The Stranger In My Bed

Rating:
Summary: There are some Problems!
Review: "The Stranger in My Bed" is very similar to another true crime tale-"The Surgeon's Wife" by Kieran Crowley. In each case the authors-or their publishers-made the strange decision to print the outcome right on the back cover! This reviewer learned his lesson from SW. SIMB maintained suspense. New readers are forewarned! SIMB opens with the discovery of a female corpse (a "Jane Doe") in an Indiana field. The reader will quickly surmise that that Jane Doe will surface later in the story. The plot then backtracks through the various marriages / female relationships of John Smith, the main character. John's first (known) wife, Betty, disappears. John is not charged but the police and Betty's family remain highly suspicious. John remarries a girl named Diane Bertalan- who also vanishes. Counting Jane Doe, there are now 3 missing female bodies. How many other corpses will show up? How many past wives or former girlfriends has John disposed of? Pressure from Betty's family eventually starts the wheels of law enforcement spinning. This reviewer won't reveal the plot, but the investigation eventually involves the Law from New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Connecticut and California. Is justice served? There is no easy answer. Readers will just have to read SIMB for themselves but as a hint-Jane Doe is very central to the plot. She does indeed "surface" again. To fully enjoy SIMB, amazoners need to take two steps: The first is to ignore the back cover. The second is to remember the "Ann Rule rule". Skip over those tempting centerfold photos. They outrightly reveal the ending. Finally, the author gratuitously drops a major clue right in the text! Readers cannot avoid that gaff. One wishes Fleeman had stirred the pot a bit harder. He had such fine material to work with. Combining this failure with the "security lapses", a rating of 3 stars seems appropriate, if a bit harsh. Other readers may add a 4th star but SIMB falls short of the true crime classic it had the potential to be.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent True Crime Read
Review: A real page turner..great true crime story.. hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: Excellent book, I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: saw on tv
Review: I haven't read this book but I saw it on TV. and this man was bad news. If his wife tried to leave him he would kill her. They know of two wives he killed and there could have been more. This should be a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Gruesome but great
Review: This book tells an almost unbelievable tale of a very twisted man. The details on occasions are graphic but this makes for an even more compelling read. A really great read for any true crime lovers, I couldn't put it down...

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: This is a great book for true crime fans. This is a book with an incredible investigative story. A woman disappears, and her family (with the exception of her husband) is frantic. The husband is finally forced by other family members to report her missing. Police then learn that he has had a girl friend for about 8 years while he was married to the missing woman. They also learn that his first wife, from many many years ago, also turned up missing and was never found. The investigation spans several states and several decades, and turns up unbelieveable evidence. This is a very well written book, and I would recommend it to any true crime fan.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Unfortunately, I am mentioned in the book as I knew John Smith personally and testified in the trial for the prosecution. I can only say that the book was more truth than poetry and I found it extremely factual and informative.

Rating:
Summary: A chapter in my life
Review: Unfortunately, I am mentioned in the book as I knew John Smith personally and testified in the trial for the prosecution. I can only say that the book was more truth than poetry and I found it extremely factual and informative.