Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder

by Ann Rule

Overview

Ann Rule's shocking and powerful account of the destructive forces that drove Diane Downs, a beautiful young mother, to shoot her three young children in cold blood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451166609
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/05/1988
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	35,092
Product dimensions:	4.13(w) x 6.88(h) x 1.06(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ann Rule has drawn on her experience as a former policewoman to become one of America’s top true-crime writers. The author of over 1,000 articles and numerous books, she has lectured widely to law-enforcement schools and agencies. She has also serves as a consultant to the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VI-CAP), which is used to track and apprehend violent criminals. Her bestselling books, Lust Killer, The Want-Ad Killer, The I-5 Killer, and Small Sacrifices, are available in Signet editions.

Hometown:

Seattle, Washington

Date of Birth:

October 22, 1935

Place of Birth:

Lowell, Michigan

Education:

Creative Writing Program, University of Washington

Editorial Reviews

This searching analysis of the shooting of three children in Oregon by their mother devolves into a study of personality. In May of 1983, Diane Downs drove to a Williamette Valley hospital emergency room with her children, all gravely wounded; one did not survive the first hour, and the other two were disabled for life. Downs initially told of a ``bushy-haired stranger'' who had committed the crime, but frequently changed her story. Under police questioning she recalled her childhood with a cold, domineering father who abused her sexually, her weak mother, a rape by one of her bosses, her failed marriage and many men with whom she had sex. One of these men, whom she claimed to love, did not want children, and that may have prompted the crime, speculates the author. The greatest strength of this book is the exploration by ex-policewoman Rule (The Stranger Beside Me of the aberrant personality of Downs, who is now imprisoned and not eligible for parole until 2009. (May 27)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly