Every Breath You Take: A True Story of Obsession, Revenge, and Murder

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 1,198 ratings

Price: 22.96

Last update: 08-26-2024


About this item

America’s number one true-crime writer fulfills a murder victim’s desperate plea with this shattering New York Times best seller.

“If anything ever happens to me...find Ann Rule and ask her to write my story.”

In perhaps the first true-crime book written at the victim's request, Ann Rule untangles a web of lies and brutality that culminated in the murder of Sheila Blackthorne Bellush - a woman Rule never met, but whose shocking story she now chronicles with compassion, exacting detail, and unvarnished candor.

Although happily ensconced in a loving second marriage and a new family of quadruplets, Sheila never truly escaped the vicious enslavement of her ex-husband, multimillionaire Allen Blackthorne, a handsome charmer - and a violent, controlling sociopath who subjected Sheila to unthinkable abuse in their marriage and terrorized her for a decade after their divorce. When Sheila was slain in her home, in the presence of her four toddlers, authorities raced to link the crime to Blackthorne, the man who vowed to monitor Sheila's every move in his obsessive quest for power and revenge.


Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Karma Bites
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2022
My sister recommended this book. It is so full of detail you feel like you were there. A horrible murder of a woman. With 6 kids, paid for by her ex husband. I cannot imagine the time spent diggi g up information for this writter to have so much knowledge of the case. I am so glad this man was held accountable.
Thomas R Lawrence
5.0 out of 5 stars As good as any by A.R.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2018
Another good one from Ann Rule. The sixth I've read from her and was not disappointed. It's just her ability to put the reader in the "room" that makes her books so good. I can't ever put them down because I'm excited to see what happens next.
L. Quido
4.0 out of 5 stars Readers in Florida and Texas, and maybe Oregon...
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2002
have been waiting for the "true crime" account of the murder of Sheila Bellush - a native of Oregon, whose brief adult life played out in San Antonio, where her husband led her, to Sarasota, Florida, where she fled to escape him.
As in the topics of many of Rule's classic accounts, the centerpiece, the wealthy entrepreneur Allen Blackthorne, is revealed to be a narcissistic grifter, whose lifetime of lies, deceptions and emotional blackmail led him to commit a horrific crime. Never really having to pay for all the grief he caused the families he cheated, the women he abused, and the children he scarred, Blackthorne is unprepared for the consequences of his revenge on his third wife, Sheila Bellush, who has remarried and is trying to start over.
If you live in the San Antonio or Sarasota areas, you followed the story of Sheila's bloody murder in the presence of her 4 toddlers with disbelief. As the confederates who plotted the kill were revealed in the media, it was with disbelief that you
recognized them for the heartless bumblers they were. Indeed, there is much speculation in Rule's book about how one so crafty and wealthy as Blackthorne spent so little to hire "the three stooges" to carry out his plot.
But, as you walk away and wonder about what makes the murderers tick, you are also appalled at the ordinary people who knew that something bad was being planned for Sheila by her ex-husband, and who did nothing to stop the madness.
Rule is at her best, although the trial phase is a little overlong. She places equal importance on explaining what led up to the crime, the crime itself, and always makes the law enforcement team come alive for the reader. She should be very successful with this story of murder for hire, as, once again, she's able to explain the "why's" behind the "what's" in contemporary modern tragedy.
Bravo, Ann!
JMB
5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
Anne Rule sure knows how to pull the facts together and recreate a sad story. She proves real life is much worse than fiction.
CHC94
5.0 out of 5 stars Frightening. Informative. True.
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2014
I first became aware of this story when it aired on a newsmagazine. I like true crime stories, so that caught my attention.

A few years later, living in Texas, Blackthorne's case popped up in the news again, this time because of a civil suit.

Recently I met a young lady whose story reminded me of Sheila Bellush.

I have always been a fan of Ann Rule's books, so I ordered a print copy for my friend. Ann's books read like a novel, even though they are factual accounts. I was pulled into the story from the second chapter. Usually the backstory of the main players is dry, but you need that history to understand the rest of the book. Then it's off to the races with a chilling account of abuse, mind games, and life on the run.

Ann Rule, you hit this one out of the park. Somewhere, Sheila Bellush is thanking you.
Jen
5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing on so many levels
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2019
As usual, Ann Rule does an excellent job of investigative research to retell this horrifying story. She paints San Antonio beautifully and with the same fervor details the terrifying life that Sheila Bellush suffered through until her violent death. It was sickening to read all the horrors this man got away with throughout his life and even more disturbing that he managed to find such a loyal wife to stand by him during investigation and trials, living a life of luxury while so many suffered from his actiins. A haunting read for sure, and one that was difficult to put down until finished.
C. Vale-Allen
3.0 out of 5 stars Not up to par
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2002
I've read all of Ann Rule's books, including her pseudonymous ones. They are invariably compelling studies of both victims and killers. This time out, it seems as if Rule was so fearful of saying anything negative about Sheila Bellush (the victim) that the woman is scarcely more than a shadow. Her ex-husband Allen is, in true Rule fashion, defined so thoroughly that he comes across in all his horrifying reality. So do Sheila's second husband Jamie, her two daughters from Allen; even her four quads feel real. But Rule is so cautious in her descriptions of Sheila herself that the book becomes very heavy-going, very one-sided as a result. As well, because so much detail is paid to the litigious battles engaged in by Allen and Sheila in the ten years after their divorce, one has to wonder why a woman who believed her ex-husband was very capable of killing her would (despite her desire to provide for her children) constantly seek to even the score with him in a courtroom.
I do not believe, ever, in blaming the victim, but I think in failing to deliver a clear picture of Sheila, we're left with the extraordinary tale of a woman in fear of her life, yet not so fearful that she'd stop poking a stick into the cage holding the lion. Given how well every other character (even the most minor ones) are defined, it's a great pity that the central character remains so shadowy and undefined.
This book simply isn't on the same level as Dead By Sunset or And Never Let Her go--tales that show just what Rule can do when she pulls out all the stops.
Reviewed by J Matthews - April 22, 2021
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT READ!!!
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2020
I gave this book a five-Star rating because it was well written. I have enjoyed reading true crime by Ann Rule because she always researched her story. I would recommend this book to friends and family alike.

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