Whisper of Fear

September 22, 2008
Prosecutor Saunders is an authority on her subject: the founder of the Stalking and Threat Assessment Team in Los Angeles wrote and toughened California's stalking law. Here she engrossingly explores the menacing crime of stalking as she relates the story of her more than two decades of work in the courtroom. With an able assist from bestselling author Michaud (The Devil's Right-Hand Man
), Saunders explains what constitutes stalking (unwanted pursuit, threats and the terrorizing of a victim), who the victims are (usually but not exclusively women, often former girlfriends or wives of their stalkers) and the difficulties of prosecuting this crime. The data, according to the authors, are alarming, with a million women and 370,000 men stalked each year in the U.S. The authors relate in detail some stalking incidents Saunders prosecuted, involving average citizens as well as celebrities like Madonna, Steven Spielberg and Blythe Danner. Readers will be intrigued and sobered by this illuminating guide, complete with legal remedies and possible precautions.