Sudden Fury

by Leslie Walker

In 1984, 17-year-old Larry Swartz killed his foster parents in an Annapolis, Md., suburb. One of the couple's three adopted children, he was shy and emotionally undemonstrative. His background and the circumstances leading to murder are the thrust of this searching study by Baltimore Evening Sun reporter Walker, less a true-crime re-creation than the story of a tortured being. Larry was given up by his birth mother when he was two and shunted from family to family, none of them willing to cope with his increasing insecurity and alienation. At age six, he was adopted by Bob and Kay Swartz, a model church-going Catholic couple but severe and demanding of their children, the father's temper sometimes growing into physical abuse.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History

385 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Koren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one true crime story where you actually feel kind of sorry for the murderer. He seemed like such a sweet little kid but was born to a mother who was not prepared to care for him and gave him up permanently when he was around 3 years old. He then went through a series of foster homes before finally being adopted by a couple who were very abusive physically and mentally. He also had an adopted older brother who they were abused. When the boy was about 17 he killed both of his adoptive parents. The son does not talk very much about what the breaking point was in his mind that made him do what he did so that is not discussed very much. The book does go deep into the backgrounds of the parents and the two sons and I liked that a lot. The only thing I didn't really care for was how the book goes back and forth in time quite a bit so if you put the book down for a while sometimes it was hard to get back into where they were at in the timeline, but otherwise, a well-written book.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

OMG The author annoys the hell out of me sometimes. I have read 262 pages and so far I have not read anything that can excuse what this guy did.
He slaughtered his parents and yes his parents were a bit controlling and he did not get as much freedom as he wanted to but that is not a reason to kill.

I am going to read cause I can't wait to find out why everybody online is going Oh poor Larry. (who apparently died age 36 or so and is called a saint by people)

So I am sure there will be a lot of cruel stories to be heard during trial. See what I think then... See if that will change my mind.

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Update August 13 2014.

Well I have finished this book and nowhere was it proven that this killer's life was so bad he had to slaughter his parents.
For example the author told us how poor Larry had a lot of freedom if he was with certain friends of his but if he was with one his parents did not trust they were more strict. The author wrote that if that was crazy but I can assure you that most parents are like that.

One thing I respect Larry for is that he was given a reason why he murdered them on a platter by an admiring victim of incest. She insinuated that he too was sexually assaulted but he denied that.

There is hardly anything in this book about the loved ones of Kay and Bob Schwartz. Apparently what they were going through was not important. Not to the author and not to the lawyers. (even the prosecutor could not think straight as was obvious in this book because he all of a sudden started to feel guilty how he had treated his son. making him do the things He wanted him to like.

Yes I understand that he had a hard upbringing but because of that it is okay to kill?
Did you know he even confessed that he had lied and that it was not because of sudden rage( why the author kept that title is obviously cause he liked the sudden rage story better)

No Larry had planned to kill his parents and had tried to do it a few times before.

Now if this book had been neutral or more like other books I can assure you that readers would not feel so sorry for Larry and no compassion for his parents. Apparently there was also a movie made based on this and I think reading all those fans of Larry that a: it was based on this book, poor poor Larry and B; he was quite handsome so that also made his fans not want him to be guilty of cruelty.

Now to be fair the writing was excellent but because of being annoyed a lot I cannot give this book many stars. Hate biased books.

[Micky Parise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a very interesting true story about the murders of Larry Swartz's parents by him. Very insightful, thoughtful account of the story. After reading the book, seen Larry passed away at 36. Heartfelt moving book about everything is not what it seems. Recommend.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished Sudden Fury by Leslie Walker. I thoroughly enjoyed this author and her intriguing sad story about human emotions and how it explodes. It is the story about the victims and very much about the killer as well.
She takes you back to childhood years filled with pain, neglect and researched both the victims and the perpetrator and how it came to be. The spotlight clearly shines on adoptions, foster parenting all things concerning family's strengths and their weakness as well. I must read! I give it 5&06&65

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good read. I think the author spent a leetle too much time delving into the childhood issues of the defense attorneys, but overall this was a really good study of a crime that is not so baffling after all.

[Gisele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad story. Don't adopt kids if you can't deal with kids. Adoptive parents should be gentler and kinder... The "system" that handles these homeless kids must somehow exercise better oversight.

[Jen Larkin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. I threw my copy away so no one else would have to read it.

[Lenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely spellbinding book. Couldn't put it down till I was done reading every page. Highly recommend! All about adopted children and subsequent parental murder.

[Shana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well researched and well written true crime book that I really enjoyed. I am a clinical social worker and worked in child welfare for many years, so there were many interesting mental health and child welfare aspects to this book for me. It's a very sad story in many ways. Obviously the outcome is gruesome and tragic and Larry's back story is also incredibly sad. He had a string of pretty crappy foster parents that I had little sympathy for, especially the people who thought having to change sheets every day because a kid wet the bed was a reason to get rid of him. He did find a permanent home with Bob and Kay Swartz, which should have been a positive ending for him, but unfortunately they did not have the skills, expectations or temperments required to parent older children who'd been through trauma and disrupted attachment. Even today, parents have a hard time getting support for raising kids who have gone through trauma and disrupted attachments and I'm sure it was even worse in the 60's and 70's when mental health and trauma were not things that were typically discussed so I have some sympathy for the fact that it was probably very hard to access appropriate help and information. Having worked in child welfare, I had questioned why Bob and Kay Swartz were able to adopt a second boy, Michael, so soon after taking on the first boy, Larry, who obviously had emotional and attachment problems and needed a lot of support and attention. I feel like this story would have turned out differently if that had not been allowed. At times, I had real difficulty digging up any empathy for the Swartz parents. It seemed like these people were not screened adequately to be adoptive parents. Even though they could meet the children's basic care needs, they seemed to have no parenting skills from an emotional point of view. The husband in particular seemed very ill equipped to be a parent. (How interesting that his special hobby was spending every weekend screaming at women trying to get healthcare during a terrible time in their lives and being sanctimonious about being an adoptive parent.) The way Bob and Kay reacted to the problems in the family and the fact that they completely rejected their oldest adopted son certainly sent a message to the other adopted kids and contributed to the horrible outcome. I hope Annie went on to live with a more loving and understanding family and is somewhere doing well today.

[Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My local library had a book sale. There was an old copy of Sudden Fury for 20 cents, and I took a chance on it. After reading the book, I am glad that I did so.

In the 1970s, Bob and Kay Swartz of Cape St. Claire, Maryland, wanted to start a family. Unable to conceive children, they adopted two boys and a girl. Then, things went bad. Both of the boys had been through nightmarish experiences during their years in foster care. The older son (Michael) ended up in reform school. Even worse, in 1984, the younger son (Larry) murdered Bob and Kay.

Predictably, the justice system struggled to resolve the case. Author Leslie Walker places a lot of the blame for Bob's and Kay's murders on the victims themselves. Walker believes that the Swartz's strict parenting (with frequent corporal punishment) and devout Roman Catholicism contributed to the murders. Readers will differ on whether they agree with Walker's take on the case. (After readers finish the book, they will want to Google Michael and Larry to see what became of them).

While I thought that Walker was pretty rough on Bob and Kay, the book held my attention from start to finish. I recommend it.

[Kt Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was intense! So I was interested in this book for two reasons 1) I love true crime stories and 2) my aunt and uncle were neighbors of the Swartzes. I am a special educator and as I read this book my heart was so sad for the children in this story and the lack of knowledge of special education and the needs of children. I was very fortunate and adopted by the most wonderful, loving and caring parents. I can't even imagine what it was like to be in the shoes of Larry and Michael and having someone berate me over grades when I didn't know how to learn something. This book left me with a lot of mixed feelings and emotions. I felt so bad for the children, but at the same time I don't condone murder, but I felt like Larry didn't have a choice or maybe he didn't know of any other choices because the only adults in his life were complete let downs.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of the book mention my hometown. I remember meeting Larry when he visited his cousins in the summer of 1982 or 1983. I remember he was very attractive but he seemed a little cocky at the time. I remember finding out later the next year that he had murdered his parents which to me seemed scary since I had met him briefly the previous year. I never knew his parents but I knew his cousins. A very interesting read even after all these years.

[Carol Aselton]

This book was heartbreaking. It was a reality story -- back then but also now. Parentless children stuck in the "system" and overzealous rule-ridden parents who have no real concept of their children (adopted in this case) or other people for that matter. Leslie Walker did a magnificent job, not only with the story, but showing the sad but true personalities of everyone involved. Kudos to the author. She really must have done an awesome amount of research.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horrific Murder that happened in a community near my home. It was of interest to me because we knew some of the deceased parents neighbors and also because as an adoptee am always interested in the cases of adoptee's who kill their parents and what factors may contribute if any can be known.

[Terri Eickhoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

True story that’s written in such a way that keeps you hanging on terrified!

[David Eason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely written but too long…….200 pages vs 384

[Susan Ashline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written, and intensively researched. I couldn't put this book down. It flowed well and read like fiction. I appreciated the update in the back matter.

On the downside, I did feel bias in the author's work, as it seems she focused more on the abuse angle, which didn't actually seem like abuse to me. Larry's adoptive father punching him was certainly abuse. But here's an example of cited behavior that it seems was written in a sympathetic way: "Larry was a slob and left his clothing all over the floor, refusing to pick it up. His mother told him that if he didn't start picking up his clothes and putting them away, he would have to buy his own clothes." The author then talks about how poor Larry didn't have money to buy things, because he was supposedly forced to spend what little money he had to buy his own clothes. Well- that's a bad choice HE made. He could've simply chosen to pick up his clothes off the floor. Instead of cleaning up after himself, he decided he would buy his own clothes. If that were a reason to murder parents, this would be a world full of children.

[Leonore · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a well written book that really got you to think about how not to treat children. Larry's life was such a disaster from the beginning. So very sad to know that he could kill and not even tell why or the truth. Mentally ill or cold blooded killer? It gives a compelling story on both sides of the argument. I really hope that our foster care has changed for the better, because the story of this kid never getting the help he needed is truly sad.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting look at a dysfunctional family and how it turned tragic.

[Voracious · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. A bit more in-depth than I needed.