Breaking Point

By Suzy Spencer

From the New York Times bestselling author of THE FORTUNE HUNTER

Andrea Yates, a suburban Houston mother of five, horrified the nation on June 20, 2001, when she dialed 911 and said, "I killed my children."

While her husband Rusty, a NASA engineer, was at work, Andrea filled the family bathtub with water and systematically drowned their children, ages six months to seven years. As her eldest child lay lifeless in the bathtub and the bodies of her four youngest rested in her bed, Andrea, a devoted Christian wife and former nurse, called the police to confess her sin.

The investigations by the prosecutors, by the defense, and by the press delved deeper into Andrea’s mind and history, revealing a disturbing web of suicidal tendencies, depression, and psychoses. While her husband struggled between his overwhelming grief and his loyalty to his incarcerated wife, an outraged nation asked one question after another: How could anyone do this? What would drive a mother to kill her children?

Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews, court testimony, and medical records, including new access to psychiatric and legal files, BREAKING POINT delves deeper into an all-American family struggling with the darkness of a mental illness that twisted a loving mother into a killer obsessed with hellfire.

"BREAKING POINT is a truly spellbinding read."—Aphrodite Jones, bestselling author of CRUEL SACRIFICE

“Suzy Spencer weaves the dark threads of mental illness, infanticide, and punishment into a classic true-crime tapestry that is both thorough and gut-wrenching.”—Ron Franscell, bestselling author of THE DARKEST NIGHT

"No story is more devastatingly heartbreaking than the Andrea Yates story. In her classic, BREAKING POINT, Suzy Spencer writes with conviction, nuance and understanding. A remarkable achievement by a gifted writer."—Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author

• Language: English
• Publisher: Diversion Books
• Release date: Oct 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781626818217

Reviews for Breaking Point

[marlene9nl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 I wrote:

I have read more then half but I have to say I am very disappointed.I do not like the way it was written.You do not get any reliable information. It is mostly hear say. I discovered this book was written in a hurry and finished before the trial was doneThat's why I have bought another book on the Yates case with much better reviews. Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea YatesI will wait till I receive that one, read it, then finish this book and then I will sell this one, because I need to earn some money.

Update September 2-2010: (guess I never sold it cause it is still on my shelf) ;)
and looking on another site even once I'd read all of it I was still not liking it.

[marshapetry · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I remember the crime quite well but had never heard the outcome of this case; also, I had no idea that she was in basically a Quiverfull family. Anyway, the audiobook was great, completely engaging throughout - a great read for a trip since it was so engaging.The author seemed to be a little slanted towards the insanity defense but did a thorough job of describing the trials and the possibilities of motive and insanity. The author made quite a good case of describing post partum depression or, actually, just major depression, and showed how far we've come in diagnosing and understanding that depression can make people do unbelievable things, including despicable crimes. This book actually changed my thinking about the crime, especially as the author describes how overworked and brow-beaten she was... and I came away with a new and different view of the father. I guess that speaks to the quality of the book because I don't usually change my mind because of books... but the author presented a great book. Highly recommend if you remember this case.