Cruel Doubt HC Joe McGinniss 1991 1st printing

Description: Cruel Doubt Hardcover by Joe McGinniss (Author) From the New York Times bestselling author of Fatal Vision comes a shocking true account of murder, family secrets, and final justice... One hot summer night in 1988, Bonnie Von Stein's second husband was murdered in their bed, Bonnie herself stabbed, beaten, and left for dead beside him. It looked like a brutal but tragically typical case: Von Stein was newly wealthy, and Bonnie's troubled son Chris, seemed like the obvious suspect. But Chris turned out to have an air-tight alibi and new leads suggested the crime could be much more complex. The trail led to Chris�s two strange new friends from college and a real-life enactment of a bizarre Dungeons and Dragons fantasy adventure, and it implicated Bonnie's teenage daughter as well. In Cruel Doubt, Joe McGinniss probes the dark heart of family life and small-town North Carolina society to uncover a fascinating and terrifying story that is at once a chilling murder mystery, a tense courtroom drama, and a heartbreaking account of a mother forced to doubt her own children. Personable, cocky North Carolina college student Chris Pritchard, fond of marijuana, coke and LSD, and obsessed with the acting-out fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons, conspired in 1988 with two fellow D & D players to have his mother and wealthy stepfather murdered so that he could inherit $2 million. Bonnie Von Stein, his mother, suffered threefold--as a victim (she was stabbed while in bed next to her murdered husband), as a suspect and as a mother clinging to denial, protective toward the son who plotted her death. In a gripping, understated narrative, McGinniss ( Fatal Vision) lets the story tell itself. Readers learn from court testimony, interviews with Pritchard in prison and psychiatric reports that the young man felt sorely abandoned by his father, who deserted his family when the boy was three. McGinniss's crisply written account is a forceful attempt to explain this distorted mother-son relationship. Hardcover: 464 pages McGinniss gave his usual, awesome description of this horrible murder, including detailed interviews with the investigators and especially Bonnie Von Stein and Chris Pritchard. A criticism was that it was one-sided. As a true crime author myself, I know that often the "other side" won't talk to the author, and I suspect this was the case here. In Bledsoe's "Blood Games," another excellent depiction of this awful crime, it's obvious Bledsoe had cooperation from the defendants' families -- and it might be looked upon as one-sided since he didn't have too much cooperation, it seems, with Bonnie. The two books together, both dramatically and frighteningly written, give readers a full picture of what went on in that case. I give both books 5 stars. This case has intrigued me since I saw the movie Cruel Doubt, and I was ecstatic that Bledsoe, another great true crime author, also wrote a book on the subject! One main reason that makes me think McGinniss wasn't able to get interviews with the defendants is the fact that his book doesn't mention "Bart" as the nickname for James Bartlett Upchurch III. How would anyone know that unless they'd interviewed the family? Sometimes it looks like, when people won't talk to us, that we just didn't bother to try to talk to them, but that's absolutely not true. I'm sure Mr. McGinniss tried and tried to get the defendants' and families' interviews. McGinniss is just one of the forefathers, it seems, of terrific true crime with awesome imagery -- which makes the reader picture the crime and people in their heads without a movie being necessary! Mr. Bledsoe also is a top true crime writer. Neither book detracts from the other. Both are sublime depictions of one of the most bloody crimes police have seen. My hat's off to both authors! I saw the mini-series starring Emmy Winner Blythe Danner as Bonnie Von Stein and her Oscar Winner daughter Gwyneth Paltrow as her daughter Angela Pritchard. The movie version is quite faithful to the book and the events itself which I highly recommend as well. The book does delve into the story of dungeons and dragons which becomes an obsession of Christopher Pritchard and the horrible murder of his stepfather Leith Von Stein in a small North Carolina town and the near murder of his own mother. The case is riveting and the story is told with complete details and information. I can still see the cast which included Ed Asner as one of the lawyers and Miguel Ferrer as the police investigating the case. The title of Cruel Doubt is about the fact that a horrendous crime has been committed, the motive was for the inheritance, and the fact that the sister Angela slept through the entire event without hearing a sound. A mother must come to terms with her son's crimes against his own family while trying to convict the men who actually carried it out. McGinnis has also written Fatal Vision and Blind Faith about family members who are involved with the death of a relative. I recommend reading those books as well. Book is near mint condition. Small piece missing in spine of dust cover. Someone put an ownership stamp on the inside cover. If you have any questions please be sure to ask BEFORE purchasing! Can't find what you're looking for? Search my titles AND description by clicking here! You'll notice your search bar now says "Search only this store"...quite a powerful tool! Please check my other listings HERE before checking out...combine your order and save on shipping! 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Price: 64.99 USD

Location: Scranton, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2025-02-04T19:10:20.000Z

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