In the tradition of her acclaimed mother, Ann Rule, author of The Stranger Beside Me, bestselling author Leslie Rule delivers a riveting true story for our time—as she exposes the years-long trail of a sadistic sociopath, identity thief, and killer at the dark heart of a real-life fatal attraction . . . It was a bleak November in 2012 when Cari Lea Farver vanished from Omaha, Nebraska. Cari, … Omaha, Nebraska. Cari, thirty-seven, was a devoted mother, reliable employee, and loyal friend—not the type to shirk responsibilities, abandon her son, and run off on an adventure while her dying father took his last breaths. Yet, the many texts from her phone indicated she had done just that.
It appeared that Cari had dumped her new boyfriend, quit her job, and relinquished custody of her son to her mother—all by text. While Cari’s boyfriend, Dave Kroupa, and her supervisor were bewildered by her abrupt disappearance, they accepted the texts at face value. Her mother, Nancy Raney, however, was alarmed and reported Cari missing. Police were skeptical of her claims that a cyber impostor had commandeered her daughter’s phone and online identity.
While Nancy was afraid for Cari, Dave Kroupa was growing afraid of her, for he believed Cari was stalking him. Never seen or heard, the stalker was aware of his every move and seemed obsessed by his casual girlfriend, Shanna “Liz” Golyar, often calling her “a fat whore” in the twelve thousand emails and texts he received in a disturbing three-year deluge.
How did the stalker know Dave’s phone numbers immediately after he changed them, the names of his lady friends, even what he wore as he watched TV? He and Liz reported death threats, vandalism, and burglaries, but the stalker remained at large. The threats were vicious, vile and often obscene, sent mostly via text and always in Cari’s name. There was some truth in the messages, but all of them contained one big lie. The culprit was not Cari — but had killed and planned to kill again.
With mesmerizing detail and compelling narrative skill, Leslie Rule tracks every step of the heart-pounding path to long-awaited justice—from a sociopath’s twisted past to the deadly deception and the high-tech forensics that condemned the killer to prison, where the tangled web of manipulations still draws trusting souls into danger.
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In A Tangled Web, Leslie Rule shows that she is truly her mother’s daughter, down to the expert detailing that defined Ann Rule, but with this told in a high-tech world. Rule guides the reader down a slippery slope, with twists and turns of text messaging and online dating, ultimately revealing just how cagey are the deeds of the devious perpetrator.
Amazing true crime story about a missing woman and someone who was cruelly hacking her social media accounts.
Do not compare the lady to her mother, just enjoy a well told story!
I miss Ann Rule but now We have her daughter that is as good as her mom!
If you are an Ann Rule fan, then this is for you. Very detailed true crime story of a woman who is beyond evil.
Excellent true crime book. Leslie Rule’s writing reminded me so much of her late mother, and I look forward to reading more of her books.
This is a true story written by Leslie Rule … daughter of Ann Rule. My mom was a big fan of true crime and Ann Rule was her favorite author. And because my mom read it, so did I .. under her very close attention.
An everyday man who wants just a casual relationship falls prey to a woman who wants way more than he is prepared to give. When he finally tires of her efforts to rope him in, he decides to date someone else.
And this is where her obsession was born. She’s eaten up with jealousy … and a stalker was born. He and his new girlfriend receive death threats, vandalism, but no one was charged. How does she get his phone number even moments after he has it changed?
The threats were vicious, vile and often obscene, sent mostly via text and always in the old girlfriend’s name. There was some truth in the messages, but all of them contained one big lie. This stalker had already killed once and was prepared to do so again. He has received 12,000 emails and texts during a 3-year period.
It’s a breath-taking journey through a sociopath’s twisted mind to the deadly deception and the high-tech forensics that condemned the killer to prison.
Very well written showing this author’s meticulous research into this case. Hard to put down for any reason, it was riveting from start to finish.
In this day and age of internet and social media and even cell phones, this could possibly happen to anyone. Some things will never change. The better our technology becomes, the more some people will go to any length to cause havoc and chaos.
Many thanks to the author / Kensington Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this true crime. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
This was a pretty good read by Ann Rule’s daughter. She writes with a very similar style. It was a true crime story that started with internet dating. Interesting read, and a bit ago king that someone could go to the lengths they did.
Following in her mother’s footsteps. Well written.
Leslie Rule followed in her mom Ann Rule’s giant footsteps and did not miss a beat! Seriously it was hard to put this most entertaining and bizarre book down. This was a true crime directly snatched from the pages of internet, Facebook, email and cellular phones. It is quite disturbing the amount of information that is out there in the “cloud”. A real page turner for sure! You did yourself proud Leslie Rule and your mom would be extremely proud – I am!
Bitter, party of one? Your broomstick is ready!
This true story of stalking, obsession, and death is just proof, yet again, that wayyyyyy too many people on this Earth are full-on batshit.
Real people’s behavior often makes for some of the best stories, particularly when they show up on dating sites and this time is no exception.
**Minus one star for a few continual grammar mistakes. Just two of many: “Too cheerful of a word for how he felt” and “She was too nice of a girl to speak badly about anyone”.
The author really loves an “of” where it has no business.
Thank you to my GR buddy, Michelle, for reading, reviewing, and loving this so much that I popped it to the top my TBR and grabbed it from Scribd!
I consider myself very lucky to have gotten my hands on an advanced readers copy of A Tangled Web. I am a huge fan of her mothers work, considered by many to be the Queen of true crime novels. I am absolutely not comparing one’s work to another. I am simply trying to convey my love and excitement for having received this book.
This review won’t be too long. True crime is best when you know the least about it and let the story unfold as you read (or watch). As someone on the outside looking in it was quickly obvious to me as to who was behind the mess. And it was a MESS. I can’t say that I liked Dave much….but I would never wish this on anyone.
All in all, I think this was a solid read. I’ve never read any of Leslie’s other work but this has certainly put her on my radar.
For those who don’t know, Ann Rule was THE best true crime writer! I didn’t care for Leslie Rule’s previous paranormal books, but now she is following in her mother’s footsteps. The story itself will definitely get your attention, and Rule’s writing style is smooth, articulate and logical. What draws me to both Ann and Leslie’s writing style is that their focus is on the people involved–their actions, motivations and emotions–not the actual grisly and brutal act of murder.
Dave Kroupa and Liz Golyar had been dating for a while, and Liz expected much more than Dave was willing to offer. Although he had told her from the beginning he had no intention of becoming serious with her and that he would still be dating other women, Liz kept pushing for exclusivity. True to his word, Dave began dating Cari Farver and two weeks later, Cari disappeared and was never seen again. Cari’s mother, Nancy, received texts from Cari, saying that she had just quit her job and accepted another one out of state. Nancy didn’t believe for a minute that this was really Cari sending her these texts, or that Cari, who was very close to her family, would just up and leave her son and her dying father without saying goodbye. Nancy also had a hard time believing that Cari would spend the next few years stalking and terrorizing Dave and Liz.
This was one twisted killer! With each turn of the page, I was taken aback at how totally the killer fooled everyone. Discretion is advised for those more sensitive readers during the review of the killer’s childhood.
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Very repetitive.
Very good book!
Interesting story, told in an uninteresting way. I thought the author went from meandered through the story instead of just telling it. I found it very hard to follow and found myself losing interest.
Very well written , detailed and complete picture of the perpetrator and the victims
Leslie is just as good as her mom at writing a true crime! I was hopeful and pleasantly surprised by her ability to render the story informative and suspenseful!
This is a story about cyber crime plus! Some people know the ins and outs of the intricacies of the web, most don’t, or only know a smattering. Leslie Rule brings us a scary story of someone who knew how to use WWW skills to wreak havoc and cruelty to many, many innocent souls!
More, Leslie, more please!
She learned her craft from the best!
A great writer of true crime just like her mom!