Author: Jeannie Walker
Source: review copy offered by the author
My Rating: 4 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):
A Texas millionaire rancher discovered his wife and bookkeeper had stolen thousands of dollars from him. After he demanded the money back, he started getting sick. While in the hospital, doctors were mystified as to how an otherwise healthy, energetic man could become so deathly ill. The dying man told everyone within earshot that his wife and bookkeeper were killing him. The man's wife said her husband was hallucinating from drugs the doctors were giving him. The millionaire rancher succumbed in the hospital while strapped down to his bed with restraints on his hands and feet and tubes in every orifice. After the rancher died, an anonymous caller tipped off the police. The widow was the sole beneficiary of the estate and a $350,000 life insurance policy. A week before the man's death, a teenager visited the rancher's home and became deathly ill after he drank juice that was in the rancher's refrigerator. Two years after the millionaire's death, a bottle of arsenic was found in a storage locker rented by a woman under an assumed name. The millionaire's ex-wife, the mother of his children, became a sleuth to help solve the murder. No one could have predicted the aftermath with its strange twists and unexpected results.
Every now and then I feel the need to read a book based on reality. Non-fiction if you like, though my head tells me non-fiction has more to do with text books, exams and sleepless nights. But what do I know? Anyway, like I said, sometimes I need to read something autobiographical.
I have to say, Fighting the Devil wasn't what I expected. I was expecting suspense, drama, some really intense moments, maybe a little scary scenes. What I didn't expect was to be so emotional while I was reading. From sadness to anger, love, hate, fear, pity, revolted, I felt them all. I wasn't expecting that or the fact that I couldn't put it down.
The story is, I think, one of the saddest I've read this year. It's even sadder because it's true. I always get amazed by some people's cruelness and greed and their lack of compassion and conscience. It's something that to me is extremely disturbing sometimes. Of course, I did get to read about murder cases, so it's not exactly news to me, but it is still a little weird and sad.
The only thing I felt was a little too much were the religious references or the little scenes around that subject. But that's just because I'm not an overly religious person.
If you like non-fiction, true crime stories, you should try this one. It's a book that won't let you put it down.
