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Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases
- Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 16
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, True Crime
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loved it!!
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Ron Franscell is a great storyteller
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loved it!!
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one of the weirdest crime cases, totally hooked
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good as usual
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"A Rose for Her Grave" - the principal story of this collection - vividly recreates the cautionary tale of Randy Roth, a misogynistic sociopath from the Pacific Northwest whose rage was directed primarily at women and children. Addicted to his own greed, Roth exercised a powerful aura of control over his victims, using his ability to charm and boyish good looks to lower their defences. By the time they saw the reality of the madness in his eyes, it was usually too late. This, along with five other chilling cases, bears the stamp of classic Ann Rule.
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The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
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The most fatal mistake? Trust. It's the foundation of any enduring relationship between friends, lovers, spouses, and families. But when trust is placed in those who are not what they seem, the results can be deadly. Ann Rule, who famously chronicled her own shocking experience of unknowingly befriending a sociopath in The Stranger Beside Me, offers a riveting, all-new collection from her true-crime files, with the lethally shattered bonds of trust at the core of each blood-soaked account.
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Some Unique Stories I Never Heard Before
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Very 80s style narration went well with the theme
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Ann Rule was working on the biggest story of her career, tracking the trail of victims left by a brutal serial killer. Little did this future best-selling author know that the savage slayer she was hunting was the young man she counted among her closest friends. Everyone's picture of a natural winner, Ted Bundy was a bright, charming, and handsome man with a promising future as an attorney. But on January 24, 1989 Bundy was executed for the murders of three young women - and had confessed to taking the lives of at least thirty-five more women from coast to coast.
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There is an Audio problem in Chapter 54
- By Bailey on 2020-01-28
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A Fever in the Heart: And Other True Cases
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A Fever in the Heart dissects an explosive triangle that led to obsession and murder in a small town in the northwest of America. Ann Rule reveals the story of an alluring wife and the two men desperate for her love; a story with a bizarre and deadly twist that no one could have suspected. In this and several other riveting true-crime cases from her personal files, Ann Rule masterfully probes the delusions of the criminal mind, the fateful circumstances and the unrelenting investigative forces at work in the aftermath of murder.
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In the most extraordinary journey Ann Rule has ever undertaken, America's master of true crime has spent more than two decades researching the story of the Green River Killer, who murdered more than 49 young women. Green River, Running Red is a harrowing account of a modern monster, a killer who walked among us undetected. It is also the story of his quarry -- of who these young women were and who they might have become.
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Boring, confusing, repetitive
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Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases
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America's #1 true-crime writer reveals how lovers become predators, how sex and lust can push ordinary people to desperate acts, and how investigators and forensics experts work to unravel the most entangled crimes of passion. Extracting behind-the-scenes details, Ann Rule makes these volatile relationships utterly real, and masterfully re-creates the ill-fated chains of events in cases like the ex-Marine and martial arts master who seduced vulnerable women and destroyed their lives, the killer whose calling card was a red rose, and more.
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Practice to Deceive
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- Unabridged
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One wintery night on tiny, quiet Whidbey Island off the coast of Washington, Russ Douglas spent Christmas with his estranged wife, Brenna. He left Brenna Douglas's home in Langley on the morning of December 26, 2003 to run some errands. He didn't return - dead of gunshot to the head. The suspects included an aging beauty queen, her guitar-teacher lover, and Russell's widow, Brenna. With her trademark aplomb, Ann Rule unravels the fascinating story of a murder, a small town, and a number of potential killers.
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Ann Rule Rules!!!!
- By Anonymous User on 2018-09-20
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If You Tell
- A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood
- Written by: Gregg Olsen
- Narrated by: Karen Peakes
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined.
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Good Narration, Terribly Depressing Story Arc
- By Kerissa Marie D on 2020-10-02
Publisher's Summary
It’s a chilling reality that homicide investigators know all too well: The last face most murder victims see is not that of a stranger, but of someone familiar. Whether only an acquaintance or a trusted intimate, such killers share a common trait that triggers the downward spiral toward death for someone close to them: They are masters at hiding who they really are. Their clever masks let them appear safe, kind, and truthful. They are anything but - and almost no one can detect the murderous impulses buried deep in their psyches.
These doomed relationships are the focus of Ann Rule’s 16th Crime Files collection. In these shattering inside views of both headlined and little-known homicides, Rule speaks for vulnerable victims who relied on the wrong people. She begins with two startling novella-length investigations.
In July 2011, a billionaire’s Coronado, California, mansion was the setting for two horrifying deaths only days apart - his young son’s plunge from a balcony and his girlfriend’s ghastly hanging. What really happened? Baffling questions remain unanswered, as these cases were closed far too soon for hundreds of people; Rule looks at them now through the eyes of a relentless crime reporter. The second probe began in Utah when Susan Powell vanished in a 2009 blizzard. Her controlling husband, Josh, proved capable of a blind rage that was heartbreakingly fatal to his innocent small sons almost three years later in a tragedy that shocked America as the details unfolded. If anyone had detected the depth of depravity within Josh Powell, perhaps the family that loved and trusted him would have been saved.
In these and seven other riveting cases, Ann Rule exposes the twisted truth behind the facades of Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors.
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What listeners say about Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dianne
- 2013-02-14
The Evil People Do
What did you love best about Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases?
Based on facts.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The inner evil contained in the hearts of human beings.
What about Laural Merlington’s performance did you like?
Pleasant voice.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Pure Evil
Any additional comments?
I enjoy everything that Ann Rule writes. Would love to see some movies based on her stories.
10 people found this helpful
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- Ellen Felician
- 2013-03-28
Wow!
The first case had so many details. It was shocking and unbelievable. I haven't been so engrossed in a true crime story before. Great Job Ann on the detail and investigation. That story originally disgusted me.....but wow...it makes me want justice for the victims more than ever....even though that obviously won't happen now.
Great book. I have suggested to friends already. You won't be disappointed.
Narrator was ok...
6 people found this helpful
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- Melody Russ
- 2016-09-12
yup, I'm creeped out after this one.
if you're the type that wants to read a book that will leave you paralyzed with fear, as apparently I am, this will do the trick.
2 people found this helpful
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- bethann
- 2015-05-17
hang in there
I always find that Ann Rule has a great way to recreate true crime stories, but unfortunately, this can all be lost if the narration is sub par. I personally could not deal with the overly dramatic interpretations as the voices of little kids, frightened victims, authority, etc.
5 people found this helpful
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- J. Torres-Purifoy
- 2015-01-09
narrator killed it for me...
struggled to listen because narrators voices were comical, most stories not interesting except first one.
2 people found this helpful
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- Mrs Powell
- 2014-06-23
Narration was INCREDIBLE
Where does Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is probably the 3rd of top 5 true crime books I've EVER read...this was my first Ann Rule.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors: And Other True Cases?
Laural Merlington does a job with the narration that I can just not put into words, except for saying (as shed change into different character voices-especially suspects) IT WAS DOWN RIGHT CHILLING!
Have you listened to any of Laural Merlington’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No I have not. I can only wonder how I've gone this many books (17) without her narration! The woman is amazing!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes!
Any additional comments?
Narrators ability to catch all tones of all personalities was just a wonder in and of itself! I would and am going back to more Ann Rule just to listen to Merlington play out the characters!!
4 people found this helpful
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- Eric Seim
- 2019-10-12
typical 70s and 80s stories
not much different than the others in the series. if you like crimes from the 70s and 80s when criminals had easier chances of going free...listen!!
1 person found this helpful
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- Mr./Mrs. B.
- 2018-10-22
Not a fan of stories with no ending.
This was the first Ann Rule book I’ve encountered where the killer is still unknown. I was not prepared for that, and it felt unsatisfying. The stories were still good; just a few of them felt...unfinished.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2018-02-12
I love mysteries.
Second time reading it. Better the first time. Still chilling though. The deaths in Coronado is just straight creepy. Hope both families find closure if not justice..
1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 2016-03-30
long winded,...
I found myself often getting bored. Author rambles, gives unnecessary and confusing info, hard to follow
1 person found this helpful