At Any Cost

A Father's Betrayal, a Wife's Murder, and a Ten-Year War for Justice

By: Rebecca Rosenberg, Selim Algar

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

At Any Cost unravels the twisted story of Rod Covlin, whose unrepentant greed drove him to an unspeakable act of murder and betrayal that rocked New York City.

Wealthy, beautiful, and brilliant, Shele Danishefsky had fulfillment at her fingertips. Having conquered Wall Street, she was eager to build a family with her much younger husband, promising Ivy League graduate Rod Covlin. But when his hidden vices surfaced, marital harmony gave way to a merciless divorce. Rod had long depended on Shele's income to fund his tastes for high stakes backgammon and infidelity - and she finally vowed to sever him from her will. In late December 2009, Shele made an appointment with her lawyer to block him from her millions. She would never make it to that meeting.

Two days later, on New Year’s Eve, Shele was found dead in the bathtub of her Upper West Side apartment. Police ruled it an accident, and Shele’s deeply Orthodox Jewish family quickly buried her without an autopsy on religious grounds. Rod had a clear path to his ex-wife's fortune, but suspicions about her death lingered. As the two families warred over custody of Shele’s children - and their inheritance - Rod concocted a series of increasingly demented schemes, even plotting to kill his own parents, to secure the treasure. And as investigators closed in, Rod committed a final, desperate act to frame his own daughter for her mother’s death.

Journalists Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar reconstruct the 10 years that passed between the day Shele was found dead and the day her killer faced justice in this riveting account of how one man’s irrepressible greed devolved into obsession, manipulation, and murder.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2021 Rebecca Rosenberg and Selim Algar (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Couldn’t Stop Listening

One of the best true crime stories I’ve ever heard. Narrated perfectly. I highly recommend this book for any true crime fan.

A Great Book...BUT

It was a great murder book, that shows you once again, money talks when it comes to Justice in this country.
A low life husband commits premeditated murder, and does away with his wife, who predicted her own demise.
The commentator was fair, and being kind with that rating.
Why an author just does not get several friends to play characters in the books they write, I will never know. This book gives you one commentator playing everyone's role, and I disdain that with authors at this level. The husband should be out within five years. Only in America.

Good story, narration could use revamping.

The overall story, while heartbreaking, was good. Thorough. Narration wasn't my favorite but palpable. Something about the tone made her sound bored with the reading.

Unbelievable Evil

Caution: If you prefer to have the plot unfold naturally, do not read the publisher's summary.

The first chapter is so engorged with florid purple prose that I very nearly ended the book on the spot. Examples: "In the snow-dappled early morning hours of New Year's Eve, 2009, little Anna Covlin blinked herself out of slumber," while her brother remained "suspended in Dreamland." Detectives didn't enter the scene, they "trundled" into the apartment. More emetic than narrative. Fortunately, the grim story rapidly takes charge and the narrative assumes a practical clinical tone. Thank you, God.

As Rod Covin's true nature begins to surface, we're faced with an evil that seems to know no bounds, each of his unbelievable actions or plans being more outrageous than the ones that preceded it. There are no winners in this sad tale.

Narration is fine, except for the startling mispronunciation of a few fairly common words, such as "persevered", which Zackman repackages as "per SEV ered".

Compelling story, uneven narration

The story is compelling and tragic, often very difficult to listen to just because the details are so horrible and sad. I agree with others who found the narrator’s shifting tone, often mid-sentence, distracting. It’s as though she often couldn’t make up her mind whether she should use a character voice or a narrator voice, and so just randomly switches between the two.

Paid for books I have enjoyed way less than this

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and how writer delivered. Reader does a quality job as well.

Excellent!

This "true crime" book is about a tragic crime within a NY family, telling the story with great sympathy! Well-researched. well-written...

thrilling!

A mental page turner right from the beginning, excellent narration, and thorough storytelling. Great listen!

Five stars for the telling

I almost couldn't finish this. The way the children were failed by the state is appalling. The paternal grandparents were no better. I can't fathom why the maternal grandparents were threatening to the children. It makes me sad to think about how many people were failed by the system.

Well-Written, Direct Telling of a Diabolical Crime.

Compelling. The authors honor the victim and reveal the damage resulting from needless, violence and prolonged family conflict.