#BookReview #TrueCrime #SurvivingDirtyJohn #DebraNewell #BenBellaBooks

 

Now that articles, podcasts, newsmagazines, and miniseries have had their sensationalistic say, Debra Newell, the one woman who truly knows what it was like to survive “Dirty John” Meehan shares the full story—the reality—with the world for the first time.

Debra Newell is nothing if not a survivor. By the time she met John Michael Meehan online, she lived through a near-fatal childhood illness, an attempted rape in her 20s, the traumatic death of her sister at the hands of her brother-in-law, four failed marriages, and a litany of dating disasters. But despite those tragedies, she  seemed to have it all: adoring children, a successful business, a fabulous penthouse apartment. 

But there was something missing: the blinding, all-consuming love she first read about to occupy her time in her childhood sickbed. And she thought she found it with John Meehan. 

More than a tabloid-ready true-crime expose, Debra’s story is one of trauma, denial, and deception. But it is also a relatable, inspirational, and hopeful story of forgiveness and, most of all,  love. The lengths to which a woman will go to find—and keep—love; the boundaries children and parents cross to protect and save the people they love; the love one must find for oneself;  and the ways the illusion of love can be used to manipulate and hurt. 

Told in Debra’s words with the help of New York Times bestselling author M. William Phelps, this book is filled with exclusive  stories about Debra and her family, previously unpublished  photos, and the unvarnished, unapologetic, and unbelievable reality of Surviving Dirty John.

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Debra Newell is the founder and president of Ambrosia Home, Inc., as well as the founder and former president of the multimillion-dollar company Ambrosia Interior Design, Inc

Newell is known for creating beautiful interior spaces and relies on her ability to clearly understand each client’s vision, aspirations, and lifestyle. Newell’s goal is to create a harmonious environment that not only is functional but reflects each client’s individual personality and taste. 

Newell launched Ambrosia Interior Design in 1984, creating a national and international, full-service, award-winning interior design firm that specializes in customized model homes, residential homes, country clubs, clubhouses, and office spaces. Additionally, Newell’s niche is critiquing architecture for architects and those homes designed for first-time home buyers all the way up to the luxury market. 

Newell’s work has taken her all over the world. Her projects include a development called Orange County outside Beijing, China; two textile ventures in Egypt; and a hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. 

Currently, Newell has expanded her career ventures with a design center in Las Vegas, Nevada, called Ambrosia Home, Inc. Newell’s oldest daughter took over Ambrosia Interior Design in Irvine, California, freeing up Newell to focus on one of her passions, residential interior design. Recently, Newell did staging work for the HGTV series Property 287 

Brothers and has teamed up with Madison Hildebrand from Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles. On October 1, 2017, the Los Angeles Times launched a six-part article series and an nying podcast created by Wondery, both titled Dirty John. Dirty John is a story of love, deceit, denial, revenge, ruin, and, ultimately, survival; it chronicles Newell’s life between October 2014 and August 2016. The story was adapted into a miniseries that premiered on Bravo on November 25, 2018, and on Netflix on February 14, 2019.

 Moving on to the next chapter of her life, Newell devotes much of her time to advocating for change and awareness and helping women caught up in coercive-controlling relationships. Newell has been featured in publications such as People, Us Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar, Forbes, the New Yorker, Vulture, Refinery29, and Bustle, to name a few. Additionally, Newell has made appearances on Dateline NBC, Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show, Megyn Kelly Today, Inside Evil with Chris Cuomo, Fox News, and Oxygen’s Dirty John: The Dirty Truth, among many other media outlets. Newell, alongside Laura Richards, was a speaker at CrimeCon 2019, discussing coercive control and her relationship with John Meehan. Photo by Collette “Coco” Sandstedt 

True-crime analyst, serial crime expert, creator, executive producer, and host of Investigation Discovery’s Dark Minds (2011–2014), and award winning investigative journalist.

Dirty John and Debra Newell

Surviving Dirty John 

By Debra Newell

Review by

Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews

First, I want to thank Debra Newell, BenBella Books and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review!!

WOW!! I truly commend Debra Newell for opening up her heart and soul and tell you in her own words her side of Surviving Dirty John My True Story about Love, Lies and Murder. If you are anything like me and LOVE all things true crime then you have probably seen her story on the small screen for NetFlix and other media outlets. However, that was what Hollywood wanted you to see! It was not the true full blown story of what happened. If you are looking for an easy read this is not one of them.

Debra would like to dedicate this book to all the female victims’ voices silenced and unheard; my beautiful, supportive children; and my sister, Cindi Ambrose Vickers, who was taken away from us far too soon Sometimes—just sometimes—cupid’s dart.

Surviving Dirty John gives us readers an inside look of how sick this monster really was!! My mind was literally blown at most of the stuff I was reading. My heart just broke for Debra who was choosing to put up with his garbage!! After reading this book I don’t think I could ever trust anyone off a dating site. 

However, this book is way more than just telling us the story of Dirty John. It is the heartbreaking story of the devastating effects that domestic violence can have on a couple. 

Debra shares with her readers beautiful pictures of the past with her children, her family, life with John, etc. It is a nice personal touch to the book in my opinion. 

This book is packed with educational facts and resources for her readers or anyone else put in this situation. 

What Debra went through was a pure nightmare that no woman should have had to go through. There is no doubt in my mind that this experience has made her so much stronger than she had ever been before.