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The Summer Wind : Thomas Capano and the Murder of Anne Marie Fahey
It was from the deck of the Summer Wind that Thomas Capano - lawyer, power broker, one of the most influential men in the state of Delaware - that day cast overboard an ice chest containing the body of his former lover, Anne Marie Fahey, in an act of heart-chilling arrogance for which he has never shown a moment of remorse.. "Now, for the first time, reporter George Anastasia offers a recreation of the Capano-Fahey affair, the murder, and its aftermath. The Summer Wind is a story of the clash of two generations and two cultures, of the arrogance of power in a growing city, and of the decaying moral landscape of late-twentieth-century America.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published August 25, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 29, 2013
Flew through this tragic story of a murder.
WAY more complete than Ann Rule's Never Let Her Go......goes into more depth, rounds the characters out and makes them real, human and memorable.....Ann painted her story in broad black and white strokes. Good vs. evil. This story is way more complex ......not to take away from the murder but makes the entire tragedy more real, more understandable. The characters themselves can be seen as human, flawed humans.....sort of gives understanding into different motives, different points of view.
The title of the book which is "The Summer Wind" also refers to the name of the boat used when Annie's body was dumped into Mako Alley in the Atlantic Ocean off the South Jersey coast in 1996.
Refers as well to a meloncoly (SP) song by Frank Sinantra, an Italian Jersey boy........brings the families into this as well, rounding out the entire sad saga.
WAY more complete than Ann Rule's Never Let Her Go......goes into more depth, rounds the characters out and makes them real, human and memorable.....Ann painted her story in broad black and white strokes. Good vs. evil. This story is way more complex ......not to take away from the murder but makes the entire tragedy more real, more understandable. The characters themselves can be seen as human, flawed humans.....sort of gives understanding into different motives, different points of view.
The title of the book which is "The Summer Wind" also refers to the name of the boat used when Annie's body was dumped into Mako Alley in the Atlantic Ocean off the South Jersey coast in 1996.
Refers as well to a meloncoly (SP) song by Frank Sinantra, an Italian Jersey boy........brings the families into this as well, rounding out the entire sad saga.
August 8, 2018
Fascinating to read about a true story that happened in our area.
August 17, 2008
Of the 4 books I have read on this murder, this was the hardest to read. It was more judgemental than informational.
All of the books took Thomas Capano to task, but this book focussed most on Anne Marie's frailities.
However, this is a fascinating murder. Well worth reading.
All of the books took Thomas Capano to task, but this book focussed most on Anne Marie's frailities.
However, this is a fascinating murder. Well worth reading.
March 11, 2009
True crime that reads like a suspense novel. Even though you already know the end of the story (the girl dies), I still found it riveting.
August 1, 2010
The sad, but true story of the murder of Anne Marie Fahey by the politically, well-connected Delaware lawyer Tom Capano.
February 25, 2020
fantastic
one of the best books I have read in the last 20 years
mr Anastasia is usually a very good writer
for this story, he was a stupendous writer!!
one of the best books I have read in the last 20 years
mr Anastasia is usually a very good writer
for this story, he was a stupendous writer!!
August 3, 2023
“The Summer Wind” is clearly a well researched book about Anne Marie Fahey’s murder. It describes in detail the environment in which both parties grew and lived.
I also found that the more technical aspects of the trial were written in a way that is easy to understand for someone who doesn’t have any deep knowledge of the law.
Unfortunately, it does sometimes feel like Anastasia describes Tom’s feelings towards Anne Marie as honest and loving. But, someone who has been on the receiving end of an abusive relationship with a narcissist knows that they are not capable of truly loving another person.
Although he does clearly maintain that Anne Marie was the victim in this case, and although she was not perfect (like everyone else), I felt like there were unnecessary (and flawed) judgements of her actions, choices and even personality.
I also found that the more technical aspects of the trial were written in a way that is easy to understand for someone who doesn’t have any deep knowledge of the law.
Unfortunately, it does sometimes feel like Anastasia describes Tom’s feelings towards Anne Marie as honest and loving. But, someone who has been on the receiving end of an abusive relationship with a narcissist knows that they are not capable of truly loving another person.
Although he does clearly maintain that Anne Marie was the victim in this case, and although she was not perfect (like everyone else), I felt like there were unnecessary (and flawed) judgements of her actions, choices and even personality.
April 4, 2023
This is such a good true crime book. I absolutely love Anastasia’s writing style. I’m excited to read some of his other books now! I highly recommend this one if you were looking for a good true crime read. It’s not long at all (roughly 300 pages), and the way Anastasia tells the story is very engaging. As you can see by the start and finish date, I flew through it.
June 13, 2024
Well written, another great one by George!
June 18, 2009
The Summer Wind is investigative reporting at its finest.
George Anastasia goes behind the scenes of Delaware's Trial of the Century, uncovering the good, bad and plain out ugly of the Capano family and its golden boy Tom Capano's seriously twisted psyche.
Capano, clever, intelligent, successful attorney and partner, and also a serial adulterer and apparently a man with little or no conscience, begins a relationship with Anne Marie Fahey, secretary to Delaware's governor. When she wants to end the relationship after several years, he is not willing to let her go and kills her, disposing her body in an ice cooler in the Atlantic, in order to keep control.
What makes this tale of the sad Fahey-Capano case superior to other versions is Anastasia's unbiased reporting. Rather than making Fahey look like an unwitting party, he admits her faults and knowledge that she was conducting an illicit affair with a married man. He tirelessly relives Fahey and Capano's relationship, with their email correspondences and Fahey's diary entries. In this way, Fahey comes across as a real person, faults and all. He spends equal time dissecting the Capano family and, in particular, Tom's long history of lies, deceit and schemes.
Even knowing the outcome of the trial, this book still had me eagerly turning each page - - feeling sympathy and sorrow for the Fahey family, for Tom Capano's long suffering wife and daughters and absolutely repulsion for Tom Capano himself.
A classic case of someone having everything only to throw it all away.
Definitely recommended over the other Capano books out there.
George Anastasia goes behind the scenes of Delaware's Trial of the Century, uncovering the good, bad and plain out ugly of the Capano family and its golden boy Tom Capano's seriously twisted psyche.
Capano, clever, intelligent, successful attorney and partner, and also a serial adulterer and apparently a man with little or no conscience, begins a relationship with Anne Marie Fahey, secretary to Delaware's governor. When she wants to end the relationship after several years, he is not willing to let her go and kills her, disposing her body in an ice cooler in the Atlantic, in order to keep control.
What makes this tale of the sad Fahey-Capano case superior to other versions is Anastasia's unbiased reporting. Rather than making Fahey look like an unwitting party, he admits her faults and knowledge that she was conducting an illicit affair with a married man. He tirelessly relives Fahey and Capano's relationship, with their email correspondences and Fahey's diary entries. In this way, Fahey comes across as a real person, faults and all. He spends equal time dissecting the Capano family and, in particular, Tom's long history of lies, deceit and schemes.
Even knowing the outcome of the trial, this book still had me eagerly turning each page - - feeling sympathy and sorrow for the Fahey family, for Tom Capano's long suffering wife and daughters and absolutely repulsion for Tom Capano himself.
A classic case of someone having everything only to throw it all away.
Definitely recommended over the other Capano books out there.
April 14, 2011
Chilling and sad - mainly because it's true. I remember when this happened but had forgotten many of the details, and reading this book brought them all back along with many things I didn't know. Capano was a master manipulator and a narcissistic ego-maniac. Great criminal behavior study material. I liked the way the book was written, with flashbacks and views through the eyes of Capano's victims. All in all a great book.
October 3, 2015
This was a good book, but having read Ann Rule's account first, this book almost seems like the Cliffs Notes version. Anastasia delivers the story of the book, and the characters, but he just didn't dig down deep enough into these people the way Rule did. Still a good account of the murder case, for someone who just wants to know the basics.
February 26, 2016
This well-written narrative focused on the investigation and trial of Tom Capano for the murder of Anne Marie Fahey. It also gave me a perspective on Wilmington that I had not seen before, probably because I lived there only as a child and never encountered as an adult the socio-political milieu that Capano traveled in. Very interesting read!
March 26, 2016
Since this is not a 'who done it', and the reader knows the how and why, the book concerns the arrest and trial of the murderer. Though sometimes a little over long in parts, this book is a good true crime read, not as gory as some are. I recommend it.
March 6, 2015
can't open books
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews