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Phillip Markoff was another murderer who seemed to be normal on the outside (The Craiglist Killer). His fiance truly believed there was a terrible mixup when he was arrested for murder.
The true crime books that are the hardest to digest are the books involving excessive physical abuse of children. I've gotten half-way thru some of these and? "Oh Lord, is it going to get any worse in the next chapter? Can it get any more heart-wrenching?" And? You read on and it gets even worse! And you kick yourself for being curious enough to continue reading it hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.....snipped......
my thoughts exactly.
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Originally Posted by StuartGotts
Wow... I feel the same way. You look at people differently after reading those accounts.
I started to believe a great deal of the problems in the world are due to children who have been abused/abandoned/neglected by their parents. They probably have the lowest self esteem because "If my parents don't care about me I must be really bad"
This bears repeating.
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Originally Posted by CA4Now
Truman Capote's In Cold Blood.
Probably my first true crime book and made a lasting impression on me. Since we lived way out in the country with no close neighbors, it scared me to death. The movie was excellent.
I think I have read all of the above mentioned books by others. Sometimes I have to take a break from all of the murder and mayhem or it overburdens my soul. I owe it to the children to bear witness to their stories though.
For me it was House of Secrets by Lowell Cauffiel.
I've been reading true crime for twenty plus years and this one just stands out. At first I was almost embarrassed to be a true crime fan. What drew me to it was the investigation and all the things the bad guys did to avoid getting caught, and all the things law enforcement did to catch them. Being true made it that much more interesting. THis book was different because it was so well written AND was not about law enforcement... the crimes were depraved and haunting.
I'd be interested if anyone else had that one book that stayed with them.
Ann rules books can spook you out too. I read all of them. She is, in my opinion, the best true crime writer out there. I read biographies and true crime. Make-believe fiction does not interest me.
Way beyond freaked me out as a teenager. I might read that one again sometime.
There are great books mentioned in this thread. Helter Skelter is my No 1 True Crime book. Scary and fascinating with a lot of information on how "The Family" lived and background about the main protagonists.
It grips you from the start. I always remember the opening lines of the book. "It was so quiet, one of the killers would later say, you could almost hear the sound of ice rattling in cocktail shakers in the homes way down the canyon."
It still gives me goosebumps every time I read it.
Phillip Markoff was another murderer who seemed to be normal on the outside (The Craiglist Killer). His fiance truly believed there was a terrible mixup when he was arrested for murder.
I don't know that there is a book about him yet.
Make no mistake, there are books out already! Seven Days of Rage by Paul La Rosa is one; A Date With Death is another by Michele McPhee; then Aaron Patterson and Reagan Martin both have books out called The Craigslist Killer. The problems is that there are so many Craigslist killers now that you have to make sure you have the right book. Even the uncaught beach-burials guy on Long Island is a Craigslist Killer. It's enough to make you wonder how much Excedrin Jim Buckmaster goes thru in a week...
This precious boy was known as Little Boy Blue, murdered by his Amish father. Another I cant remember the name of off the top of my head, was about a husband and wife who had many, many kids die. No one thought they were being killed, so let them adopt a little boy. The mom then killed him also and was caught. One of the saddest books I've ever read.
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