Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder (Signet)
by Ann Rule
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ann RuleEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1988-07-05
ISBN: 0451166604
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Signet
Book Reviews of Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder (Signet)
Book Review: One of Rule's best books
Summary: 5 Stars
Although the quality of Rule's writing varies in my opinion (sometimes wildly), this study of a narcissistic, psychopathic mom who shot her three children and tried to blame it on a random stranger in an attempt to woo back a lost boyfriend (who fortunately realizes at that point that he's been sleeping with the devil and runs for the hills) is one of her best books. There are a lot of interesting details of the murderer's life to explore, including her acting as a surrogate mom and her ability to pull the wool over people's eyes even after she's incarcerated, and Rule deftly explores them all. This is one of the three or four works in Rule's vast pantheon that are a "must read" and is also probably one of the better true crime books written by anyone, ever. Even the trial is interesting and the ending has a very nice twist.
Summary of Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder (Signet)
Ann Rule's shocking and powerful account of the destructive forces that drove Diane Downs, a beautiful young mother, to shoot her three young children in cold blood."Vivid....Extraordinary...a page-turner."--New York Times Book Review
"Superb...[a] riveting detective story."--Indianapolis Star
"A harrowing pathological portrait....A work of resonance and revelation with breath-stopping tension to the end." --Kirkus Reviews
"Fascinating...grisly...un-putdownable." --New York Daily News
"Excellent....One of the most detailed studies of a sociopath to dignify the true-crime circuit." --The San Francisco Chronicle
"A raw docudrama of almost unbelievable intensity." --Booklist
* Also by Ann Rule (in Signet's newly repackaged editions): The Stranger Beside Me (4/99), The I-5 Killer (6/99), The Want-Ad Killer (8/99), The Lust Killer (10/99)
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