Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
by Pocket Star

	Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
	Customer Rating: Sales Rank: 250552 Available from Amazon
	$7.99

Book Description

<CENTER>On a June morning in a Houston suburb, a 911 dispatcher questioned the caller on the other end of the line:</CENTER><P><CENTER><P><Font size="+1"><B>"ARE YOU HAVING A DISTURBANCE?"<P>"ARE YOU ILL?"<P>"ARE YOU AT 942 BEACHCOMBER?"<P>"ARE YOU THERE ALONE?"</B></Font></CENTER><P>It took a jury less than four hours to find Houston housewife Andrea Yates guilty of the drowning deaths of three of her five children -- and a mere half hour to sentence the troubled woman with a stunning history of severe mental problems to life in prison. But beyond the media coverage of her heinous crimes, there is a story that only investigative reporter Suzanne O'Malley has fully illuminated.<P><CENTER>THIS IS THE BOOK THAT INCLUDES THE REVELATION THAT LED TO THE OVERTURNING OF ANDREA YATES'S CONVICTION.</CENTER><P>The updated edition of "Are You There Alone?" features a new chapter on the appeal of the Yates case, as well as personal updates on both Andrea and Rusty Yates. Having drawn upon hundreds of interviews -- with expert witnesses, close friends, family advisers, and Andrea and Rusty themselves -- O'Malley has produced a riveting true-crime account that shatters our notions about criminal law, mental illness, death-penalty politics, and religious fanaticism in America today.

Reader Reviews

To be honest, I was very hesitant to even read this book. Like most people, when Andrea Yates killed her five children by drowning them in the family's bathtub, the only information I knew was what I heard from the media. I almost immediately formed my own opinion -- Andrea Yates was evil. So it took me awhile to open my mind to the fact that there could be more to the story.

Once I started reading ARE YOU THERE ALONE? I absolutely could not read fast enough. This book is fascinating in delving into the issue of mental illness, and what it truly means. I learned about psychosis, about postpartum depression, about bipolar disorder, and much, much more.

Although there are things I still don't understand (how Rusty Yates, Andrea's husband, could have left her alone with their children when he knew she was seriously mentally ill, for example), I have to say that I have a greater understanding of why Ms. Yates did what she did.

Hers was a horrific crime, and one for which she deserved to be punished. But she also deserved to get help for the problems that had plagued her for many years. For that, Suzanne O'Malley and the doctors, nurses, and many others involved in the case are to be commended.