In The Name Of Love And Other True Cases (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
Another well-detailed true crime book from Ann Rule. There is one main story, followed by several short tales. The main story is from over 25 years ago: the murder for hire of a man named Jerry Harris who was a force in the business world in California in the 1970’s and 1980’s until his murder in 1987. His wife Susan never gives up hope that his killer will be arrested. Susan, and nearly everyone else who knew Jerry, knew who killed Jerry, either directly or indirectly, but there is no evidence that prosecutors can use. Steve Bonilla was a hanger-on wannabe of Jerry’s. Jerry was nice to Steve and occasionally let Steve invest in some of Jerry’s businesses. (Steve’s mother had some money.) Jerry usually did not need Steve’s mother’s money, but Steve’s mother would give Jerry money to keep Steve occupied. Steve, however, is an evil sociopath seething with envy at everything that Jerry has. Steve eventually arranges for Jerry’s death, and then tries to take all Jerry’s businesses away from Susan. Susan holds Steve at bay with lawsuits, but this just causes Steve to escalate. The book tells the story of a nice guy with a nice wife who loves him whose lives are turned upside down by the type of evil the reader prays never to encounter. Susan spent over a decade dealing with this evil in one way or another. Rule does a good job of detailing what Susan went through. The book was published in the late 90’s. I’d be interested to know where the main players are now.
Five tales of cold-blooded murder. The title tale is the longest, going into the disappearance of Jerry Harris, a self-made millionaire with successful businesses and a lovely wife, Susan. When Jerry seemingly vanished into thin air, Susan never gave up hope -- or determination. It would take eight long years to see justice served, and the tale is a very twisted one indeed. The other four are much shorter, all of which have the idea of love, be it selfish, obsessive or the lack of it completely. Two inserts of black and white photographs help to give faces to the story. Overall, this gets about four stars from me. For the longer review, please go here:http://www.epinions.com/review/In_the...
What do You think about In The Name Of Love And Other True Cases (1998)?
The main and first story is about a man named Jerry Lee Harris, an entrepeneur. The title of his story is also the title of the book. He seems a likeable jovial guy, who is succesful in life. He and his wife have quite an age difference, but it works out. I can relate to that. My partner is older than me as well, but age tend to fall away when it just clicks between two people. Jerry and Susan have a wonderful life, but one day he just doesn't come home. They find him later, but not alive. He's murdered. If you read who did it, you can't help but want to slap that person around real hard. The ungrateful 'bugger'.Other stories in the book are:2. Murder and the proper housewife3. The most dangerous game4. How it feels to die5. The killer who never forgot..or forgaveThe story of this book that stuck with me is 'the most dangerous game'.It's about a guy who pretends to be a protective friend of two teenagers, but turns out to be their enemy. Hibernate in the mountais suddenly wasn't so fun anymore for these adventureous girls. The names of the people involved are changed. I tried to find out their real names, to be able to read newspaper articles about this horrifying event, to no avail. That bugs me. Who knows one day I can shed light on the name of the perpetrator and where he's today.
—Mirjam Penning
Those that know me will have a hard time believing that this is my first True Crime book. Oh, I might have read one in college or something for a Criminal Justice class, but nothing I remember. About this book though - I enjoyed it. There was one long story in the book and then 4 or 5 short stories at the end. I watch true crime television shows all the time, but this book hit me harder than most of the shows I've seen. It gave so much detail about the characters and their lives prior to the crime in question. I think I felt more connected to them, so when they were murdered it just made me really really sad. The details of how it happened, the saddness and loss of those left behind and the senselessness of it. It was good in a terrible sort of way, ya know?I'll probably read Ann Rule again.
—Tiffeny
