Serial Murder Books

I was surprised at some of the low reviews - it's true - different opinions - I thought this one was awesome and the convicts wife terrified me SPOILER - the thought of her husband outside buried with the other one in jail with just her and the three kids in a spooky old farmhouse had my knees knocking - I thought this was one of her best - and I've read every single Ann Rule book there is....Five stars DEFINITELY...but then again, I think all of her books are five stars - I haven't read a bad one yet...

Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder is Ann Rule's twelfth collection of short crime stories. While most of the stories were certainly very interesting, a few were fairly dull including the featured (and longest) story. In fact, I almost gave up after the first story, but was rewarded with the next several shorter stories. It's hard to find fault with Ann's writing, but some of these stories just were not very interesting for me. That being said, there is still enough here to recommend.

The book had a fair price, got to me immediately, and was in almost perfect condition.

Love Ann Rule's books, and I like these small case file stories more and more.

This is the first Ann Rule book that I have read.
She includes 7 cases that stretch from 1960 to the most current, the Winkler murder case.

The most intriguing for me was the oldest case. "The Antique Dealer's Wife" where Raoul Guy Rockwell undoubtedly murdered and dismembered his wife and step-daughter. He got away with it despite the dogged determination of the lead detective.

I found the case of Dorothy Jones a bizarre,unsolved mystery. There are two possible explanations and many reasons for believing either was the cause.

The chapter on the Winkler case leaves some questions unanswered.
There is no doubt that Mary Winkler killed her husband. The circumstances are unclear or at least,unproven.

"Smoke,Mirrors,and Murder" reads like a crime novel with both solved and unsolved murder cases. This is one of the better books in the true crime category that I have read to date and I can understand why readers like Ann Rule as an author. She's an excellent writer!

This is one of the earliest books written by Ann Rule, and one can tell. Ms. Rule hasn't yet honed her talent for drawing the reader into the world of the victim and the criminal. That's not to say that this is a bad book - far from it! It's just not quite as polished as Ms. Rule's later books. I have always enjoyed Ms. Rule's books, and I recommend this one, with the caveat that it is an early book.

I am a huge fan of Ann Rule's work and this is another good read....I couldn't put this book down. Rule does not disappoint with this book or any other of her books for that matter.

The book was good. Just read it. If you know Ann's writting then you won't be disappointed at all. If this is your first time reading Ann, then hang on. Ann is able to take you to where horror lives. Her descriptions of the killings and killers are intriguing. The worse part is this is all true crime. Ann having the back ground in law enforcement is how this author is able to get so detailed. I won't write about what's in this book because you just need to read all of Ann's books. This may not be helpful but, you know what. I got started on Ann because I picked the book up and just started to read it. Now, go out there and read !!!

I enjoyed this book but didn't find it as interesting as Ms. Rule's later works (e.g. Small Sacrifices, Stranger Beside Me). Perhaps it is because the investigative/legal aspects of the case were relatively trivial. It could also be that Ann's writing has improved but who am I to judge?

In any case, if you have read her later books first, you'll still like this one, but lower your expectations a bit.

Joel

Before serial killers were even "serial" (generically referred to as "mass murderers"), Jerome Brudos was collection women's shoes and undergarments. And when that wasn't enough, he collected the women themselves!

Ann Rule does a great job of detailing the crimes of sexual deviant Brudos as he escalates from stealing women's undergarments off clotheslines to raping his victims' lifeless bodies repeatedly. His crimes are so demented that even seasoned detectives (and true crime readers!) blanched at the things Brudos had done to his victims and his lack of remorse when confessing to them.

Rule also gives readers a glimpse into the effects of a perverts crimes on his family; specifically, Brudos wife, Darcie. This young lady was tried and convicted by neighbors and others simply on the grounds of "guilt by association." Despite suffering the humiliation of her husband's crimes, coping with the stress of knowing these things occurred within feet of her backdoor where her children played, and figuring out how to start over as a single women with no income and two small children, she was charged as an accessory based on blantant lies of gossipy old bitty who's sister lived next door to the Brudos'. Fortunately, a jury did not convict and Darcie was reunited with her children to begin their lives again.

A very interesting read. A bit tedious in places, but overall an excellent piece of true crime.

I was really surprised how much I ended up 'liking' the killer in this book. The use of his past along with that of the person hunting him was done really well. By actually getting into the mind of a serial killer who is actually a smart, somewhat noble doctor and a natural charmer, we can see how a Bundy may have thought of himself as doing "God's Work". I do think the book moved a bit quickly in his capture; too many situations just 'happened'. I could have done without the expected love interest as well. All in all a great thriller that gives you a bit more than just gruesome deaths.

Ablow is one of the most prolific serial killer writers on the market today. His expertise in the field of forensic psychology is meticulously expressed in his writing. Most of the characters (both the protagonists and antagonists) are case studies in and of themselves. I highly recommend Ablow for the serial killer connoisseur. You wont be disappointed!

This pathetic book is one cliche after another, dressed up in a bunch of psychiatric mumbo jumbo. The plot is highly unlikeley: a psychopathic serial killer engaged in a dialog in the New York Times with another shrink, who is working with the FBI to nab the killer. Once the plot is underway, you know exactly where it is going to go. There are no surprises here. No suspense. No organic plot development -- the author, when he senses that he needs to end the novel, just plunks down a few convenient coincidences and rushes to the conclusion. The characters are cardboard, although the author tries to make you believe that he is developing them -- giving them dimension, when all he's doing is putting fancy clothes on manniquins. And of course, the serial killer is a Christian religious nut (that seems to be a favored cliche these days). And the ending is simply silly. Save your money.

One of the best books that I've read in a while! You can see why Keith Ablow is such a famous Forensic Psychiatrist. The way he depicts his main character, Dr. Jonah Wrens. can only be described as creative genious. Imagine a serial killer who possesses as much evil, as he possesses goodness. A man who is as brutally violent as he is compassionate. A man who must feel the emotional pain of others in order to satisfy a need so deep inside him.
I found myself wanting desperately to get to the climax, but at the same time, not wanting to finish the book.
I would definitely recommend this book, especially for those of you who are psychologically inclined.

The book Psychopath by Keith Ablow is a suspense novel following the life of Jonah, a psychotic psychiatrist. The book follows Jonah through his personal experiences in some of his relentless murders. There is a famous saying: "there's a fine line between genius and insanity". After reading this book, I think they go together. This suspense story takes you deep into the mind of this man. Albow's plays on your senses making you feel what the main character Jonah feeling, all the thoughts that run through his mind. It's almost unnerving, but Albow gives this new inner light in him that makes you almost sympathize with Jonah and admire his intelligence. Albow jumps from one event to the next not by using flash backs, more so fast forwarding, without the "10 years later" part. Every chapter brings a new situation, another piece of the puzzle. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading another of Keith Ablow's novels.

Denise Mina's book Garnethill made me cringe at times while reading - her descriptions of events, places and people leapt out at me without warning like a sucker punch! I wanted to jump into the book and protect the characters from not only the Killer, but also the Mom, and even from each other at times.
Great read! Make sure to have a bottle on hand to properly get into it.
KUDOS to National Public Radio's interview with Ms Mina which led me straight to Amazon when I heard it.

The ninth sentence, on the first page of the book, last line of the second paragraph is:

"Eight long months of emotional turmoil had passed as suddenly as a fart."

Um, had I noticed that line in the store I probably would have "passed" on this one (pun intended).

I have never been to Scotland, but I feel like I know it. Mina is that good at creating her scene. Her characterization is equally outstanding. This novel introduces a sympathetic, yet seriously flawed, protagonist and has a compelling plot.

I generally hate anything having to do with "survivor" lit...survivor of abuse, incest, etc...don't like it...except here, it works.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys detective lit, unless you like your heroes squeaky-clean. I also recommend this book to anyone who enjoys exceptionally well-realized characters and settings, especially if you like those who live "close to the edge."

This story won an award for a debut crime novel, and I can well see why. Without wishing to suggest that it is `perfect' (whatever that is), I would say it is outstandingly accomplished and exceptionally readable.

I bought it on the strength of its title and absolutely nothing else. Garnethill is an area of Glasgow that I knew very well when I was young, and nostalgia is strong in Glasgow's émigré children. Apart from other factors, this city is full of unique and distinctive place-names, and I was looking longingly to hear them again. In fact the book has less of that than I expected, so I had to concentrate on the story. There is nothing distinctively concerned with Garnethill for one thing, but that makes a better title than, say, Springburn. One flank of Garnethill descends to Sauchiehall Street, the opposite flank to the Cowcaddens, but neither of these gets so much as a mention. If I had hoped to find some such statement as `A man was stabbed in the Gorbals' I did not find that either. The story is the thing, and quite a story it is too.

I liked basically everything about it. The dialogue and patois are distinctive enough to warm an exile's heart, but not so distinctive as to be unintelligible to anyone else. There are some very good lines here and there, most of them too indecorous for quotation in a review. It is all seedy stuff, what we used to call `kitchen sink' material back in the 50's. Being old enough to remember, say, Up The Junction, or A Kind of Loving, I started with a slight suspicion that we were meant to be shocked at such scenarios and goings-on, but happily that was just my own age showing and not the way the book is. In a sense it is pretty grim material, but for all the show of gritty unflinching realism the narrative has a sense of proportion, good taste and even a grimy dignity about it.

The characterisation is distinctly good in my opinion. I could recognise many or most of the types delineated, and there is a particular kind of brutality about Glasgow crime that came over to me very clearly, and that I hope will be recognisable to others lacking my own background, because the sense of it is captured with genuine perceptiveness and sensitivity. The real sleuthing is done by someone with rather an exceptional interest in finding the truth, miles ahead of the police in her thinking while not being any kind of genius, and a real down-to-earth personality rather than any specialist like Poirot or even Marlowe. The characters in this book are never boring or superfluous, but I'd say the best thing about the story is how well the narrative is paced. The identity of the killer emerges gradually and tantalisingly, known to the main participants before they mention it to the rest of us. What happens to the killer is then full of poetic justice and very satisfying, I thought, as well as highly original.

Not a page too long, it seemed to me as I waved farewell to them down Duke Street.

Meet Maureen O'Donnell: member of a dysfunctional family, struggling to survive a history of abuse and to find her own way in the world. Maureen has a relationship with Douglas, a therapist, which she is about to end. When Douglas is found murdered in Maureen's flat, Maureen is a suspect. The investigation into the murder raises a number of issues from Maureen's past, and for a number of other people as well.

Who murdered Douglas and why? There seem to be plenty of people with sufficient motive, but who had the opportunity? This novel deals with the uncomfortable world of victims of sexual abuse and how they relate to a world which has already let them down. Given the setting, it is easy to understand how (and why) Maureen feels compelled to take control of the investigation herself where she can.

This novel won the 1998 John Creasy Memorial Award for best first crime novel. This will be an uncomfortable novel for some to read: Ms Mina has succeeded in creating characters whose experiences and responses to abuse are frighteningly realistic and common.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is a strong book that always keeps yo guessing and on the edge of your seat. I think that this author writes some nice pieces of written masterpiece! I will be buying more!

Many books have been written about Ted Bundy and none are better known that Ann Rule's "Stranger Beside Me". While the author of this book refuses to mention Rule by name, the story in this book is much the same. Michaud's book does however go a step further than Rule in "The Only Living Witness."

Thirty females died at the hands of Ted Bundy. The stories of the murders are told largely the same in any credible book about the subject. The interviews with Bundy set this book apart. The interesting part of the interviews is that Bundy refuses to admit guilt. However, Bundy does tell how he believes the killings happened through a third person account. In almost a bi-polar reality, Bundy does confess through these interviews. The author varies the chronological order of events early in the book, but stays on a straight course after the initial chapters. If you acquire a newer printing of the book, you will also be able to read about Bundy's final days and admission to his crimes in his own words, without disguise of a third person account.

There were aspects of this book that I like better than other books about Ted Bundy. Yet there was no part of this book that sets it out as the definitive Ted Bundy book. Still, it is a very well written and well researched book.

"The Only Living Witness" has been around for awhile. How could I not know? Yeah, I loved Ann Rule's "The Stranger Beside Me," and this is even more interesting! It is amazing to hear Bundy's own words - to get an insight into his mania - and to watch as he denies denies denies only to ultimately try to come clean in hopes of living a few more months. The Stephen G. Michaud writes wonderfully - a high priority for me. As a writer, he obviously isn't "talking down" to his reader. This is definitaly worth buying...going to check out his other books now!

Studying criminals and crime is one thing... Being exposed to the mind and life story of a serial sex murderer is entirely different. You may watch a horror movie and see the special effects of a person being chopped to pieces. You may also see an episode of a crime show depicting the horror of an innocent woman being kidnapped and raped. But the mental images a reader receives when reading about the horror Ted Bundy reaped across the United States in the 70s is astonishing and chilling. It is very easy to see why a nation was scared to leave their house, walk down a dark alley or wonder if their daughter made if home okay from the library at your local college. This book tells all of Ted Bundy's life from his childhood all the way to old sparky. The author writes this book after much in depth research, not to mention countless first hand interviews with the most notorious serial killer of all time himself. A must read for anyone curious about the deranged killer.

This is an excellent book, by a pair of thoughtful and talented authors with genuine first-hand knowledge of one of the most terrifying human beings ever to walk the planet. Their account of the life, crimes and psychopathology of Ted Bundy is certainly among the best of the many written. The only reason I gave this edition (the paperback) 4 stars instead of 5 is that it's full of annoying typos! There are mis-spellings, mis-prints and lapses in tense consistency which are really pretty ridiculous in this day and age. These are the type of thing that the most basic word-processing software picks up and they kind of jolt you out of the narrative and spoil your enjoyment from time to time. The publishers could simply have done a better job.

Drab storytelling at its worst, but to compare this to Capote's In Cold Blood is to insult a truly great writer. Those who are so impressed with this amateurish work should go back and read no more than the first chapter of In Cold Blood and then reconsider your flattering comments.

The outstanding reviews of this mediocre work indicate that, aside from the classics, there remains a paucity of worthy literary fiction.

Ward's debut novel is a bleak and stirring portrayal of how the effects of crime ripple through several decades afterward. The story is told from three perspectives--one, from the girl no one loved until she met Charles Starkweather; two, from the boy left an orphan after his parents were murdered; and three, from a local girl who's life was forever altered by watching the orphan boy and imagining his lonely life.

Her writing style is brief and thoughtful, and she is able to portray her three narrators in distinct fashions so that we can easily follow when one stops and another begins. Her characterizations are very real, and sadness is woven into an overall wintry, grey, and desolate background that is effective and powerful. There is a theme of abadonment and aloneness that permeates the novel; and although there is love and redemption at the story's conclusion, this is a chilly and scary walk through a story of true crime and its imagined effects on those touched by its wake.

As a writer of historical fiction with a deep interest in true crime stories, I took a chance on this novel after reading an interview with Liza Ward online. What I read was astounding beyond my expectations. The way the author takes one of the saddest murder cases of the 1950's and '60s and spins from its tragedy a hauntingly beautiful narrative will make this book a deserved classic. By combining the story of Caril Ann Fugate and Charles Starkweather--complete with narratives in the voice of Caril herself--and adding a fictional account of a couple brought together by one of the murders, Ward creates a story that is as much about the power of love and obsession as it as about good and evil. As a result, the book ranks among classics such as Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird in its examination of morality and humanity. The language is rich, lush, and inventive, the storyline so perfectly paced that readers get lost in their journey through time. If you enjoy a suspenseful, well written story with historical relevance and intrigue, run, don't walk. Be prepared for the ride of your life.

This book is incredible, riveting - I couldn't put it down! Such a wonderful novel loosely based on a true story of two murderers on the run. (think of the movie "Natural Born Killers" only with less murders)I love how the book is from three different points of view so that you can not only see how the murderers are feeling but also how their murders affect the lives of other people. Extremely well written, this book will captivate anyone. You won't forget it.

Using the events of the Charles Starkweather crime spree in Nebraska in 1958, Liza Ward builds a contemporary tale of the aftermath of the crimes and the lingering effects of the tragedy on surviving family members. In alternating chapters, we meet each of the narrators, Caril Fulgate, Starkweather's partner-in-crime who refuses to accept the blame for her actions, Lowell Bowman, whose parents were murdered by Starkweather and his wife, Susan, a girl abandoned by her unstable mother and desperate for connection with Lowell, the only person she imagines might understand her loss.

We first meet Lowell after he has been married to Susan for twenty-two years; his life is unraveling, despite determined efforts to avoid confrontation with the past and the senseless loss of his parents. Back and forth through the years, from the actual events, to Susan's fixation on a boy who may identify with her own abandonment, to Lowell's current crisis, all are entangled in Starkweather's random violence. The author connects the damage of childhood trauma, as it reaches out to poison the future, the futility of flight and the dangers inherent in loving a broken person. Ward's own intimate connections to Starkweather's killing spree give the story a personal touch, believability. Her prose is both lyrical and clinically frank, depending on the narrator, either gently examining Susan's youthful yearning for the orphaned Lowell, his internal agony in as a functioning husband-parent, or Caril Ann's sly observations as Charlie's companion.

One of the most chilling narratives is the voice of Caril Fulgate, when she speaks of Lowell's mother, Jeanette, in the final moments before her murder. The woman talks about her son, how much she loves him, begging the girl to help. But Caril remains implacable. Her very passivity translates into Starkweather's dementia in his efforts to please her. The two are emotional ciphers, firmly entrenched in their victimhood. The horrific crimes are narrated from Fugate's point of view, her avowed helplessness belied by the senseless carnage, dispassionate descriptions that are a key element in the crooked route of Starkweather's mind. Thirty years later, Jeanette's son is crippled by his childhood trauma, but unable to connect his current family dysfunction with the past he hoped to escape. He has been running all his life.

Lowell has long been collecting treasures to be displayed in his New York gallery, comforted by antiquity and timelessness: "Sometimes it seems... that the only compensation for the living world, where things changed, were beautiful objects that stood the test of time". Understanding Lowell`s demons, Susan explains, "Your past becomes your family's past, and the things you don't deal with show up as your children's dirty laundry". The author has skillfully blended these characters, even Fugate's facile observations, creating a story that lingers long after it is finished. The icy Nebraska landscape, sprinkled carelessly with the blood of Starkweather's victims, is also the scene of redemption. It is those who carry the burdens of such senseless violence who speak most clearly in Outside Valentine, the missing haunting the futures of following generations. Luan Gaines/2005.

The first book I read was "the Bottoms" I thought it was really good then I stumbled on "thin dark line" and I liked that even better so of course I told my librarian I MUST read the others so then I read 'mucho mojo" which is my first Hap Collins and Leonard Pine story and I LOVED it couldn't help laughing aloud I can't wait to read another they seem like great guys hope the adventures continue

I've read all the reviews to Mucho Mojo and I wonder if the other reviewers read the same book. Hap & Leonard are neither funny nor cool, just lame. The plot was slow and predictable. I had it figured out about half way through. I stuck with it hoping there would be a last chapter plot twist, but there was none. This should have been a 30 page short story not a 300 page novel. Stay away.

Lansdale has perhaps created one of the most interesting couplings in Hap Collins and Leonard Pine - a Democrat white heterosexual and a Republican black homosexual, respectively. Their interactions alone are nearly interesting enough, when you add the actual plotline to the mix, you have a no-fail concoction.

Hap and Leonard are dealing with the aftermath of "Savage Season," the first book in the Hap and Leonard series, when Leonard's Uncle Chester dies, leaving him his run-down house and some mysterious, seemingly random items. To boot, Uncle Chester's got a "bottle tree" in his backyard to ward off the eponymous "mucho mojo" (meaning "much bad magic"). This charming abode has a few unpleasant aspects - it's a few dorrs down from a functioning crackhouse and it has the skeletal remains of a young boy in a box under the floorboards. It's up to Hap and Leonard to decipher the unusuals clues Uncle Chester left, and figure out just who is committing such heinous crimes.

There are some wonderful characters in this novel - some will strike you as not-good-people almost from the get-go, and some will take you by real surprise. Lansdale is magic with his dialogue, and Hap and Leonard have some of the Best Conversations Ever. I cannot recommend this enough.

Lansdale writes tough, and this book has some of the most effective and sinewy descriptions of close-in, bareknuckle conflict you'll find. The unlikely pair of protaganists are much more than action heroes, though: they manage to be quirky, philosophical, and prone to late-night conversations that ring of true friendship. The secondary characters are well-drawn as well, particularly the elderly neighbor and a pair of policemen who provide something of a mirror-image to the main duo. The nature of the characters and their relationships yield blunt yet astute commentary on matters of race, sex, and justice.

The only real weakness here is the central mystery, which is a bit telegraphed and overwrought. One gets the feeling that Lansdale might have done better with a straight storyline, which these characters could easily carry.

Novels in the mystery and suspense genres often get a bad rap, with aspirations to something other than the typical being overlooked, or at most touted as "transcending the genre." The second entry in Joe R. Lansdale's series starring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, Mucho Mojo, is a book just like that.

When Leonard's uncle Chester dies, he inherits the old homeplace. This causes complex feelings in Leonard since Chester had disowned Leonard on learning that Leonard was gay. While he and Hap are fixing up the place, they discover a large wooden box in which is found a child's skeleton and a stash of child porn magazines. Despite the obvious circumstantial evidence, Hap urges Leonard to look into alternative explanations. Meanwhile, they meet up the drug dealers across the street, a local preacher with questionable motives, and the lovable MeMaw, Leonard's neighbor who always has time (and an open invitation) for a glass of tea.

In addition to the plot involving the secret murders of several of a small town's black children, Mucho Mojo investigates such heavy subjects as relationships -- whether black-white, man-woman, gay-straight, adult-child, young-old -- and racism. And all the while Lansdale delivers a cracker of a crime novel, with a terrific ending, that continues the story of the main characters as begun in Savage Season.

I really enjoyed reading the book becuase it is thrilling from the beginning until the very end. The pieces of information are given one after the other throughout the whole book, which creates tension and until the vey end you do not have any idea who the killer ist and what really happened on that specific day.

Edgar-Award winning author Mary Willis Walker demonstrates her talent as a serious writer with this death penalty novel. She does not preach but provide a few things that could go wrong when executing someone guilty of capital murder. In this novel she introduces Louie Bronk, a self-confessed serial killer, who in the next few days will be executed for a crime he might have not committed.

Molly Cates is a crime writer for Lone Star Monthly from Austin, Texas. She has recently published a true crime book chronicling the life of Louie Bronk and the murder of Andrea `Tiny' McFarland. As she prepares to follow-up with this story she is being deterred by the victim's husband as well as her boss no to proceed with the story. A few days later two people related to the McFarlands are brutally murdered. If this was not bad enough Bronk confesses to dozens of murders except the McFarland one. He has found religion and he is not going to confess to something he did not do. Molly hates to look like a fool after everything she went to write her book so she is determined to find out the truth. Everything she believed about the case will be shattered and she will do what she can to make things right.

Mary Willis Walker has a winner with this book. This is her first book in a series that will be a pleasure to continue to read. Her character development is very strong by showing everything she can reveal about Molly, warts and all. There are times when Ms. Cates is not sure about what she is doing that the author reflects on her weaknesses and her insecurities. This makes her appear more real to the reader and more appealing. THE RED SCREAM is pure enjoyment and hopefully her other novels will be just as good.

Molly Cates, the feisty journalist who sometimes seems like she is channeling Texas' own Molly Ivins, made her debut in this, the second novel by Mary Willis Walker which became the winner of the prestigious Edgar Award for 1994.

Molly is even better in the sequel book, the sublimely creepy UNDER THE BEETLE'S CELLAR, before taking a sharp turn downwards in the homeless-theme mystery ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN, which won the Stupid Title Award the year it appeared.

In RED SCREAM, Molly tangles with the Texas Scalper, a convicted murderer she begins to suspect is not as evil or guilty as he seems, especially when a copycat murder takes place under circumstances which make it clear that Louie couldn't have committed this murder. It's scary, it's suspenseful, and the poetry about which so many have complained is actually very accomplished and lyrical.

The only question is, what has happened to Mary Willis Walker? It's been a long time since ALL THE DEAD LAY DOWN. If anyone has the answer, could you post here on Amazon Com and sate the curiosity of a bereft fan.

I have to say I am surprized by the glowing reviews that this book has previously received on Amazon - disapointed too as I bought the book on the strength of them. That will teach me!

The Red Scream is not a bad book it is simply nothing special. Yet another pseudo-femminist heroine of a certain age, with a boring relative (daughter) for padding.

Each chapter is introduced by a deliberately bad poem (by the "arch-villain") which is of no relevance to what immediately follows (that I can see) and has, therefore, no validity stylistically or otherwise. And the constant harping on about "the red scream" itself? I got it the first time. It didn't need hammering home!

The cover design is cheap and nasty and the cover blurb is ludicrous - "One of the creepiest killers since Hannibal Lecter"??? I think not!

It reads like a crime story by numbers. The kind of safe, formulaic fiction that publishers churn out when they want a safe bet .

Disappointing.

I don't know what it is about this Molly Cates Woman. I just love her in this book (the first starring Molly Cates) and UNDER THE BEETLE'S CELLAR (the second starring Molly Cates).

Like I said in my review of Under the Beetle's Cellar, she's so normal. Because of that, she's so easy to relate to. She's a crime reporter for a monthly magazine.

In this book Molly has written a book (and several newspaper articles) about this psycho that kills people and then shaves their heads.

Molly Cates is anti-death penalty; but she admits that even Louie Bronk deserves to die. He's committed many many murders and shavings over the years. Then it comes to her attention that Louie Bronk may be just days away from being executed for the capital crime he may or may not have committed [the murder of an woman married to an upper class man] (although, let's not forget he's committed others--all worthy of the death penalty).

Well, her book comes out. She starts getting letters in her mail that lead her to believe that there may be a copy cat on the loose. When the 2nd wife of the upper class man gets murdered...people start thinking copycat or are we about to execute the wrong person?!

Needless to say, the book is creepy, scary, messed up, entertaining. It keeps you guessing all the way to the end!

Mary Willis Walker has a way of writing that's so wonderful I just can't describe it.

Just READ THIS Book and then read Under The Beetle's Cellar. You'll be so happy you did.

The bad part of the books starring Molly Cates? They End!! BooHoo!

Roy Hazelwood is the premier profiler. If ever you considered a career in this field, this book is a MUST read. Afterwards you'll be able to decide if this is the life for you. Very informative and a tad frightening. I personally have read this book three times and also everything else this man has written. Not for the faint of heart.

Dark Dreams is a book that is absolutely for mature readers its content is not child friendly. Roy Hazelwood spent sixteen years as a member of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit. During this time he worked on many shocking cases but that's not all, he also did research on deviant behaviors this book shows some of what he discovered. Throughout the book Hazelwood gives many examples of horrifying real life crimes that he examined. The twenty-one year old woman with no history of arrest or psychiatric problems who while working at a funeral home developed a romantic interest with a corpse. Crime knows no age, thee boys of the ages seven, nine, and ten took a female playmate and forced her to perform oral on them and they took found objects and penetrated her vaginally and anally. The book went into some detail about the crimes and the explanation of some of the reasons for the crimes and what types of behaviors that lead a person to commit them. When I finish the book I still had some unanswered questions. Don't get me wrong the book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who is mature enough to handle its contents but I wish Hazelwood had gone into greater detail.

For some reason I thought this was a book about the science behind criminal profiling. I was mostly wrong. It's a book about some mildly interesting crimes, much like you would see on A&E's crime shows.

There is a page or two about the science of criminal profiling, but that's all.

I'm not into true-crime stories, so it wasn't that interesting to me.

Again, if you're looking for the methods of profiling, this is not the book.

This book is not for those with a weak constitution. The cases reviewed and discussed are disturbing, but the insight is great. This book allowed me to understand a bit more about the process used to understand the mind of the criminal.

I highly recommend this work to anyone in law enforcement, private investigations, or for those who want to understand the art of investigations... Just make sure you have not eaten lunch just before you start reading.

This book was very informative. I was fascinated by all the things that Hazelwood has encountered in his career. This book is very graphic.

The trip to France slowed things down a little too much. And the narrator's voice changed a bit, sounding a little more snobbish. I guess when in France.....

What's better than a mystery with an interesting, complex and convoluted story, great characterization, an unlikely love story and a surprising yet satisfying ending? You coldn't ask for much better and the language is intelligent and captivating from the start. Once again, it is NOT the goryness of the crime or the shock of the monstrous that creates lasting memories; it is the human element, that inner dialogue shared with the reader and the relationships developed in the story.

As a Southerner, I especially like mysteries set here. More than any other section we have retained our peculilarity in both speech and habits. The subject is as fascinating, repulsive yet compelling - there is an underground who get their kicks by collecting articles of serial killers. The closer the article to the crime (a rope to strangle the victim) the higher the price. I thought that surely this had to be a joke until a quick Google gave names, upcoming auctions and the like. I find it hard to understand the mindest that would enjoy such things. Just when you think you've heard it all something like this comes around.

The story opens with a trial of a Manson-like cult artist who has a fanatical following. His specialty was death, capturing that "Last Moment", and for this purpose he killed savagely and cruely. The end of the first chapter is shocking, establishing a theme that will recur later in the story. Years after his death the cult has returned and someone is recreating the deaths again. Rumors abound that the artist left a mythic "collection" of his works that would be worth millions. Carson, our hero cop, must battle his own demons. His brother, who nearly steals the show, reminds one of Brad Pitt as the insane genius in "Twelve Monkeys". Carson's partner, an older, experinced black cop dispensee advice bother personal and professional. Their relationships is a close one - almost father and son. Carson's nemesis is a cut but bothersome television reporter who goes by the name "Dee Dee" though he bestows a four-letter nickname that I am not allowed to print in this forum. After much action, intrigue, death and loving, we find the answer - the REAL story of the crazed artist and his legacy. Bravo and here's hoping for more.

Maybe I was too excited to read this book after The Hundredth Man. This novel fell short of my admittedly high expectations. Kerley's previous novel was so entertaining that perhaps I was looking for his next book to be unrealistically good. What I thought was truly missed in the authors second outing was the sub plots found in THM. It provided the depth for the main characters that drew me in and made them likable. There is a lack of emotion in chapters that demand more which made the story feel a bit rushed at times. While the main plot in The Death Collectors is creatively fed to the reader at a suspenseful rate and the writing is just as smooth as Kerley's previous, it simply feels a bit empty. The relationship between Ryder and "the new girl" Danbury is hollow and did not really provide any significant or useful purpose to the book. Overall however this book has the ingredients for a good read. Unlike some of the previous reviews, I found the end to be terrific. As in THM, Kerley skillfully keeps his audience guessing until the inevitable "I did not see that coming" moment followed by a slap to the head. So maybe it was not as good as Kerley's last effort which set the bar way up there. I still enjoyed it and still look forward to future books in the series.

The three primary characters are alive and engaging, you care about them. The mystery is well crafted and keeps pulling you forward towards the end. The horrifying descriptions of the focal crimes are not for the weak stomach or hearted, but opens a window into the darkness of pure unredemeable madness and evil. A good read!

Jack Kerley is one of my new favorite authors! I got hooked on Kerley with the Death Collectors and then bought his first book - The Hundredth Man - And it was as good as his second novel. A Garden of Vipers (his third) was also EXCELLENT! Can't wait for more Carson Ryder novels to come out.