Hush! A Demon Sleeps Beside Me

A True Story of Violent Secrets, Betrayal and Courage

by Richard E. Goetzke and Ted Schwarz

When Richard Goetzke, vice president and chief of security for a major bank, meets formerly-battered wife Lauren, he wants only to bring happiness to the woman he sees as hurt and betrayed. The two quickly fall in love and marry.

Soon after, Richard is called upon to investigate death threats the president of the bank has been receiving. As Richard tries to find the culprit, the zigzagged path of distressing clues begins to lead him to Lauren who, before his very eyes, changes from a kind, loving woman into one with erratic mood swings and violent behavior, that includes brutal assaults on her husband.

Trapped in Lauren's evil web, Richard struggles to understand and escape the hell his wife is creating. Unfortunately, his nightmare is only beginning. After Lauren engages in a dramatic standoff with a SWAT team, Richard learns of her shocking, secret past. And, in a breath-stopping climax, he finds out that he is her next target.

Hush! A Demon Sleeps Beside Me is the gripping true story of a seductive woman who isn't what she seems and one man's struggle to save not only his sanity, but his very life.

"The events are chilling."
— Publishers Weekly

"Harrowing...a gripping story that exposes obsessive homicidal insanity in a true tale of life and death."
— The Bookwatch

"Intriguing crime story."
— Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Very disturbing."
— Kaos 2000 Magazine

"Fascinating tale."
— Tampa Tribune

Richard E. Goetzke served in the Marine Corps and as a police officer before working as a security executive for three major financial institutions. Past chairman of the Security Committee, Florida Bankers' Association and faculty member of the University of South Florida, he has written and published reports on security and police science. He lives in Sarasota, Florida where he owns a private consulting firm that deals in environmental security issues.

Ted Schwarz is the best-selling author of more than ninety books and 2,000 articles on subjects ranging from true crime to history to popular psychology. The co-author of Rose Kennedy and Her Family: The Best and Worst of Their Lives and Times, he resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife and four children.

A New Horizon Press Release
True Crime
6 x 9, 325 pages
LC #99-70154, world rights
ISBN: 0-88282-190-3 (hc), $25.95