been non-fiction. I've read four true crime books and a memoir written by a man who took in a severely emotionally disturbed foster child. Here are the details.

CRADLE OF DEATH--John Glatt

This is the account of a woman who killed seven of her nine children, all before they turned two years of age. (Of the other two, one was stillborn and one died in the hospital shortly after birth). The woman, Marie Noe, lucked out because about the time that her babies were being murdered, SIDS was making headlines, and doctors wanted to use her as a case study. Unfortunately for them, and tragically for these beautiful children, the cause of death was having Marie for a mother.

HOUSE OF SECRETS--Lowell Cauffiel

This book gave me the creeps, because the father was so depraved, committing incest, abuse, assault, fraud, and pretty much every other crime you can think of. The father got his children to kill his son-in-law (their sister's husband) and grandson, and took them on the road in a small camper to escape authorities who wanted to investigate charges of child abuse. The photos in this book are very graphic, particularly two of the infant corpse.

THE THINGS I WANT MOST--Richard F. Miniter

This book comes endorsed by David Pelzer, of "A Child Called It" fame. It's a much milder story, mostly because the assault against young Mike happens before the book begins, as it were, and is fairly clinically described in brief by the author. It was a very compelling read, especially for people who have to deal with children with emotional disorders, because it details how gruelling it can be to try to break through the defenses such children erect to protect themselves from the disappointments of life.

SPECIAL DELIVERY--Bill G. Cox

This is the story of the murder of Debra Evans by her so-called friend, who wanted to have a light-skinned biracial baby for her boyfriend, despite the fact that she'd had her tubes tied years before. The woman and two male accomplices (one the boyfriend who wanted the light-skinned baby) shot Evans, cut the baby out of her womb, killed her two oldest children so they couldn't identify them, and left Evans' young son alone with his mother's corpse in an apartment soaked with the blood of his family members. This was a truly heinous crime.

BURIED MEMORIES--Irene Pence

Betty Lou Beets was executed in 2000 for the murders of two of her husbands, whom she buried in her own backyard, one under a storage shed and the other under a wishing well. The horrific thing about her case is that she coerced two of her children into helping her cover up her crimes. She seems to have been a cold-blooded killer, and has the distinction of having been on death row with Karla Faye Tucker, whose execution caused so much controversy because she'd become a born-again Christian while on death row but had a stay of execution refused by future President George W. Bush. The sad thing about this case is that her final victim's son tried to get help investigating his father's disappearance from multiple sources, all of whom dismissed his concerns.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to turn to lighter material for at least part of the month.

THE BOOKS OF 2009

JANUARY
The Last Book in the Universe--Rodman Philbrick
Dracula--Bram Stoker, read by Susan Adams and Alexander Spencer
Sundays at Tiffany's--James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet
The Outlaw Demon Wails--Kim Harrison
And Baby Makes Six--Linda Markowiak
Lucy Gets Her Life Back--Stef Ann Holm
Lean Mean Thirteen--Janet Evanovich
Peace Like a River--Elaine Schulte
Maida's Little Shop--Inez Haynes Irwin (ebook)
Plum Lucky--Janet Evanovich
The Pagan Stone--Nora Roberts
A Cedar Cove Christmas--Debbie Macomber
Worth More Dead--Ann Rule

FEBRUARY
Just Between Friends--Sandra Steffen
The Great GIlly Hopkins--Katherine Paterson
Snowy Night with a Stranger--Jane Feather, Sabrina Jeffries, Julia London
To the Brink--Cindy Gerard
Christmas, Present--Jacquelyn Mitchard
The Prophet of Yonwood--Jeanne DuPrau
Seduce Me at Sunrise--Lisa Kleypas
The Empty Mirror--James Lincoln Collier
Saying Grace--Beth Gutcheon
Poison--Chris Wooding

MARCH
One Little Sin--Liz Carlyle
To Tame a Texan's Heart--Jodi Thomas
Griffin's Castle--Jenny Nimmo
Don't Say a Word--Barbara Freethy
Miracle's Boys--Jacqueline Woodson

APRIL
Fat Chance--Deborah Blumenthal
At Twilight--Maggie Shayne
Sean Donovan--Lori Wick
Blue Christmas--Mary Kay Andrews
Palace of Mirrors--Margaret Peterson Haddix
Salvation in Death--J. D. Robb
Promises in Death--J. D. Robb
From Dead to Worse--Charlaine Harris
Star Bright--Catherine Anderson
Stories for the Extreme Teen's Heart--compiled by Alice Gray
Only with a Highlander--Janet Chapman
Under a Lucky Star--Diane Farr
A Family Christmas--Carrie Alexander

MAY
Heart Fate--Robin D. Owens
Alone in the Ice World--MaryAnn Easley
The Revelation--Beverly Lewis
The Gunslinger--Stephen King
Hattie Big Sky--Kirby Larson
The Drawing of the Three--Stephen King
Night of the Loving Dead--Casey Daniels
Jessie--Lori Wick
Stuart Little--E. B. White

JUNE
Tribute--Nora Roberts
Magic's Child--Justine Larbalestier
Living with the Dead--Kelley Armstrong
Men of the Otherworld--Kelley Armstrong
Fearless Fourteen--Janet Evanovich
Waiting for Normal--Leslie Connor
What I Saw and How I Lied--Judy Blundell
Ashes to Ashes--Tami Hoag (audiobook)
Dead Over Heels--Charlaine Harris
Savvy--Ingrid Law
Christmas Letters--Debbie Macomber
Lavender Morning--Jude Deveraux
The Waste Lands--Stephen King
Tall, Dark, and Texan--Jodi Thomas
Once Smitten, Twice Shy--Lori Wilde
Power Play--Deirdre Martin
Everything She Ever Wanted--Ann Rule

JULY
Princess of the Midnight Ball--Jessica Day George
Under the Banner of Heaven--Jon Krakauer (audiobook)
Grave Sight--Charlaine Harris
An Ice Cold Grave--Charlaine Harris
After Midnight--Teresa Medeiros
Numbering All the Bones--Ann Rinaldi
Charlotte's Choice--Cathleen Twomey
The Christmas Hope--Donna Van Liere
How to Ditch Your Fairy--Justine Larbalestier
Heart Quest--Robin D. Owens
Vision in White--Nora Roberts
Swept Away--Candace Camp (audiobook)
The Lost World--Michael Crichton, read by Anthony Heald
Book of a Thousand Days--Shannon Hale
Lock and Key--Sarah Dessen
The Summoning--Kelley Armstrong
The Princess and the Hound--Mette Ivie Harrison

AUGUST
Grave Surprise--Charlaine Harris
The Time Traveler's Wife--Audrey Niffenegger
Love Is Blind--Lynsay Sands
A Curse Dark as Gold--Elizabeth C. Bunce
Finger Lickin' Fifteen--Janet Evanovich
The Awakening--Kelley Armstrong

SEPTEMBER
Runaway--Bobbi Smith
Guardian of Honor--Robin D. Owens
Catching Fire--Suzanne Collins
The Runaway McBride--Elizabeth Thornton
This Lullaby--Sarah Dessen
The Darkest Whisper--Gena Showalter
Red's Hot Honky-Tonk Bar--Pamela Morsi
The Forgotten Man--Robert Crais, read by James Daniels
Christmas Revels--Mary Jo Putney
Bathtub Voyages: Tales of Adventure--Scott Foresman
The Big Blank Piece of Paper: Artists at Work--Scott Foresman
Personal Demon--Kelley Armstrong
A Babe in Ghostland--Lisa Cach
The Honorable Midwife--Lilian Darcy
Garden Spells--Sarah Addison Allen
True Believer--Nicholas Sparks

OCTOBER
Tennyson--Lesley M. M. Blume
Stolen Children--Peg Kehret
Breathe: A Ghost Story--Cliff McNish
Impossible--Nancy Werlin
The Miss America Family--Julianna Baggott
Trouble in High Heels--Christina Dodd
Tongue in Chic--Christina Dodd
Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girld: Cooties! (Issues 9-12)--Roman Dirge
Danger in a Red Dress--Christina Dodd
Storm of Visions--Christina Dodd
Baby Be Mine--Diane Fanning
Conard County: Cowboy Comes Home--Rachel Lee
Simply Perfect--Mary Balogh
Storm of Shadows--Christina Dodd
The Glass Castle--Jeannette Walls

NOVEMBER
You're So Vein--Christine Warren
Bed of Roses--Nora Roberts
Bitsy's Bait & BBQ--Pamela Morsi
Chesapeake Blue--Nora Roberts, read by James Daniels
Hard Day's Night--Katie McAlister
Assignment: Rescue, An Autobiography--Varian Fry
When the Duke Returns--Eloisa James
This Duchess of Mine--Eloisa James
Zenda: A New Dimension--Ken Petti and John Amodeo
Just the Way You Are--Barbara Freethy
A Christmas Scandal--Jane Goodger
Hapily After All--Laura C. Stevenson
Destined for an Early Grave--Jeaniene Frost
I'll Be Home for Christmas--Linda Lael Miller et al
The Millionaires--Brad Meltzer, read by Tony Goldwyn
They Cage the Animals at Night--Jennings Michael Burch
Sooner or Later--Debbie Macomber

DECEMBER
Land of the Living--Nicci French, read by Anne Flosnik
Lover's Knot--Emilie Richards
Secondhand Bride--Linda Lael Miller
If Wishes Were Horses--Anne McCaffrey
Jumbo: This Being the True Story of the Greatest Elephant in the World--Paul Chambers
Dead and Gone--Charlaine Harris
Stormbreaker--Anthony Horowitz
Call Me Princess--Tomoko Taniguchi
Tall, Dark, and Dangerous--Catherine Anderson, Christina Dodd, and Susan Sizemore
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity--Bill O'Reilly
Gifts of Love--Kay Hooper and Lisa Kleypas
Amelia Earhart: Adventure in the Sky--Francene Sabin
Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller--Sarah Miller
White Witch, Black Curse--Kim Harrison
The Rescue--Nicholas Sparks, read by Mary Beth Hurt and John Belford Lloyd
Holidays Are Hell--Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie M. Liu, and Vicki Pettersson
Sucker Bet--Erin McCarthy
The Better Part of Darkness--Kelly Gay
Mistletoe & Magic--Lisa Cach, Stobie Piel, Lynsay Sands, and Amy Elizabeth Saunders

157 Books; 46,439Pages; Average page per book: 296 pages

The Restless Sleep, by Stacy Horn

THE RESTLESS SLEEP: INSIDE NEW YORK CITY'S COLD CASE SQUAD
Stacy Horn
ISBN: 0-14-303729-3
Nonfiction
Book #07-077

Between 1985 and 2004, there were nearly 9,000 unsolved murders in New York City. The longer it takes to track down information and evidence about a murder, the more likely it is to go "cold," which often means the criminal goes free while the case is relegated to a back burner for lack of progress. In 1995, Jack Maple and Edward Norris came up with the idea that became New York City's Cold Case Squad, a group of detectives whose sole purpose was to examine file cases that had stalled and breathe new life into them in order to find the killer(s) and close the cases.

Stacy Horn has focused on several cases spanning fifty years: the 1951 strangulation of a young wife, the murder of a cop by a meat hook in 1979, the killing of a misfit girl in 1988, and a couple murdered in front of their three young sons in a 1996 drug-related incident. Horn does a good job of switching back and forth between the development of the Cold Case Squad and the details of the crimes and their related investigations. Her account of NYPD politics is riveting and insightful, and her take on the city's unsung heroes is clear-eyed and realistic.

Horn's prose is both compelling and easy to read, although some readers may be put off by her casual profanity. Each case is deftly introduced, and the victims, although clearly flawed, are nonetheless sympathetic figures. Horn is particularly adept at explaining the ins and outs of organized crime and its deterioration since its heyday. Readers will be invested in the outcome of the detectives' investigations and surprised at the differences between reality and popular TV crime shows. Ultimately, The Restless Sleep is a must-have addition to anyone's true crime library.

Book Give-Away for September 1, 2007

For September 1, I'm giving away Ann Rule's book No Regrets and Other Cases--Ann Rule's Crime Files: Volume 11. My review of this book is already posted, for those who would like to know more about it.

To be entered into the drawing for this book, simply comment on this post. I will draw the winner on Saturday, September 1, and mail the book the following Monday. Be sure to check back on the first to see if you won!

No Regrets and Other True Cases, by Ann Rule

NO REGRETS AND OTHER TRUE CASES--ANN RULE'S CRIME FILES: VOLUME 11
Ann Rule
ISBN: 0-7434-4875-8
Book #07-076
True Crime

Ann Rule is probably America's best-known true crime writer. In this volume of her accounts of case files, she focuses on crimes where the perpetrators apparently had no regrets about their actions.

The main case of the book is the mysterious disappearance of ship's pilot Rolf Neslund, an eighty-year-old man whose stellar career was eclipsed by one unfortunate event at its end, the crashing of the ship he was piloting into a bridge. Rolf's wife, Ruth, told various stories to explain his absence, but eventually two of her nieces came forward and claimed that their aunt had admitted to killing her husband and burning the pieces of his body. It took years for Ruth to be brought to justice. The highlight of this account are the limericks by horror author John Saul, whose poetry displays a keen wit and wicked humor.

The other cases in the book all share an improbable pathos. The young mother whose religious fervor led her to kill her two young children is especially tragic, because she sought help from multiple sources, who all brushed her off. The bank robber who shot an elderly man during his escape, the woman whose marriage fell apart after she was kidnapped and raped, and the teen runaway who teased her boyfriend until he murdered her are equally sad. The most memorable case, in some ways, is that of the young prostitute who was savagely beaten and left for dead, but managed to crawl for help. In an unusual oversight, Rule neglects to mention the fate of the young woman's infant son during the many hours of her ordeal.

As always, Rule gives readers her special insight into these cases, and shares her opinions of the various crimes. Her dry, biting humor is again on display. Readers will have NO REGRETS at spending several hours with Rule's rogues' gallery of hapless criminals.