Serial Murder Books

I enjoyed the style of this book. It is a well written mystery, with a reasonably likeable cast of characters. Great setting, interesting comments on social problems, and relationships.
The things that made me not like this book more are the following. 1)The killer is obvious. 2)For me was the clincher. In this case, we are supposed to accept that a prisoner who signed up for a clinical trial of an influenza drug instead is taken in for a total face transplant. Umm, hello? Even if you assume that the doctor is stupid and unethical enough to do such a thing, there is NO WAY the data could be used. It would be a criminal offense, and at the very least, could lead to the doctor's being blacklisted and sued for malpractice. Because of this, I couldn't give the book a higher rating. Still, it is an interesting read.

This one is the April 2005, Issue #22 of the Ripper Notes quarterly magazine-ish pamphlet. Less intriguing than Issue #23 which I read first. Here a collection of Ripper researchers give you a variety of articles, somehow relating to the Whitechapel murders and JtR. First up is a debate on witness testimony of the death time of victim Annie Chapman. Next we look at modern serial killer connections with those of the past, an article on John Robinson (who purportedly may have almost caught the Ripper). From there we look into two more pre-1888 prostitute deaths that might be attributed to the Ripper. Fifth essay deals with the debate on whether there were TWO Mary Kellys, the lesser known being the victim while the better known passing the body off as herself and taking up a new life elsewhere. And we conclude with an article on a "Dear Boss" Ripper stage play which incorporated puppets with live actors.

Overall, Issue 23 is much better but this is still interesting enough to read it.

Ripper Notes is a booklet that collects essays about Jack the Ripper and will usually have several high points of interest to the casual researcher (those of us who read about JtR but don't go digging thru old police records, etc.). Here's what we get in Issue 28 'The Legend Continues':
1. Excellent article on refuting suspect Carl Feigenbaum as JtR.
2. Possibilities of copycat killers involved in the murders ala Jane Beadmoor.
3. Movie myths on the appearance of JtR.
4. Romanticizing Mary Kelly and the reality of just how little info there is about her and her past.
5. A look into the railway system to see if Druitt could have been involved in the events.
6. A look into the Thomas Street murder of Sarah Matthews in 1894.
7. Claims that the body found in a basement is not Cora Crippen based off flawed mtDNA, thus her husband HH Crippen was wrongfully tried & executed for the murder. (not really sure what this had to do with JtR).
8. Presentations on JtR at a conference in Wolverhampton (kinda useless)
9. 'The Trial of the Maybrick Diary' is apparently an annual event in which Ripperologists debate the authenticity of the James Maybrick Diary. Despite so many flaws about it, there is always a verdict of it being real for this event.
10. A review of the rock opera "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"

And then rounding off the magazine is news and book reviews. Overall there are a few very strong articles (1,2,4) and a few very weak articles (6,8,10). I'm still confused on why the Cora Crippen article is in here but anyway; the strong counteracts the weak and the average articles (3,5,9) hold the balance to an acceptable if not interest issue.

Robin Odell is an expert on his subject and the book contains much useful and interesting detailed information. However I did find the narrative difficult to follow and would have preferred the text to have been broken down into short sections each devoted, say, to one Ripper book and how it contributes to the body of literature.

The book was a fine read and very interesting, but I was very dissapointed to find that so much it was not true. Names, addresses, locations, etc. are almost all incorrect. Perhaps the author or publisher changed them to protect the privacy of those invloved. If so, then that should have been clearly stated. I was hoping for an historically accurate representation of these events and I have no idea if anything in this book is true or not.

This book is an interesting look at Joyce Carol Oates's short story, "Where are you going? Where have you been?". It includes articles about theories regarding the story and its 1980 movie version, but more importantly this edition includes the actual news article that inspired the lurid tale of Connie and A. Friend as well as Ms. Oates own comments on the piece.

This one was good, but not as good as the other books in the series so far. I liked the new development of the second triumvirate with Nathaniel and Damian (Though I admit I got annoyed that the publishers misspelled the word "triumvirate" throughout; you'd think that they'd put a little time and effort into editing a novel from an author as successful and prominent as Hamilton), and I like the new character Requiem, and I like the added complications of the London vampires losing their master and the arrival of Wicked and Truth and the flaws in Malcolm's Church of Eternal Life and the mysterious vampire villain, scarred worse than Asher, and the increase in power of the original triumvirate. All of those were interesting, and they all made me want to read the rest of the books immediately, right now, so I can find out what happens -- except I know Hamilton's still writing these books, so there's no way for me to learn everything that will happen. Both good and bad, that.

The sex was a bit much. Not that it was too dirty -- I liked the scenes, I liked the way Hamilton described it, I was very happy to see Anita coming to terms with her own preferences, and also to see Richard taking a step toward real reconciliation with Anita and his place in the triumvirate and so on -- but only because there was so much of it. It took up too much of the book. I saw the need for all of it, between the ardeur and the need for more power to fuel the new triumvirate, but I wish there could have been another way to handle the problem, so there could have been more of a focus on the non-bedroom action. But this has never been a series that has shied away from graphic description; Hamilton never does a fade at the climax of an important moment, ending a chapter and then skipping ahead a few hours. It's one of the things I like about this series; it gives it weight and drama, as the gritty, tough moments are all taken seriously. When Anita kills someone, we get to experience every second, every reaction, every thought and feeling she has about it, even the negative ones -- and the scene when she executes a vampire with her pistol is a prime example of that. When Anita has sex with someone, it's the same thing, and it keeps the sexual elements -- which are truly integral pieces of the story, rather than cheap thrills added to cover up weak parts of the plot -- from becoming boring or tawdry. These are important experiences for Anita, and so they should be equally important to the book and the reader, and I'm glad that Hamilton was able to face them squarely and write them as honestly as she writes everything else. Myself, I'd have been blushing and giggling way too much to pull this off, so I have to tip my hat to her for doing what I couldn't.

I'm just glad I get to read it.

I first heard of Laurell K. Hamilton and Anita Blake Vampire Hunter on a toy collector's forum a few years ago from a fan of the series. I picked up Guilty Pleasures, the first book, and rather enjoyed. Now fast forward a few years. I just picked up the audio version of the book Incubus Dreams, which is book twelve in this series not having read the other ten books in between. So I had high expectations for this story.

I finally finished the audio version of Laurell K. Hamilton's Incubus Dreams. Thank god I was listening to the abridged version (only 10 discs) instead of the unabridged version (24 discs). Twelve hours of this droll was bad enough I don't think I could have made it through thirty hours.

So what exactly did they cut out of this story for the abridged version? I thought perhaps major plot points were dropped. But according to the reviews I was reading about the book that might not be the case. So did they must have cut out some of the sex or perhaps the sexual scenes had gone into to more graphic detail than what I was getting. I don't know and I have no intentions of finding out.

I will read her earlier works (I loved Guilty Pleasures when I read that a few years ago and now in comic book form from Marvel), but I don't think I will bother with any of the books beyond this one. Incubus Dreams is 12th in the Anita Blake series so I will have plenty to check out before I finally give up on this author.

If I wish to read (or in this case hear) pure Vampire/Werewolf erotic fantasy I will look for books like Deep Inside: Extreme Erotic Fantasies by Polly Frost. With Anita Blake I was hoping for a Vampire mystery with a little sex in the mix, not that the entire story would be filled with only sex. We lost the whole aspect of any mystery or case a few chapters into this storyline and never got it back again until the very end of the book. Everything in between was one sexual experience after another. We had characters come and go too easily without any story development. What happened to the Vampire servant Damian? Anita f--ks him and he has a complete vampiric break down only to drop out of the story completely without resolving the problems brought on by the encounter. That is only one of many, many flaws with this story. The story ends with what else, more sex and the mystery is left unresolved. Not that I will be picking up book 13 in the series any time soon to see if this author bothers to fill her readers in or not.

My suggestion is to stay away from this story. Go ahead and read the earlier works of this author but don't bother with this book. Even better check out the comic book version of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures (at least she is actually hunting vampires, raising the dead and dealing with werewolves instead of just f--king them all).

As I said I was listening to this story. I did not yet touch on the flaws in the audio version, which is published by Brilliance Audio and read by Cynthia Holloway. Cynthia does a good job of rendering the characters and keep our interest even if the story can't. My biggest problem with the audio version is the production. The publishing company Brilliance Audio sees fit to add unneeded audio at the beginning and end of each disk. Most people today take their discs and turn them into MP3s, which is what I did and that is why I found the fade in/out music and notice to put in the next disk a real distraction. Combine that with the repeated two or three lines of text from the previous disc and the annoyance only compounded. So drop the unwanted extras from your audio discs and maybe they will be easier to listen, although even that would not have helped this story.

First off, this is the lowest review score I have ever given I dont usually do bad reviews...I dont know where to start but to say others arnt exagerrating this book is not up to the standards of the others. I will admit I wanted there to be more sex, more bedroom type fun ;) I had no idea that when it came everything else would suffer a GREAT deal! She screwed everyone and please no more its "tight...he's so big" please ANITA stopped being tight a while back lol and lucky her all her men are sooo biggg. So is it worth reading, yeah its barely ok, I would try to get it from a library im selling my entires series...I will continue to read it probably im very forgiving but its just not the same she has a Harem of supposably ALPHA males who are complete chumps,sex toys, and weak....WOW...and WOW what the heck is up with Anita the only way I was able to finish it was to Skim.

After reading all these reviews, I though it was a mistake... the book couldn't be THAT bad!

well, I was wrong. What happened to the plot... suspense... the wonder? The only thing I was left wondering is who is left that Anita can have sex with?

I felt the need to read it because I've every other book in the series, so I guess you can read it if you want to waste your time. But please don't spend money on it...

EVERY situation Anita was in she had sex... maybe not "American" sex, but it's sex. And I don't mean ohhh sexy erotica sex, I mean I'm uncomfortable reading this sex. I think 95-98% of the situations Anita was in ended in some sort of sex/feeding. NOTHING could be simple... walking down the street was complicated. Having sex was complicated! Who, what, where, when, how, what does it mean... what does it means!?!? I wanted to rip pages out!!!

Please, Ms. Hamilton, explain in detail what everyone is wearing down to their unseen underwear. Please, Ms. Hamilton, explain Anita's every thought about everything even though it all contradicts. Please, Ms. Hamilton, tell me about Anita and how her powers keep growing and growing. I feel she has to reach God status in maybe two more books. In the other books she gained one, maybe two, more "powers". I think every time she had sex she got a new power in the books. I can't even count that on two hands.

The only thing I can give credit to, is that some of the characters know Anita is a dummy. So, obviously Hamilton knows Anita is a dummy (she could fix this...). These characters stand up to Anita and tell her to shut up and think like a normal person.

It's just too bad she (Anita and Hamilton!) don't really listen.

This is the 12th book in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. It is now October, so only a month or so has passed since the conclusion of the last book, Cerulean Sins.

Hamilton has received a lot of criticism from some fans for the direction her series takes (the ardeur/sex plotline) and away from the earlier books of crime-solving detective and vampire executioner (Anita is known as The Executioner, capital "E".LOL). I think it was inevitable the series would take a turn and change. For a character to remain static and unchanging, for the plot scenario to be the same for every book, that just gets boring (for instance, a series that I view in this light is Sue Grafton's Alphabet series where the heroine Kinsey has not changed in personality and she does the same thing over and over in each book). If Hamilton had kept to the old Anita and the earlier books, I'm sure there would have been complaints that there was no growth or development in Anita's character or the plot-line.

It just so happens that the direction Hamilton has taken was not up to the expectations some people may have had. I don't fault the author, us readers are only along for the ride and I for one am more than happy to read whatever Hamilton puts out!

Anyways, Anita in this book is a different Anita from the early books. Now she views vampires as more than a monster, where before she had no qualms about killing them and didn't really care about them as "people". As long as she had a warrant of execution, she had no remorse in executing them as that is her job. Everything about Anita has changed. She still struggles with the way her life has changed, but it's clear in this book that she's slowly accepting who she is. She has to as she can't go back to how life was before tying herself to Jean-Claude as his human servant.

While I still enjoy the series, I will admit that I think Hamilton went overboard on the sex in this book. There are at least 6 sex scenes in this book, and true to Hamilton's writing style, they are all graphic and descriptive.

The first 200 or so pages of this book was basically Anita emo-ing about having sex with one of her male friends, Nathaniel, and I thought it went on for a little too long. But, knowing the character of Anita, I knew that it was something that she would go over in her mind over and over again, stalling and coming back to the issue and work it over in her mind some more (hence, the 200 pages of emo-ing!). Anita has a hard time of giving in, she can't willingly "give" in without a fight. With Anita, there is always a fight whether mentally, emotionally, or physically. She's just one tough cookie, and not an easy person to get along with. Anita isn't unaware of her character flaws, in fact, she faces them and owns up to her flaws and I think that's one aspect of Anita I do like. She does given in eventually, and the flaws in Anita make the character more real and so despite any frustrations with the character I may have, I can still understand and relate because it's a human emotion she's feeling. She is only human (or partly human.heh).

However, despite how I felt there was a bit too much sex in this book, there were reasons behind every single one. Anita was either forced to feed the ardeur to help those she loves, or had to secure her power and those of her triumvirate Jean-Claude and Richard using the ardeur. Actually, all of the sex scenes depicted in Incubus Dreams are a result of something else happening, or a cause and initiator of another "something else" that happens. I won't go into more detail so not to spoil what happens.

There is a small scene of Anita using her necromancy powers, and I thought it was a good scene. Anita's necromancy has also increased in strength and the scene describing her raising a zombie from the grave was very cool. I always like seeing Anita use her necromancy powers in action, so it's always a plus in my book to have some page time devoted to it. Anita also is involved in a police investigation involving a group of vampire serial killers on the loose in St. Louis and again, she kicks butt being The Executioner, which is another aspect of Anita I like reading about. You, the reader, get inside Anita's head as she zeroes in on her kill and the detailed description Hamilton gives about Anita's thoughts and emotions during those times....you really see it all in your mind's eye as if you're right there with her.

As it's been repeated several times in the last few books since Anita gained the power of seduction/sex (the ardeur), Jean-Claude's vampire powers are based in physical touch as he has the power of an incubus and feeds off lust, sex, and seduction. So I can see why Hamilton went this direction in her series (as Jean-Claude has always had a mysterious, sensual power about him since the first book).

I can't presume to know where Hamilton is going with all of this, but I can get an idea and I think that's part of the fun of this series. Wondering where Hamilton will go next and what else will be in store for Anita and her gang of vampires and shapeshifters. So while this isn't her best book, IMO, I still enjoyed reading about Anita's world and all the characters that populate her world.

I had a hard time putting this book down. I found it entertaining. I did not see all the connections between Sickert and Jack the Ripper, but there are many. I do not know all the facts, but she certainly did alot of research. This case will never be fully closed until DNA testing gets better and by then any samples will likely be too degraded.

I was unhappy with this effort from Patricia Cornwell. I found it repetitive, hard to follow and didn't find her argument that convincing.

Disturbing history of Jack the Ripper and disclosure of Cornwell's claimed resolution: The Ripper was Walter Sickert, an English artist who, claims Cornwell, painted some of the murder scenes in his art and wrote the Ripper letters to the police and newspapers.

The argument appears convincing, although Cornwell, a famous fiction murder mystery writer, uses too much speculation and circumstantial evidence.

Ultimately, if Sickert was the Ripper, as painted by Cornwell, the whole thing was very creepy. Don't read this book alone after dark.

Why on earth did Cornwell spend a fantastically huge amount of money in order to produce this? Maybe I should get her to adopt me; I'd make better use of her funds.

Other reviewers have already mentioned her lack of sources, her erroneous DNA conclusions, and the like. One of the things that really caught me was her assumption that a dark lantern provided hardly any light at all, simply because she experimented with one. On her patio. Not in the East End of London. She claims that a dark lantern was NOT the brilliant, illuminating tool shown in contemporary illustrations, but a weak and hotly burning liability.

If that were the case, why would dark lanterns be issued to London's police force? Why would a lantern that, as Cornwell claims, can't illuminate an object only six inches away, be thought of as a helpful instrument? It wouldn't. Clearly, Cornwell's "test" was just as useful as the money she spent in "research". The $6 million dollar book. She'd have done better to try to create a bionic man.

I have never read any of Patricia Cornwell's mystery books, but if they are as narratively compelling as Portrait of a Killer, they must surely be page-turners. She knows how to characterize a psychopath; how to illustrate a depraved and violent mind. But I'm not convinced that Walter Sickert, 19th century artists and minor celebrity, was such a mind, or that if he was, he was the infamous Jack the Ripper.
Cornwell is clearly meticulous in her research, but here she seems to have been meticulous with a purpose. She concluded that Sickert was the Ripper, and gathered the evidence that supported her theory, giving minimal attention to the evidence that opposes it. Her argument would have been more convincing had she elaborated on how she determined Sickert was the Ripper; what were the steps that lead her to that conclusion? As presented, her epiphany seems like a bolt from the blue.

Cornwell's main pieces of evidence raise many interesting questions about Sickert. He had a deformity due to botched surgery that made him impotent, his artwork is largely misogynistic, many of the Ripper letters were written with artists' tools. All of these things indicate that he may have been a repressed and violent man, but not that he was Jack the Ripper. But Cornwell's case with these points makes fascinating reading. Her more tangible, physical proof is less fascinating. The only point in the book where my eyes began to cross was her descriptions of different watermarks in different 19th century stationary that Sickert and others used. More interestingly, several investigators are trying to get DNA evidence from the envelopes and stamps on the Ripper letters, but again, the most this could prove would be that Sickert (and many other pranksters) liked to bait the police.

Still, Cornwell presents a richly detailed portrayal of a unique and disturbing individual. I had never heard of Sickert before reading Portrait, and I can see how he and his artwork would capture the imagination. Sickert, from Cornwell's research, seems to have been a dark and complicated man. And the London of his time was undeniably a dark and complicated place. It was an intriguing read, and I enjoyed hearing Cornwell's argument although I remain unconvinced.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the first Dexter book. The second was a bit disturbing but still made me laugh out loud more than once. I read both after having seen the TV series on Network. Was really excited about getting this book. Was terribly disappointed. IT was stupid. IT was lame. Sigh. Sorry Jeff Lindsay I really enjoyed the first 2 books. I doubt I will read this one again though. FYI I have the first 2 seasons of the show on DVD and really enjoyed them too! HIGHLY RECOMMEND the series and the first 2 Dexter books. Just not this one.

Im glad to know that i am not the only one who thinks that Jeff Lindsay may have destroyed the whole character of Dexter with this book. He takes Dexter's Dark Passenger, Which could have been easily explaned by his phcycotic mind, or a split personalty (which is what I thought as I read the first two books) and turned it into a a supernatural force from a three thousand year old mythological God.
Jeff Lindsay should have stayed on track along with his first two books. Instead he inserts a sort of science fiction which throws this book way off base. I regret having read this book, because it has distorted my image of Dexter in even the first two books.
I think that if Lindsay wants a good reaction of His fourth book Dexter By Design, he should forget all about the fact he ever wrote this book and get back on track with the first two.

Oh my god. I won't rehash the plot of this novel. Other reviewers have done it very well. Not only did the stupid idea of a god from pre-history warrant a 0 star rating but there are a few other things that really bothered me that haven't been mentioned.

1. We all know, after reading the first two books, that Miami traffic is horrible. Please STOP mentioning it every time someone gets in a car.

2. Why is Deb employed?? She can't figure anything out on her own. For that matter, why hasn't someone shot her? She is a miserable woman. Lighten up!

3. Why would anyone marry Rita? She went from being an interesting character coming out of an abusive relationship to being a cartoon of a person that embodies every silly "girly" quality one can have. Also, she just lets it drop that her kids almost disembolwed a cat? Nice mom.

4. Why is Doakes alive? Mr. Lindsay, if you read these, please take a cue from the show and kill this guy...He has no hands and no feet and no tongue. What can you possibly do with him except type CLUMP 20+ times in a book.

The Dexter concept was/is great. I am not sure how you can rectify this mess, but you have one more shot from me...and it sounds like quite a number of other fans..

Poorly written, sub-Anne Rice dog turd. Please don't make the mistake of stepping in it.

This darkly funny book is the third Dexter book. Written by Jeff Lindsay, it features the serial killer/blood spatter expert Dexter. Dexter finds killers and dispatches them according to the `Harry Code," but this time Dexter is the prey. Somehow he has come to the notice of an evil that makes his Dark Passenger flee in fear. Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he doesn't like it.

Add a looming wedding, a tyrannical caterer and his soon-to-be step children who want to learn the ropes of being serial killers from Dexter-and his life is overwhelmingly full. As his life falls apart, Dexter muses about whether this is the lot of all humans. Though he describes himself as an artificial human, in this novel he becomes more and more real, much to his despair.

I found most of the characters interesting, especially the would-be killer children. There were a couple of appearances by Sergeant Doakes that didn't add much to the book unless you are familiar with him and the relationship between Doakes and Dexter from the previous novels. This is the only weakness in Dexter in the Dark -if you haven't read the previous books some of the situations and dialog will leave you in the Dark. I found that the Dark Passenger left so early in the story that I didn't have any idea of what the normal interaction between it and Dexter was, so I didn't really know what he was missing.

So my suggestion is this. Go and read the first two books, then come back and thoroughly enjoy this twisted tale of the likable serial killer named Dexter.

Armchair Interviews agrees: Best read in order in this well-done series.

Since I'd read the reviews and knew this book was about time travel and sci-fi, both of which interest me, I liked it. Granted there were a few loose ends but they were minor. The character of Knox caught on with me right away, Nikita took a bit longer.

I love Linda Howard books, but this one just didn't cut it for me. The plot was interesting and would have been MUCH better if the drama surrounding what was in the time capsule were developed more.

The characters were dull and it was really hard to identify with either of them. The idea that Nikita was a "copy" didn't add anything to the story and could have been left out, unless we'd heard something about it from Nikita's mother and/or father. It would have been much more interesting to shuttle back and forth from the future to the past in respect to her family.

It would also have been interesting to have Nikita exploring all the items from the past rather than just saying that "she studied them in preparation for her assignment". It would have been fun to see how she figured out how to use the coffee maker, washing machine/dryer and shower, since those were the items most talked about in Knox's house.

I found the "link" stuff pretty dopey because it wasn't explained exactly how they worked. Just put them on and be transported back and forth? Doesn't seem to make too much sense.

I wouldn't recommend anyone buy this book. I got it from the library and I'm glad I did.

The characters did not interest me as much as I would have liked. There was not much in the way of romantic or emotional development. I much prefer Ms. Howard's other books. Story brief: Bad guys from around 2200 time travel back to 2005 to get something of value. Nikita is an FBI agent from 2200 who travels to 2005 to stop them, but doesn't know what they are looking for. She and the police chief Knox work together and fall for each other. Some people are murdered. The author toys with Nikita's lack of understanding of slang. For example, instead of calling someone a "big baby" she calls him a "large baby." Knox says she might "split". She doesn't know that means "leave." It wasn't that interesting for me. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: two. Setting: 1985 and 2005 small town in Kentucky. Copyright: 2005. Genre: time travel mystery story with a little suspense and a little romance.

In an odd way, Linda Howard reminds me of another prolific and highly successful author: Louis L'amour. It might seem strange to compare a romance writer to the King of the Westerns, but there are definite similarities. Neither has what would be considered great writing style, but both can tell a heck of a story. Both work almost exclusively within a single genre (although Howard has stretched herself a bit more within hers, writing romance-suspense, romance-SF and so on), but both seem to be able to wring more out of "the same thing, only different" than almost anyone else. Both, at the end of the day, are entertaining.

In Killing Time, Howard combines romance with suspense and science-fiction. Without giving away the plot, the romance and suspense portions make a lot more sense than the SF. But that's okay. Howard tells her usual good story, and you'll find yourself wanting to know what happens to the characters very early on. Unlike some other very famous romance authors, Howard seems to be getting better with age. Killing Time isn't necessarily her absolute best work, but it's well worth the cover price, especially if you've got a long rainy day ahead of you.

The plotline is interesting, but what happened to the editor? There are repeats everywhere. In one short paragraph, "this morning" appears three times. Due to poor editing, it was a bit of work to get through what could have been a good story.