Without Mercy: Obsession and Murder Under the Influence
-
-
4.1 • 53 Ratings
-
-
- $3.99
Publisher Description
ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING IN THE FLORIDA REDLANDS, DEE CASTEEL MIGHT HAVE SERVED YOU PANCAKES AT THE IHOP …
She was a hard-working, cheerful waitress, one of the nicest people you’d ever want to know. She was also a three-bottle-a-day alcoholic, hopelessly in love with the IHOP’s manager, Allen Bryant. Bryant wanted his live-in lover, IHOP owner Art Venecia, dead. And Dee Casteel helped him to arrange it.
After Venecia’s murder, Dee and Bryant moved into his house, forged checks, spent his money, and embezzled from the IHOP to buy gifts for Bryant’s boyfriends. But there was an even more gruesome killing to come …
WITHOUT MERCY is an engrossing, bizarre true story that traces the twisted path to a loathsome crime. But it is also the story of middle-class citizens gone wrong, of an almost-perfect murder, the traumas of alcoholism, and a legal system that can be deadly in itself. Dee Casteel was an ordinary woman—who now stands convicted of one of the most cold-blooded crimes of this century.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An account of two murders, this is also a penetrating look into the mind and heart of an alcoholic. According to Provost ( Across the Border ), Dee Casteel, a waitress at the International House of Pancakes in the Florida Redlands, drank as many as three bottles of Scotch a day. She fell in love with Allen Bryant, live-in lover of the restaurant's owner, Art Venecia, and Bryant used her to help arrange Venecia's murder. After it was carried out, Bryant became concerned that Venecia's 84-year-old mother would ``smell a rat''; the two hit men who had murdered the son were hired to eliminate her as well. Afraid that Bryant would kill her, Casteel dictated a confession to her daughter in the presence of a witness; soon afterward the case was cracked. The four collaborators are now awaiting execution. Provost has done a fine job of depicting an unlikely group of killers. Photos not seen by PW.
Customer Reviews
THIS IS MY FAVORITE TRUE CRIME STORY.
Words cannot express how ridiculous this book is. I play this book when I have car poolers. I have played it aloud for my night shift team because they heard how unbelievable the story was from my car poolers. I keep the audiobook on constant download when I need reminding of how heinous and stupid the human race can be. I am so excited that I now have an ebook copy.
What an awesome writer.
I love how he writes. He gets you from the beginning and the rest unfolds with everything a good book needs to keep you going. A great book such as this one makes you not want to see the end so soon. I also appreciate the fact that he didn’t ramble on about the court hearing itself. So many authors go on and on just to use up space. This is one of the best I have read
Just okay
Good story but writing is way too simplified. Felt like a child wrote the book, no depth to any sentences at all, it was all just surface writing.