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Love's Blood: The Shocking True Story of a Teenager Who Would Do Anything for the Older Man She Loved- Even Kill Her Whole Family
When businessman Frank Columbo, his wife Mary and their 13-year-old son, Michael, were savagely murdered on their suburban Chicago home, one thought raced through everyone's mind...who would tell Patty? But Patty already knew.Led into an adult world of drugs and kinky sex parties by Frank DeLuca, a married man twice her age, the fifteen-year-old had become his sexual slave--desperately, blindly devoted to him. when her parents divorced their daughter's shocking secret life, her enraged father threatened to kill them both. But the lovers struck first, leaving a scene of appalling family carnage.rowing into womanhood in a maximum security prison, Patricia Ann Columbo has finally revealed to author Clark Howard what really happened that dark and fateful night. From their intimate conversations come a chilling, first-hand view of cold-blooded murder--and a twisted love gone horribly wrong.
528 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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About the author
Clark Howard
110 books29 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Born in Ripley, Tennessee in 1932, Clark Howard is one of the most honored mystery writers in America and has long been a favorite of readers of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and numerous other publications.
A professional writer for over 40 years, he has written sixteen novels, six books of non-fiction, and has two published collections of short stories, in addition to more than 200 uncollected short stories. While versed in many genres, he is best known for his crime fiction and mystery stories which have won the prestigious Edgar Alan Poe Award, five Ellery Queen Readers Award, the Derringer Award, and have been nominated for the Anthony, Shamus and Spur Awards.
His stories have been adapted for film (The Big Town was based on his novel THE ARM) and television, which included the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. His original screen play Last of the Good Guys was a featured Movie of the Week on CBS, and his non-fiction book SIX AGAINST THE ROCK was also a television movie.
His work has been translated into numerous languages and he has a large following of faithful readers in several countries, particularly in China and Japan where his writing appears regularly.
A ward of Cook County by age 12, Clark Howard grew up on the lower West Side of Chicago, living in a succession of foster homes, from which he habitually ran away. During this period, he was an amateur boxer for the Midwest Athletic Club on the West Side. But soon, in his mid teens, he became a confirmed juvenile delinquent and was eventually sent to a reformatory. Later he was allowed go live with his maternal grandmother in a small town near Memphis, Tennessee.
He discovered two new worlds in the South of the late 1940s — old time Negro jazz music and ‘heads up’ crap shooting, the latter of which later became the subject of THE ARM, his first novel.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 and served as a rocket launcher gunner in the Punchbowl in Korea. He was one of eight survivors in a platoon that survived the battle of the high ground north of the Punchbowl. He was discharged from the marines at age 20.
He entered journalism school at Northwestern University in Chicago under the GI Bill, but left after one semester when his writing was judged by his professor as being “undisciplined and of no commercial value.” Unknown to the professor, he had already sold two short stories to New York magazines.
Clark Howard now makes his home in Palm Springs, California. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Author’s Guild, and Writers Guild of America.
He was awarded a Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in January 2011 in recognition for his contributions to literature, particularly the genre of American short stories.
Born in Ripley, Tennessee in 1932, Clark Howard is one of the most honored mystery writers in America and has long been a favorite of readers of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and numerous other publications.
A professional writer for over 40 years, he has written sixteen novels, six books of non-fiction, and has two published collections of short stories, in addition to more than 200 uncollected short stories. While versed in many genres, he is best known for his crime fiction and mystery stories which have won the prestigious Edgar Alan Poe Award, five Ellery Queen Readers Award, the Derringer Award, and have been nominated for the Anthony, Shamus and Spur Awards.
His stories have been adapted for film (The Big Town was based on his novel THE ARM) and television, which included the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. His original screen play Last of the Good Guys was a featured Movie of the Week on CBS, and his non-fiction book SIX AGAINST THE ROCK was also a television movie.
His work has been translated into numerous languages and he has a large following of faithful readers in several countries, particularly in China and Japan where his writing appears regularly.
A ward of Cook County by age 12, Clark Howard grew up on the lower West Side of Chicago, living in a succession of foster homes, from which he habitually ran away. During this period, he was an amateur boxer for the Midwest Athletic Club on the West Side. But soon, in his mid teens, he became a confirmed juvenile delinquent and was eventually sent to a reformatory. Later he was allowed go live with his maternal grandmother in a small town near Memphis, Tennessee.
He discovered two new worlds in the South of the late 1940s — old time Negro jazz music and ‘heads up’ crap shooting, the latter of which later became the subject of THE ARM, his first novel.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 and served as a rocket launcher gunner in the Punchbowl in Korea. He was one of eight survivors in a platoon that survived the battle of the high ground north of the Punchbowl. He was discharged from the marines at age 20.
He entered journalism school at Northwestern University in Chicago under the GI Bill, but left after one semester when his writing was judged by his professor as being “undisciplined and of no commercial value.” Unknown to the professor, he had already sold two short stories to New York magazines.
Clark Howard now makes his home in Palm Springs, California. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Author’s Guild, and Writers Guild of America.
He was awarded a Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in January 2011 in recognition for his contributions to literature, particularly the genre of American short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
May 30, 2021
A thoroughly researched and excellently written true crime story, about a sad and harrowing case of murder within the family.
March 2, 2021
This true crime book blows the socks off every other book I've ever read in the genre.
First, Howard was a total research boss. The care he clearly dedicated to uncovering every conceivable detail of Patricia Columbo's psyche, from birth, to the killings, to nearly a decade and a half into incarceration is staggering.
Second: his objectivity. This is definitely something old school. Today, it is almost impossible to find any sort of dispassionate reporting on a murder. Most of the time, the retelling is spectacularly skewed towards the victim. While that may be understandable, it is always done at the expense of the truth. Who were these people - really? What were the motivations behind these acts - really? Why did these horrors occur - really? Howard gets brilliantly to the heart of these matters. And, as usual, it turns out that this story is not about blameless angels and irredeemable villains. It's so much m ore complicated than that.
Thirdly: and this makes me so sad. It shows that, as will almost every true crime book I have read, the police/prosecutors (aka the supposed "good guys") are shown to be bungling clowns who solve crime through lucky breaks more than stellar detective work. And the prosecutors seem to have suppressed potentially exculpatory evidence, to ensure a conviction of Columbo. There was never any proof that she was actually there when the murder happened, much less that she is the one who killed her brother.
Fourthly: the editing was so smart. Unlike any other book I have read. Howard intersperses his own musings on putting the book together with an examination of the case. I would have thought the shifting perspectives would bother me but the result was such a seamlessly structured, excellently retold story, it made me wonder why every true crime writer doesn't take this approach.
Brilliant book. Highly recommended if you love to get deep under the skin of the subjects and not have writers foist their opinions on you.
First, Howard was a total research boss. The care he clearly dedicated to uncovering every conceivable detail of Patricia Columbo's psyche, from birth, to the killings, to nearly a decade and a half into incarceration is staggering.
Second: his objectivity. This is definitely something old school. Today, it is almost impossible to find any sort of dispassionate reporting on a murder. Most of the time, the retelling is spectacularly skewed towards the victim. While that may be understandable, it is always done at the expense of the truth. Who were these people - really? What were the motivations behind these acts - really? Why did these horrors occur - really? Howard gets brilliantly to the heart of these matters. And, as usual, it turns out that this story is not about blameless angels and irredeemable villains. It's so much m ore complicated than that.
Thirdly: and this makes me so sad. It shows that, as will almost every true crime book I have read, the police/prosecutors (aka the supposed "good guys") are shown to be bungling clowns who solve crime through lucky breaks more than stellar detective work. And the prosecutors seem to have suppressed potentially exculpatory evidence, to ensure a conviction of Columbo. There was never any proof that she was actually there when the murder happened, much less that she is the one who killed her brother.
Fourthly: the editing was so smart. Unlike any other book I have read. Howard intersperses his own musings on putting the book together with an examination of the case. I would have thought the shifting perspectives would bother me but the result was such a seamlessly structured, excellently retold story, it made me wonder why every true crime writer doesn't take this approach.
Brilliant book. Highly recommended if you love to get deep under the skin of the subjects and not have writers foist their opinions on you.
January 8, 2021
Justice Was Done
The author wrote a pretty good book. But it’s my belief that he was also taken in by Patricia‘a web of lies. Regarding DeLuca, one thing I believe he failed to do was portray himself as the original victim. Did he knowingly have sex with 16 year old minor: yes and he should have been punished. But a rile butt to the face taking out teeth, leaving a scar and requiring surgery? Where this went fatally wrong is he let the Father off the hook and out of jail. Anyone doing that to another human being in an unprovoked assault should have several violent felonies against them and done serious time. And DeLuca should have gone back to his life with “dear old Dad” behind bars!
Was Patrish the “trigger person?” Who cares. She set this ball a rolling. Was she molested as a child? Perhaps: but that does not give one permission to plan solicit and participate in the murder of one’s family.
The author wrote a pretty good book. But it’s my belief that he was also taken in by Patricia‘a web of lies. Regarding DeLuca, one thing I believe he failed to do was portray himself as the original victim. Did he knowingly have sex with 16 year old minor: yes and he should have been punished. But a rile butt to the face taking out teeth, leaving a scar and requiring surgery? Where this went fatally wrong is he let the Father off the hook and out of jail. Anyone doing that to another human being in an unprovoked assault should have several violent felonies against them and done serious time. And DeLuca should have gone back to his life with “dear old Dad” behind bars!
Was Patrish the “trigger person?” Who cares. She set this ball a rolling. Was she molested as a child? Perhaps: but that does not give one permission to plan solicit and participate in the murder of one’s family.
March 4, 2013
This was pretty entertaining, but I feel like it could have been organized to be a much better book. Patricia's confession, coming for the first time in this book after 15 years of silence, is told in a few pages at the end of the novel after a long and boring blow-by-blow recounting of the trial. If the book had built up to it more, it would have felt like the climax of the story, as it should have been. The narrative jumps back and forth in time and keeps the suspense from building into a crescendo. The very end of the book, in which the author tells Patricia that DeLuca has finally confessed and is in danger of being released, should have been built up more, too. Still, I'm interested enough in the case after reading this that I am going to Wikipedia the trial and try to find out what happened to Patricia and DeLuca.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2019
Demasiado largo y repetitivo.
December 1, 2025
First you don’t have to put every fact you researched into the text. I’m not sure the jump forward did anything but detract from the tale and a lot of information was unnecessarily repeated. That being said it is a horrific tale of how young women was manipulated by older men to participated in murdering her family. Its over written but the story is worth reading.
August 15, 2023
The final chapter of "Killer Kids" by Clifford Linedecker gives a short synopsis on the murders near Chicago of Frank Columbo, his wife and their son. Their teenage daughter was convicted along with her married lover Frank De Luca.
Clark Howard researched the case and read the court transcript of over 12,000 pages in preparation for Love's Blood. At 500+ pages, Howard gives a comprehensive account of this bewildering story.
Patricia was just about to turn sixteen when she met Frank, a married man of thirty-four with five children. Patty claimed in interviews with the author that she was unaware of his martial status when they met at a mall where they both worked. She seduced him and they soon entered into a intense sexual relationship.
Dad's name was also Frank and he was furious over his darling daughter's beau. At one point, he beat the hell out of De Luca, knocking out a few of his teeth in the process.
Patricia sought out hit men to do away with her meddling father. Two phony assassins offered to do away with dad for cash and sexual favors. The descriptions become quite graphic as the teenager promised to "f*** the eyes" out of the would be killers. She also declared her loyalty to Frank by somehow believing that anal sex was not cheating.
Howard was convinced of Patty's sexual abuse by an uncle who molested her as a girl, between the ages of seven and twelve, leading to her promiscuity. The book was published in 1993 and an online search reveals numerous denials for parole.
Clark Howard researched the case and read the court transcript of over 12,000 pages in preparation for Love's Blood. At 500+ pages, Howard gives a comprehensive account of this bewildering story.
Patricia was just about to turn sixteen when she met Frank, a married man of thirty-four with five children. Patty claimed in interviews with the author that she was unaware of his martial status when they met at a mall where they both worked. She seduced him and they soon entered into a intense sexual relationship.
Dad's name was also Frank and he was furious over his darling daughter's beau. At one point, he beat the hell out of De Luca, knocking out a few of his teeth in the process.
Patricia sought out hit men to do away with her meddling father. Two phony assassins offered to do away with dad for cash and sexual favors. The descriptions become quite graphic as the teenager promised to "f*** the eyes" out of the would be killers. She also declared her loyalty to Frank by somehow believing that anal sex was not cheating.
Howard was convinced of Patty's sexual abuse by an uncle who molested her as a girl, between the ages of seven and twelve, leading to her promiscuity. The book was published in 1993 and an online search reveals numerous denials for parole.
December 4, 2021
I had thoughts across the board on this book. The writing is technically good, the story does flow nicely, and it comes off as a well researched book. I liked the detail that went into describing the characters and the scenes. I also liked the conjecture at the very end of book with describing how the murders could have taken place. I even liked his thoughts on the trial because hindsight is, indeed, 20/20.
Now, I very much disliked the unnecessary details of Patty losing her virginity. It was weird and made me really uncomfortable. The author even romanticized the sexual abuse from her uncle, they should have been written way differently and brought about in a completely different manner. I know the author's main source for information was Patty herself, though, not all this detail about her live needed to be included in the way it was included. The virginity scene was written more like a scene you'd read in a romance novel and it shouldn't have been. Least of all because it was between a 16 year old and a 34 year old.
All in all, I don't plan on ever reading this book again, but go for it if you want, just skip the weird scenes.
Now, I very much disliked the unnecessary details of Patty losing her virginity. It was weird and made me really uncomfortable. The author even romanticized the sexual abuse from her uncle, they should have been written way differently and brought about in a completely different manner. I know the author's main source for information was Patty herself, though, not all this detail about her live needed to be included in the way it was included. The virginity scene was written more like a scene you'd read in a romance novel and it shouldn't have been. Least of all because it was between a 16 year old and a 34 year old.
All in all, I don't plan on ever reading this book again, but go for it if you want, just skip the weird scenes.
October 30, 2022
If you want a true crime book with details based on police actions, detective investigations, witness interviews, and court transcripts, then this isn’t the book for you.
If you want erotic fan fiction from an author weirdly smitten with the subject, then this is the book for you! Most of this book is pure fiction, made-for-tv drama style scenarios. Then it gets X-rated, giving you all of the author’s imagined details of each and every sexual encounter Patrica Columbo had, including the inner thoughts and feelings of everyone involved - which the author cannot possibly know.
It gets really ridiculous, straying way off the path of true crime and well into harlequin romance paperback territory. The book could have been cut by at least half if the author had purely stuck to the facts, instead of let his imagination about Patricia run wild.
He also paints the murderer in the most sympathetic light possible, which makes no sense given the facts of the case. I find this really disgusting, and it just shows the author’s weird fetish for Columbo. Weird book. Not recommended.
If you want erotic fan fiction from an author weirdly smitten with the subject, then this is the book for you! Most of this book is pure fiction, made-for-tv drama style scenarios. Then it gets X-rated, giving you all of the author’s imagined details of each and every sexual encounter Patrica Columbo had, including the inner thoughts and feelings of everyone involved - which the author cannot possibly know.
It gets really ridiculous, straying way off the path of true crime and well into harlequin romance paperback territory. The book could have been cut by at least half if the author had purely stuck to the facts, instead of let his imagination about Patricia run wild.
He also paints the murderer in the most sympathetic light possible, which makes no sense given the facts of the case. I find this really disgusting, and it just shows the author’s weird fetish for Columbo. Weird book. Not recommended.
September 1, 2021
Started off great
The first half of this book was really well written. It was an intense story. I felt like I understood the characters personalities. But then the second half was the trial. It was basically just retelling the whole story again. I actually skipped thru pages because I was so over it.
The first half of this book was really well written. It was an intense story. I felt like I understood the characters personalities. But then the second half was the trial. It was basically just retelling the whole story again. I actually skipped thru pages because I was so over it.
December 21, 2020
Very well written
Great read, captivating, couldn't put it down. Interesting how the mind works after years of emotional and physical abuse. Author is one of the best.
Great read, captivating, couldn't put it down. Interesting how the mind works after years of emotional and physical abuse. Author is one of the best.
April 10, 2017
This account of a teenage girl who slaughters her family (with the help of her much older boyfriend) is alternately fascinating and tiresome. The author, who injects himself into the proceedings throughout, takes us on a journey that is long, often interesting, always detailed, but ultimately unsatisfying.
December 26, 2020
Why Am I Not Surprised the Prosecution Withheld Evidence
The author did a very fair and balanced account of this horrific murder of the Columbo Family. I believe that Patricia Columbo was only marginally involved in the murder of her family. Both Frank DeLuca and Patricia Columbo are still in prison having their parole refused at their latest parole hearing in October 2020.
The author did a very fair and balanced account of this horrific murder of the Columbo Family. I believe that Patricia Columbo was only marginally involved in the murder of her family. Both Frank DeLuca and Patricia Columbo are still in prison having their parole refused at their latest parole hearing in October 2020.
March 27, 2021
One f’ed up family!
True crime usually has the victims & the villains. This book, not so much. Everyone seems to be awful in their own way. With one exception, Michael, the kid brother.
True crime usually has the victims & the villains. This book, not so much. Everyone seems to be awful in their own way. With one exception, Michael, the kid brother.
January 26, 2016
This is a fascinating story but heart-breaking as to what happened in this brutal triple murder. It is spell-binding and captivating and draws you in from the beginning. I highly recommend it.
May 20, 2021
This is a mammoth read ! I borrowed it under the Kindle Unlimited scheme as it really appealed to me and I couldn't afford it ! It's not a story I'd ever heard of before, either. Not even any of the true crime podcasts I listen to have covered it-I went back and checked !!
It seems to me that the author ended up believing Patty more than I found I did.....though I don't believe she killed her brother. But I don't see her as quite the innocent I fear he did. She has done a lot of good in jail for others and I think she's found her proper home there and it's best she stays put. I looked up DeLuca and he's still banged up as well so his latter idea to admit his crimes did nothing for him. He was the more guilty of the pair of them, I thought. All he did throughout his life was manipulate and lie to people. Yet, he also held down a very good job so really had no need to behave as he did. Oh, and a pretty unhealthy sex-drive......though there are plenty of blokes around like that and they don't murder. There seemed to be no reason at all for the killings, since it sounded like the family had finally let her get on with it and get married, anyway. I do wonder what Bert Green thought of this book if he read it, however, as the author seemed to accuse him of a great deal.....
I did find it very odd the family named her little brother Michael when her dog was called Mike !! I hope a member of the family took care of the little dog the story opened with as that was heartbreaking that it was left there among the carnage.....I also wanted to know what she told DeLuca about her pregnancy. I found this passage very touching: "At this point, Rose and Gargano must have thought Frank DeLuca the stupidest, most bungling, incompetent murderer in history. The blunders he made were monumental. Only Frank, Mary and Michael kept it from being funny." Another passage that struck me (when the author was writing in 1992) was when he mentioned Michael would have been twenty-nine. At time of reading, he would now be exactly double that. Horribly sad.
There were a lot of mistakes in this, though. I googled Maleen, only to learn it is Malean. The odd needless word added to sentences, missed speechmarks, rogue hyphens and commas here and there when not needed then missed off when they were. Certain words were plainly miscopied like com and not corn, Kilboume not Kilbourne and stem not stern.
Then it seemed he lost his U key as he kept writing track and not truck, then rash not rush !! Then we had deviate and not deviant (though this was spelled correctly at the next mention) and for this lot it loses a star for me as it became tiresome highlighting them as I read.
It's certainly a very highly researched tale and goes right into the court case as well which I liked. Quite shocking too were some of the things they were allowed to say in court that people would definitely cry foul about these days. I'd read another by him though I can only find a couple on Kindle and neither of those interest me much.
It seems to me that the author ended up believing Patty more than I found I did.....though I don't believe she killed her brother. But I don't see her as quite the innocent I fear he did. She has done a lot of good in jail for others and I think she's found her proper home there and it's best she stays put. I looked up DeLuca and he's still banged up as well so his latter idea to admit his crimes did nothing for him. He was the more guilty of the pair of them, I thought. All he did throughout his life was manipulate and lie to people. Yet, he also held down a very good job so really had no need to behave as he did. Oh, and a pretty unhealthy sex-drive......though there are plenty of blokes around like that and they don't murder. There seemed to be no reason at all for the killings, since it sounded like the family had finally let her get on with it and get married, anyway. I do wonder what Bert Green thought of this book if he read it, however, as the author seemed to accuse him of a great deal.....
I did find it very odd the family named her little brother Michael when her dog was called Mike !! I hope a member of the family took care of the little dog the story opened with as that was heartbreaking that it was left there among the carnage.....I also wanted to know what she told DeLuca about her pregnancy. I found this passage very touching: "At this point, Rose and Gargano must have thought Frank DeLuca the stupidest, most bungling, incompetent murderer in history. The blunders he made were monumental. Only Frank, Mary and Michael kept it from being funny." Another passage that struck me (when the author was writing in 1992) was when he mentioned Michael would have been twenty-nine. At time of reading, he would now be exactly double that. Horribly sad.
There were a lot of mistakes in this, though. I googled Maleen, only to learn it is Malean. The odd needless word added to sentences, missed speechmarks, rogue hyphens and commas here and there when not needed then missed off when they were. Certain words were plainly miscopied like com and not corn, Kilboume not Kilbourne and stem not stern.
Then it seemed he lost his U key as he kept writing track and not truck, then rash not rush !! Then we had deviate and not deviant (though this was spelled correctly at the next mention) and for this lot it loses a star for me as it became tiresome highlighting them as I read.
It's certainly a very highly researched tale and goes right into the court case as well which I liked. Quite shocking too were some of the things they were allowed to say in court that people would definitely cry foul about these days. I'd read another by him though I can only find a couple on Kindle and neither of those interest me much.
October 6, 2022
This old goat clearly took one look at trampy Patricia Columbo and couldn’t get her out of his mind. He says as much himself, but it wasn’t because her case was so compelling.
Patricia Columbo and her older boyfriend Frank DeLuca murdered her entire family—mother, father, and younger brother—and were sentenced to 300 years each for having done it.
Up steps Clark Howard with this exhaustive account, for which he spent numerous hours with Columbo both in person and in hours-long phone conversations.
Let’s be clear: Patricia Columbo is a self-centered, manipulative, compulsively lying, histrionic tramp who would do or say anything to anybody if it got her something. However, to hear Howard tell it, she was abused by an uncle as a girl, her older lover took advantage of her as a teenager, and events just conspired against her, goll darn it. Maybe the abuse did happen (one can never tell if anything she says is true, but this part does ring true) but holding resentment against her parents for not figuring it out when she never told anyone is typical. Then come the two faux hit men she cultivated, nagged, and had sex with for months, trying to get them to murder her parents. The big meanies never delivered.
She occasionally realizes that her older lover is no good, but like others of her ilk, she makes a big plan for a new direction one day, then throws up her hands and abandons it entirely the next.
I have no sympathy to waste on this woman, and fervently hope that I never read another word about her unless it is to see that she has died in prison.
As for Clark Howard and his book, it is not the usual true crime story because, as he says himself, he set out to write The Patricia Columbo story and has done exactly that. The good news for Howard is that prisons are bursting with the likes of Patricia Columbo, so he should be able to find plenty more subjects to crush on. The bad news is, telling their tawdry story isn’t worth the effort of doing so. Two stars because the writing is good, but the subject, and Howard’s obvious smittenness and endless excuses for her are simply barf-worthy.
Patricia Columbo and her older boyfriend Frank DeLuca murdered her entire family—mother, father, and younger brother—and were sentenced to 300 years each for having done it.
Up steps Clark Howard with this exhaustive account, for which he spent numerous hours with Columbo both in person and in hours-long phone conversations.
Let’s be clear: Patricia Columbo is a self-centered, manipulative, compulsively lying, histrionic tramp who would do or say anything to anybody if it got her something. However, to hear Howard tell it, she was abused by an uncle as a girl, her older lover took advantage of her as a teenager, and events just conspired against her, goll darn it. Maybe the abuse did happen (one can never tell if anything she says is true, but this part does ring true) but holding resentment against her parents for not figuring it out when she never told anyone is typical. Then come the two faux hit men she cultivated, nagged, and had sex with for months, trying to get them to murder her parents. The big meanies never delivered.
She occasionally realizes that her older lover is no good, but like others of her ilk, she makes a big plan for a new direction one day, then throws up her hands and abandons it entirely the next.
I have no sympathy to waste on this woman, and fervently hope that I never read another word about her unless it is to see that she has died in prison.
As for Clark Howard and his book, it is not the usual true crime story because, as he says himself, he set out to write The Patricia Columbo story and has done exactly that. The good news for Howard is that prisons are bursting with the likes of Patricia Columbo, so he should be able to find plenty more subjects to crush on. The bad news is, telling their tawdry story isn’t worth the effort of doing so. Two stars because the writing is good, but the subject, and Howard’s obvious smittenness and endless excuses for her are simply barf-worthy.
June 17, 2021
Great book for true crime fans! Read it!
This is my first experience reading Clark Howard's books, and I will definitely read more books that Clark has written. This book is professionally researched and appears to be very accurately reported. It is based on the Columbo family who are brutally murdered.
This is a story of depravity from beginning to end. Patty Columbo was a very pretty teenager who was sexually abused as a child by an uncle then at 15 she developed an intense crush on a married psychopath twice her age who has 5 children. Patricia gets taken in by her boyfriend Frank DeLuca who is a con man who knows he can manipulate and control Patty into doing anything he wants.
Without giving to much away Frank and Patricia affair culminated in 1976, when Patricia's father, mother and 13-year-old brother were shot, bludgeoned, and stabbed to death in their suburban home in Chicago.
Frank and Patricia move in together and this causes a big rift with her family which ends up after a fight outside the drug store (that Frank is the pharmacist) where Patricia’s father Frank Columbo hits Frank DeLuca in the face and chest and threatens both Frank and Patricia that he will kill them both if they do not stop seeing each other. This sets Patricia trying to hire other con men to murder her family but after that fails Frank decide they will commit the murder themselves as he believes Patricia’s father will kill him. It was Frank who did the actual killing but they are both guilty one way and another. The Columbo family would be alive today if Patricia did not start the whole thing going with her solicitation of a hit man. This Book Grips You with An Atmosphere of Tension and Suspense As You Turn Each Page.
I am an ARC Reviewer on Goodread and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is my first experience reading Clark Howard's books, and I will definitely read more books that Clark has written. This book is professionally researched and appears to be very accurately reported. It is based on the Columbo family who are brutally murdered.
This is a story of depravity from beginning to end. Patty Columbo was a very pretty teenager who was sexually abused as a child by an uncle then at 15 she developed an intense crush on a married psychopath twice her age who has 5 children. Patricia gets taken in by her boyfriend Frank DeLuca who is a con man who knows he can manipulate and control Patty into doing anything he wants.
Without giving to much away Frank and Patricia affair culminated in 1976, when Patricia's father, mother and 13-year-old brother were shot, bludgeoned, and stabbed to death in their suburban home in Chicago.
Frank and Patricia move in together and this causes a big rift with her family which ends up after a fight outside the drug store (that Frank is the pharmacist) where Patricia’s father Frank Columbo hits Frank DeLuca in the face and chest and threatens both Frank and Patricia that he will kill them both if they do not stop seeing each other. This sets Patricia trying to hire other con men to murder her family but after that fails Frank decide they will commit the murder themselves as he believes Patricia’s father will kill him. It was Frank who did the actual killing but they are both guilty one way and another. The Columbo family would be alive today if Patricia did not start the whole thing going with her solicitation of a hit man. This Book Grips You with An Atmosphere of Tension and Suspense As You Turn Each Page.
I am an ARC Reviewer on Goodread and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 4, 2023
This was a good read. This is the first book I’ve read by Clark Howard. I would definitely read more books by this author.
The story was told well, but I was left with questions, as was the author.
I really appreciated his unbiased approach in writing the book. The author also told how he went about doing some things while writing the book, which was kind of a different approach, but I enjoyed it. It was written nicely into the story.
I wonder if a book about another participant in the crime would answer some questions, although the author seemed to be pretty thorough, so I doubt it.
It may just be one of those crimes where you never really get the whole truth of what happened.
I've got to wonder with the abuse in Patricia's past and her lack of recall on the crime (if that’s true) if there isn't some DID or something going on there, or maybe she’s just a really good actor and/or manipulator.
I was glad to see she got an education while she was in prison, although I’m not sure what good it will do.
I mean, they got 200 to 300 years (I still haven’t figured that one out, seems like that should be a more specific number.) but they both were having parole hearings. Shaking my head, that’s a whole nother ball of wax. Haha
After a quick search, I see Frank died in prison this year at 84, Patricia is still in at 66.
The story was told well, but I was left with questions, as was the author.
I really appreciated his unbiased approach in writing the book. The author also told how he went about doing some things while writing the book, which was kind of a different approach, but I enjoyed it. It was written nicely into the story.
I wonder if a book about another participant in the crime would answer some questions, although the author seemed to be pretty thorough, so I doubt it.
It may just be one of those crimes where you never really get the whole truth of what happened.
I've got to wonder with the abuse in Patricia's past and her lack of recall on the crime (if that’s true) if there isn't some DID or something going on there, or maybe she’s just a really good actor and/or manipulator.
I was glad to see she got an education while she was in prison, although I’m not sure what good it will do.
I mean, they got 200 to 300 years (I still haven’t figured that one out, seems like that should be a more specific number.) but they both were having parole hearings. Shaking my head, that’s a whole nother ball of wax. Haha
After a quick search, I see Frank died in prison this year at 84, Patricia is still in at 66.
December 10, 2020
Objective story
It's rare to read a true crime story that's totally objective. I know some reviewers thought there was possibly something not objective based on sex scenes, however while I didn't believe it was necessary in the telling, it helped to view the kind of life Patricia was leading. I mean, what young girl of that age experiences such a deviant lifestyle. Clearly one who doesn't know better and one to whom sex isn't new, i.e. abuse.
When we realize how unjust life truly is, are we really surprised that there are dirty & unfair judgments in the justice system. Look at Richard Jewel who was wrongly accused of the Olympic bombing, and that by the FBI. That was in 1996, now subtract 20 more years 1976, of course there is tunnel vision and especially judgment against a woman who was judged on her lifestyle as much as her way of dressing and makeup.
I believe the author discovered the truth, I agree with his reporting.
It's rare to read a true crime story that's totally objective. I know some reviewers thought there was possibly something not objective based on sex scenes, however while I didn't believe it was necessary in the telling, it helped to view the kind of life Patricia was leading. I mean, what young girl of that age experiences such a deviant lifestyle. Clearly one who doesn't know better and one to whom sex isn't new, i.e. abuse.
When we realize how unjust life truly is, are we really surprised that there are dirty & unfair judgments in the justice system. Look at Richard Jewel who was wrongly accused of the Olympic bombing, and that by the FBI. That was in 1996, now subtract 20 more years 1976, of course there is tunnel vision and especially judgment against a woman who was judged on her lifestyle as much as her way of dressing and makeup.
I believe the author discovered the truth, I agree with his reporting.
November 8, 2022
Love's Blood was shocking, sad and caused me to shake my head a lot. How does a seemingly sweet young girl turn into such a monster?
It blows my mind the effect people can have on other people and how they can manipulate and literally change the course of many lives. It happens all the time yet it still blows my mind.
I know Patricia Columbo was dealt a crappy hand in life and the roads she took led only to darkness. I feel for her and despise her. Frank DeLuca is another story all together. He's not even worth my words.
The book was great up until the trial section where for me it lost steam. Still well worth the read for true crime fans.
It blows my mind the effect people can have on other people and how they can manipulate and literally change the course of many lives. It happens all the time yet it still blows my mind.
I know Patricia Columbo was dealt a crappy hand in life and the roads she took led only to darkness. I feel for her and despise her. Frank DeLuca is another story all together. He's not even worth my words.
The book was great up until the trial section where for me it lost steam. Still well worth the read for true crime fans.
March 29, 2021
Tragic
I love this author's writing style as he is very no nonsense and takes no prisoners while telling the story. He does a great job of outlining Patti's life with much being directly from her. I do feel empathy for her as had circumstances been different you know things would have had another outcome. Just a warning that there are some graphic sexual experiences written so just a bit of forewarning.
I love this author's writing style as he is very no nonsense and takes no prisoners while telling the story. He does a great job of outlining Patti's life with much being directly from her. I do feel empathy for her as had circumstances been different you know things would have had another outcome. Just a warning that there are some graphic sexual experiences written so just a bit of forewarning.
September 18, 2022
A true murder committed in 1976 in a Chicago suburb. The eldest daughter and her much older lover murdered her parents and 13 year old brother. I would give this book 4 stars out of 5, it got bogged down in the trial phase as so many of them do, but then it would be hard to make some testimony interesting. The story itself is nearly unbelievable, really scary and sad. If you like to read true crime - read this.
October 28, 2025
My first true crime book.
To be honest, I did not know what to expect but it did meet them. Such that, it talked about the crime, the perpetrator, the background, the victims and the court proceedings.
I do feel that the murderer is shown in a biased sympathetic light, I guess you’ll have to read to find out why it makes sense to feel bad for her.
It is a little too long and drags a bit in the middle but the beginning and the end parts really hook you in.
To be honest, I did not know what to expect but it did meet them. Such that, it talked about the crime, the perpetrator, the background, the victims and the court proceedings.
I do feel that the murderer is shown in a biased sympathetic light, I guess you’ll have to read to find out why it makes sense to feel bad for her.
It is a little too long and drags a bit in the middle but the beginning and the end parts really hook you in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2020
Never put it down
Very interesting and well written. The author did a very good job of showing Patricia in a more compassionate light. It was a horrible crime. You are definitely left with the feeling that Patricia herself was also a victim. I pray that Patricia has found a way to forgive herself.... And find some kind of peace
Very interesting and well written. The author did a very good job of showing Patricia in a more compassionate light. It was a horrible crime. You are definitely left with the feeling that Patricia herself was also a victim. I pray that Patricia has found a way to forgive herself.... And find some kind of peace
March 3, 2021
Excellent read!
Deeply researched and very well told story of a girl caught up in a whirlwind romance with a much older man. A relationship that would take her to the point of no return and the dark path to the murder of her entire family. Definitely a book to have on your true crime enthusiast list
Deeply researched and very well told story of a girl caught up in a whirlwind romance with a much older man. A relationship that would take her to the point of no return and the dark path to the murder of her entire family. Definitely a book to have on your true crime enthusiast list
May 4, 2021
Territorial!
This book is so boring that I finally had to just stop reading it after reading about a third of it. The large majority of it is just made up imagined conversation. The story could have been written in about 25 pages without all of the made up fluff. Really really bad!!
This book is so boring that I finally had to just stop reading it after reading about a third of it. The large majority of it is just made up imagined conversation. The story could have been written in about 25 pages without all of the made up fluff. Really really bad!!
May 21, 2021
Frightening
This story appears to be well researched and presented and does not lead the reader on but allows the reader to form their own opinion. If all of the research and interviews conducted by Clark Howard were to be presented in a new trial today, I wonder that the verdict would be different.
This story appears to be well researched and presented and does not lead the reader on but allows the reader to form their own opinion. If all of the research and interviews conducted by Clark Howard were to be presented in a new trial today, I wonder that the verdict would be different.
June 23, 2021
A must read
This book is so unbelievable on what happened to all that Patricia has been through. An older perverted man took advantage of a young innocent girl who already was abused and he took full advantage of her. He's a sick man and I feel sadness for her and believe she's innocent.
This book is so unbelievable on what happened to all that Patricia has been through. An older perverted man took advantage of a young innocent girl who already was abused and he took full advantage of her. He's a sick man and I feel sadness for her and believe she's innocent.
July 1, 2021
ANOTHER CRIME STORY
THIS STORY IS INTRIGUING BUT THE AUTHOR MADE IT FAR TOO LONG AND I DID NOT REALLY LEARN THAT MUCH ABOUT THE INNER MOTIVES THAT DROVE THESE PEOPLE TO DO WHAT THEY DID. SIMPLY COMING UP WITH CHILDHOOD ABUSE, WELL, THAT’S ALL OF US, ISN’T IT? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE UNCLE WHO CAUSED THE TROUBLE. NOTHING ON HIM. NOT A GREAT WRITER.
THIS STORY IS INTRIGUING BUT THE AUTHOR MADE IT FAR TOO LONG AND I DID NOT REALLY LEARN THAT MUCH ABOUT THE INNER MOTIVES THAT DROVE THESE PEOPLE TO DO WHAT THEY DID. SIMPLY COMING UP WITH CHILDHOOD ABUSE, WELL, THAT’S ALL OF US, ISN’T IT? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE UNCLE WHO CAUSED THE TROUBLE. NOTHING ON HIM. NOT A GREAT WRITER.
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