True Crime Books

As an Ellroy fan, I, too, was annoyed at his not telling us the full story of how he "turned his life around" -- but then I recalled his mentions of 12-Step groups. In NA, AA, CA and all the rest, "A" stands for "anonymous." Mr. Ellroy might choose to disclose how 12-Step recovery groups helped him (members can compromise their own anonymity), but a careful reader will notice he doesn't do much beyond making mention of his involvement in such groups, tells a couple of anecdotes and that's it. He's honor-bound not to provide any details that might compromise the anonymity of another member (e.g, his sponsor, those other group members who helped him through the inevitable crises). Bill Wilson (whose last name we NOW know), one of the founders of AA, always emphasized that the welfare of the group was more important than the self-interest of any of its members. Fortunately, Ellroy was doing pretty well by the time he wrote This memoir, so (I'm surmising) he didn't have to fight with his conscience over including more specific information to boost sales. Consequently, we really can't expect a clear picture of recovery aided by 12-Step groups. I definitely picked up that Ellroy is very much aware that his involvement in such groups saved his life. I don't know the man personally, but by the time he wrote this, we had become a facile enough writer to "dance around" the subject of those lost years. Unwilling to fictionalize a memoir -- and he does strike me an a honorable man -- he did the best he could. The result? A somewhat choppy book that looks as if it could use surgical editing (to "track" the story properly). This book clearly comes from deep within Ellroy -- and it's a book he HAD to write. Try to temper your judgment of its style and structure with that knowledge and, I hope, compassionate understanding of the author.

My Dark Places stands alone among the most naked, poignant, exquisite writing I have ever encountered. Anyone unmoved by either its subject matter or the sheer beauty of Ellroy's prose must be clinically dead.

I've been a fan of James Ellroy since reading "The Black Dahlia" years ago. He blended violent death and raw eroticism, threw in a few dashes of creative nonfiction, and came up with a fast-paced noir tale about a detective who becomes obsessed with the murdered Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia. The protagonist doesn't content himself with merely trying to unmask her killer- he pursues Short as if she were yet attainable, loving her more in death than he ever could have in life.

"My Dark Places" evolved from an article Ellroy wrote for GQ Magazine after viewing the homicide file of his mother, Geneva 'Jean' Ellroy, whose strangled remains were dumped in a seedy L.A. suburb in 1958. The killer was never found and the case was closed, but the ten year old Ellroy was left with a lifelong fascination with the beautiful and the slaughtered. After battling through a personal hell of drug and alcohol addiction, he made unconscious attempts to reconnect with his mother by writing provocative and darkly loving crime fiction whose primary love interests were dead women.

Ellroy teamed up with veteran homicide detective Bill Stoner and re-opened the thirty year old case case. They pored over yellowing files and battered evidence boxes, and interviewed some of the last people to see Geneva Ellroy alive. Ellroy recounts their efforts in a suspenseful manner that would do justice to a good piece of detective fiction. While their investigation does not result in the finding of her killer, Ellroy clearly experiences a psychic catharsis in the process, and the reader witnesses a documented softening of a child's hostility into an adult son's love for a mother he never truly knew.

James Ellroy is undeniably a great writer, and the story he tells here --the unsolved murder of his mother when he was ten years old, and how the fact marked (and almost ruined) his life-- is an amazing one. But the book suffers, in my opinion, from a lack of editing. You can't blame Ellroy for believing that every single detail about the case, and his struggle to solve it, is fascinating, but the truth is, the writing suffers from too many details--some of them, irrelevant and even boring. A good editor could have transformed great but raw material into what it should have been: a masterpiece.

To better understand (if not enjoy) My Dark Places, I would suggest that you need to have read at least one Ellroy novel. It will help to put this semi-autobiography into perspective, and if you're already an Ellroy fan it will make a great deal more sense. It's an extraordinary piece of work, so ruthlessly exhaustive in its detail that I for one felt almost physically tired by the time I had finished. Not tired of reading the book itself, but tired just to think of the incredible lengths Ellroy went to in order to track down his mother's killer some 37/38 years after her death in 1958. Although the book is dedicated to Ellroy's wife Helen, it could just as well have been dedicated to Bill Stoner, the retired ex-detective who committed himself absolutely to the cause of helping Ellroy in his unusual quest - but this might be an opportunity to mention two of Ellroy's greatest works American Tabloid and The Cold Six Thousand, one a sequel to the other; the latter was in fact dedicated to Stoner and deservedly so.

In one sense I feel that this book was written almost exclusively for Ellroy himself to read, I'm sure that he had little commercial incentive or reasoning to do it. Yet the raw, body-pummelling honesty of the book from start to finish makes for fascinating reading for those who, like myself, have ever wondered what made Ellroy write in the way he does in such classics as The Black Dahlia or The Big Nowhere. I have to admit that the short sentence style adopted in My Dark Places does irritate at times, in spite of the fact that the writer explains this after the end of the story. It gave me the impression that what we are reading, much of the time, are either his own or Stoner's investigatory notes and copied to the page verbatim.

The lasting impression though is the tireless and absolutely relentless commitment to the cause of a murder investigation. Although there are only a handful of characters who appear in the book throughout, there are nevertheless several hundred others who are mentioned during its course, the majority of whom are either related to the victim or are suspected of being so - and ALL of these suspects, no matter how faint their association to the crime might seem, have to be contacted and interviewed. I guess that this gives us an insight into the mechanics of any murder investigation, and how different it is to the relative glamourisation we see on the TV. This book covers, in finite detail, the day-to-day work of a real-life murder investigation, one which was spread well over a year and one which covered every single day of that period. The huge difference of course is that the victim is the investigator's mother, and the death took place most of his life ago.

After closing the last page, I felt that while I didn't exactly understand Ellroy as a personality that much better, I certainly knew him and his motives as a writer more than I had. My Dark Places strips away much of the mystery surrounding him and helps to explain what made him a self-styled specialist of 1950's LA crime fiction; he was a victim of the real thing.

A little confusing in the beginning due to author and Intrepid's name being very similar but I got the hang of it and then captivated by the end. So much so, that I immediately started reading it again. Funny, the man who recommended it to me did the exact same thing I found out afterwards. We had to go back and take in all the detail to make sure we didn't miss anything.
I marveled at the things I was unaware of due to the "popular" versions of WWII events that have been published for years. Amazing how propaganda and misinformation can influence us so much. A must read for anyone interested in WW II. Excellent insights into Roosevelt and Churchill and the those behind the scenes who could never get credit for changing/influencing history.

If you want to know what led up to WWII, this is the book for you. Fascinating little known historic facts and behind the scene events.

I read that Valerie Plame had read this book and that it made a difference in her choice of careers, and was curious about a book that could have such an impact. I found it fascinating and an easy read, and have to compare some of the reviews to the famed contemporary critic of Mozart who complained there were too many notes. This book explained so much that I have been looking for in trying to grasp the big picture of WWII. I was left feeling immense gratitude for the people who gave so much for the cause of freedom.
The person who posted a review in January 2007 seems to be mistaken in stating "Stephenson (who was the agent Intrepid, not the author of the book)... claims that President Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor in advance - a debatable claim..." while the book itself (Chapter 23) describes in a footnote certain documents that "led to the false accusations that President Roosevelt knew beforehand abou the planned Japanese attack." I could not find the claim attributed to Stephenson in the book-did I miss it?

What a great and interesting unknown ( to many of us ) part of WW2.
I fascinated by the BSE story, and the fact of being headquartered in New York. This is a must for the history or intelligence student. What a creative and intelligent mind, Sir William from being a canadian teen, WW1 trench fighter, WW1 fighter pilot, becoming a millionaire in the 20's and did not hesitate to use his life and fortune to fight evil, nazi Germany and comunist Russia.
His creation, the British Security Coordination, led to the CIA and one of his staff members, a Royal Navy officer named Ian Fleming, wrote all the scripts for James Bond 007. The beautyful female agents in 007 can be traced back to Cynthia, code name for a super sexy BSE agent.

Just read the book, I enjoyed page by page, and paid my respect to the Room 3603 at the Rockfeller Center, the former headquarter of BSE and Sir William.

The book is a real page turner and it's a true history. The fact that the book has been in print since 1976 tells a lot.

NEVER LEAVE ME did, in fact, make a boring airplane trip pass more quickly but that is ALL the praise I can give. The writing is about the worst I have ever read. Clearly the writer has a poor editor, is his own editor (and doesn't have a command of English grammar) or does not even have an editor. The text is replete with glaring errors, lame descriptions, boring repetition and confused storytelling. I could go on and on. As for the story, it was mostly forgettable for me because the writing was so weak and awkward. As a genre, true crime books are not usually penned by great writers, in my opinion. But this book was just so bad.

Good read. Moved along well. Most times you felt like you either knew them or you were there to see what was going on. You felt Michelle's pain for not having her husband home and needing to find male compainionship elsewhere. There was never any doubt who had done this crime of passion. John Glatt really makes True Crime interesting with the way he is indept and presis down to the bare bones of it. Definately a book to read.

I was very disappointed in the writing style I was not able to finish the book got stuck all the time with author talking about what the company was achieving he gave very little time about the wife. In one part of the book it states she is 22 having her first child and in the photos she is getting married and 23 and had not had children before the wedding.Conflicting!!

The book did not flow I felt if he spoke one more time about the company the Dr created I was going to scream.

I won't be buying John Glatts books again I want to be entertained not bored with details that is not necessary.

Once again John Glatt does a great job if you like true crime make sure you read all of John Glatt's book he is a great writer.

This is a tragic story. When it becomes to an affair of the heart one never knows what another will do.

I read all other reviews of this book before I ordered it, but the story (which I was not familiar with) sounded interesting and I am a true crime reader, so I ordered it. I do wonder how well these St. Martin's True Crime Library books are edited. There are typos and some inconsistencies in the details presented by the author, but these are probably "picky" criticisms on my part. I had not read John Glatt prior to this book, but I don't think I'll be seeking out other books of his. I just did not subjectively enjoy his writing style.

This is a gripping tale of what happens when organizations don't do their jobs. I know the parents of one of this mass-murder's victims who was able to conceal his crime because of the once common arrogance of hospital's and their medical staffs. As a hospital administrator, I can report that much has changed in the physician credentialing process because of the death and mayhem wrecked by the murderer Jeff Swango!

Not only was this book a great read, it also displays the significant truth about the world of medicine. This type of behavior (ignoring what's in front of you) happens everyday in medicine. All credentialing personnel should be required to read this book.

I was given "Blind Eye" when I first began working at a physician monitoring program as a clinician. At the time, I was under the impression that because physicians have so much responsibility to "do no harm," they would automatically report themselves or fellow physicians if they believed they were impaired mentally, physically or emotionally. How wrong I was!

"Blind Eye" represents the epitome of how our medical system supports physicians, even when they are dangerous to themselves and others. Through a painstaking and exhaustive review of the life and career of Dr. Michael Swango, James B. Stewart illustrates how easy it was for a medical doctor to manipulate nurses, colleagues, administrators, patients, and even his own family into believing that he was a competent physician. Stewart further demonstrates how the "good old boy" system is alive and well in America, in which doctors look the other way when something seems wrong, even when evidence to the contrary is right in front of them.

If I had not read this book, knowing it is a true story, I probably would not have believed that a physician could truly get away with murder; now I am truly convinced that this is, unfortunatly, the case. "Blind Eye" should be required reading for every person who works with or sees a personal physician.

This is a fascinating story about how the medical establishment did not detect a psycopath in their midst. Even after detection, they allowed him to continue as a doctor.

Even more upsetting was the failure of the faculty of the college of medicine at Southern Illinois University to detect and fail incompetent students. These students, including Michael Swango, were allowed to continue; even after episodes of total incompetence. If these policies are common at other medical schools, it offers an explanation for the large number of substandard physicians.

Stewart's coverage of the l'affaire Swango is exemplary--one of the best true crime reads in the last ten years, this one....except...except for what I've found to be a common occurrence in books of this genre, namely, in this instance, that Michael Swango, not once, not twice, but probably 20 times, is described as "handsome": what's up with that? Swango looks like a cartoon horse, and in no sense of the word "handsome" is he, well, even slightly better than subpar in the looks department. Several b/w pix here document this guy's oversized choppers, narrow head, and so on. So why is this the case? Possibly to lure name actors into vying for the lead in a filming of this, and thus make the project more attractive in order to secure a better deal? That's the only thing I can think of and, as I say, this is a common problem in the true crime genre. SO: it's a five-star read, but docked a notch because, if the author continually overstates a major fact regarding the book's main character's appearance, the reader HAS to wonder, Hey, what other liberties are taken with the truth here? Be that as it may--a tip o' the hat to Stewart for his page-turning prose. Possibly the best book I've ever read about a poisoner, including the great works covering the infamous 19th and early 20th century cases, when poison was much in vogue.

I SAW THE AD ON T.V. BEFORE THE BOOK CAME OUT AND MY WIFE BOUGHT IT FOR ME AFTER I EXPRESSED INTEREST IN IT . I OWNED A LARGE POOL ROOM IN WEST PHILA. AND I WAS A ''REGULAR'' ON 52ND ST, SO I SAW A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE ON ALMOST A DAILY BASIS !! IN FACT, I PULLED UP ABOUT 10 MINUTES AFTER FOO-FOO REGAN HAD GOTTEN SHOT. I CAN STILL SMELL THE AROMA OF THOSE ''MAMMA JAMMAS'' HE SOLD . I ALSO REMEMBER THE NIGHT DENNIS SWIFT GOT SHOT ON 52ND ST. AS STATED IN THE BOOK, DENNIS WAS THE ALLEGED SHOOTER OF FOO-FOO. I HAD THE DISTINCTION OF COMING UP RIGHT AFTER DENNIS WAS SHOT ALSO !! MY TIMING WAS ''OFF' BY 10 MINUTES IN BOTH CASES!! I REMEMBER 98 PCT. OF THE INCIDENTS IN BLACK BROS. AND READING ABOUT THOSE THINGS AND THE PEOPLE INVOLVED BRINGS BACK SO MANY MEMORIES.

I REMEMBER THE DAY I HAD TO ASK RONALD HARVEY TO PLEASE NOT COME INTO THE POOL ROOM ANYMORE . THAT WAS ONE OF THE SCARIEST MOMENTS IN MY LIFE !! BUT HE KNEW I WASN'T TRYING TO BE A ''TOUGH GUY'' AND HE SAID HE UNDERSTOOD THAT I HAD A BUSINESS TO RUN AND THERE WAS NO PROBLEM !!

SO MANY MEMORIES !! I HAVE BOUGHT THE BOOK FOUR TIMES AND LENT IT OUT EACH TIME AND NEVER GOT ANY OF THEM BACK . I WILL BUY IT AGAIN AND READ IT AGAIN FOR ALTHOUGH THERE IS SO MUCH VIOLENCE, THOSE DAYS WERE SOME OF THE MOST FUN DAYS AND NIGHTS OF MY LIFE !! I ESPECIALLY REMEMBER THE TIMES ON 52ND ST. WHEN ''COUPE DEVILLES'', A CLUB, WAS OPEN . WE SAW SO MANY CELEBRITIES THERE AND I CAN STILL SMELL THE STEAKS AND HOAGIES AND THE OTHER SMELLS ASSOCIATED WITH ''THE STRIP''.

I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS BOOK AND EVERYONE WHO I HAVE TURNED ON TO IT SAYS THE SAME THING !!

I HAVE TO COMMENT ON THE SADDEST PART OF THE BOOK AND THAT IS WHEN I THUMB THRU IT , I KEEP SEEING THAT LARGE PICTURE OF ''TANK''/LARRIS FRAZIER !! HE WAS A VERY GOOD FRIEND OF MINE AND IT HURTS TO SEE HIS PICTURE STARING OUT AT ME AND KNOWING HE WILL NEVER BE A FREE MAN AGAIN !!

A great book. Its very detailed and the author really connects the dots. Sometimes I went to sleep afraid at the memory of the horrific crimes and the terrible legacy created by the Black Mafia. May it never happen again.

i could not get through this book . It seemed to go back in forth in time with random stories of violence with so many differant characters , it was hard to keep up with who was doing what .

Gun violence has become so commonplace in today's Philadelphia that it is difficult to remember the days when homicide once shocked us. "Black Brothers, Inc." takes us back to those days, when gangsters presented themselves as community leaders, killing was the exception--not the norm, and murder was purposeful.

In a story as gripping as "The Sopranos," "Black Brothers, Inc." charts the rise of Philadelphia's Black mafia in the 1960s and its ultimate downfall. These brothers were excellent businessmen, holding regular meetings and carefully negotiating mergers and acquisitions of rival syndicates. They were also ruthless, killing with impunity anyone who might testify in court against them.

This book is a fun read, as Sean Patrick Griffin writes tautly and keeps the story moving. He is also adept at linking all sorts of unlikely bedfellows; he painstakingly documents the ties between the Black mafia and Philadelphia's Temple 12 in the Nation of Islam.

Unfortunately, Griffin's conspiracy theories occasionally get out of hand, and he often implies that all African-Americans involved in politics or business are somehow connected with the criminal elements. What Griffin apparently fails to realize is that Philadelphia is a small town, the black community is a small community, and in the end, only a few degrees separate any two individuals. The notion that all black success in Philadelphia is due to organized crime--or even the more prosaic corruption that regularly surfaces in the City Hall--is simply racism.

For its insights into crime, the book is a good buy; for its analysis of the City's political culture, go elsewhere.

The book made me clearly understand a lot of the going ons during that time because I was young.
Growing up in the sections of the city of Philly and ,especially the South Philly side of the action, most of the storied account is true.
The book made me relive the 70's all over again. Most people didn't know of the Black Mafia because it was to be a secret amonst us South Phillyains.
Most of the guys that mentioned in the book were nice and respectable guys though they did their thing.(unlike these so call gangsters of today,when they reached their target they didn't miss and hit innocent people)).
What book failed to mention is the dealing and payoffs within the police departments.
Overall a good incite to what was going on back then !!!

This is a fun outsider's guide to espionage. The text is accessible enough for readers as young as early teens. Artwork complements the text nicely.

Good:
-Casual treatment of real espionage subject matter
-Writing is a very easy read
-Anecdotes and historic figures and incidents
-Direct quotes from spies and related personnel
-Material attempts to relate spy skills to everyday life, travel, etc.

Bad:
-Could have been a little more in-depth
-Some treatment of the subject was a little silly

Reading this book will not, obviously, prepare one for work as a spy. It does pull back the curtain on an interesting field and makes some of the techniques applicable to non-spy activities.

This book would make a good gift for anyone (from young teens to adults) having an interest in the subject, or perhaps as a light (!) introduction for those curious about what espionage or intelligence as a career might entail.

This is a brilliant, humorous and suscinct introduction to the ethos of spying. The spy is not a technologist nor a SWAT officer, but someone trained in "awareness" and able to approach discreetly her objective to get "intel". This book puts forward the essence of that spirit and the regular behaviour to be acquired, even if it precludes intentionally the sordid side. For that maybe you should read John Le Carre.

I use the concepts in this book every day. As a spy, it is imperative to remember the ideas presented in this book for recruiting, questioning, and handling agents and spying on others in general. And if you are not a spy, this book is great for assessing situations, acting on your instincts, and getting into the VIP section of that awesome restaurant so you won't be stuck in the rain waiting for that girl who stood you up.

I loved this book. It was entertaining and informative. The book is as smart as it is good looking. There isn't too much information, but the right amount to go on. Improving your spy skills improves your general life skills.

The book is enjoyable and takes a light-hearted approach, often playing on the average person's perception of spies. This means a lot of references to James Bond and gadgetry. However the real content of the book is based in some beginning human intelligence skills, like improving your memory, being more aware of your surroundings and danger, and profiling people and their temperments.

I found most useful the discussion on using the Myers-Briggs personality test as a basis for profiling people and trying to predict their behaviors. Also intriguing was the section on Dale Carnegie as a "master spymaster" because he understood how to influence people; a nice connection made by the author, going to the core of how espionage is mostly based on human interaction and not gadgetry.

While some of these basics were worthwhile, I was distracted and disappointed with the constant effort to loop everything back to James Bond. The book really assumes the reader knows nothing more about espionage than watching Bond films, and it tries to be funny by talking about using "that James Bond charm" or "Q's gadgets" to get out of sticky situations. The effort to lighten the mood was mishandled because as much as the author tries to be funny he is just not a comedy writer and his jokes are lame.

I would regard this book as light on content and more of an entertainment book. It does have a few basic tips that are insightful.

This book has a lot of details and is very good. Don't expect this book to tell you lots and lots about the gangsters of the era... it's more of a detailed account of the FBI and how they got organized. Again, lots of details, making it slow reading, but very good material!

This is a great book. Author infers in his introduction that this was a labor of love and it shows in his writing. At over 500 pages, it shows the relationship of the five major criminal gangs of the 1933-34 time period. Those were the Barker Gang, Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, and Dillenger. With the exception of Bonnie and Clyde (who were strictly small time), all knew each other and helped in raids. None of these people were glamourous since they all murdered people. Dillenger killed three policemen. Bonnie, Clyde, and Baby Face Nelson were psychopaths. Why people had admiration for them is beyond me, but the times were hard and many felt banks were as crooked as those who robbed them.

This book also details the rise of the FBI and how Hoover interferred with the progress of investigations. Purvis was mildly incompetent. Why some of these gangsters roomed the streets was due to FBI leads not being followed up. In the end, the FBI became more professional due to this crime wave. Hoover went on to become the Crime Dictator for forty years.

This is a great book and is very readable. For those interested in the Great Depression and the fall of the bank robbers, this is a treasure trove of information. Highly recommended.

A very interesting book. Let's you know exactly what happens back in the old days. Good reading.

For history buffs, this is a find! I could not put this book down! WoW, loaded, just packed with information on the PUBLIC ENEMIES! With all the fuss now, with Johnny Depp starring in Public Enemies, based on this book, I am sure this will be THE book everyone will have to read. The movie is coming out in 2009. Filmed in the Midwest; Wisconsin, Indiana, etc, and even at Little Bohemia, in Northern Wisconsin, where the Feds goofed up bigtime and J.Edgar Hoover covered, or at least tried to cover up their blunder, when innocent citizens were gunned down, instead of the "gangstas". You will love this, you won't want the book to end, it covers all of them, Johhny Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, Ma Barker and her gang, Machine Gun Kelly. It's all here, and of course, Bonnie and Clyde. You will be right at the scenes, even when they met their bloody early demise, and most of them went out shooting their tommy guns. The author did a magnificent job of researching his subjects. You won't be disappointed spending a weekend reading this one!

This is what good history books should be all about. Mr. Burrough's engaging retelling of the overly romanticized, Depression-era criminals and exposing Hoover's public relations spin for personal gain was very effect. Historians that capably dissect events from the past help us to understand how today's events are also manipulated for political and philosophical gain. As trite as it may sound, history does repeat itself. Mr. Burrough's book is well written and kept me entertained and informed throughout. Thoroughly enjoyable.

I read this story from three different authors. It is a sad but true story. Worth your time to read.

I live in Pontotoc County. Now that everything has settled down, it's back to normal. This is a scary place to live. This book is a very accurate account, things like that happen here all the time again. OSBI, doesn't seem to care. FBI will not return anyones calls. It's a must read people!! I just hope I don't disappear for saying so. You just don't go in front of most of the Judges here for anything. I am glad to not be a criminal but around here you don't have to be. I have been lucky thus far.

I bought this book after reading The Innocent Man by John Grisham. I personally could not get into this book like I did the other one. But other reviews tell me it is an excellent book.

No American can afford to not read either The Dreams of Ada by Robert Mayer or The Innocent Man by John Grisham. Coming from a family of cops I have always known that innocent people are convicted of serious crimes all the time but the cases outlined in these two books are detestable. You absolutely must read these books. Now.

This book is a great read, one of injustice and leaves the reader puzzled and sad, and wondering why in God's great world is this man (the DA) is still in office. It must be an embarrassment to the citizens of Ada, OK. I am in prayer for these men and their families.

This book is more of a yearbook of the victims than it is an account of the crimes or the mind of the GRK. It just went on and on about each girl and her miserable life and how that led her into the world of prostitution and eventually to becoming a GRK victim. I read about 3/4 of the book and then just gave up. It just went on and on and on and jumped all over the place. Only Ann Rule book I did not enjoy. And the first book I have ever not bothered to finish reading.

Accurately and graphically covering details of horrific murders, Ann Rule does so with compassion and sympathy. This is not any easy task considering the horror of the crimes against more than 50 young women in the Pacific Northwest during the 1980's. Rule gives the reader insight into the both the killer's and the victim's motivations and life's story. This story is well-presented and conclusive. Recommended.

I could not get past the first 100 pages. The topic is interesting but the style of the writing is boring and unbearable. Hard to stay interested with all the off topic tangents the author goes on.

It took Ms Rule over 20 yrs to write this book , and as you will tell it is very well written . It tells us the story of the 49 victims and a little of what their life was like as most of them lived on the streets .
The Green River Killer (GRK) didn't have a preference , He didn't care about the age or race of the girls , He just patroled the strip for his victims . SOme of them being easy targets as they were prositutes and others that weren't . This book shows us how anyone can fall victim to this type of crime when there is a serial killer loose .

You never know your neighbor or friend as Ms Rule says in here as she worked along side of Ted Bundy prior to his killing spree .

Was the GRK ever caught and what happened , you have to read the book to find out .

I decided to read this book after seeing the TV movie based on Ann Rule's book. However, I believe another book written in the late 80s/early 90s, The Search For the Green River Killer, was better.

Rule's book goes a bit overboard in giving backgrounds to the many women who disappeared. After reading 40+ mini bio's on each of the girls, the book starts to become a bit boring. However, she does give the reader enough information to know that these girls were real people and that they all had mothers, boyfriends, and family. However, these bios continue for at least 250 pages (paperback). Once the bios are finished, the book begins to take off.

One irritating factor is how Rule stops the flow of narration to interject comments about herself, or what she was doing during the course of the killings, or how she passed on certain information to the police, blah blah blah. I believe one should write objectively about the subject without personal interjection.

Another facet of the book I found unusual was how the book skipped from circa 1988/89 to 2001. Rule gives basically no information as to what was happening on the case during the 90s. She starts section III with 2001 and the capture of Ridgway. Well...what happened during the 90s? How did the police slowly hone in on Ridgway?

The last section of the book starts with "We've caught the GRK" and then goes into his capture, his trial and so on.

I've read other Ann Rule books. I know she writes well but this book was a bit self-serving.