The (Not So Innocent) Victim’s Story
Review by Kim Cantrell
While I sympathize with the victim in Sleeping With the Devil, Barbra Piotrowski, I found this book to be extremely one sided.
Readers of told the story of how young, sweet, innocent Barbra is seduced by Richard Minns after being a victim of a brutal rape that left her with a inability to trust men.
After falling in love with Minns, Barbra moves from Los Angeles to Houston to be with him; unaware at the time that he is still very much married and she is nothing more than a mistress.
After learning that he is married, Minns convinces Barbra that he has an open marriage and she agrees to stay.
Even following occassional beatings, watching her dream guy manipulate and control others, and being forced to be who he wants her to be; she stays in the relationship.
One morning after an explosive verbally abusive incident, Barbra decides to leave.
When she leaves, she takes everything with her and moves out of the apartment she and Minns shared.
As he had done so many times in the past, Minns becomes very angry and seeks revenge because Barbra took what he felt belonged to him.
While Minns is seeking revenge both underhandedly and via the legal system, Barbra mentions numerous times she is hoping that she and Minns will reconcile.
Of course, that never occurs.
And eventually Minns takes his retaliation a step further: he hires someone to kill her.
Although the hired killers failed miserably at killing their target, they did manage to paralyze Barbra.
And just as Minns had stated many times in the past, he did, essentially, get away with murder.
Sleeping with the Devil is so one-sided, however. While her account gives the appearance of truth in facts, the tone is so played down for the purposes of eliciting a vision by readers of her as a “poor little victim,” that it leaves a bitter taste.
Want to read it? Here’s where to get it:
Updates from this book:
In an effort to erase her past, Barbra Piotrowski changed her name to Janni Smith. In November 1991, she married a Dr. Jerrold Petrovsky and officially became Janni Petrovsky.
The following is one of my infamous personal rants on material that may or may not be contained within the book; and, as such, should be considered a SPOILER ALERT!
While I found the story to be interesting (amazing how one man with money and connections can evade prosecution of numerous charges), I believe this book is a bit misleading.
We are told of how Barbra is so innocent and so niave. We are painted a picture of someone who was so in love, had victimized early in life and felt Minns was her knight in shining armor.
I’m just not buying it.
When she first met Minns, I’m sure she still was still niave…she was only 20.
But this same innocent learns that she is a mistress and stays.
Barbra, at some point, signed a contract with Minns that, should the relationship ever end, she would receive a huge settlement of both cash and furniture.
Barbra made comments to the effect, while on the “run” from Minns, that having his belongings would help them reconcile.
That’s a coniving woman’s way of thinking.
After all, how many battered women leave things behind that truly are theirs to keep just to get out of an abusive relationship?
There is a list that goes on and on of things that were not so innocent in nature, but readers are truly pushed to feel that way about the victim.
The author did an excellent job of writing the book and doing her research. It is worth reading…just don’t get sucked in to her world of make believe!
