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Most of us have made decisions that we wish we could go back and change. Sometimes it is for something we have done and then again, we may regret something we should have done and didn't. "Conscience doth make cowards of us all," Shakespeare once wrote, and like scores of the Bard's quotes that have stood the test of time, this is as true today as it was hundreds of years ago. Even if we are the only ones who know our secrets, that little voice inside reminds us. That nagging voice brings back memories that are painful to people who have empathy for others' feelings and who do have consciences. But not everyone does. For some, yesterday is gone and entirely forgettable, the slate is wiped clean, and they never look back. Some of the most horrifying crimes I have ever chronicled were committed by people for whom another's life is no more important than that of a flea or a crushed rose.

In No Regrets, I write about a number of murderers who didn't feel at all sorry for what they did to further their own purposes, but I also tell some heart-wrenching stories of people who had profound regret. They could technically be called killers, although I believe they suffered more than their "victims." There are even a few cases here where one might say the so-called victims reaped grim rewards they deserved. Over the many years I have written about actual criminal cases, I have learned that there is nothing about any homicide that can be taken for granted. Just as human behavior is unpredictable, so are the many views of each murder. Like snowflakes, no two cases are just alike, and some are shockingly unique.

I have written more than a thousand articles and twenty-six books about murder. I have never forgotten any of them, although I must admit that sometimes names escape me. This is Volume 11 of my Crime Files series. Only those stories that have stood the test of time make the cut when I'm selecting cases.

That is true for "The Sea Captain," the book-length case that comes first, and for all the shorter cases that follow:

"It (Ain't) Hard Out There for the Pimps," "The Runaway and the Soldier," "The Tragic Ending of a Bank Robber's Fantasy," "A Very Bad Christmas," "To Save Their Souls," and "...Or We'll Kill You."

A few of these cases reduced me to tears, and, frankly, some frightened me. Even though a number of years have passed since I first heard their details played out in courtrooms, it hasn't been easy to live through them again. My own emotional reactions came tumbling back as I visited them once more, surprising me with their intensity. There are other cases here that I knew of, but had never before researched or written. And one came to me through an email after I had already started writing this book.

In the end, there were myriad motivations that sparked murder: greed, lust, jealousy, naked masochism, fulfillment of fantasy, insanity, and -- strangely -- even love.

Copyright © 2006 by Ann Rule