Serial Killers Books

This book won the 2006 Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence. It was the first of four quirky comedy romances which this author has so far published under the name Jennifer Skully. These are -

Sex and the Serial Killer
Fool's Gold
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Sheer Dynamite

The fifth, "It must be magic" is due out in June 2007, and the sixth, "Your Heart or Mine," in April 2008.

Mostly these four novels stand on their own, with one exception. One of the main supporting characters of "Sex and the Serial Killer" is the hero of "Fool's Gold," which is set shortly afterwards, so if you are minded to read both, tackle "Sex and the Serial Killer" first.

The heroine of "Sex and the Serial Killer," Roberta Jones Spivey, has just been dumped by her husband of 15 years. She foolishly helped him to find his former High School sweetheart, (supposedly so he could find "closure" by seeing her once more.) Surprise, surprise, when the search is successful the rat tells Roberta he is divorcing her and moving to Cottonmouth where his former sweetheart lives - even though the latter has not got round to leaving or divorcing her own husband.

Roberta decides to shorten her name to Bobbie Jones, and change her look - so far so good. But instead of saying "goodbye and good riddance" to her idiot of a husband, she resigns her job as head of accounting at a Silicon Valley company, follows her husband to Cottonmouth, and gets a job as a waitress paying a tenth of what she used to earn.

When Bobbie moves into her newly rented house in Cottonmouth, the other neighbours warn her that the handsome man opposite is suspected of being a serial killer. Bobbie thinks they're talking nonsense - but flirting with an alleged serial killer to shock everyone, and especially her about-to-be-ex husband, sounds exciting.

One of the good things about Jennifer Skully's books is that you often can't tell what's going to happen. In two of her first four books, the heroine is warned not to date a man who her friends think may be a lunatic or a killer. In both books she thinks they're talking nonsense and goes ahead. In one novel the heroine is right and the man turns out to be a misunderstood good guy; in the other novel her friends are right and the man she's dating turns out to be a dangerous lunatic. In neither case can you tell until near the end of the book which way it will turn out. (And of course I'm not going to spoil either story by telling you which is which.)

If you like a quirky,funny, madcap romance novel, you will very probably like "Sex and the Serial Killer."


N.B. Jennifer Skully also writes under two other pen names; as J.B. Skully she has written the "Max" series of dark romances which begins with "Dead to the Max"; as Jasmine Hayes she writes adult fantasy books such as "Resolutions" and "One Night Only."

I first read this book two years ago and thought it was great! I just re-read it again last week after going through all my books looking for something good to read. Zack's writing took me into the character's mind and made me a part of him! If you like dark mysterious tales, this book is for you! I'm looking forward to his next book coming out in April 2006! I'm definitely a fan!

Author Jack Swint brings these cold case Ohio murders back into the publics eye in his no nonsense straight to the point style of writing. As the fourth book in the "Who Killed?" series, Swint has detailed these unsolved murders in hopes someone will come forward to police with new information and clues to solve these brutal and senseless crimes.

I am confused though why Rooftop Publishing Company is not giving any acknoledgement or credit to this author. When I purchased this book online it arrived with NO AUTHORS name on the cover or anywhere in the content of the book. Also, Rooftop implies that they are the authors and this all appears very deceptive! I met author Jack Swint, and he wrote the manuscripts to this book and the ones in Savannah, Pittsburgh and Jacksonville.

Rooftops publisher needs to acknolwedge and give their writers credit.

My daughter recommended this to me, she's right, it's riveting. It has some interesting use of Brit phraseology, and I like that some of the crimes are in places other than the USA.

I have just recently begun to listen to books on cd. I had read Zodiac many times and also read the follow up book Zodiac Unmasked and they are still best-sellers today. This is extremely well researched and well presented. I loved having this book on cd and I don't think any other author could have done a better job on the topic. I listened it to it on a road trip and it was so entertaining and scary.. Even in the daytime!

This book is VERY good! Robert Graysmith worked at the San Francisco chronicle during the time period this all happened and he did his share of research. He put together a very informative book about one of the killers who taunted police while killing many and GETTING AWAY WITH IT! I think this is a must read for any true crime fan and especially fans of the Zodiac. I thought Robert Graysmith did an excellent job on writing this book and I learned a lot about the case from this book.

It is above and beyond your typical and ever-so-predictable generic ... true crime paperbacks. This book is the best about the most enigmatic case in the history of true crimes story. I love good written book and this book is very very well written. I give this one 5 stars because of the drama, the tension and the facts that give action to this book.

Full/comprehensive account of the most chilling (in my opinion) true-crime story of the 20th century. If you don't mind hearing a writing style comparable to a Police Report, than you'll really enjoy this. I can't imagine a more detailed analysis of those crimes and, since Graysmith was close to the action, his opinions carry weight. From what I can tell, this is the best account available of these crimes and I would recommend this audio cd highly.

The Devil in the White City is one of the finest historical novels I have read. It is both lyrically written and packed with fact, a balance which is very difficult to achieve. The plotline essentially reduces to a struggle between good and evil, as the struggles and aspirations of the 1896 Columbian Exposition's leading architect are contrasted with the schemes of a serial killer who runs a "hotel" near the fair. Larson does an excellent job of weaving excerpts of letters, newspaper articles, and even dinner menus into the story of these two men. The book also presents a wonderful picture of Gilded Age America as a whole, and perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the story is the way that, even amid strikes, recession, technical difficulties, and deaths, the fair remained an island of beauty and progress. The 1896 World's Columbian Exposition may not be a well-known historical event like the roaring twenties, the world wars, the Great Depression, or the baby boom, but, as this book shows, it had a huge impact on and in many ways, saved, the American psyche.

The author narrates two parallel stories: the struggle to create the Columbian Exposition of 1892 and the progress of a serial killer who preyed on women who were drawn to Chicago by the fair. Larson shifts back and forth between these two threads, parceling out his information in such a way that every chapter ends with a cliff-hanger.

For history buffs and mystery afficienados this is a super book. It is a non fiction book about the Chicago World's fair and the serial killer who preyed on the citizens of Chicago. I found it extrememly interesting.

Go back to the 1893 World's Fair that changed America. The Devil and the White City, a novel by Erik Larson, takes the reader back to the time of the World's Fair through the eyes of two remarkable men - Daniel H. Burnham and H.H. Holmes. Daniel H. Burnham was a brilliant architect who was forced to overcome many obstacles to construct the 1983 World's Fair. H.H. Holmes on the other hand was a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor while leading his victims to their death in his World's Fair Hotel, complete with a crematorium and a gas chamber. Erik Larson accomplishes what he set out to do, telling a tale with such drama and mystery that readers will find themselves double-checking to be sure they are not reading a highly imaginative novel. Although readers might find parts of Burnham's story slow at times or H.H. Holmes sinister activities grotesque, this can be easily overlooked by the vivid descriptions, great sentence flow, a nail-biting suspense story, and a terrific supporting cast that includes Thomas Edison, Buffalo Bill and Susan B. Anthony. It is no surprise that Erik Larson was nominated for a National Book Award for The Devil in the White City. He is also a former features writer for Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine, where he is still a contributing writer. Larson has also taught non-fiction writing at various colleges and seminars and has spoken to audiences from coast to coast. The magical appeal and disturbing dark side of 19th century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's masterpiece. The enjoyment of this story is only heightened by the fact that the story is true.

I found "The Devil in the White City" to be a truly amazing book to read. I expected that the portion of the book dealing with the serial killer, H. H. Holmes, would have been fascinating, and that ended up being true. Reading about the diabolical operation of this man, who had no moral problem murdering women who loved him and small children who had done nothing to harm him, was shocking and kept me turning pages.

I was surprised to find, though, that the descriptions of the construction of the World's Fair were just as compelling and suspenseful. I was astounded at the obstacles Burnham and the other architects were faced with, and the ways in which they consistently were able to make unthinkable things happen in a nearly impossible timefame.

The research of this story was impressive, and I liked the details making clear the issues that would have faced the building industry at the time, things such as difficult access to clean water, that wouldn't be a thought in the minds of workers today.

The events and especially the names dropped into this story, from Helen Keller to Walt Disney to Mark Twain to Susan B. Anthony, made me feel this fair took place in a truly magical time for the United States. It was hard for me to put this book down, and the contrast between Holmes' story and Burnham's story made this tale both horrifying and uplifting.

Early Hannibal the Cannibal.


Much like the later Silence of the Lambs we have a serial killer to catch of the rather strange variety, FBI political machinations, and the need for the help of the very scary, even while in prison Lecter.

Not as good as the later book, but if you like that quite a bit you should find this quite good, too.

"Red Dragon" by Thomas Harris is the novel that introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter and preceded the novels "The Silence of the Lambs," "Hannibal," and "Hannibal Rising." It's been adapted as a film twice, in the form of "Manhunter" and "Red Dragon"
And, upon its release, Stephen King proclaimed that it was the best American novel to be published since "The Godfather." I haven't seen "Manhunter," but I've seen the film version of "Red Dragon" and I thought it was terrific. The novel is just as good, if not better. The novel is a little over 400-pages and I breezed through them; it's truly a terrific novel. Lecter is not the main character here however and, essentially, makes little more than a cameo in this story. The story is about Will Graham, a retired FBI agent now living in Florida with his wife and step-son; he retired after capturing Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter and was stabbed in the process. But than his old boss, Jack Crawford, arrives and tells him of a new serial killer on the loose. This one, dubbed The Tooth Fairy by the media, kills whole families. Crawford wants Graham to investigate the case, because he has a special gift for the kind of forensic work that Crawford needs investigating. Graham reluctantly agrees; the novel soon begins alternating between Graham's investigations (going so far as to interview Lecter for information on the psyche of a serial killer) and the life of Francis Dolarhyde, the deformed serial killer. The novel is simultaneously horrifying and funny, with a great dose of energy injected everytime Hannibal Lecter appears in the novel. It becomes clear, to me, that Anthony Hopkins was born to play that role in the film version. "Red Dragon" is a terrific novel with terrific, thoughtful characters. Harris really manages to get under the skin and into the mind of Francis Dolarhyde. I haven't read any other novels by Harris, so I'm not entirely sure how this one holds up in comparison...But this novel is a masterpiece.

GRADE: A

I enjoyed reading this well written novel that draws you in from the start. I have read this book a few times over the years and have always enjoyed it because it is a fun, fast, yet suspenseful read. It is a tightly written novel that is psychological in nature and is the 1st novel by Thomas Harris to feature Hannibal the Cannibal. In fact, I think this novel is Harris at his best.

Not as well known as Thomas Harris' next work, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, it was actually RED DRAGON which introduced the world to Hannibal Lecter. The book is, in my opinion, actually a bit better than LAMBS and set the standard for the serial killer thriller. Although the genre has the potential to be sensationalistic, Harris demonstrates in RED DRAGON the intelligence with which an author can bring to a work.

Will Graham was the profiler who captured Lecter, though in doing so he managed to inflict a lot of psychological damage on himself as well. Now in retirement, his old boss at the FBI asks for his help in tracking down a particularly nasty killer, dubbed the Tooth Fairy by the press but who goes by the name Red Dragon himself. Graham, knowing the toll it may take on him, feels the duty to try to protect innocent lives and turns to Lecter for help.

Lecter, of course, plays people like fiddles. He has been in contact with the Red Dragon, who is a sort of one man psychopathic fan club. Nonetheless, Graham picks up on some of the clues Lecter teases him with and puts them to good use.

The real strength of RED DRAGON is in the depiction of the killer himself. Lesser authors would have taken one of two approaches: portraying him as nothing more than evil or, in the alternative, delving too deeply into his inner psyche in an attempt to make the reader understand him but going too far and ruining the tension. Harris, in contrast, walks the line between these two perfectly. The Dragon is really Francis Dolarhyde, a real man with a real background with a serious demon on his back. He is drawn sensitively enough to allow the reader to understand and even sympathize with him, but never enough to ruin the show. Dolarhyde is obsessed with a William Blake painting of a red dragon that has taken over his personality. That part of Dolarhyde that is still sane struggles with the insane part in ways that grip the reader, especially after an unexpected girl enters the scene and touches something tender within him. The plot drawing these characters to their conclusion is gripping.

Again, books of this sort can be simply atrocious. Indeed, Harris himself allowed his own standards to drop, and drop sharply, in subsequent books. But for an intelligent thriller that will keep your interest, it would be hard to beat RED DRAGON.

If you're thinking blood and guts, think again. Red Dragon (and Harris' other books to an extent) are about real people trying to understand evil and in the process, finding out about themselves. It's about the self-harming nature of evil and its tendancy to reproduce itself in others. These books have increased my empathy for victims of violence, and increased my understanding (though not sympathy) for those who perpetrate violence.

Helter Skelter was the absolute best true crime book I have ever read. From the very beginning, the book captures you into the lives of the murderers, victims, and prosecutors. It does a remarkable job at building the story line so that you are not overwhelmed with information, but are still well informed with details and specifics. I also loved that the book went into the past of Charles Manson and the "family". Over all this was an EXCELLENT book, and it was very hard to put down!!

I can relate to manson no I don't wanna kill anyone but yeah I heard the very same things in the beatles songs yes I can hear things in the music that vwery few people can manson had that foresight johnh lennion once said the beatles were bigger than jesus and yes beatlemania still exist to this day lennon himseldf denounced god and grew a beard thinking he weas christ and yes all the beatles were antichrist and worshipped foreign religions this was no secret and their fans are still pissed over their breakup 40 plus years later and yes lennon was shot by a crazed fan who wasd influenced by the white album. good thing manson was'nt jamming off hendrix, p funk, miles, sly, or sun ra you wanna hear subliminal messages. backmaskingm, voodoo check those out.

fact george clinton was involved in the process church a cult that worshipped both satan, and jesus.

jimi hendrix practiced voodoo

miles davis practicwed voodoo and was into foreign african religions

sun ra was into egyptology, and voodoo as well.

maurice white of earth wind and fire named his group after the calendar of osiris.

this book is intweresting for manson freaks enjoy and please try not to kill anyone enjoy.

Helter Skelter is an excellent read regardless of your background, or knowledge of the Manson case. Whether you enjoy true crime or not, you will enjoy this book. Very well written, very informative, and highly recommended!

Bugliosi was without doubt a great prosecutor but the whole Helter Skelter theory as the motive over the years has become discredited in fact im not convinced Bugliosi if he tried the case today would use that idea again.

this book is very good if you are interested in the Manson murders. You can also get lots of real footage from utube.

At this point I've probably read about 3/4 of the Harry Bosch books, albeit completely out of order. The series has always been somewhat borderline for me -- I really love the level of detail and authenticity Connelly brings from his years as a crime reporter for the LA Times. However, the storylines tend to be a little too over the top, and Harry Bosch has never been that interesting a protagonist to me. This twelfth entry in the series is a great example of these strengths and weaknesses.

At this point in his career, Bosch is working the Open/Unsolved Unit with his partner Kiz Ryder. One thing likes to do as part of his open-ended duties is revisit past failures, reviewing all the evidence, keeping tabs of key players, and looking for new leads (something he also did during his brief retirement). One of these cases is the 13-year-old disappearance and presumed murder of Marie Gesto (whose apartment is in the distinctive building seen in the Robert Altman film The Long Goodbye). The book rewinds in time so that we get to see Bosch and his then partner Jerry investigate her disappearance and get nowhere. Over the years, Bosch's infamous instinct has led him to suspect the son of a local oil tycoon as the killer. However, with no evidence, he has never come close to being able to make a case.

Returning to the present, a lucky traffic stop results in the capture of a serial killer who admits to killing a number of women, including Marie Gesto. The hitch is that he will only confirm this by revealing the locations of his victims' corpses if the city's prosecutor agrees to drop the death penalty. The prosecutor and an LAPD detective are soon in touch with Bosch, seeking his case notes and cooperation in trying to determine if the serial killer really knows where the bodies are. Thus Bosch gets entangled in this case, which has various political ramifications since the prosecutor is running for DA. The serial killer angle also causes Bosch to reconnect with his onetime flame, an FBI profiler who has appeared in previous books. References to previous cases and characters from the series also pop in and out, which may make readers new to Bosch feel somewhat adrift at times.

In any event, when the serial killer is introduced the book goes rather downhill for me. I'm not a fan of the serial killer subgenre, and watching Bosch and the killer play various head games with each other is boring -- we've seen/read it all before. It doesn't help that Connelly completely telegraphs a major incident in the book by suddenly shifting to an narrative mode in which every single step is detailed, tipping the reader off that Something Big Will Happen Any Minute. Fortunately, this is redeemed by the ensuing manhunt, which does a good job of showing how pursuing a paper trail can lead to a killer's lair. Unfortunately, Connelly then invokes the lame "we don't have time to call for backup" card, and allows Bosch to make a totally elementary (and implausible for him) mistake -- one most reader will spot coming.

As with most crime fiction, and the Bosch series in particular, the story is dominated by themes of moral corruption. At this point in the series, it's a well-trodden path, and it's somewhat tiresome to once again see all Bosch's instincts borne out, and arrive at the end to learn that those in high places are entirely disreputable. Once again, a decent ride-along with Bosch, but with enough flaws and thematic repetition to leave me feeling rather unenthusiastic about it.

OK, four stars should be 4.5 and the only slight demerit in Connelly's case is because the bar is set so high. This is another wonderful Harry Bosch book. At one point, Bosch mentions how he wants to take an idea and grind it into powder and examine it under a microscope. I thought that was a perfect description of exaclty how Connelly approaches his writing. Every step, thought, movement and moment in sure, steady hands. This takes the words 'police procedural' down to sub-atomic particles. You couldn't point to one sentence and say 'wow.' It's the accumulation of detail and how hard both Connelly (and Bosch) must work to get it right. The pleasure comes from riding along with Bosch and watching his mind work, analzying the details of the case and how he handles his own miscues, particularly with the politics of the cop world. "Echo Park" has a nifty series of layers to it and the peaks of action and plot keep rising in a natural way, one on top of the other. The only slight problem is the puppeteer behind the whole script is pretty easy to spot and for the scene in the swimming pool near the end just didn't quite ring true. Nonetheless, a model of clean, driven prose.

The worst thing about finishing a Connelly book is that it means you're that much closer to having read all his books! I only have one more left as of this date, and not having a Connelly book to read is a prospect I don't look forward to. I imagine I'll have the same feeling I experienced when I finished the Ellis Peters Brother Cadfael series- the feeling similar to leaving the theater after viewing a good movie that you really don't want to come to an end.

At least we'll probably have more MC books! But it won't be easy waitng for a new one to come out! He is so good! I find it almost impossible to put one of his books down once started.

I love Bosch's jazz references.He has good musical taste!

I've read all of the Harry Bosch series except "The Overlook." With each one I begin, I say to myself, "Michael's not going to fool me this time. I'm going to read very closely and figure out the killer/conspiracy/corrupt influence/traitor/mastermind before the end." I started "Echo Park" this way. Almost to the end, I said, "I see it coming." I was so smug.

Then came the ending.

Dang!

All the entries in the Harry Bosch series have been good, but Echo Park is the best yet. The first few chapters set up the mystery, and from there on out, the action and suspense ratchet up and never stop. Even the final wrap up is a page turner. An open and shut case turns into a first rate conundrum, and Bosch has never been in a tougher position, trying to separate fact from emotion, trying to follow his own compass. His partner's been taken down, the woman in his life has trouble reconciling her roles as lover and profiler, and Bosch himself has been taken for a ride. High jingo strikes again. But for Harry, it's always a question of making choices that will allow him to live with himself, and no case has ever made that more of a challenge.
First rate crime fiction, with outstanding characterization and plotting.

Ann Rule is my among my favorite writers, I read everything she has out there, her book on Bundy was chilling and one of the best on the subject

I have been fascinated and terrified by the Ted Bundy murders since I was a little girl. He was a bit of an iconic anti-hero in my hometown of Seattle. When I was a teenager, I picked up this book for the first time, and over the years I've read it over and over again. My first copy became so dog-eared I passed it onto a friend, who bought me the updated version. Ann Rule is one of my favorite authors. I was always an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction, but I have been so accustomed to her writing style, I scarcely want to read anything else anymore. I'd recommend this book to anyone, whether they enjoy true crime or not, whether or not they're familiar with the Bundy case.

I've read a few of Ann's books and really appreciated this one. She outlined the story of Ted Bundy well. She also related experiences she had with him on a personal level. Very interesting and educational about the story of the monster who was Ted Bundy.

So I am a bit of an alarmist, but honestly, Ann Rule's account of her friendship with Ted Bundy is riveting. Perhaps that word is overused, but it is entirely accurate to describe this story. Even if true crime is not your first literally passion, give this book a chance. Rule is magnificent.

I think Ann Rule is a decent writer, but I found the story of Ted Bundy to be a bit boring. I don't need all of the lurid details, but a little more time talking about the murders might have pulled me more into the sick world of Bundy. Ann gives tons of details about just about everything else connected to the Bundy cases, but not enough about the crimes. She almost seems like a mother protecting her son when she talks about Ted. She seems to refuse to get into his twisted mind. You really can't get a better book about Bundy than this one, and Ann has knowledge of Ted that no one else can ever have. Still I didn't find it as engrossing as most of the reviews.