Product Description

In the tradition of In Cold Blood, The Executioner's Song, and A Civil Action, Suzanne O'Malley exposes the human mystery of the most horrifying crime in recent history and the legal drama surrounding it.

As a journalist, Suzanne O'Malley began covering the murders of Noah, John, Paul, Luke, and Mary Yates hours after their mother, Andrea Yates, drowned them in their suburban Houston home in June 2001. Over twenty-four months, O'Malley interviewed or witnessed the sworn testimony of more than a hundred participants in this drama, including Yates herself; her husband, Rusty Yates; their families; attorneys; the personnel of the Harris County district attorney's and sheriff's offices; medical staff; friends; acquaintances; and expert witnesses.

O'Malley argues persuasively that under less extraordinary circumstances, a mentally ill woman would have been quietly offered a plea bargain and sent to an institution under court supervision. But on March 12, 2002, Andrea Yates was found guilty of the murders of three of her five children. She is currently serving a life sentence and will not be eligible for parole until 2041.

O'Malley's exclusive personal communications with Andrea Yates and her interviews with Rusty Yates allow her to offer fully realized portrayals of people at the center of this horrifying case.

In "Are You There Alone?" O'Malley makes a critical contribution to our understanding of mental health issues within the criminal justice system.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #483412 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Andrea Yates's horrific murders of her five small children-drowning them one by one in their bathtub-remains one of the most shocking crimes of recent years. In this overly detailed retelling, investigative journalist O'Malley has transformed herself in the popular current style from observer into participant, albeit with ample justification. O'Malley, who had written for TV's Law and Order, was suspicious when a prosecution witness, attempting to establish that Yates acted with premeditation, testified that the television show had recently aired an episode in which a mother killed her children and then escaped punishment by asserting a postpartum depression defense. Sure enough, no such episode was ever made, and O'Malley led the Yates defense team to rebuttal evidence that came too late to affect the guilty verdict. The author asserts that Yates was never properly diagnosed and relies on psychiatric opinions that claim, tragically, that a different diagnosis and appropriate treatment could have prevented her devastating actions. The writing sometimes jars ("To say this day sucked didn't begin to cover it," O'Malley says of the fatal day), but some new information and heartbreaking extracts from correspondence the author received from Yates add interest. More analysis would have been welcome, even if the nature of the murders seems to necessarily render a satisfactory understanding forever beyond human capacity.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
O'Malley brings dignity to the true crime genre with Are You There Alone?. Through her in-depth research, interviews, and personal correspondence, O'Malley exposes the history of Yates's mental illness, attempted suicides, and the medical system that failed her. She asserts that if Yates had received a proper diagnosis and appropriate medical treatment, her children might still be alive today. While some critics found O'Malley's writing tedious, most were impressed with her exhaustive details, analysis of Yates's medical condition, and corrective to the media's story. Indeed, her attention to detail contributed to the discovery of a major flaw in the prosecution's case. Unfortunately, it came too late to reverse the jury's guilty plea, but influenced Yates's sentence of life in prison, rather than death, sentence. Overall, this book offers compelling insight into mental illness, healthcare, childcare, and the legal system.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

From AudioFile
Meticulously researched and sensitively reported, the story of model Texas housewife Andrea Yates, who drowned each of her five children in the bathtub, is a harrowing, fascinating listen. Far from the sensational journalism we've come to expect in cases like this, O'Malley's study delivers the story with intelligence and even compassion. Reader Becky Ann Miller is memorable, conveying not only the details, but the voices of distraught family members, cops, lawyers, and especially the opaque and troubled Yates. You will cringe as Baker enacts recorded transcripts of Yates's confession and observations, chilling and pitiful as they are. A riveting journey into psychosis, religion, law, and pity. D.J.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

I Couldn't Put it Down
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.

A very good book that looks at a very distrubed person
I read this book because it was a list of good reads. I felt it was. The topic is horrofic. How can a mother do this to her children? You get a sense that the author tries to be objective as possible with the reason. The author I also felt does a good job of pointing out the inconsisties with the time line with the attornies as a well as when Andrea Yates was on medication. She also does a fair job of looking at the story after the verdict. Overall I felt it was a fair balanced book contray to what others think. She presents the facts and details as objectively as she can and lets the readers make up their mind.

WHERE IS ANN RULE WHEN YOU NEED HER?
Having read St. Martin's rush-to-press book, "Breaking Point," as soon as it hit the stands, I was disappointed with O'Malley's long-awaited book about the Andrea Yates tragedy. Whereas Spencer interviewed relatives, friends, and acquaintances, O'Malley relied heavily on court transcripts and seemed to take a point of view from a telescope.
The book about Andrea Yates that I want to read has yet to be written. For example, I want to know where she stored her pots and pans while she was home-schooling three children in a bus and ironing her husband's shirts so he'd look normal while working at NASA. I want to know why she didn't lose her mind earlier.
As for Texas justice....We're talking about a state that found Andrea Yates to be as sane as the woman who hacked her ex-lover's wife to death with an axe in the 1980s. Only difference is, the axe muderess was found not guilty.