Overview

In this superb work of literary true crime--a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense--a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us. """"Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I'll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you're honest, as honest as any reporter. . . . You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn't it?""""--Kendall Francois In September 1998, young reporter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite twenty-seven-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister. Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly fascinated by the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women--and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims' rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil. Reaching out after Francois was arrested, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to clearly see herself and her own past--and why she was drawn to danger.

Full Product Details

9781470855987

Table of Contents

Reviews

""An insightful investigation of the nature of evil, the fragility of good, and the crooked road that can turn human beings into monsters."" -- ""Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author"" ""Claudia Rowe catalogs her obsession with a serial killer so mesmerizingly that before I knew it, I too was obsessed...I literally could not put it down."" -- ""Alan Cumming, New York Times bestselling author"" ""Part psychological thriller and part gut-wrenching memoir, The Spider and the Fly crosses boundaries on nearly every page. It is chilling, self-revelatory, and unforgettable."" -- ""Robert Kolker, New York Times bestselling author"" ""Rowe's engaging prose means the pages practically turn themselves."" -- ""Kirkus Reviews"" ""The interwoven stories of author and subject will appeal to both true crime and memoir readers."" -- ""Library Journal"" ""This is true-crime writing where the story bleeds from journalism into memoir, as the writer becomes a main character...Readers seeking a literary look at the psychology of a criminal will find much to hold them rapt."" -- ""Booklist"" ""With reporter-like descriptions of small town life and strong storytelling skills, Rowe...unflinchingly depicts her decades-long obsession with Kendall Francois, a convicted serial killer"" -- ""Publishers Weekly""

Author Information

Claudia Rowe is an award-winning journalist who has been twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Currently a staff writer at the Seattle Times, she has published work in numerous newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, Women's Day, Yes! and Seattle's alternative weekly, The Stranger. She has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, and the Journalism Center on Children & Families, which awarded her a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. Original bio sent from Cassandra: Cassandra Campbell began doing voice overs as the voice for Calvin Klein's Italian commercials. This was followed by commercial and documentary recording in both English and Italian. She has recorded many audiobooks and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as an Audie(R) Award nomination. As an actress and director, she has worked at the Public, the Mint, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stagewest, Theatreworks, the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Millmountain Theatre, the National Shakespeare Company, and the New York Fringe Festival.

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