SAN FRANCISCO - A new book written by Scott Peterson's half-sister paints the now-familiar picture of him as a lying philanderer fixated on himself and uninterested in the search for his missing wife.

But it also sheds new light on Jackie Peterson, describing her as a mother willing to go to any lengths to save her son.

Author Anne Bird was given up for adoption by Jackie Peterson in 1965 and did not reconnect with the family until five years before the 2002 murder of Peterson's wife, Laci, and her eight-month-old fetus.

During that time, she said, she grew close to all the Petersons but felt the deepest connection to Scott, in part because their physical resemblance was so strong.

"He really was the golden boy," Bird wrote. "He was a real charmer, the kind of guy who lights up a room. I had always considered myself a good judge of character, and I thought Scott was about as solid and genuine as they came."

"Blood Brother: 33 Reasons My Brother Scott Peterson is Guilty" went on sale Tuesday.

Bird offered her half-brother a guest room in her house after Laci's disappearance, when he was being hounded by the media.

While her husband was suspicious of Peterson early on, Bird supported him. When her husband pointed out that Peterson never seemed upset and never mentioned his missing wife, Bird suggested he might just be traumatized.

"When are you going to stop making excuses for him?" her husband responded.

As Peterson's behavior grew more strange, Bird wrote that she began to doubt his innocence. Some examples, as depicted in the book:

He flirted with Bird's 22-year-old baby sitter.

He surfed Internet porn sites from Bird's home computer.

He dismissed Amber Frey as a "down and dirty" fling and told Bird about having sex with two strangers in an airplane's bathroom on a long flight.

Jackie Peterson's actions also bothered Bird, who noticed her being critical of her daughter-in-law. Jackie Peterson once called Bird to complain about the "by-the-book" wording of a thank-you card Laci had sent, according to the book.

On another occasion, she wrote that her mother told Bird's baby sitter: "I wish Scott could meet someone like you."

Jackie Peterson also tried to persuade Bird to testify during the penalty phase of Peterson's double-murder trial, but she refused.

"She would go to any lengths to save him, do anything for her little boy, fight to the death if she had to," Bird wrote.

Peterson was convicted in November, and a jury recommended the death penalty the following month. A judge will sentence him March 16.

The 214-page book closes with a chapter about Bird's final visit to Peterson in jail a little more than a month ago. He assured her he would be released after his appeals. She went out to the parking lot and cried.

"Scott was going to be locked away for the rest of his life, and it wasn't registering," she wrote. "He thought it was temporary. I guess they all do. I guess that's how they survive."