Jones, Aphrodite (Alicia) 1958-

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JONES, Aphrodite (Alicia) 1958-

PERSONAL:

Born November 27, 1958, in Chicago, IL; daughter of Ashton Blair and Mary (Kallas) Jones. Education: University of California, B.A., 1979; Long Island University, M.A., 1987.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media Group, 41 Madison Ave., 36th Fl., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—aphroditejones@aol.com.

CAREER:

Writer and freelance journalist. TV Compulog, Farmingdale, NY, journalist, 1980-82; United Media, New York, NY, journalist, 1982-84; Pikeville Collge, New York, NY, assistant professor, 1988-90; Cumberland College, Williamsburg, KY, assistant professor, 1990-94. Created and hosted the Justice Hunters, USA, 2001.

WRITINGS:

The FBI Killer, Pinnacle (New York, NY), 1992.

All She Wanted, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Della's Web, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Cruel Sacrifice, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

The Embrace: A True Vampire Story, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Red Zone: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the San Francisco Dog Mauling, Morrow (New York, NY), 2003.

ADAPTATIONS:

The FBI Killer was adapated as a television movie by American Broadcasting Company, titled Betrayed by Love.

SIDELIGHTS:

Aphrodite Jones began her career as a freelance jounalist, covering the entertainment industry and writing celebrity profiles. Her initial foray into true-crime was covering a story on Mark Putnam, the first FBI agent to be convicted of manslaughter. Putnam had murdered Susan Smith Daniels, his lover and informant. Eventually, Jones expanded the story into a book called, The FBI Killer. The book was made into a television movie called Betrayed by Love, which starred Patricia Arquette as Daniels.

Jones's next true-life crime novel, All She Wanted, is the story of Teena Brandon (or Brandon Teena). Teena had passed herself off as a man in Nebraska and had various affairs with women until she was murdered. The story was also portrayed in the film Boys Don't Cry. Della's Web is a novel featuring Della Sutorius, "the surburban black widow." Della had a history of torturing men, until she was caught when she murdered her fifth husband, surgeon Darryl Sutorius. Jones's fourth novel, Cruel Sacrifice, follows the story of four teenage girls in rural Indiana who torture and murder a twelve-year-old girl.

The Embrace: A True Vampire Story unravels the gruesome murders of Ruth and Richard Wendorf. The murders are tied to Rod Ferrell, the leader of a vampire cult, who eventually ends up on death row. The Wendorfs' fifteen-year-old daughter, Heather, had also fallen under Ferrell's spell. A reviewer for Kirkus Reviews noted, "This grisly, long-winded book directs sympathy toward the beleaguered gothic subculture while exploiting its milieu of blood-letting and ritualized depravity."

Jones's 2003 book, Red Zone: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the San Francisco Dog Mauling, chronicles the bizarre death of thirty-three-year-old Diane Whipple. Whipple was mauled to death by dogs in the care of lawyers Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel. The pair were taking care of the dogs for their jailed client, Paul Schneider, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly stated, "Jones explores the lawyers' self-styled gothic world, a human 'red zone' involving pornography and beastiality." In a review for Booklist, David Pitt claimed that Red Zone is "thoughtful, compassionate, unsettling, and enlightening."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 1999, Stephanie Zvirin, review of The Embrace: A True Vampire Story, p. 1642; June 1, 2003, David Pitt, review of Red Zone: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of the San Francisco Dog Mauling, p. 1716.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 1999, review of The Embrace, p. 859; May 1, 2003, review of Red Zone, p. 659.

Publishers Weekly, May 17, 1999, review of The Embrace, p. 21; May 12, 2003, review of Red Zone, p. 54.