Love's Blood the Shocking True Story of a: Teenager Who Would Do Anything for the Older Man She Loved--Even Kill Her Whole Family

Patricia Columbo, born in 1957 in Chicago, was unfortunate in many regards. Her father, a businessman who may have had Mafia ties, idealized her as his ``little princess,'' failing to see her as a real person. Her mother, focused on assuring that the father was never upset, was cold and distant toward her daughter. An uncle abused her sexually throughout her childhood. Then, at age 15, Patricia fell in love with Frank DeLuca, a womanizing pharmacist in his mid-30s who introduced her to many varieties of sex and eventually left his wife and five children for her. Their affair culminated in 1976, when Patricia's father, mother and 13-year-old brother were shot, bludgeoned and stabbed to death in their suburban home. DeLuca and Patricia were found guilty and sentenced to 200- to 300-year prison terms. Howard ( Six Against the Rock ), the first writer to whom Patricia granted interviews, presents a vivid, captivating, exhaustively researched case history (and study of woman as victim). We never learn exactly what happened the night of the murders, however--several versions are offered, and readers are left to make their own determinations. Photos not seen by PW. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; film rights optioned by Hearst Entertainment. (Apr.)