Allen Blackthorne was quite some character. As Rule notes:Somewhat surprisingly, Allen's test results did not indicate that he was an antisocial personality (a sociopath). He was farmore complicated than that. His responses to standard tests showed that he could control or channel his feelings of aggression when he felt it necessary, and that he probablywas often depressed. He did not, however, have more than a token ability to empathize with other people's feelings on any deep level, and he showed narcissistic traits. The word revolved around Allen. It always had.
He was definitely NOT the kind of guy you'd like to haveas your neighbor . . . or run into on the golf course, thoughhe was known to lose big almost every time he played . . . Ipersonally have come to like true-crime stories much morethan mysteries in that they are so much more real . . . Rulehas never disappointed me with a past effort and this oneranks right up there with one of her best . . . if you can getpast the creepiness of the main character, you'll findthis both fascinating and chilling . . . in addition, the tenacity of the investigating detectives will certainly impress you.
One other part of the book caught my attention: Blackthorneonce had a high school Distributive Education studentworking for him on a part-time basis . . . I also taught DE on a high school basis--let's just say a few years ago--and so got a kick out of the subject being mentioned . . . it was the first time that I had ever seen it in a book . . . and probably the last since DE is now more commonly referred to as Marketing Education.