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The Internet has made many enterprises easier since its rise to popularity in the mid-90s: book sales, personal correspondence, and, in the case of John Robinson, serial murder. Even before he ever went online, Robinson had forged a life consistent with a killer's profile. Despite being fired and arrested numerous times for fraud and theft, he wriggled out of serious trouble thanks to a smooth charm and cunning intelligence. For decades, Robinson's more sinister activities escaped the notice of nearly everyone, including law enforcement and, incredibly, his own wife. But what makes Robinson's story, as told here by John Douglas and Stephen Singular, uniquely disturbing is the presence of the World Wide Web and the ease with which a murderer can use it. Online, Robinson frequented chat rooms and sites dedicated to the lurid underground world of bondage and sadomasochism. In this anonymous space, he was free to assume honey-tongued new identities that he used to lure women, especially those in vulnerable situations, to Kansas with promises of employment, protection, or sex. Their subsequent disappearances were explained away with letters that appeared to be written by the victims but were actually typed by the killer on pieces of paper the women had previously signed. Ultimately, dogged law enforcement officials were able to catch up with Robinson and put him on trial after finding gruesome evidence of his deeds. While they are skilled true-crime writers, Douglas and Singular occasionally stray into hyperbole, which is far from necessary given the elements already present in Robinson's horrifying story. It is likely that any reader will walk a little more warily by their computer after reading this book and getting an idea of who might be hiding behind a given nickname. --John Moe
Book Description
Legendary FBI profiler and #1 New York Times bestselling author John Douglas explores the shocking case of John Robinson, a harmless, unassuming family man whose criminal history began with embezzlement and fraud -- and ended with his arrest for the savage murders of six women and his suspected involvement in at least five disappearances. Most disturbing was the hunting ground in which Robinson seduced his prey: the world of cyberspace. Haunting chat rooms, targeting vulnerable women, and exploiting the anonymity of the Internet, his bloody spree was finally halted by a relentless parole officer who spent ten years trying to nail Robinson as a cold-blooded killer.
A cautionary tale set in a virtual world where relationships are established without the benefit of physical contact, and where mainstream Americans can be drawn down a dark path of temptation and death, Anyone You Want Me To Be is a contemporary real-life drama of high-tech crime and punishment.
Download Description
"JOHN DOUGLAS -- THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MINDHUNTER AND THE UNDISPUTED MASTER PROFILER OF SERIAL CRIMINALS -- TELLS THE CHILLING TRUE STORY OF JOHN ROBINSON, THE INTERNET'S FIRST SERIAL MURDERER. In Olathe, Kansas, a balding, pudgy father of four sits in prison convicted on three counts of homicide -- two of capital murder -- and suspected in at least five other disappearances. During the last half of the 1990s, John Robinson exploited the Internet's active world of sadomasochism with horrific results. By haunting chat rooms, he pinpointed vulnerable women who were looking for romance and stalked them on-line, nefariously convincing them of his maturity, sensitivity, and financial stability. He seemed like the perfect man. He enticed these women with offers of a solid relationship and a lucrative job, persuading them to move to his hometown. Once they arrived in Kansas, the women invariably disappeared. After a dramatic trial and days of intense jury deliberation, Robinson now faces the death penalty. Disturbing as his crimes may be, what's most alarming is how he selected and lured his victims and how willingly they responded. John Robinson expanded the hunting ground, the techniques, and the technology of the sexual predator. He is the world's first-known Internet serial killer. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and the coauthors of Anyone You Want Me to Be have struggled to unravel the enigma that is John Robinson.
Customer Reviews:
Was John Robinson a true serial killer?.......2007-09-18
After all, it has been said (by Mr. Douglas or someone else - I can't remember which) that 'Night Stalker' Richard Ramirez wasn't. In Mr. Robinson's case the same elements are present -- and the same elements are missing.
Both of these guys were nasty SOB's. But Ramirez's killings weren't sexually based. He didn't go around killing people for the gratification it got him, nor did he have a need to go out and kill again when the gratification from the last killing dissipated. He was fundamentally a burglar. If he picked the wrong house and someone walked in, he'd kill out of sheer spite -- or he'd run away. Or if a woman was home, he'd commit a rape of opportunity -- or he'd just slap her around and let her go. All serial killers are sociopaths, but not all sociopaths are serial killers.
John Robinson's contribution to us was a dandy of a demonstration as to how the internet could be used by a serial killer to lure his victims to him, rather than make him have to roam about looking for them. Mr. Robinson's winning formula is that he's a con artist, a scammer, a swindler. He's also into BDSM sex -- probably another way his desire to manipulate/dominate/control shows up. But his killings don't follow naturally as a result as they would with a true serial killer.
Linkage blindness alert: old wives tales about sexual minorities. Remember the one about how 'all homosexuals (gay men specifically) molest children'? Or how a lesbian can be easy -- and indeed, a wild woman in bed who'd challenge your sexual prowess -- if just the right guy makes just the right advance? These came about because of the sort of thinking that equates other-than-strictly-hetero sexual practices with a fulfillment issue -- 'any guy who'd use another man for gratification (or allow another man to use him as one would a woman) will do anything to get off . . .', or 'any woman who'd use another woman just needs a guy to satisfy her: the problem is, not every guy has what it takes . . .'. Not necessarily true. Nor is it true that BDSM has to culminate in sexually-based homicide, or even accidental death or serious injury from playing risky games with those whips and chains and spiked dog collars. (If BDSM is indeed as popular as this very book would have us believe -- and I don't doubt that -- then you'd see a lot more bodies turning up if more than a very, very small minority of its practitioners engaged in practices that resulted in death or high risk of death or serious injury). I point this out, however, because a) those in behavioral science agree that linkage blindness is sometimes a problem and b) I've indeed seen investigators reach bad conclusions by linking things that had no correlation, or by missing significant links that were indeed there. That they know to watch for the error doesn't make them immune from making it.
Evidence that Mr. Robinson't killings weren't sexually based?
First, the number of women that he lured into his web that he let go, that he didn't kill. Barbara Sandre. Alecia Cox. Vickie Neufeld. Jeanna Milliorn. (In Neufeld's and Milliron's case, even late in the series). Others.
Second, the missing pieces in Robinson himself. We see no elements of the 'homicidal trial' in his early life. We see a long record of fraud schemes and con games, but no nuisance sex offenses other than the occasional risque crack to a woman neighbor.
Third, there is no indication of ritual elements in the way the killings were carried out, nor in Robinson's postoffense behavior. True, it's odd that he kept the bodies in 55-gallon barrells on his properties, but for souvenir value? Or perhaps because he'd given no thought as to a better way to dispose of them. Or because they were so heavy that moving them would require an accomplice -- and a potential witness against him if things went wrong later.
Finally, all of the killings were disorganized. A hammer blow, or the use of some other blunt instrument to the head in each case? There are less messy ways of doing the job of intentional, premeditated murder.
More likely, one by one, these women got out of control somehow, caught on to the fact they were being used, caught on to who was picking up the alimony checks and disability checks at the Mail Room and cashing them. Or maybe they just wanted out, but knew too much to be let go without putting Robinson at risk. A confrontation occurred. And each of the killings in turn was Robinson's response to just that thing going wrong, his need to cover up his activities and his frauds (the discovery of which would no doubt lead to an investigation and the discovery of his double life).
Indeed, if the killings were done to cover up other crimes, that's a different classification of murder; not the sexually-based killings that are the mark of true serial killers.
The killings followed in sequence, and were related to, someone's need for kinky sexual gratification. But they weren't part of that need. They didn't happen as even a result, never mind a necessary result, of Robinson's sick kinky sex games. They didn't necessarily follow.
This one is like the Susan Smith tragedy in South Carolina, which I reinvestigated in more detail. The pieces go together if you hook them together one by one, as in the old 'Barrel of Monkeys' game that was popular in the '60's. But just because someone did that doesn't mean that one thing follows the next naturally, that the next thing that occurred had to occur because the last thing that happened happened. They only follow in sequence because someone hooked them together in a way that made sense at the time.
Here, we have a string of related killings that follow sexual exploitation. Accordingly, we naturally assume a serial killer. But it doesn't add up to how we define a serial killer.
Unlike Susan Smith's story, the moral of the story is still the same. If Robinson had indeed been a true serial killer, his ability to lure his victims via the Internet would be exactly what you would see happening. As for Robinson himself (again, unlike Susan Smith), he still did it (and quite intentionally), he still got exactly what he had coming to him for what he did, and he doesn't have my shoulder to cry on. He may escape execution, but he belongs in prison, forever, finally, keep him there, lock him up and weld the door shut. Period. For the victims and their families, it's still not a happy ending, but justice prevails.
And when criminal behavioral science experts make a mistake, it's easy for someone, somewhere to catch if they don't simply accept his work without question. It's going to happen once in awhile. We all have our bad days on the job.
John Douglas has done some great stuff, and I admire his work, but this isn't one of his better pieces.
A horrific tail....I can't believe this really happened.......2007-09-03
This is a fast paced true Crime novel about the murderer John Robinson, who started off his criminal career with fraud and embezzling money. Later as the Internet became more popular he would surf the net looking for his victims. Finding women who he could lure into his sadistic life.
This book has some really graphic parts and also deals with the world of S&M, getting into detail about his relationships with some of the girls and how he made them sign slave contracts.
Once again it is amazing to see what someone can accomplish and get away with for so many years just by being a smooth talker and knowing how to read other people. Compiling more and more information on them through casual conversations and then using that knowledge against them. Quite sick. Makes you really think about how much information you give out over the internet, do you really know who you have been talking too???
This book also contains 8 pages of photos of John Robinson and some of his victims.
Cyberspace: The Hunting Ground!.......2007-08-18
It is sickening to think that a family man as Robinson was able to sustained a family--a household-- and at the same time committed hideous crimes. Robinson used cyberspace as his hunting ground alluring vulnerable young women and take them into his world of sadomasochistic and sex-slavery, financially robbed them and ultimately killed them. In cyberspace, he portrayed himself as a charming, successful businessman, "claiming whoever he wanted to be." It was unfortunate that many fell for it. The story was engrossing at the same time horrific and plain gross. While this type of crime is less likely to occur in this generation, we are now facing another revolution of crime such as identity theft, phishing, bank fraud, cyberterror and child pornography. Hopefully, the Robinson's case is a cybercrime history that will never repeat itself, for it involved many precious lives. As a writer, this book is very helpful. It allowed me to take a peek at the mind of a psychopath and how he eluded the authorities. Cold Eyes
book purchase.......2007-01-15
I received this item in a timely manner and it is in womderful condition.
Factual but interesting.......2007-01-04
I got this book on a tip from a friend regarding a name in it. It was so well written that I read it cover to cover. Didnt think I would like the subject matter but it was written using all aspects of the case. And of course it had a good ending.......the culprit caught and convicted. The fact there was so much left unsolved has me intrigued if there will be a sequel to this book in the future??
Book Description
""The Only Living Witness" towers over the rest of the Ted Bundy bookshelf . . . (as) a monument to book-length journalism" (Jack Olsen, author of "The Misbegotten Son"). "A shining example of excellent reporting, fine writing, and a story of enduring value."--Carlton Stowers, author of "Careless Whispers."
Customer Reviews:
Book.......2007-09-22
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!
Good book, bad edition........2007-02-11
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.
Chilling epic on a deranged individual.......2006-12-24
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.
In His Own Words........2006-06-06
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.
Where has this book been?.......2006-04-24
"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!
Book Description
To authorities she spilled the shocking details of a night of horror. It was the lead they'd been desperate for in a multi-state manhunt for an elusive serial killer. Where the witness took them was to the last man anyone would have suspected.Richard Marc Evonitz was beloved by friends and family. He was handsome, intelligent, and compassionate. Serving a spotless eight years in the U.S. Navy, he was a town hero who lived in harmony in an exclusive South Carolina neighborhood. The only ones who saw Evonitz's dark side were his victims. They were helpless teenage girls who, one by one, were subjected to his twisted sexual fantasies of kidnap, rape, and murder-until his double life came undone by the brave cunning of his last young victim. But as authorities and the media descended upon him, Evonitz had one more shocking surprise in store for everyone-a stunning final act of violence and reckoning that would turn a bright sunlit morning blood red.
Customer Reviews:
A Real Sinker!.......2007-09-21
INTO THE WATER is a mediocre attempt at a True Crime drama. The killer, Richard Marc Evonitz, is eventually linked, through DNA and other forensic evidence, to the sexual assaults and murders of 3 young girls, all of whom he kidnapped from the front yards of their family homes in broad daylight. This serial killer may have continued to haunt the state of Virginia had his fourth victim not made a miraculous escape while Evonitz slept next to her on the bed in which he raped her. In a less than brilliant attempt to avoid capture, Evonitz led police on a high speed chase. Unfortunately, Evonitz got the last word when he shot himself in the mouth rather than surrender. Following his death, DNA also linked Evonitz to the rape of another teenaged girl in her own home.
There is some information about the history of the offender, but it is the predictable history that each of us leaves behind when we retire from this world. Of course, none of his immediate family members, his friends, or anyone else who knew anything at all about him could have dreamed Evonitz was responsible for these shameful crimes. (Think standard television interviews following the arrest of most sociopathic serial killers: "He was a quiet neighbor who always seemed willing to lend a hand. I never noticed anything suspicious about him at all!")
It is more than a bit difficult to understand why the author would choose to include the lengthy and wordy commendations of the investigative task force by 3 separate agencies. These commendations were so similar as to be wholly redundant and unequivocably unnecessary as important inclusions into the primary text of the story. (Okay, we get it. The task force did a great job.)
Perhaps the most frightening part of this tragic story is how many other missing and murdered victims were evaluated as having a possible connection to Evonitz... and how many other predatory sex offenders with similar and perverse desires roam the peaceful streets of every neighborhood in America.
If you want to read a book by Diane Fanning, I would direct readers to the much more interesting GONE FOREVER. Fanning is capable of better work, but INTO THE WATER sinks like a stone.
A Page Turner.......2007-09-12
Into the water was another well written disturbing book by Diane Fanning. In my opinion , interviews are one of the most important ingredients in a true crime book and Diane Fanning definitely goes to the limit conducting interviews. I would recommend the book to anyone that is a true crime fan.
Good but not her best ..........2007-03-08
Very interesting read; however, Diane Fanning's other book "Through the Window" is much more of a page turner. I would recommend it, though, to people who are hooked on true crime stories.
A REAL PAGE-TURNER.......2007-02-05
Any kind of review one may write on a book, movie or anything else is all relative anyway. What you don't like, I may love ... and visa versa. But I have read true-crime books almost exclusively for years, and found this book to be one of the best. I do not find it filled w/ "tedious, unnecessary details", but instead an illustration of the progressive chaotic life of a serial killer. The book does not read like a newspaper article, as many do. This book makes you feel as if you are actually there, a bystander, living the horrific nightmares. Some true-crime books can become almost unbearable as you wait for the author to 'get to the point', and usually ... by the time it comes to the trial ... I put the book aside. Don't we already know how it ends by reading the back cover? And while we do know how this book ends, it still has a way of weaving the facts to draw us into the lives of the victims, their families, the investigation and the true story of a monster-in-the-making named Richard Marc Evonitz. I highly recommend this book.
Excellent Story but Too Much Information.......2006-08-16
Diane Fanning chose an excellent crime story to write about in Marc Evonitz; however, I found that the downfall was too much information was included that was not necessary. In this book, Fanning includes details on numerous other crimes that I had trouble seeing the relation to of the crimes committed by Evonitz. For example, readers are given in depth account of Evonitz's stepfather's (Perry Deveaux) crimes of rape and murder. If Deveaux had been an influence in Evonitz's life, such account would be worth detail; but since Deveaux was incarcerated for the duration of the marriage to Evonitz's other Tess, such vivid detail was not really necessary. The book is full of summary detail on a variety of crimes such as this.
What I did appreciate, however, was that the author not only captured my sympathy for the victims' families, but for the perpatrator's as well. Fanning did an excellent job of making you realize that serial killers do have those who love them and they are as victimized as the families of those murdered.
And lastly, a previous reviewer made comment as to how you know the end by the last of the first chapter. Personally, before I even begin reading a book, I have a general idea of the outcome. I have found that 99 percent of the time, there would have been no book if their had been no conviction; which tells me that, most likely, the one I am reading about is in prison for life, sentenced to death, or dead by his own hand or otherwise. If you're like me, laying the end out in the beginning is no problem and actually sets it apart from other trime crime books.
Customer Reviews:
A great account of a truly sadistic killer.......2000-11-01
If you want to know anything about the Genesee River Killings then this is the book you are after, it goes into the detail you want and leaves out nothing. A great read and a good reference point for those studying the serial killer genre. Highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
psychopath.......2006-12-31
This is no doubt one of the best true crime books ever. It delves deep into the mind of Andrei Chikatilo and gives us information about why he did it, if there ever is a reason to do these horrible crimes.
Worst of all is that if the police hadn't been so inadequate, Chikatilo would have been in jail after his first kill. They were so sure that Kravchenko, a man who lived in Chikatilo's street, was guilty of the murder. Chikatilo went on to kill 52 more people. The search for this serial killer was almost impossible, because the police didn't receive support from the Communist Party, who denied that there was such a thing as a serial killer in Russia. That only happened in America.
As others have said, this is not for the weak hearted. It is graphic and uncensored, and you will be shocked. I know I was.
Portrait of Russia's notorious serial killer.......2004-03-11
In November 1990, Russian police finally arrested the man they believed to have been behind the brutal killings and mutilations of several children and young men and women ranging from age 9 to early twenties. The man was Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo, a Ukraine-born supply clerk in his mid-fifties, who lured his victims with promises of a nice meal at his dacha in the woods, assaulted, stabbed his victims with knives multiple times, poked their eyes out, and calmly disposed of the body. Under questioning, he admitted to 53 murders, which could've been up to 70. This book traces Chikatilo's life, his reign of terror (1978-1990), and why he evaded captured for twelve years.
Having been born during the man-created famine of the Stalinist USSR, and having witnessed the kidnapping of his older brother Stepan, who was eaten by starving peasants, and thus made to stay inside the house for fear of suffering the same fate, it's no wonder that Chikatilo grew up with a damaged psyche. His impotence and premature ejaculation no doubt led to further humility, humility that wouldn't have boiled into a rage of unfulfillment and thence to horrific murder, had medically curing impotency been legal in the Soviet Union. Indeed it was lucky enough that he and his wife bore two children, and that his wife was a modest, patient, and understanding woman. Alas, that wasn't enough, it seems.
The book also examines the flaws inherent in the Soviet police system. People suspected of a crime on circumstantial evidence, yet having an airtight alibi can be made to confess. This happened to Aleksandr Kravchenko, an ex-con who committed rape and murder but was under 18 so served his time, had seen the error of his ways and was now a good citizen. Unfortunately, he lived on the same street as Chikatilo, his house was also near the river where Chikatilo's first victim was, and his wife, brought in on trumped-up charges of stealing, was forced to change her testimony regarding her husband's whereabouts. Further, Kravchenko was beaten up in prison and threatened with rape by a decoy used to elicit confessions, and confessed to a crime he never committed, for which he was executed.
Another example is the immunity given to Party members from crimes. Party membership was quite a mark of status in the Soviet Union. And the emphasis of scientific evidence, then dated, worked for Chikatilo. The police was looking for someone of blood type AB, and due to a medical anomaly, Chikatilo's blood was A, with the B antigen more prominent in his hair and saliva--hence the evidence was enough to drop any murder charges against him. One police captain might have been credited with his capture, but he acted more on intuition and common sense (his seeing Chikatilo's behaviour at the train station and panic when asked to produce his documents), and that unfortunately isn't scientific.
Comparisons/contrasts between him and John Wayne Gacy are interesting, as it highlights the difference between American and Soviet sociology. After Gacy was caught for his first offense back in the 60's, he served his time and was released, presumably cured (alas it was not to be). Chikatilo was known for fondling the girls at the school he taught and once was caught assaulting a 14-year old in a lake, grabbing at her, yet nothing was done about his behaviour--it was just seen as one of his odd quirks(!)
The conclusion was that Chikatilo was three personalities in one. One was the ordinary family man, the other was the rapist/murderer, and the third was the one who acted insane when put on trial for his heinous crimes. The authors do a good job in maintaining the chronology and gathering of information, painting an effective portrait of Chikatilo, and using narrative reconstructions of two killings in gruesome detail, yet the lack of bibliography and sources makes the book somewhat questionable.
Chikatilo:.......2002-08-28
I was absolutly spell-bound by this book.Very well written.This book however is not for amatuer readers.Delves deeply into the whys and hows of this wickedly sick individual.Definatly not a bed time story.5 plus stars.
The best book on a serial killer I have ever read........1998-08-26
This book is not for the timid. However, if you truely want to get into the mind of a serial killer, this is the book for you. Of all the books I have read on the subject, this offered the most insight into the mind of the actual killer. From the moment I picked it up, I could not put it down.
Customer Reviews:
An Amazingly Sad Look at a Truly Horrible, Evil Man!!.......2007-05-25
You will not sleep well after reading this book...that is how shocking, sad, demented, and torturous the subject and the man of this book is. What a horrible fiend who killed for his own deranged reasons, which are disgusting and terrifying at the same time. Wickedness comes in many places, and this man was truly awful. A very interesting and well-written account.
A Model in the Genre.......2007-01-07
The subject matter of this book - Andrei Chikatilo - is extremely interesting, though unbelievably dark, and the book itself lives up to the task. Chikatilo was one of the most terrible serial killers in history, with 53 official victims (and a few unofficial ones more), and certainly one of the most savage and furious. Here is a man who had orgasms while mutilating genitals and used his knife as some sort of [...]replacement, not to mention the rest.
What I especially appreciated in the book is how is the narrative is shared between the killer and those looking for him, more especially Issa Kostoev, the man in charge of arresting the "Rostov Ripper". As the title of the book suggests, you will learn quite some interesting things about how the pursuit of this killer was led, and what kind of problems the hunting had to face; and that will be quite stunning. Corruption, treason, base sexual desires, etc, etc. While hunting for the Devil, there will be many demons on the way: police officers abusing their functions to beat and rape arrested people, all sorts of mentally challenged perverts thought to be potential killers, etc. The whole thing has a feeling of intense dystopia and is quite stunning.
Both lives this book is concerned with, Issa Kostoev and Andrei Chikatilo, are cast against a background of falling empire, as the USSR slowly went to its demise. It's almost eerie how Chikatilo's own fall coincides with that of the Soviet Block. It's very interesting, because in a way, it all begins with it, and ends with it. Kostoev, as a child, suffered from Stalin's unjust removing and persecution of his whole people (in which he lost many a sibling) and Chikatilo as a child had to go through hard times too (though not quite comparable).
Richard Lourie does a great job of not only exposing the facts of the affair (and he had a ton of document for this, as well as having been with Issa Kostoev personally, attending Chikatilo's trial, having all the documents of the case, including audio-tapes and all) but also in putting all of it in perspective and giving the reader a good insight of Russia and of a society not quite functioning, and changing. The reader is made to follow Kostoev in that long pursuit of that demonic killer which took many years, and many lives.
The writing is gripping; I read the whole book in two readings, reading for 5 hours each time or so. This is truly the best kind of "true crime" I have read, because it does not lose itself into cheap novelisation while suing narrative devices to shape the whole thing into a convincing and riveting book.
I haven't read any other book on Andrei Chikatilo, but this one is definitely a classic on that killer, if only for the documents available to the author, who speaks Russian and knows Russian culture, a fact that is very important and whose impact you can feel reading the book.
The range covered here is impressive: the killer, the dysfunctions of the system, the life of Kostoev as he pursues Chikatilo, Russia, history, etc. It's always relevant and very informative. However, none of these overshadow the gruesomeness of the killings, and you won't be spared details, so not a book for the faint-hearted.
Most definitely one of the best books of the kind, and undoubtedly among the very best books on Chikatilo, if not the best.
One of the worst serial killers the world has ever seen.......2004-12-09
This is the story of Andrei Chikatilo, a sadistic sexual serial killer convicted in Rostov of 53 murders of women and children (although he undoubtedly committed more). Lourie focuses on detective Issa Kostoev, who led the years-long investigation that finally caught Chikatilo, but not before an innocent man was executed for his first murder.
This book provides an interesting insight into the Russian legal system as it struggled to capture Russia's very own "Jack the Ripper."
Customer Reviews:
Komerad Psycho.......2006-10-05
Led by the brilliant movie "Citizen X" I was compelled to read the book, and the only solution to a ten-year hunt of secondhand bookstores was of course Amazon. The real Viktor Burakov is more hard-boiled than Stephen Rea's portrayal in the movie, Burakov's portrait on the back cover is wreathed in smoke amidst piles of decadent Soviet paperwork. Chikatilo is one of the most savage psychopaths to have roamed the twentieth century, and thrived amidst a strange miasma of the non-existence of the serial killer in the perfect Soviet society, and the armies of incompetents drenched in vodka that served for Russian law. The book is brutally frank in an almost professionally-detached coroner's way, but by getting into the minds of the participants, author Robert Cullen still manages to imbue the book with emotion and feeling. It is a rare occasion when the movie may be even better than the book, but "The Killer Department" is certainly one of the most unique insights into Soviet Russia's underbelly. The book is also a snapshot of the USSR as it transitioned into Glasnost and Perestroika, but ultimately it is about an eight-year duel between two minds, one a classic hard cop, and the other the deranged product of the cannibalistic Ukrainian famine who suffered from bed-wetting and brain short-outs.
terrifyingly too easy to feel it happening.......2003-10-21
The gut-wrenching angle = "Its been 2 weeks.He's due another.He may even have a live child with him right now, who's moments away from being left like this one."(mutilated+killed 53+)NON-FICTION/TRUE-CRIME.
Of course there are gory visuals thru-out.But the psychological context given to the deeds, is terrifying.
The police are followed (via fieldwork and paperwork)thru their horror of what they keep coming across, and their desperation of having no clue how to make use of it.
Their are endless mess-ups and frame-ups leading to unforgivable injustices to innocents, and close-calls with the killer.One incident will make you violently livid toward those who let him to the streets again, inspite of the most blatantly damning behaviour imaginable.
The 'confession'(at end of book)in the killer's own words, is amazing in that it gives his angle of scenes dealt with from the 'unknower's' angle thru-out the rest of the book.He himself knew that at least 30 of his kills should never have seen possibility.
Some chapters are far too incidental.(some would rightfully drop it a star for that)But, most of it just makes your heart drop - at the deep suffering of an unknown man, being such that he is always losing against his froes of deep rage, so ruining children beyond recognition.
(bonus in this book=u get great feel for the harsh everyday life in Russian society)
WAY Too Desciptive:.......2000-04-26
It is a very good book, but the sentinces seem to last forever, and ever with its never ending desciptions. But, Im not saying you should'nt buy it. Even though the sentinces run on, I was still interested by it; with its' amazing sense of thrill, and excitment. Buy it if you like long thrillers.
Book Description
Cassie Chambers, refugee from Middle America to New York's East Village, is a typical young woman, until she decides to become a professional dominatrix. When she is attacked by one of her customers and suffers a miscarriage, she decides to exact revenge on her male clients, enacting the murderous fantasies that have haunted her sleepless nights. In the tradition of American Psycho, Sex, Blood and Rock 'n' Roll is a shockingly graphic novel about the psychological development of a female serial killer, and a biting commentary on gender.
Kimberly Warner-Cohen is a graduate of Brooklyn College's Writer's Program and a former dominatrix.
Customer Reviews:
Fast paced, brilliantly gory fun!.......2006-12-07
This book was a refreshing read from cover to cover. I devoured it very quickly, it was impossible to put it down. It is very easy to find yourself right there in Cassie's shoes as she wanders around the Lower East Side of NYC. You can almost smell the air and hear the blaring of the car horns as the author takes you on this weird and wonderful tour.
The way Warner-Cohen describes the ghastly scenes of dismemberment and torture were graphic and disturbingly realistic. The same goes for the sexual content. It is as arousing as it is frightening. I wouldl highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for something that is miles outside the norm.
A great book worth reading.......2006-12-06
This is a great book fast passed and very interesting. The main character is alive and you can feel the realism ooze from the book. This book is highly suspensful and action packedwith a nice classy hint of the underground s/m scene. This book also goes into the mind of the Professonal Dominatrix
A must buy and must read
A surprising delight.......2006-07-13
This novel was a pleasure to read. The character is carefully thought out and her descent into complete violence is understandable. Ms. Warner-Cohen does justice to a New York City that has completely changed. While reading the book, I was transported back to those times when NYC was NYC. At a quick glance, one might just read this as a sex/slasher novel...not so. The heroine is the new feminist, fighting against what our male dominated society has turned her into. This is a must read....if not for the descriptions of the city, then at least for the superbly written violent and sexual scenes.
Book Description
A chance letter sparks off an hilariously doomed transatlantic literary romance involving Marines, glory holes, cats, intellectuals, transsexuals and a bizarre love-triangle rivalry with gay serial-killer and Gianni Versace's assassin Andrew Cunanan.
If you believe the old adage that something is funny because it's true and true because it's funny, 'The Queen is Dead' will kill you. Or at least make you laugh and cry until you wish that you'd been lied to instead.
Provocative, revealing, startling and scandalously funny, 'The Queen is Dead' is bound to be one of the most talked about books of the year.
Customer Reviews:
Undeniably original, but not encouraging.......2003-03-28
Zeeland and Simpson don't deny they blanketed this collaboration with dark humor, and the title is pretty indicative of what's inside. And the book cover ain't too bad! But the book, certainly original and not a gay manuscript that can be pigeon-holed into any single category like how to find the love of your life or how to put the fireworks back into sex with the same guy, its apparent purpose is to throw caution to the wind about any real hope for romance and a continuing relationship and how the insecure among us usually sabotage a promising lead. And Zeeland and Simpson certainly hit a chord of realism as they pretty much lay out where an inordinate number gay sexual encounters and relationships lead if they're caught up in the promiscuous subculture of the gay lifestyle, the neuroses and fears of guys looking for more than a night of groaning and sweating and an annoying preoccupation with how we perform in bed (or an SU van). The authors don't offer us much hope in the way of telling us how to step over the pitfalls on the road toward a gay happily-ever-after, but they do warn us of what we can expect. Dark humor, certainly, and it'll offer great reading for the gay guy not looking for how to find a lifelong lover or reignite a relationship gone stale. If you're looking for that, this book will probably depress you into heterosexualism.
The Over- Examined Life is a Pain in the Arse.......2003-03-13
If the unexamined life is meaningless, then the over-examined life is a pain in the "arse". This is not a frivolous, "let me tell you how I got laid last night" type of book. Rather, it is an often lyrical, but never sentimental look at the need to bond, and the just as equally strong impulse to be alone. In the end, one senses that the two writers recognize that all enduring relationships are "the union fo two solitudes" and the only choice is whether such unions are ultimately informed with kindness or bitterness. One wishes that an ocean and a continent did not keep these two soulmates apart.
Very Funny, Very Wise.......2002-03-20
I read the rave reviews in the newspapers but was a bit sceptical - the title doesn't exactly fill you with enthusiasm. Then some friends recommended it and I finally got around to buying a copy. In fact, it turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read - and I read it almost in one sitting, despite it being quite a thick volume (complete with fascinating snapshots). It's extremely funny, but isn't 'light' (i.e. vacuous) in the way that most 'funny' books are. In fact, it's very moving and very wise and recklessly honest. True, the humour is black humour - but then, that's the best and possibly the only kind.
HILARIOUS & GRIPPING.......2001-04-07
Hilarious and gripping This book is just superb. Two gay dissidents with a shared lust for marines open a transatlantic correspondence revealing marvellous, trivial and disturbing details of their lives. London lad Simpson, best known for his book Anti-Gay, is his usual witty, perceptive self and finds in Seattle based Zeeland not just a soul-mate but an effective foil for his dry commentary. Quite why a pair of misanthropic, cynical armchair philosophers writing about transsexuals, military men's bottoms and cats should make for worthwhile reading is a mystery, but it does. For their own sakes, these writers should get out more. But that wouldn't make for half as interesting a book.
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General | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books
The Cases That Haunt Us
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