No Regrets And Other True Cases (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
After reading Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule last year I started to buy her books eager to read more. Many people have said that her longer books are better the crime files are missing something, while others that the crime files series are the best and the full books drag. So I decided to see for myself and choose to read one of the crime files books. The cover drew me in. For some reason I pictured a murder at sea. Instead I spent most of a five day weekend buried in this book and the seven stories in it, unable to put it down. Even if after reading one or two of the stories at night I did have trouble falling asleep, I think it was worth it. The first story was a longer length story about the Neslunds. Rolf a celebrated ship's pilot in his eighties and his wife Ruth , who seems like a kindly sweet much admired woman in their neighbourhood. Suddenly Rolf disappears into thin air never to be seen again and suspicion falls on his widow. The story unfolds as detectives search and find grisly evidence that points to what really happened to Rolf. Was he depressed after being involved in costly accident at work, did he simply walk away from his life and his marriage and start over some place else with a clean slate. A truly fascinating case one that kept me up reading eager to see what would happen next. The shorter stories were all varied in their topics, ranging from kidnapping to rape to cold blooded murder, justifiable homicide (self defense), when insanity should be used in a trial. Some stories were just too tragic. The Christine Jonsen case, the Hamilton family were difficult to read as they were so sad. In the case of the Hamilitons I just can't imagine anyone being sick enough to do such a thing. Other stories had me on the edge of my seat, bank robber Sam Jesse and his fantasy life, the frightening kidnap and rape of Kari Lindholm. As for the two other cases in the book, Teresa Sterling's story was sad too, but I felt bad for her parents who tried so hard to save her. I am sure we all made bad decisions when were in our teens too, but unfortunately for Teresa it ended in tragedy. And finally the second story in the book which began with a rant about how pimps don't have it hard contrary to what an award winning song says. This is a story of justice on many levels for the women enslaved by pimps, it is also a story of courage and survival. Overall I greatly enjoyed this book. I can't say which I enjoyed better the longer books or the crime files, I think they are both excellent in their own way told by a writer who knows her subject and I look forward to continuing to read more of Ann Rule.
Although this boof was difficult to read, I really liked this book, mostly because I really like mystery books. I have never read one of Ann Rule's books before "No Regrets" but I thought she had taken this murder/mystery book to the next level. The thrill of a missing man and people trying to solve the question: What happened to Rolf Neslund? The captain had crashed his ship, costing millions of dollars in damage. He had disappeared at the age of 80 years old. People were questoning weather he had committed suicide, been brutally murdered by someone close, or if he had run off with an old love. :)Biography
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