Michael L.

Book is Good but depressing. Narrator has a Lisp

Revisado: 10-23-21

After watching Mind Hunter on Netflix, I wanted to learn more about Wayne Williams. This book is relatively short and isn't nearly as in depth as Ann Rule's or Jack Olsen's books. But it is the best I could find on Audible on the subject. Overall I think it's average. But what drove me crazy listenening to this is the narrator has a pronounced lisp. I understand this is a disability and shouldn't be discriminated against. But having said that, I simply don't understand how anyone could hire a narrator with a lisp. Or how anyone with a lisp would think they should be a professional narrator or voice over talent.

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Extraodinary insight into the mind of Ted Bundy

Revisado: 06-12-19

Many books and documentaries talk at length about Ted Bundy's crimes, intelligence and compartmentalized mind, then follow up with a short quote from TB supporting their claims. I'm much more interested in listening to TB himself at length, as opposed to authors summarizing and interpreting him for us. And that's exactly what this book provides.

He's questioned exhaustively about the 'Ted' murders, motivations, methods, and psychology. Only he describes things from a detached 3rd person perspective about an group or individual capable of committing such crimes. He sounds more like a professor of criminology than a serial killer. But his insights are significantly more relevant because he's speaking from experience and not speculating about crimes other's have committed. His statements are carefully controlled but impressively detailed at the same time. I found his detachment and ability to speak so casually about such horrific materials chilling. He doesn't confess to anything, but ends up providing a tremendous amount of insight into the mind of a serial killer. It's clear TB was brilliant and had an incredibly deep well constructed criminal mind.

Although I support the death penalty, and believe TB was the perfect candidate for such a punishment, I can't help wonder if an exception should have been made in his case. In the ongoing effort to understand serial killers minds and motivations... and abnormal psychology in general... I believe TB could have provided the field with a lifetime of relative and insightful information. He knows more about the subject than anyone who simply speculates about it, and is intelligent enough to evaluate all sides of things from psychological and sociological perspective. Of course determining his truthfulness is tricky business. This is something I believe the author overlooked, during the interviews he yells at Ted demanding a confession and accurate body count in order to sell books. Missing the more interesting and deeper understanding of things Ted was providing. It was like Ted was the teacher in the room, and the author was an impatient press reporter.

This is a perfect companion book to Ann Rules Stranger Beside Me.

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esto le resultó útil a 19 personas

Very little new information

Revisado: 06-12-19

There are some interesting police transcripts and interviews revealed for the first time in this book. The problem is very little of it provides any useful information or insight into Ted Bundy. What drives me crazy is the amount of redundancy and references to his previous TB books. Just try and count how many times he references himself. If you were to edit out everything related to him + his previous books it'd be 1/2 as long.

1- Ann Rule - Stranger Besides Me
2- Stephen Michaud - Conversations with a Killer

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Strange cadence of delivery

Revisado: 04-20-19

Not very in depth but a somewhat interesting listen. Narration has ackward pauses in middle of sentences.

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Excellent investigation into the 'Zodiac' evidence

Revisado: 02-17-18

Any additional comments?

If you're a true crime fan or closet sleuth, you've probably read Robert Graysmith's 'Zodiac' and like me considered it the undisputed history of facts. It remains probably the best introductory reference, however Mark Hewitt's 'Hunted- Zodiac Murders' offers a less sensationalized and more investigatory look at the evidence. There appears to be many other credible suspects to those crimes and many witnesses accounts actually differ than previously reported. This has left me questioning the official record of things.

Could it be that the crimes are actually unrelated and that the letters were used specifically to tie them together? This is not a point made in the book, but what it has lead me to believe. Obviously the 'zodiac writer' had intimate knowledge of the crimes, but who else would have access to this information- anyone in the police department. What would the motive be- serial killer at large = bigger law enforcement budgets, growing the department, constant\unending screen time on local + national news, instead of investigating numerous crimes\subjects, it's all combined into a crime they know they'll never solve. Think about it, the modus operandi + crime method + weapons used were different in every case.

Why was the Zodiac killer never discovered.... because there never was a Zodiac killer

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas