Ann Rule has 33 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 16 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 564 ratings. The most-rated is The Stranger Beside Me.
If You Really Loved Me
Summary
In 1985, 32-year-old David Brown seemed to have it all. A computer genius with a million-dollar business, married for the fifth time - most recently to a 23-year-old beauty, Linda, the mother of his new-born baby - he was the living emobodiment of a rich playboy. But the signs of the dream life's dark underside were already emerging - especially in Brown's penchant for divorcing his young wives as soon as they matured to full womanhood. The darkness came into full, violent bloom the night Linda was found shot to death in her own bed. Shockingly, Brown's 14-year-old stepdaughter Cinnamon confessed, earning a prison sentence for the murder in a case that rocked California's Orange County community. But even after the verdict was in, officials in the District Attorney's office suspected that all the facts were yet to be revealed. What their further investigations uncovered was a trail of lechery, deceit and betrayal - a trail that began and ended with David Brown. Filled with horrifying findings from the author's exclusive access to the details of the investigation, If You Really Loved Me is Ann Rule's most compelling work yet - a chilling true crime masterpiece!
©1991 Ann Rule (P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio
No Regrets: And Other True Cases
Summary
A ship's pilot legendary for guiding mammoth freighters through the narrows of Puget Sound, Rolf Neslund was a proud Norwegian, a ladies' man, and a beloved resident of Washington State's idyllic Lopez Island. Virtually indestructible even into his golden years, he made electrifying headlines more than once: after a ship he was helming crashed into the soaring West Seattle Bridge, causing millions in damages; and following his inexplicable disappearance at age 80. Was he a suicide, a man broken by one costly misstep? Had he run off with a lifelong love? Or did a trail of gruesome evidence lead to the home Rolf shared with his wife, Ruth? On an island where everyone thought they knew their neighbors, the veneer of the Neslunds' marriage masked a convoluted case that took many years to solve. And, indeed, some still believe that the old sea captain will come home one day. "The Sea Captain" is a classic tale as blood chilling as murder itself. Along with six other equally riveting, detailed accounts of destruction and murder committed without conscience or regret, Ann Rule takes listeners into frightening places they never could have imagined in No Regrets.
©2006 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Every Breath You Take
Summary
America’s number one true-crime writer fulfills a murder victim’s desperate plea with this shattering New York Times best seller. “If anything ever happens to me...find Ann Rule and ask her to write my story.” In perhaps the first true-crime book written at the victim's request, Ann Rule untangles a web of lies and brutality that culminated in the murder of Sheila Blackthorne Bellush - a woman Rule never met, but whose shocking story she now chronicles with compassion, exacting detail, and unvarnished candor. Although happily ensconced in a loving second marriage and a new family of quadruplets, Sheila never truly escaped the vicious enslavement of her ex-husband, multimillionaire Allen Blackthorne, a handsome charmer - and a violent, controlling sociopath who subjected Sheila to unthinkable abuse in their marriage and terrorized her for a decade after their divorce. When Sheila was slain in her home, in the presence of her four toddlers, authorities raced to link the crime to Blackthorne, the man who vowed to monitor Sheila's every move in his obsessive quest for power and revenge.
©2002 Ann Rule. Originally published in hardcover in 2001 by The Free Press. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Don't Look Behind You: And Other True Cases
Summary
I'll be watching you.
Walking home on a dark night, you hear footsteps coming up behind you. As they get closer, your heart pounds harder. Who is closing in with dangerous intent - a total stranger? Or someone you know and trust? The answer is as simple as turning around, but don’t look behind you . . . run.
Ann Rule, who shared her own nerve-jangling account of unknowingly befriending sadistic sociopath Ted Bundy in The Stranger Beside Me, chronicles other fateful encounters with the hidden predators among us in this riveting collection, fifteenth in the best-selling series drawn from her personal files. First in line is a stunning case that spanned thirty years and took a determined detective to four states - ending, finally, in Alaska - where he unraveled not one but two murders. A second case appears to begin and end with the hunt for the Green River Killer, focusing on a Washington State man who was once cleared as a suspect in that deadly chain of homicides. But the millionaire property owner believed he had successfully buried his own murderous past and the awful truth behind his young wife’s disappearance. She vanished soon after she left for a day at the Seattle World’s Fair, and her three small children grew up believing their mother had abandoned them. But one amazing witness remained - the missing woman’s best friend, who heard her last words in a frantic phone call - “He’s coming!” - before the line went dead. Only since Robert Hansen’s suicide has the monster within been revealed.
In another true story, a petite woman went to a tavern, looking only for conversation and fun. Instead, she met violent death in the form of a seven-foot man who had seemed shy and harmless. You’ll feel a chill as you uncover these and numerous other cases of unfortunate victims who made one tragic mistake: Trusting the wrong person - even someone they’d known intimately, or thought they knew.
©2011 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Possession
Summary
In this number-one New York Times best seller, Ann Rule, the undisputed master of true crime, brings her formidable talents to her only novel, a riveting tale of psychological suspense. When Danny and Joanne Lindstrom's camping trip in the Cascade mountains goes terribly awry, beautiful young Joanne is left alone and stranded in the savage wilderness. Her last hope is to rely on another camper, a tall stranger who seems to know the forest and the dangers there all too well. Without him, she will surely die; with him, her future is as unpredictable as the lowering clouds that envelop the mountain. He asks only that she trust him....
©1983, 1997 Ann Rule (P)2021 Audible, Inc.
In the Name of Love
Summary
Inside a circle of trusted friends...one was a killer.
Jerry Harris was a self-made California millionaire who, at age forty-four, had it all: booming businesses, yachts, a mansion, a beautiful wife, and a voice to rival Elvis. No one who knew this well-liked, generous man could make sense of his sudden disappearance one autumn night. On a final phone call to his brother from his Mercedes, Jerry breathed a muffled oath - then the line went dead. For Jerry's wife, Susan, it was just the beginning of an unwavering, eight-year search for the truth behind her husband's vanishing. Through exclusive access to an FBI agent inside the investigation, Ann Rule unmasks a man driven by malevolence and hidden jealousy to destroy Jerry Harris' magnificent business empire. She expertly profiles a criminal mind that stopped at nothing in a scheme of greed and violence. With the riveting power of a Greek tragedy, Rule reveals the dark underside of an all-American success story, and a wife's ultimate triumph of justice in the name of love. Including other unforgettable accounts of true crime, this is Ann Rule at her chilling best.
©1998 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Lying in Wait
Summary
Three decades ago, Jackie Schut was considered one of the most prolific "baby sellers" in the country. She traveled all over the US, murdered women who had just borne babies, and then stole their infants. She is still imprisoned in the South. A lovely, vibrant woman in San Antonio was found dead in a vacant lot. Her mother, a popular local realtor, never stopped looking for her killer. Just months ago, a truly unlikely suspect was found many states away. At last, the seemingly impossible case to solve had answers no one ever considered. On Christmas Day three years ago, two grandparents, their son, his wife, their two small boys, their daughter, and her boyfriend gathered to celebrate the holiday. For reasons that are still almost impossible to contemplate, the sister and her boyfriend shot and killed everyone in the room. In these chilling true stories, Ann Rule reveals the dark underside of the American family unit - together and torn apart. Her unforgettable accounts will intrigue you, and once again prove the obvious: that Rule is "America’s best true-crime writer" (Kirkus Reviews).
©2014 Ann Rule (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Pocket Books, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
You Belong to Me
Summary
A former Seattle policewoman, Ann Rule has extensive experience of violent crime and brings this knowledge to bear in this collection of fascinating case studies. You Belong to Me focuses on one of Florida's most shocking criminals - Tim Harris, the poster-perfect 'All-American' State Trooper who hid bizarre and fatal fantasies behind his badge of authority. Bearing the stamp of classic Ann Rule that makes her books so extraordinary, this and other cases from her personal files prove once again her undisputed status as the Queen of True Crime.
©1994 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Bitter Harvest
Summary
On the night of October 23, 1995 in Prairie Village, Kansas, a fierce, wind-driven fire devastated the luxurious mansion of Dr. Debora Green and her husband, Dr. Michael Farrar. Trapped and burned to death in the flames were 12-year-old Tim and his six-year-old sister Kelly. Lissa, 10, was barely able to leap to safety from the garage roof into the arms of her mother, who was standing outside the house. When Michael Farrar returned to the scene, he had lost more than his children and his home. His entire life was in ruins. The fire was the climactic event of Michael and Debora's lives. Until that summer, they had it all - a happy marriage, successful medical practices, three bright and beautiful children. Then they went on a trip to Peru with their son. There, they met attractive, blonde Celeste Walker, whose husband John was also a successful doctor. But after that trip, nothing was the same again for either couple, and all the dark hidden places in Debora and Michael's marriage bubbled to the surface in a series of almost unbelievable horrors. Bitter Harvest is the chronicle of this tragedy in the heartland of America, the true story of the disintegration of a marriage and its horrifying consequences. Rule takes us deep in the psyche of a killer whose behavior was so twisted and so evil that it defies belief. Gripping, powerful, and ultimately terrifying, Bitter Harvest is a vivid recreation of an unthinkable crime - and a depiction of the unimagined depths of a darkness within the human spirit.
©1998 Ann Rule (P)1998 Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Everything She Ever Wanted
Summary
Pat was a beautiful, willful child whose family belonged to the upper crust of Georgia society. Little Pat's parents adored their daughter and satisfied her every desire. But as Pat grew older, her pampered life took a twisted turn when she found that her beauty and spoiled demands were not enough. Now, to get everything she ever wanted, she would resort to lying, deception, robbery - and worse. Ann Rule uses her characteristic insight and exclusive access to the facts to create a gripping portrait of that rarity in crime: a female sociopath.
©1992 Ann Rule. All rights reserved (P)1992 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.
Last Dance, Last Chance, and Other True Cases
Summary
Ann Rule presents her 8th collection of crime stories drawn from her private files - and featuring the riveting case of a fraudulent doctor whose lifelong deceptions had deadly consequences.
Dr. Anthony Pignataro was a cosmetic surgeon and a famed medical researcher whose flashy red Lamborghini and flamboyant lifestyle in western New York State suggested a highly successful career. But appearances, as this shocking insider account of Pignataro's tailspin from physician to prisoner proves, can be deceiving - and, for the doctor's wife, very nearly deadly. No one was safe if they got in his way. With scalpel, drugs, and arsenic, he betrayed every oath a physician makes - until his own schemes backfired. Now, the motivations of the classic sociopath are plumbed with chilling accuracy by Ann Rule. Along with other shocking true cases, this worldwide headline-making case will have you turning pages in disbelief that a trusted medical professional could sink to the depths of greed, manipulation, and self-aggrandizement where even slow, deliberate murder is not seen for what it truly is: pure evil.
©2013 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases
Summary
The dark side of love is no fairy tale.... And while we may like to believe that crimes of the heart only victimize those who aren't careful, this shocking collection of real-life accounts will convince you otherwise. America's #1 true-crime writer, Ann Rule, 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, Rule makes these volatile relationships utterly real, and masterfully re-creates the ill-fated chains of events in such cases as the ex-Marine and martial arts master who seduced vulnerable women and then destroyed their lives... the killer whose calling card was a single bloodred rose... the faithless wife who manipulated and murdered without conscience... the blind date that set the stage for a killer's brutality... and more. In every case, the victim - young and innocent or older and experienced - unknowingly trusted a stranger with the sociopathic skill to hide their dark motives, until it was too late to escape a web of deadly lies, fatal promises, and homicidal possession.
©1996, 2004 Ann Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases
Summary
Acclaimed for her "devastatingly accurate insight" (The New York Times Book Review) into the criminal mind, Ann Rule has chronicled the most fascinating cases of our time in her bestselling Crime Files series. For this sixth stunning collection, Rule has culled from her private files the most-asked-about homicide cases - riveting accounts of seemingly normal men and women who are compelled by a murderous rage to suddenly lash out at innocent victims.
Torn from the headlines, here is the case that shocked a nation: the Seattle city bus ride that turned to mayhem and murder at the hands of a gunman. Ann Rule unmasks the forces that drove quiet, clean-cut Silas Cool to shoot the driver, causing the bus to plunge off the Aurora Bridge into an apartment building. The catastrophe left three dead - including Cool - and dozens injured. While the scene unfolds as in a terrifying movie, Rule finds very real answers to the haunting question "how could this happen?" - and expertly constructs the unseen chain of events that resulted in an explosive and shattering tragedy.
Included here are nine other sensational cases that illuminate Rule's unique and authoritative view of the human psyche gone temporarily berserk. No one can match Rule's meticulous research, or reveal the motives to murder in such explicit and chilling detail. You may think you know who is safe and who is dangerous; in A Rage to Kill, Ann Rule frighteningly shows that none of us are truly protected from the flashes of irrational violence that can erupt from the killers among us.
©1999 Anne Rule (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.