Jane Doe No More

June 11, 2012
Phelps (I’ll Be Watching You) traces the nightmarish series of events Palomba endured after she was raped in 1993. A successful ad agency marketing executive, Palomba was bound, gagged, and sexually assaulted in her Waterbury, Conn., home while her husband was out of town. Uninterested police, however, regarded her story as a coverup of adultery: “The red flag, according to officers later, was no evidence of forced entrance into Donna’s house.” She was threatened with arrest and local gossips spread the false rumor of an extramarital affair: “old ladies, sitting around killing time, talking about a rumor... were now driving the investigation.” An arduous yet successful lawsuit against the city of Waterbury followed, leading to Palomba’s 2007 launch of the Jane Doe No More Foundation—to “improve the way society responds to victims of sexual assault”—and her subsequent appearance in a highly rated episode of Dateline NBC. Suspense builds as seasoned investigative journalist Phelps works through police reports, trial transcripts, depositions, diaries, e-mails, and extensive interviews, inserting Palomba’s first-person accounts throughout until the chilling truth about her assailant is finally discovered. 19 b&w photos. Agent: Peter Miller, Global Lion Intellectual Property Management.

October 15, 2012

Palomba, a wife and mother of two, had no idea that the events of a single night in 1993 would change her life forever. That night, while her husband was away on a trip, someone entered her home in Waterbury, CT, sexually assaulted her, and threatened her life. While the assault was traumatizing enough, this book details an additional travesty: her subsequent mistreatment by the Waterbury Police Department, who believed that she fabricated the assault to cover up an affair. Veteran true-crime novelist Phelps (Never See Them Again) combines Palomba's own recollections with police reports and interviews to tell the story of a woman who battled not only a corrupt police department but also sexual assault laws that made it difficult to convict offenders after a certain time had passed. VERDICT Its focus on sexual assault, an inept police department, and Palomba's ultimately positive path to assault-victim advocacy make this stand out from other true-crime offerings. Readers who enjoy true-crime and in-depth investigative nonfiction will appreciate this title. Recommended.--Alyssa Vincent, Emporia State Univ., Wheaton, IL

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2012
To say that the police and civic leaders of Waterbury, Connecticut, mishandled the 1993 home invasion and rape of Jane Doe Palomba is a gross understatement, according to this account told through her eyes and her memory, with Phelps' third-person exposition alternating with Palomba's italicized, first-person experiences. Though her wrists bore ligature marks, her initial statements of attempted rape would become a significant issue further complicated by the fact that no neighbors were interviewed, nor did local CSI technicians visit the scene that night. Suspected of staging an invented crime to disguise an affair, the victim fought back against the police department's foot-dragging and the civic officials' attempts to cover for their own system's inefficiency and injustice. Eventually, Palomba saw justice served, as her husband's former friend was incarcerated. She fought for change, and her heroism prevailed. A compellingly told tale of courage and inspiration integral to the story of evolving laws and legal procedures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)