Serial Murder Books

As an undergraduate, I had spent a lot of time in libraries searching indexes for individual books, journal articles, and other periodicals! One day in a used book store, I found a copy of this book. What a find! Not only did it include a bibliography of individual murderers but also other resources from psychology and criminology. Anyone who is able to get a copy will find it very valuable! I can only hope that Michael Newton will put together a newer version in the near future.

A chilling story, to think what it would be like to find out that someone you knew almost your whole life was really someone you didn't know at all. I definitely recommend this book if your a fan of true crime.

Return Jonathan Meigs Ward had killed before. Having gone undetected the first time, the temptation to do so again was irresistible. "I was myself surprised that a life could be taken with so little disturbance," Ward confessed.

However, in 1857, when he murdered his wife Olive in their small home in downtown Sylvania, it became quite clear to him that covering up this crime would not come so easy. He busied himself with destroying any sign of her and came up with a story that he ultimately could not keep straight. While he butchered her up and burned pieces of her in his stove, residents became suspicious.

Author Gaye E. Gindy spent many hours transcribing old documents and newspapers to bring the story of Ward's life and Olive's grisly murder to light. Olive was clearly a victim of domestic violence. She put her children under the care of others because of Ward's ill-will towards them and having left Ward, she confided in friends and family that Ward was surely going to kill her if she returned. Indeed, upon hearing that she would return for her trunk and clothing, Ward confessed that he fully resolved that Olive would never leave his house alive.

Murder in Sylvania, Ohio: As Told in 1857, is a true account of this murder, committed by Return Jonathan Meigs Ward. It chronicles how a small community in Northwest Ohio brought justice to a man the Toledo Blade believed to be "one of the most hardened criminals that ever stretched hemp."

I had heard many myths about serial killers. I have seen the movies. I've read the books.

Serial killers have had horrific upbringing. They have been abused mentally, physically, and mentally. They have tortured little animals. These bad people and mutants from hell but the problem is that they fit in and could be your next door neighbor Bob. He could have a woman in his basement hooked up to wires to shock her every ten minutes while he is outside on a sunny day drinking a beer while he washes his car and talks baseball with you (go Boston go!). You never know. It could be Bob, Dave, Ted, Harold, Greg, Cary, Pat, Jeff, Pedro or any male name. (usually not a Debbi, Ann, Sue, Kathy, Mary)

They have an uncanny ability to elude the police while committing their vile acts. They prey on people they find attractive and weak who cross their path. They're not like us, well, maybe some of you. (if you are a serial killer please email me).

In The Need to Kill, the author is one of the field's leading researchers tells you who the serial killers and really are by name, location, and if they are currently active or inactive. This will allow you to stay away from any serial killers in your neighborhood. This book frightening me and made me scared and shake. I couldn't sleep. I won't even go outside to wash my car anymore.

The doctor draws pictures and 20+ years' of research-including experience as a homicide investigator (not an instigator). He provides clarity and hope to keep us away from these crazy serial killers.

Profiles are included of John Wayne Gacy (poor clown), Ted Bundy (bad teeth - his downfall), Henry Lee Lucas (not the Star Wars guy), me and Jeffrey Dahmer (eater of flesh...human flesh, now dead, someone ate him in prison). You'll go into the serial killers mind and body and you won't like it but you must.

You will be terrifying and really really scarededed. The Need to Kill is the one book that truly illuminates the mind of these bad bad people. Bad people. REDRUM over and over again. Kill, kill, kill, they should get a hobby. Anyway, after you read this book email me at rc97h @ aol.com and let me know if you agree with my review. But above all, do not become a serial killer and come see me.

An excellent read about the grisly crimes of two men bent on a killing spree to satisfy their twisted needs. Very interesting information on how the RCMP helped to convict one of the mass killers

Andrew Stoner's look into this part of Indiana history is outstanding. I read this one cover-to-cover. Stoner has written this in easy-to-read, well-researched chapters. Some of the cases I had heard of before, but many were new to me. As a lifelong Hoosier, I found myself shocked and amazed that this was a part of our history, but I know it's true. I think readers will enjoy the careful research, the attention to detail, and most of all the resolution each case is brought to at the end of each chapter.

As a voracious reader of police procedurals, I rate "Rainbow Drive" highly; among literally hundreds of books, it stands out as one of my favorites. Sprawling, complex, yet eminently readable. And I still recall Gallagher's partner's line: "Circles within circles." If you're a fan of the genre, don't pass this up. It may be "older," but hey--you can have it for a song. How can you lose?

Avoid at all costs the movie adaptation, starring Peter Weller. Seriously.

After reading Reiko the Zombie Shop Volume 5, you would think that the main bad guy in this volume would be The Star Collector who goes around killing zombie users and stealing their summoner stars. Or maybe you would think it's Riruka, Reiko's evil sister who is having her slave manufacture "bullets of fate", which when fired, not only kill the victim, turning them into a zombie, but also makes them a slave to whoever they first see after being shot. Riruka didn't count on her own flunky, Shiroko, shooting her in the forehead with one of the shells though! About this time a crazed and bloodthirsty secret military unit arrives on the scene, led by the even more maniacal Yukina. She leads a biological weapons research unit and she's willing to kill to get a hold of the secrets of the "shells of Fate". When Riruka hides out at Reiko's school, Yukina orders a perimeter around it and gives orders to kill everyone, including Reiko and her pals. There's nothing for it but for the two sisters to team up and fight against the common threat!

One thing about this manga that you should know. Don't get too attached to the characters. As soon as a new character arrives on the scene and you think they're going to play a major role in the series, it's more than likely they could die on the next page. Even Reiko has been killed a couple of times. It's cool in a way because it conveys a sense of danger in the stories. Yes, even cute characters get the axe sometimes, literally. But it's all bloody fun, kinda like a slapstick version of Dawn of the Dead. It definitely deserves a "Mature" rating because this is the bloodiest volume yet and also contains some pretty graphic nudity. The art is unique, comedic, and sexy all at the same time so I give a lot of cheers to Mikamoto. A great fun book. Check out the now discontinued Octopus Girl for a similar style of wacky humor.

Ripper Notes #27: Jack the Slasher steps back up to a good, informative, and solid issue. This publication has consistently put out well done research on stories relating to Jack the Ripper and I'm a big supporter of Ripper Notes. There have been a few filler/fluff articles but this issue is quite good. Here's the rundown:
1. A look into Martin Fido's unofficial suspect of Hyam Hyams based upon the sanity issue and the indications by Sir Robert Anderson that JtR was Jewish.
2. Henry Dowd, aka Jack the Slasher, and his reign of terror in New York City. He had a compulsion to slash at men's throats inevitably killing only one of them. Dowd is really a non-suspect as JtR.
3. Comparisons of NYC's Bowery/East End to Whitechapel and how a killer could get around easily based on the theory that JtR was an American.
4. Part 2 of the Berner Street articles. Very detailed geography of Berner Street with pictures, and a continuing look into the Stride murder there.
5. Biography of Charles Reeves, a founding member of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee; information based on his daughter Ada's memoirs.
6. the 1898 Vienna Ripper, Simon Sosztarich, who was caught after murdering a suspected prostitute.
7. Regular feature looking at old articles of which this set looks into a Malaysian cook called "Alaska" (a Laskar) as purportedly claimed by George Dodge. This Malay cook may also be a suspect in the 1884-85 murders around Austin, Texas.
8. Regular feature on book reviews, as always worth reading.

I enjoyed this issue and hope more like it will be coming in the future.

Vronsky book is one of the best books written on the subject. Vronsky deal with the phenomena in a uniq way by telling the history of serial killers since ancient Europe untill today.
Vronsky is summing up the theoretical knoeledge about the causes and classifues of serial murders, and makes it more easy to deal with the different sights that different writters has on the subject.