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

Ann Rule

Jan 2002 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

America’s #1 true-crime writer fulfills a murder victim’s desperate plea with this shattering New York Times bestseller.

“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, multi-millionaire 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.

Ratings and reviews

Every Breath You Take is the story of the life and death of Sheila Bellush and the road to bring those responsible for her murder to justice. Sheila had a tumultuous marriage to Allen Blackthorne. Violent and controlling, she finally found the courage to leave him. After her divorce to him he proceeded to create trouble for her and their two daughters Stevie and Daryl. Long after Sheila had married Jamie Bellush and they had quadruplets, Allen did his best to disrupt their lives. He used her neighbors and his children to create havoc. After his oldest daughter refused to visit him any longer he turned up the heat with his youngest daughter. He encouraged her to accuse her mother of child abuse. After one particular event it was decided they had to get away from Allen and do it secretly. Jamie and Sheila moved to Sarasota, Florida after Jamie’s boss transferred him to Sarasota. Sheila’s youngest daughter was still in Texas. After flying back to get her and take care of legal issues, Sheila brought Daryl back and she was put in a youth camp. Problems prevented them from taking her home with them. Daryl through manipulation managed to give her father enough information for him to find them. This set in motion that wheels that led up to Sheila’s death. On November 7, 1997 while at home with her four youngest children Sheila was brutally attacked and killed. Ann Rule did an excellent job of taking the reader through the troubles that plagued Sheila until her death. She then takes you down the heart wrenching path of the day Stevie finds her mother’s body and the all of the law enforcement officers that eventually brought the people responsible for her death to justice.

One of the most accurate and detailed books I've read in a long time. I personally knew most of the people involved. My mom used to get weird vibes every time Blackthorn would enter her business. About the only one i didn't know was Del Toro.

One of Ann Rule's better books. No chopped up, short stories...

About the author

Ann Rule wrote thirty-five New York Times bestsellers, all of them still in print. Her first bestseller was The Stranger Beside Me, about her personal relationship with infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. A former Seattle police officer, she used her firsthand expertise in all her books. For more than three decades, she was a powerful advocate for victims of violent crime. She lived near Seattle and died in 2015.