This is a first-rate offering from Ann Rule's "golden era" of the 1980s, in which she was a) tremendously prolific; b) tremendously comprehensive; and c) showed tremendously discerning taste in subject matter. The story: Talented but erratic ne'er-do-well David Brown lives in Southern California with three women — his wife, his teen daughter and his wife's teen sister. Using every tool in the sociopath's kit, he induces one to kill the other and take the blame so he can conduct a sick affair with the remaining female. Investigators know there's something wrong about Brown, and about the crime, but the clever puppeteer manages to stay beyond the law for several years through sleight-of-hand and sickening manipulation of both children. The children are they key to justice — and their own salvation. But will they turn it? Rule tells this tale with the right balance of detail, detachment and keen insight, letting each character establish themselves without trying to make her readers prejudge them (as she sometimes does in later books). This is pure storytelling here, without the soapy philosophizing and heavy-handed moralizing that also marked much of Rule's later output. The old cliche applies here — this was a true can't-put-it-down page-turner. And another cliche comes to mind as well — you can't make this stuff up. The bizarre, remorseless, heinous things David Brown does in real life would have a fiction reader rolling their eyes in disbelief. But i t all really happened.You will be appalled, shocked, pleased that justice prevailed ... and ultimately enlightened about the ways in which sociopaths work their malignant evils in the naive and trusting among us. And for this window into that necessary knowledge — and several others like it during a 15-year period of remarkable productivity — Ann Rule rightfully earned her place among the greats of nonfiction narrative crime-writing. She not only entertains, she does us a remarkable service.
One of Ann Rule's best. The true story of David Brown, 36, a wealthy computer whiz and psychopath, who persuades his 16-year-old sister-in-law, Patti (whom he’d started grooming for sex from the age of 11) and his 14-year-old daughter, Cinnamon, to rid him of his 22-year-old 5th wife, Linda, mother of baby Krystal. (Supposedly Linda was insisting that he get rid of the two teenagers, who'd lived with them for several years; actually Linda dead was worth a million dollars in insurance proceeds.) As juveniles, he assures them, they would receive only a slap on the wrist. When Patti backs out at the last minute, Cinnamon does the deed, then accidentally survives an ‘attempted’ suicide that was meant to kill her. After she recovers, she is tried and convicted of her step-mother’s murder. David and Patti quickly forget about Cinnamon; they secretly marry and have another daughter. Five years down the road, incarcerated indefinitely in a prison for Young Offenders, Cinnamon, whose father is paying her little attention, learns about the new baby about the same time as one of the original investigators, never satisfied with the resolution of the case, contacts her … and Cinnamon gives him a more accurate account of the murder. Eventually this leads to the arrest of David and Patti on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. While in custody, David will attempt to have the investigator, the prosecutor, and Patti murdered by a fellow inmate who's due for release, who will eventually give evidence against him. David is currently serving a life sentence (hopefully, until the despicable creep can rot in hell).
What do You think about If You Really Loved Me (1992)?
Ann Rule's true crime books are always interesting and this was no exception. They never fail to evoke feelings of anger and disgust at the inhumanity and depravity of the killers about whom she writes. David Brown, computer expert and master manipulator, was one more example of a perverse sociopath who preyed on teenage girls to get his thrills and do his bidding. This is another shocking account of a bizarre murder that involved teenagers who were sacrificed to satisfy the sexual needs and greed of a monster.
—Ida
This is a terribly sad story of one man who was able to manipulate three vulnerable women. I read this book years ago and could only come away from it feeling terribly sad about the havoc Brown was able to create and his total lack of remorse for any of the women involved. While I hardly ever feel sympathy for people who take the life of other people, I find Cinnamon to be almost as much of a victim as her step-mother.Ann Rule was one of my automatic reads when I spent time reading this genre of book. Her writing seems concise and without analytical. Allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions concerning the facts she presents. While this was well written, it left me so sad that I had to step back and find something lighter to read for a while.
—Michelle Robinson
I always enjoyable to read books who's plots are anchored in the same area where I grew up. It gives more credence to the plot as it unfolds. "If You Really Loved Me" is a chilling re-inactment of the infamous Linda Brown Murder from the early 1980's. The author describes in detail the entire sordid crime, from its inception to its final conclusion. Many of the landmarks that are depicted in the book are places I have personlly seen or visited, so it make the story that much more interesting.Rule does a good job at weaving the oftentimes complex and confusing story together. Even through there are spots that required repeated reading, the story as a whole unfolded rather easily and like all true crime thrillers; tends to focus on the most tittilating facts of the case; in this instance: lust, money and murder.Word of warning. Do not read the back of the book for a synopsis of the story because you will be disappointed. It's a total spoiler.
—Luciano
