A Rip in Heaven - by Jeanine Cummins (Paperback)

About the Book

This intimate memoir tells of one family's immediate and widely publicized story of surviving a shocking crime and suffering in the aftermath.

Book Synopsis

The acclaimed author of American Dirt reveals the devastating effects of a shocking tragedy in this landmark true crime book--the first ever to look intimately at the experiences of both the victims and their families.

A Rip in Heaven is Jeanine Cummins' story of a night in April, 1991, when her two cousins Julie and Robin Kerry, and her brother, Tom, were assaulted on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River just outside of St. Louis. When, after a harrowing ordeal, Tom managed to escape the attackers and flag down help, he thought the nightmare would soon be over. He couldn't have been more wrong. Tom, his sister Jeanine, and their entire family were just at the beginning of a horrific odyssey through the aftermath of a violent crime, a world of shocking betrayal, endless heartbreak, and utter disillusionment. It was a trial by fire from which no family member would emerge unscathed.

Review Quotes

Praise for A Rip in Heaven

"Cummins presents a mesmerizing, highly balanced memoir....[A] compelling, novel-like account...highly admirable."--Publishers Weekly

"Cummins recounts the wrenching drama in a straightforward, expertly paced narrative that reads like a novel."--People

About the Author

Jeanine Cummins is the bestselling, award-winning author of the groundbreaking memoir A Rip in Heaven and the novels The Outside Boy, The Crooked Branch, American Dirt, and Speak to Me of Home. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.