Women Who Love Men Who Kill: 35 True Stories of Prison Passion

Isenberg (Muriel’s War: An American Heiress in the Nazi Resistance) updates her 1991 book of the same title with this engrossing, thoroughly researched look at women who are in romantic relationships with incarcerated men. While such arrangements are far from new, the author notes, the internet, social media, and smartphones have made them easier than ever. Websites such as writeaprisoner.com put finding a romantic link behind bars just a few clicks away, and apps like JPay, where women can send money, emails, and video visits, make keeping up the romance easy. But why do women do it? The author’s interviews reveal that some are drawn to fame—it’s easier to get a serial killer to answer your love letters than a movie star—and others because they crave a fictional romance and the safety of loving a man behind bars. (Interestingly, most of Isenberg’s subjects suffered a childhood trauma and are Catholic.) Serial killer Ted Bundy had his groupies and even married one of them during his trial, and the Boston Marathon bomber inspires fan fiction on websites and thousands of #FreeJahar posts on the internet, mostly by teenage girls. Assured prose keeps the pages turning. True crime fans will find this a real eye-opener. Agent: Richard Curtis, Richard Curtis Assoc. (Oct.)