Every Breath You Take: A Story of Erotic Obsession, Revenge, and Murder

Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: It took me a while to read this book. I found some of it had not got enough detail while, the last half of the book was too much detail making it long winded. However it is the first book I've read by this author, I shall probably try another one.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book
Review: I have read all of Ann Rules books and this one is the best yet. All of her books make me cry, laugh, and feel angry at the Killer. She is a wonderful author.

Rating:
Summary: On The Edge Of My Seat
Review: Dear Ann,
I have been an avid reader of many of your books. However in the last several years I have developed macular degeneration so I am only able to use audio books. We live in Navarre, Florida and there are not many of your books on audio. Do you have any of your books registered with the Bureau of Braille and Talking Books Library Services? There address is 420 Platt Street, Daytona Beach, Fl 32114-2804. I order audio books from this facility and the phone number is 1-800-226-6075. I would re-read any of your books again. Your recent Book "Every Breath You Take" kept me on the edge of my seat because I was involved in a previous marriage as written in the book. Have been happily married for 22 years and my spouse loves to listen to your books when we can find them. Thanks so much Ann, your writing from years ago has inspired me to read and now listen to every book of yours that we can get our hands on. "Every Breath You Take" was so good that I ended up having a piece of fruit for dinner just to continue listening to your book. The reader of the books is very good. Keep up the good work. Recently you were on TV and we saw and heard you. Don't quit writing Ann, you are my FAVOTITE.
Your Books Keep Me On The Edge Of My Seat!!!

Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down....
Review: I got so involved with this book, that I simply could not put it down and as it is quite lengthy, alot of things went unfinished!!
The story is horribly fascinating in that it is unbelievable that a man could be so totally evil.
The reason I give this book a 4 star rating instead of 5 are for the same reasons that others have stated. First of all there is too much detail on family relations in the beginning that I think are not totally necessary. It is good to have background, but I felt that it was too much background. At this point, many would be tempted to stop reading. Im very glad I carried on as it got so much better.
Beating children with belts also bothered me. Sheila is portrayed as a sort of angel and to me, she wasn't. As sad as her death was, and it WAS! I still think that there was something to this. Bad enough for the neighbors to photograph.
I dont think that you can downplay child abuse and this book tried to do that.
To me, those were the weak spots. Otherwise this book was great and so interesting. If you get it, be prepared not to get much done until it is finished!!!

Rating:
Summary: Every Breath You Take
Review: I'm a big Ann Rule fan. I eagerly await all of her books. However, for the first time I felt that this book was not up to the usual readability. It went into way too much detail at the beginning of the book. It wound us into intricate family detail before we really cared about the characters themselves. Then about 3/4 of the way through the book, I felt like there were entirely too many (boring) details about the men related to the killing. Keeping these guys straight seemed a bit difficulton more than one occasion. The story itself is absorbing, and I understand that we needed to know about the characters' family upbringing. However, many of the details should have been condensed or left out. Unfortunately this is the first of Ann's books that I will not recommend to others as a "can't put down" book.

Rating:
Summary: Simply put: the worst book ever.
Review: I'm not a fan of true crime, and now I remember why. This
book was boring, repetitive, non-creative, and a churn of newspaper article facts. My last time for Ann Rule, whom
I was shocked to discover how many books she sold. Simply
put, this is one of the worst books I have ever read. Did someone say it was once on the best seller list?

Rating:
Summary: Every Breath You Take
Review: Ann Rule has written 18 true crime books, but this was the first one that was commissioned by the victim. Sheila Blackthorne, who also had a premonition that she would die at the age of 35, asked her sister and friends to have Ann Rule write her story if anything ever happened to her. She feared that her ex-husband, Allen, would kill her eventually. When she was savagely murdered with her four quadruplet toddlers in the house, those close to her immediately suspected her ex-husband. This book has some flaws. Rule goes into great detail with some of the characters, but Sheila is never really defined except in terms of her relationship to Allen. The book seems to get bogged down in repetitious details like legal proceedings in the middle, but, like all of Rule's other books, tells a good story.

Rating:
Summary: Good but for editing
Review: Ann Rule usually does a good job -- this time her editors let her down. There are so many repeated thoughts, concepts and facts that one gets tired. On Page 143 she actually re-states the birth weights of the quads twice -- differently! Later on she talks about Allen taking a reverse position (180) and labels it a "360." The subject matter is good, but getting through it was very difficult.

Rating:
Summary: This Report is Tainted With a Disturbing Bias
Review: My problem with this book is that Allen VanHoute is portrayed as totally evil from beginning to end, and this may, in fact, be accurate. I see no reason to disagree. However, in turn, she portrays both Sheila Bellush and her second husband as kind, caring, loving, vitually perfect parents. This, by Ms. Rules own account, simply is not true. Both Sheila and her second husband beat her children by her first marriage, on many occasions. This is not disputed by anyone (other than, perhaps, the severity.) Ms. Rule excuses this extreme form of punishment by saying it was done with love. Is this an excuse - ever? Sheila even was arrested for child abuse just weeks before her murder and her daughter removed from the home and put into a protective facility. Ms. Rule's reaction to this is "all this for a spanking?" Well, yes, Ms. Rule, spanking with a belt buckle and leaving bruises and welts on a child is child abuse. I realize Sheila Bellush was horrifically, brutally murdered. I realize that nothing she did was deserving of such a horrible death. But a victim's murder does not automatically excuse her terrible behavior and make her into an instant angel....

Rating:
Summary: Another Winner
Review: Ann Rule has done it again! Excellent reading and appreciate the research that went into this book. Couldn't put it down.