Alice and Gerald: A Homicidal Love Story by Ron Franscell (English) Paperback Bo

Description: Alice and Gerald: A Homicidal Love Story by Ron Franscell Would you kill for love? True-crime master Ron Franscell tells the grisly story of Alice and Gerald Uden, a loving couple who murdered at least four people, and live happily ever after--while cops try for decades to piece together a petrifying tale of murder and secrets. The appalling details are made even more vivid by the authors familiarity with the Wyoming times and places that formed the backdrop of his national bestseller The Darkest Night.In 1974, Alice, a desperate young mother in a gritty Wyoming boomtown, kills her husband and dumps his body where it will never be found, then slips away and starts a new life. But when her new mans ex-wife and two kids start demanding more of him, Alice delivers an ultimatum: Fix the problem or lose her forever. With Alices help, Gerald "fixes" the problem in an extraordinarily ghastly way . . . and they live happily ever after. That is, until 2013,almost forty years later, when somebody finds a dead mans skeleton in a place where Alice thought hed never be found.This page-turner by bestselling true-crime author Ron Franscell revisits a shocking cold case that was finally solved just when the murderers thought theyd never be caught. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Author Biography Ron Franscell is the acclaimed author of numerous books, including both fiction and nonfiction. His true-crime work, Morgue: A Life in Death (coauthored with renowned medical examiner Dr. Vincent Di Maio), was a 2017 Edgar(R) Award finalist; his debut novel Angel Fire was listed by the San Francisco Chronicle among the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century West. During thirty years as a newspaper journalist, Franscell won many national awards, including the prestigious national Freedom of Information Award by Associated Press Managing Editors, and a Best of the West Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). He is a native of Casper, Wyoming, and lives in San Antonio, Texas. Review ""Fascinating and disturbing. . . . A worthwhile read for true-crime fans." --Booklist "Compulsively readable. Imminently astonishing. Only Ron Franscell, one of Americas most talented and thoughtful crime writers, could render this story of a deadly and monstrous relationship with both lightning-paced prose and a keen awareness of the psychopathology of his subjects. Bound to be a bestseller." --Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Starvation Heights "This is going to be the best true-crime book you read in 2019, or in just about any year. Author Ron Franscell combines exhaustive research and plenty of literary talent to deliver the classic saga of four brutal murders and the decades-long efforts of dogged investigators to bring the married perpetrators to justice. In the process, he reminds the rest of us who write in this genre how it ought to be done." --Jeff Guinn, New York Times-bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown "Franscell is one of the finest true-crime writers Ive ever read. At once horrific and stupefying, Alice & Gerald will catapult you into a world of narcissistic impulse and terrifying consequence." --Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries "A riveting and disturbing tale of wickedness unfolds over multiple decades, as the marriage of two evil people strengthens the bonds of their murderous souls. Franscells brilliant storytelling and personal interviews are simply not to be missed!" --Michael Bishop, author of A Murder in Music City: Corruption, Scandal, and the Framing of an Innocent Man "The dark, murderous secrets of Gerald and Alice Uden are almost Shakespearean. You will think their story has got to be made up, but its all true. Ron Franscell has done amazing research and writing in this book." --Skip Hollandsworth, author of The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for Americas First Serial Killer "Franscell never disappoints. A disturbing yet mesmerizing read, Alice & Gerald kept me turning pages, not wanting to close the book. Meticulously researched and skillfully written, this gripping true-crime account of two twisted killers weaves together the threads of four cold-blooded murders committed in the name of a depraved love." --Kathryn Casey, bestselling author of In Plain Sight "A darkly bewitching account of murder. The tale is grisly and beautifully rendered, with spare straight-ahead prose that brings the grit and glory of old Wyoming to life. An immaculate example of how true crime can read like fiction. I wish Id written this book." --Michael Cannell, author of Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling Long Description Would you kill for love? True-crime master Ron Franscell tells the grisly story of Alice and Gerald Uden, a loving couple who murdered at least four people, and live happily ever after--while cops try for decades to piece together a petrifying tale of murder and secrets. The appalling details are made even more vivid by the authors familiarity with the Wyoming times and places that formed the backdrop of his national bestseller The Darkest Night. In 1974, Alice, a desperate young mother in a gritty Wyoming boomtown, kills her husband and dumps his body where it will never be found, then slips away and starts a new life. But when her new mans ex-wife and two kids start demanding more of him, Alice delivers an ultimatum: Fix the problem or lose her forever. With Alices help, Gerald "fixes" the problem in an extraordinarily ghastly way . . . and they live happily ever after. That is, until 2013, almost forty years later, when somebody finds a dead mans skeleton in a place where Alice thought hed never be found. This page-turner by bestselling true-crime author Ron Franscell revisits a shocking cold case that was finally solved just when the murderers thought theyd never be caught. Review Text ""Fascinating and disturbing. . . . A worthwhile read for true-crime fans."--Booklist"Compulsively readable. Imminently astonishing. Only Ron Franscell, one of Americas most talented and thoughtful crime writers, could render this story of a deadly and monstrous relationship with both lightning-paced prose and a keen awareness of the psychopathology of his subjects. Bound to be a bestseller." --Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Starvation Heights"This is going to be the best true-crime book you read in 2019, or in just about any year. Author Ron Franscell combines exhaustive research and plenty of literary talent to deliver the classic saga of four brutal murders and the decades-long efforts of dogged investigators to bring the married perpetrators to justice. In the process, he reminds the rest of us who write in this genre how it ought to be done." --Jeff Guinn, New York Times-bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown"Franscell is one of the finest true-crime writers Ive ever read. At once horrific and stupefying, Alice & Gerald will catapult you into a world of narcissistic impulse and terrifying consequence."--Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries"A riveting and disturbing tale of wickedness unfolds over multiple decades, as the marriage of two evil people strengthens the bonds of their murderous souls. Franscells brilliant storytelling and personal interviews are simply not to be missed!" --Michael Bishop, author of A Murder in Music City: Corruption, Scandal, and the Framing of an Innocent Man"The dark, murderous secrets of Gerald and Alice Uden are almost Shakespearean. You will think their story has got to be made up, but its all true. Ron Franscell has done amazing research and writing in this book." --Skip Hollandsworth, author of The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for Americas First Serial Killer "Franscell never disappoints. A disturbing yet mesmerizing read, Alice & Gerald kept me turning pages, not wanting to close the book. Meticulously researched and skillfully written, this gripping true-crime account of two twisted killers weaves together the threads of four cold-blooded murders committed in the name of a depraved love."--Kathryn Casey, bestselling author of In Plain Sight"A darkly bewitching account of murder. The tale is grisly and beautifully rendered, with spare straight-ahead prose that brings the grit and glory of old Wyoming to life. An immaculate example of how true crime can read like fiction. I wish Id written this book." --Michael Cannell, author of Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling Review Quote " Alice & Gerald: A Homicidal Love Story is going to be the best true-crime book you read in 2019, or in just about any year. Author Ron Franscell combines exhaustive research and plenty of literary talent to deliver the classic saga of four brutal murders and the decades-long efforts of dogged investigators to bring the married perpetrators to justice. In the process, he reminds the rest of us who write in this genre how it ought to be done." --Jeff Guinn, New York Times -bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown "The dark, murderous secrets of Gerald and Alice Uden are almost Shakespearean. You will think their story has got to be made up, but its all true. Ron Franscell has done amazing research and writing in this book." --Skip Hollandsworth, author of The Midnight Assassin: The Hunt for Americas First Serial Killer Excerpt from Book From Chapter 1 - A Cruel Season One morning, a new neighbor showed up in the space next to Geralds. A bigger trailer than his. No big deal, since folks who lived in mobile-home parks voluntarily gave up panoramas and privacy. Once Geralds pathetic view was blocked, it wasnt long before there came another metallic rap on his front door. It was the trailer park manager. Hanging back on the bare ground behind her was a big-breasted, comely woman with long, dark hair and dressed like a dollar-store buckle bunny in a western pantsuit, cowboy boots, and dangling turquoise earrings. Not bad , Gerald thought. Two kids stood nearby, a towheaded toddler and an indifferent high-school chick who looked as if she might like to be anywhere else at that moment. They needed some help. A mans help.Their trailers electrical plug was 110, but the parks hookups were 220. The manager knew Gerald was a handyman at the mine, so she thought he might be able to save everybody an electricians bill (and a city inspection) with some under-the-table quick-fix. Gerald took a look, consulted with the power company, and got to work. It was lunchtime when he finished so Gerald offered to buy burgers at the Husky Truck Stop cafe. Their conversation was heavier than the usual get-acquainted banter. Her name was Alice Prunty. Her same story had been told in a thousand other trailer parks every day: She was a widowed nurse and single mom scrabbling for a fresh start. Although she was only in her thirties, shed been married twice and borne five kids, three of whom were still school age or younger. She divorced her first husband, a cop in her native Illinois, and her second--a philandering Midwestern grain-elevator operator and World War II vet who drifted to Wyoming ranchwork--died from alcoholism, leaving her a pile of debt, an infant daughter, and a piddling widows-and-orphans pension from the US Army. So since that guy, Don Prunty, died a couple years ago, shed filed for bankruptcy, toiled as a barmaid and bus driver, nursed a few months in a small-town psychiatric hospital, and farmed-out the kids to relatives back East when things got tight, which was frequently. To hear her tell it, just another star-crossed mom busting her ass to hang on to the edge of a savage earth hurtling through time and space. Nice boobs , Gerald mooned to himself. "You like to fish?" he asked her. "I love it," Alice replied. "I know a place. . ." he said. He told her about Atlantic Creek, way up in the Shoshone National Forest, up above the old mining camps of South Pass and Atlantic City. It was barely wider than his truck but chock-full of little brook trout. They made a date to meet the next morning for a day of hiking and fishing up in the mountains. Alice was giddy. Maybe Gerald was a sucker for love, but he was hooked. Alice was easy on the eyes, earned her own paychecks, seemed like a resourceful gal, already had kids and a trailer, and she liked to fish. Damn . He barely slept. The next morning dawned sunny and warm. Alice showed up outside the trailer with her sprightly three-year-old, Eliza, and her own fishing rod. That impressed the hell out of Gerald. They all piled into Geralds old truck and headed up the mountain with a can of worms and a picnic lunch, and they fished all day. Alice frowned upon the scrappy little brookies--she liked em bigger--but she was a good sport about it. She also kept a tight leash on Eliza, who never acted up once. Alice was in complete control--unlike Virginia--and that turned Gerald on. For his part, Gerald recited jokes from old comedy LPs hed memorized. Alice laughed at all his stolen humor. Over a picnic of cold-cut sandwiches, Gerald listened patiently as Alice skipped through her lifes arduous tale, never pausing long at any painful memory nor giving much detail. Shed been born to an unwed teenage mother in Denver, adopted by a young soldier and his wife, raised in an Illinois farm town, got pregnant and married at sixteen, birthed four kids in quick succession, divorced, married again to the boozer who dragged her to Wyoming to be caretakers of a historic ranch then abruptly died, stranding her and their new baby in this beautiful, god-forsaken place at the end of the earth. But there was nothing more for her back East. Her only chance to climb out of her hole, to make her own way, was here. There by Atlantic Creek, he felt Alices pain. She was still young and earnest, and Gerald didnt think she deserved all the pain shed already endured. But she was a survivor, not a straggler--unlike Virginia. He reckoned, if things worked out the way he hoped, that he could make Alices life better. He could give her what she deserved. Later, they packed up their rods and their creels full of brookies, and hiked out. On the bumpy pickup ride home, Gerald knew he had a keeper. Any woman confident enough to venture into the boondocks with a stranger and bare her soul was a woman he wanted to ride with, he thought. In that long, hot, bicentennial summer of 1976, Gerald and Alice fell in love. Hard and fast. On one of their first real dates--playing pool at a Main Street tavern--Alice confessed that she, too, had been immediately attracted to Gerald when she first laid eyes on him. Then she beat him soundly at a game he thought he could win. After a couple more dates, they tumbled into bed. Not one of those forbidden teenager liaisons, but a full-on fuckfest between two consenting adults whod already bumped a lot of other uglies. And Alice especially knew what she was doing. If Gerald had any reservations about her before he saw her naked, they now lay in a crumpled heap on the bedroom floor. It was dark outside when the grunting stopped and they slumped back on the wet sheets. Alice cuddled against him. It was the part of lovemaking he didnt like so much: talking. But Alice had a story to tell and she told it softly. There had been another husband. Her third. After the alcoholic one. A crazy man, a junkie, a door-gunner in Vietnam whod been kicked out of the Army for being nuts. Named Ron Holtz. She met him in a small-town VA psych ward where shed taken a nursing job. They fell in love and ran off together to get married, even though she knew it was wrong. They rented a trailer house in Cheyenne, where he drove a cab to support his habit. Then he started beating her and threatening the baby when she cried. He boasted that hed killed babies in Nam and hed kill her, too. One night around Christmas, Ronnie Holtz went berserk, and Alice shot him before he could harm the baby. It was self-defense. She didnt have a choice. She stuffed the brutes body in a cardboard storage barrel and drove her Pinto into the frigid blackness to drop it down a remote, abandoned mine shaft on the historic ranch shed managed with her other late husband. She raced home, hurriedly packed up her possessions, and left town before anybody missed either of them. And nobody ever did. Theyd barely cast a shadow in Cheyenne. A few months later, she filed for a divorce, claiming abandonment. It was granted when Ron Holtz failed to show up in court. Alice wept on her new lover. A speechless Gerald, dumbfounded by the confession, just hugged her tight. She told him she wasnt sure if he could love her now, but he promised hed never tell a soul. Never . He also reassured her that some assholes like Ron Holtz just needed killing, although he secretly wondered why she didnt just run away. Either way, lying there in the dark, naked and laid bare, Alices secret became their bond. He didnt know why she picked that particular moment to reveal it. Maybe she felt safe with him, or to test him, or to nudge him a little off-balance. Or maybe it was a warning shot in case he ever raised a hand to her. But Gerald swore to himself hed never let Alice go. She was a keeper. And although he wasnt especially well-churched, it all felt to him like Adam and Eve, after Eve confessed to biting the apple but before the clueless Adam knew what it all meant. Details ISBN1633885127 Author Ron Franscell Publisher Prometheus Books ISBN-10 1633885127 ISBN-13 9781633885127 Format Paperback Imprint Prometheus Books Subtitle A Homicidal Love Story Place of Publication Amherst Country of Publication United States Illustrations 0 Illustrations, unspecified DEWEY 364.152/30922787 Short Title Alice and Gerald Series G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Language English UK Release Date 2019-06-09 Pages 330 Year 2020 Publication Date 2020-04-01 NZ Release Date 2020-04-01 US Release Date 2020-04-01 Audience General AU Release Date 2019-04-14 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:125235630;

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