<B>MORE THAN 20 MILLION COPIES OFANN RULE'S BOOKS IN PRINT!</B> <P> In this unnerving collection drawn from her personal crime files, "America's best true-crime writer" <I>(Kirkus Reviews)</I> Ann Rule brilliantly dissects the convoluted love affairs that all too often end in violence. <P> Expertly analyzing a shocking, headline-making case, Rule unmasks the deadly motives inside a seemingly idyllic marriage: a beautiful young wife, a rising star in America's top-ranked computer corporation, and a prosperous husband, the scion of a family building business. With an adorable son and a gorgeous home, the couple seemed to have it all. But a furtive evil permeated their days and nights, dragging them into a murky world of drugs, sordid sex, and con operations. In this realm, one of them would prove to be a virtual innocent, the other a manipulator with no conscience. Sudden, violent death brought their charade of a fairy-tale romance to a tragic end -- with a brutal crime that might never have come to light were it not for the stubborn detectives and prosecutors whose fight for justice spanned an entire decade. <P> <I>Empty Promises</I> recounts several other cases where the search for love brought only lies and betrayal -- a cautionary primer, perhaps, for those who trust too much too soon. Powerful because they strike so close to home, the cases in <I>Empty Promises</I> will leave readers shaken by the realities of love gone terribly -- and fatally -- wrong.