In the Name of Love and Other True Cases by Ann Rule, 3/5

This book’s format may be a little unusual–the first three-quarters explore the life and 1987 murder of entrepreneur Jerry Harris, while the remaining quarter contains four unrelated short cases–but I appreciated that, unlike In the Still of the Night, the author did not unnecessarily expand the first story in order to make it stand alone.

This is only the second book by Ann Rule that I’ve read and I was previously unaware of the existence of true crime as a genre of literature. At first, I was tempted to dismiss it as exploitative and voyeuristic; I love a good true crime documentary, but what feels like a harmless guilty pleasure to watch takes on a bit more moral weight for me when it appears in black and white on a page. However, I felt differently after looking up the Jerry Harris murder online and finding very little about it beyond the disgusting update that his killer has made a name for himself over the last 30 years by relentlessly filing over 2500 lawsuits from death row, most (if not all) of which are frivolous.¹ The case summary online was dry and impersonal, contrasting greatly with the care and research Rule invested to make Jerry and Susan Harris come alive as real, vibrant, complicated people. Did Ann Rule profit from others’ tragedy? Yes. But nobody wants to be forgotten after they are gone and I think that this book is a respectful tribute to a few of the many lives that end too soon.

Why I read it: a hand-me-down from a friend.