In the Arms of Evil: A True Story of Obsession, Greed, and Murder Book

In the Arms of Evil starts off strong, detailing some of the childhood and formative years of Nancy Jean Siegel, a "cute," Kewpie doll-like woman, according to the author, who becomes a notorious con artist, compulsive gambler, and murderer.

In some ways, it could serve as an effective cautionary tale, because Siegel's ultimate victim was not a rich man but an elderly fellow of modest means, who probably never thought he was at risk for this sort of thing. It also shows how devastating those free credit offers are if they end up in the wrong hands--all the more reason for banks and other companies to stop mailing them out to people who don't want them and never requested them.

Siegel's crimes, which were largely fraud of various types, are complicated, and the book loses steam as the author dissects them in exhausting detail, including testimony from the federal government trial against Siegel, much of which was repetition of facts we already knew. The last half of the book is incredibly dry and tedious as we go over Siegel's crimes yet again, in more detail than we really need.