A Dance with the Devil: A True Story of Marriage to a Psychopath

Her marriage to retired Navy admiral John Perry seemed almost too good to be true. Because it wasA.

At the start of her relationship with the intelligent and worldly John Perry, Barbara Bentley couldnA't believe her luckA-so when things didnA't add up, she struggled to ignore her doubts. She kept trying to put the pieces togetherA-unaware that some of them were simply missing. Even as he drained her credit, dodged her questions, manipulated her and misled her, she stayed with him, suppressing her growing suspicions. Ultimately he would try to kill her, proving himself not a protector and provider, but a predator.

This is BarbaraA's courageous, compelling story, in her own wordsA-of the slow, choking darkness that fell after the honeymoon was over, what it took to finally drive her to escape and start her life anew, and her tireless efforts to protect other women and help them learn from her example.

Barbara Bentley is a victim-Æs advocate in California, where she was directly responsible for the passage of Assembly Bill 16, which changed California divorce law. A member of STAND! Against Domestic Violence, she addresses women-Æs and victim-Æs rights organizations.

Amid the proliferation of true-crime books about child murderers and serial killers, it's difficult to make a story with no corpse seem compelling. But in her memoir of marriage to a charismatic liar who ultimately tries to kill her, Bentley, a victim's advocate, succeeds. She holds nothing back as she describes how her friends and family strove to prevent her relationship with sociopath John Perry, who claimed to be an admiral who spoke seven languages and served as best man in Frank Sinatra's wedding. He wooed her, married her, and seduced her out of thousands of dollars before their final violent encounter. Although the last section, about Bentley's successful attempt to change California divorce law to protect victims like herself, goes on a little too long, this well-written account belongs in all public libraries with true-crime sections.—Daisy Porter, San Jos P.L., CA

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