Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Dead by Sunset
Written by Ann Rule
Narrated by Richard Ferrone
ratings:
4.5/5 (63 ratings)
Length:
20 hours
Description
The shocking tale from true crime queen Ann Rule.
Who is Brad Cunningham?
How could five beautiful, intelligent, and successful women believe he was their dream come true? Ask any women who ever longed for "the perfect man."
Loni Ann, Cynthia, Lauren, Cheryl, and Sara seemed to have it all -- beauty, wealth, children, and a husband who they believed to be this perfect man -- Brad Cunningham. He was handsome, charismatic, and mysterious -- they adored him and tried to give him all he wanted. But he wanted everything -- sex, money, and it seemed, their very lives. How long would it take before he finally got what he deserved?
This question haunts Dead by Sunset -- Ann Rule's riveting and impeccably researched study of the destructive relationships, multiple marriages, financial manipulations, and monstrous acts of harassment and revenge that surrounded Brad Cunningham and his wives. It is also a penetrating -- and ultimately shocking -- recreation of Cheryl's murder and the eight years it took to bring her killer to justice.
Dead by Sunset is a chilling look at the evil that lurks behind the most charming of facades, and a fascinating homage to the kind of courage and brilliance it takes to combat it.
Who is Brad Cunningham?
How could five beautiful, intelligent, and successful women believe he was their dream come true? Ask any women who ever longed for "the perfect man."
Loni Ann, Cynthia, Lauren, Cheryl, and Sara seemed to have it all -- beauty, wealth, children, and a husband who they believed to be this perfect man -- Brad Cunningham. He was handsome, charismatic, and mysterious -- they adored him and tried to give him all he wanted. But he wanted everything -- sex, money, and it seemed, their very lives. How long would it take before he finally got what he deserved?
This question haunts Dead by Sunset -- Ann Rule's riveting and impeccably researched study of the destructive relationships, multiple marriages, financial manipulations, and monstrous acts of harassment and revenge that surrounded Brad Cunningham and his wives. It is also a penetrating -- and ultimately shocking -- recreation of Cheryl's murder and the eight years it took to bring her killer to justice.
Dead by Sunset is a chilling look at the evil that lurks behind the most charming of facades, and a fascinating homage to the kind of courage and brilliance it takes to combat it.
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.
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Reviews
What people think about Dead by Sunset
4.763 ratings / 7 Reviews
Reader reviews
- (5/5)Thorough, detailed, and engrossing. I didn’t want to stop listening.
- (5/5)Spellbinding could not stop listening till the vet end. Another Anne Rule winner.
- (5/5)Another good book by Ann Rule. It is more like a documentary in that she covers all the information, introduces all the characters, then weaves all the information into a story. The story starts at the beginning so you really get to understand the characters and doesn’t stop until the very end so you find out we hat happens to each character. The only thing that find disturbing is how our justice system allows people to commit such terrible crimes and get away with it for years, tax evasion, corporate, theft, and more. Then the tax payers have to pay exorbinate amounts to prosecute.
- (4/5)Charming Brad Cunningham likely killed his 4th wife Cheryl in 1986. They had three sons, and were in the midst of a divorce and custody battle. Brad was an abuser. He was eventually convicted via circumstantial evidence. I listened to an abridged audio. I usually don’t like abridged (and I still wonder why they bother! Why not just narrate the entire book!?), but they did this one well. I usually notice when information is skipped or missed, but I didn’t notice this time while listening – it wasn’t obvious. I only suspected because it was much shorter than I expected. That being said about the audio, it kept my attention pretty much the whole time. It was all circumstantial evidence that convicted Brad, but a whole LOT of it! Because it was written in 1995, just after Brad was originally convicted, I had to look up online if he’d been released since. I’m also curious how his sons are doing. At the time the book was written, it sounded like they were well-cared for, but I still wonder what kind of influence he had on them (hopefully, not much, in the end).
- (5/5)Dead by Sunset is a book about karma I loved it.Ann Rule is such a great writer she really makes the story come alive.It really makes you think about what really lurking in the heart of people no matter how attractive they are
- (5/5)
1 person found this helpful
Dead By Sunset is another great true crime story by Ann Rule. It begins on a Oregon highway where a van with blood-spattered windows and an empty infant seat is stalled crosswise in the left-hand lane. The dead woman inside leads to ex-husband Brad Cunningham, a man who is rich handsome intelligent and charismatic. Rule then goes back to Brad's childhood, including his turbulent relationship with his parents before returning to the events that took place after Cheryl's death. Brad was married five times before the age of 40, but had serious control issues with everyone he met. I actually listened to this as an audiobook, though I did read the original book and watched a Made for TV movie back in the 90's. It takes the Oregon police years to solve the crime but this book is written in a way that makes each part of the investigation interesting. That's a difficult thing to do when the reader knows who the murderer is from the beginning. No one wrote true crime books like Ann Rule and I am sad that there won't be any more new ones from one of the best in the business.1 person found this helpful
- (4/5)Extremely heart-breaking true-crime read--as terrible as the story was--still riveting.