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I'd have to say that the first True Crime book that I ever read has stayed with me for over twenty years after reading it.
That book is "Small Sacrifices" by Ann Rule. Her vivid description of the machinations and manipulations of Diane Downs presented a portrait of a narcissistic sociopath that I don't think that I'll ever forget.
He is. Two things stay with me from reading "Son" - Kevin Coe's bizarre term of endearment for his mother "Bearfax", and how he compared himself, or a certain part of himself, to the Seattle Space Needle.
What a pair that mother and son were!
Both! And now that I work in mental health, I am astounded at how many people mess with their kids' heads until they have NO idea of the difference between right and wrong, just like what went on in that happy household.
Has anyone read "House of Evil"? (John Dean) It was about the murder of Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis in 1965.
The book was first released under the name of "The Indiana Torture Slaying".
The book chronicles the horrifying torture and murder of 16 year old Sylvia Likens, a boarder in the dilapidated and dirty rental house of Gertrude Baniszewski.
Sylvia was scalded, beaten, starved, branded, tattooed, burned with matches and lit cigarets and more. Gertrude the help of her teenaged children and neighborhood children.
The book brings the unspeakable horrors inflicted upon this girl alive. The personalities of the perpetrators are also explored, as are the rather peculiar puritanical, yet sexually lose (for that time) mores of the Baniszewski family.
The gritty poverty that surrounded the lives of both the perpetrators and the victim are realistic and palpable.
If you read this one, it will be difficult to forget.
Sheena: How on earth did you ever get through reading this book without being depressed, filled with rage for days, weeks afterwards!!!
I've dealt with books with incest, sexual abuse of children, but ongoing physical abuse of children, IMO, is the worst of the worst! These type of books stick to you like glue, you never forget them, even if you read them years ago!
With all the hundreds of true crime books I've read, luckily I haven't stumbled across this one!
Has anyone read "House of Evil"? (John Dean) It was about the murder of Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis in 1965.
The book was first released under the name of "The Indiana Torture Slaying".
The book chronicles the horrifying torture and murder of 16 year old Sylvia Likens, a boarder in the dilapidated and dirty rental house of Gertrude Baniszewski.
Sylvia was scalded, beaten, starved, branded, tattooed, burned with matches and lit cigarets and more. Gertrude the help of her teenaged children and neighborhood children.
The book brings the unspeakable horrors inflicted upon this girl alive. The personalities of the perpetrators are also explored, as are the rather peculiar puritanical, yet sexually lose (for that time) mores of the Baniszewski family.
The gritty poverty that surrounded the lives of both the perpetrators and the victim are realistic and palpable.
If you read this one, it will be difficult to forget.
Yes. I own the original edition and I have only been able to bring myself to read it once. It is that horrible.
I recently read an Ann Rule book, and I will tell you, that the one she wrote about Ted Bundy, has creeped me out for years. It makes you really second guess all men, "Is this a nice guy, or a psycho killer, rapist?".
Going outside, to take the trash out at night, after reading that book, scared the crap out of me. I was sure that some killer was lurking around in the bushes.
The randomness of crime, scares me. You can be doing nothing, just a normal thing, like taking out the garbage, and get attacked. The book made me feel like I was not safe at all, anywhere, even at home.
Which is why, I decided to have professional training on using a gun for protection. And have a concealed weapon permit. While a gun may not make me safer, I at least feel safer. And a dog, a dog is probably the best protection any one can have. I don't have a dog now, but I wish I did...
Thank you. Exactly.
That book hits close, yes. You can't truly know who you're dating. It's scary.
The guy was attractive, articulate, smart, persuasive, and even worked for a suicide hotline (?) (with Rule). Now THAT'S a coincidence. He just happened to work with someone who would become a noted true crime writer. How weird could life get???
It was like bundy was at least two different people. Again, scary. He functioned so well and appeared so ... "normal", even above average. If one thinks about this too much, one may get a headache, paranoid, or both.
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And bizarre?
