Wednesday, May 26, 2021

At Any Cost by Rebecca Rosenberg; Selim Algar

*Disclosure of material connection- I received the book in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own. 

About the book- 

Wealthy, beautiful, and brilliant, Shele Danishefsky had fulfillment at her fingertips. Having conquered Wall Street, she was eager to build a family with her much younger husband, promising Ivy League graduate Rod Covlin. But when his hidden vices surfaced, marital harmony gave way to a merciless divorce. Rod had long depended on Shele's income to fund his tastes for high stakes backgammon and infidelity--and she finally vowed to sever him from her will. In late December 2009, Shele made an appointment with her lawyer to block him from her millions. She would never make it to that meeting.

Two days later, on New Year’s Eve, Shele was found dead in the bathtub of her Upper West Side apartment. Police ruled it an accident, and Shele’s deeply Orthodox Jewish family quickly buried her without an autopsy on religious grounds. Rod had a clear path to his ex-wife's fortune, but suspicions about her death lingered. As the two families warred over custody of Shele’s children—and their inheritance— Rod concocted a series of increasingly demented schemes, even plotting to kill his own parents, to secure the treasure. And as investigators closed in, Rod committed a final, desperate act to frame his own daughter for her mother’s death.

Journalists Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar reconstruct the ten years that passed between the day Shele was found dead and the day her killer faced justice in this riveting account of how one man’s irrepressible greed devolved into obsession, manipulation, and murder.

My thoughts-

This was a tough read. It was intriguing in the worst way because just when you think you have heard it all, it escalates. I found myself growing more and more furious as I read along and saw what Shele's family had to endure, especially her parents. The things that this vile man did and got away with before he was finally charged with the murder of his wife are outrageous. The way in which he has manipulated his daughter her entire life, and the things have made her (or tried to make her do unsuccessfully in some cases) are beyond belief. I read through the entire book in two days because I just couldn't put it down. If you are easily triggered, I wouldn't suggest this book for you, but if you are the type of person that likes to read stories about real people, and learn their stories, At Any Cost is a well written book that tells Shele's tragic story in full.









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