Run at Destruction: A True Fatal Love Triangle

Runner and longtime Green Bay, Wis. resident Drews revisits the mid-1980s death of her close friend and fellow runner, popular high school teacher Pam Bulik. She chronicles the small community's response to Pam's death, suspicions of suicide that rang false, and the subsequent naming of Pam's husband, Bob Bulik, as the primary suspect. Events, including Bob's alleged affair, drag readers through the gruesome and tawdry details, some difficult to read (especially in descriptions of the victim). Like Melanie Thernstrom's The Dead Girl, about the life and tragic death of her best friend, this title also relies on the strong bond between author and victim for emotional weight; passages about their shared moments, and Drews's feelings of emptiness in the decades since, are remarkable.