Be careful who you love-Empty Promises by Ann Rule

I have been volunteering with an organization providing shelter and services to battered women and their children (and in some cases, their pets). I guess that this was on my mind when I purchased Ann Rule's bookEmpty Promises Volume 7.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Ann Rule, she has investigated and written about 1400 different cases.

Empty Promises:

This was the story which touched me the most, perhaps because she goes into more depth and the reader feels they are living these details, not just reading about them. Jami Hagel Sherer disappeared with absolutely no warning or explanation. This happened when she was only 25 years old, in western Washington. Apparently there were a half dozen other women who just went missing in that same area at that time. Jami was a tiny little thing, only wore a size one. She met Steve Sherer when she was 25. He was a spoiled rich brat with an extensive rap sheet. For whatever reason, Jami and Steve fell in love. I don't want to give away the story, but suffice it to say that Steve was a real problem. He felt a desperate need to control Jami, her car went missing, and Steve suddenly was wearing Jami's underpants like a garter belt on his upper arm. Jami was a battered wife, but no one knew how bad it really was.

Bitter Lake:

This is a story about how children get involved in the messed up lives their parents select. Obviously their parents lives are their lives. A woman, half naked was running for her life, a man chasing after her. A witness observed the occurrences, but could do nothing other than to call the police. Later the woman was found dead as was her 2 or 3 year old child. Why did this happen?

Young Love:

John Stickney was desperately in love with Leigh Hayden; they were only teenagers. Leigh did not return John's love and he refused to accept the reality and finality of that.
John became a stalker, and he stated that he would talk with Leigh one last time, one way or the other.

Love and Insurance:

A man with many many options in his life make choices which would end lives. This was one of the cruelest cases Ann Rule has ever investigated and written about. Larry Dwayne Duerksen and Gareth Stuart Leifbach were both in their twenties, both were born in the midwest, both gay, both had spent time in the armed forces, though they did not meet at that time. Larry went home to explain to his parents why he was never interested in any of the great women his parents and friends had tried to fix him up with. He read about Gareth who had risked his army career by not only coming out but also by daring the army to do something about it.
Larry was very creative in his stories and people generally just rolled their eyes at his tales. This of course ended in the murder and investigation.

The Gentler Sex:

Carole Hargis and Teri Depew loved each other and decided to eliminate Carole's husband for the insurance. In reading this story it reminded me of the television show about the dumbest criminals. First Carole tried to drop her hair dryer (while on) into the shower as her husband was in there, but that didn't work. Several other half a---attempts were made to kill him for the insurance, each more stupid and klutzy then the last.

Other stories within Empty Promises were:

The Conjugal Visit
Killers on the Road
A dangerous Mind
To Kill and Kill Again
and The Stockholm Syndrome

Ann Rule did an excellent job as always with Empty Promises. Most people would probably enjoy it more than I did. I preferred her books: Small Sacrifices and The Stranger Beside me because I am simply not a lover of short stories. I'd rather really get into a novel or non fiction book from beginning to end. This book is 524 pages.

I recommend it highly for those who love Ann Rule's true crime stories and particularly short stories. I have to be in the right frame of mind to read these books, as they can be very depressing and sad. I enjoy crime, suspense, psychology, law, medicine, so the combination of all of these areas are addressed in Ann Rule's books. I guess I am also hopeful that the more we understand what causes these horrific crimes, the sooner we will be able to help the criminal (before the crimes occur) and people can better learn to protect themselves.

Thanks for reading.

Suzi