No comments about The Case of the Green River Killer (Crime Scene Investigations).

5 comments about Gary Ridgway: The Green River Killer.

1. The first out of the gates (preceding Ann Rule's book and Smith and Guillen's updated edition of "Search for the Green River Killer") following Ridgway's confession and conviction. This is a tightly written book which explores Ridgway's youth and subsequent rise to the status of worst serial murderer in US history. It covers all the bases, Ridgway, his crimes, the victims and the policemen who doggedly pursued their suspect until DNA brought him down. I'd happily recommend this book to any true crime fan. It also has an altruistic motive, a portion of the proceeds from the sales of this book go to a YWCA charity to build shelters for young women down on their luck, the sort of women Ridgway preyed upon.



2. good book very short read,alot of info unless you followed the case.if you heard about aoll the stories since i984 finally they got a seemingly normal looking animal.i couldnt believe in 87 they used all the science they had when they searched the house were 25 woman weree killed.thats unbelievable no trophies..the worst part of book is they arnt gonna kill the animal he gets 3 hots and a cot,the familys get closure fry him WE could lie im s ure he did lie that is..i would say buy book



3. Much more information in this book than in any other book I've read on the subject



4. This book is totally scarey.Very well written..I have lived in gary ridgeways hunting grounds all my life..I frequent places mentioned in the book.I wonder why though they put the wrong street number on the picture of his parents house..he grew up on 174th not 175th..And there used to be a woods behind the house..that was cleared at some point and a fence put up closer to the house..The book doesnt mention anything about searching where the woods used to be..and there are 4 girls still missing..hhmmm...left me wondering.



5. I very much enjoyed reading this book.I chose to read this book before reading "GREEN RIVER RUNNING RED" by ANN RULE.I wanted to get as much understanding of what he was like before reading about the things he did.

5 comments about The Search for the Green River Killer.

1. I've always been facinated by true crime stories. And this was the first book I picked up. In the past getting me to read was a task, and I just never cared much about reading. Therefore getting through a 200 page book took me months. I bought this book in an airport on my way to Las Vegas. It grabbed me in the airport waiting for a plane, I couldn't put it down. In fact I ended up reading for hours on my trip in Vegas instead of gambling (might have saved me a few bucks). Regardless, I finished this book in about 4-5 days. It's over 500 pages long so I even impressed myself.

   I agree the politics gets a little too much at times, and it gets a little repetitive, but it does tell the story of "the search" for the Green River Killer. What makes this book even better now is that the killer has been caught and the book has been updated with more details. There were times late a night reading this book where I felt like someone was in the room with me, and that felt freaky. Obviously nobody was, but it's just the feeling I got that scared me pretty good.

   Needless to say, I thought it was a great book to read. It's a tragedy that so many people died and that the police were so screwed up on this, but could I have done a better job? I doubt it, hind-sight is always 20-20. If you like good stories about true crime or serial killers, this one will get to you. Not many killed more than he did and even more rare is how long he was loose in today's times.

   Reinhart and Kranske have my blessings for all that they went through over the years, and the toll it must have taken on their families as well as all the others that were involved. And to know they were so close but just didn't know is disturbing.

   Buy this book, you won't regret it. You might find the police politics interesting as I did, or you might skip over a few paragraphs and get back to the discoveries, either way you shouldn't be disappointed.




2. Overall, I thought this was a good overview of the Green River killer case. I had not paid much attention to it, but when Ridgway was caught and sentenced in Nov, 2003, it really got my attention. The book by Smith and Guillen portrays the police who chased the killer for so many years, and also explains some of the mistakes they made, partly because they had never had to deal with a situation of this magnitude before. It is a very interesting book. However, I did find lots of typos in the copy I had, which was paperback. The person who checked for errors did not do a good job. No book should be released with typos in it today. Some of the victims' names were misspelled. For instance, Shawnda Leea Summers' first name was spelled Shawanda. These are mistakes that should not have been made. According to Dave Reichert's new book it was Shawnda.



3. i first read this book in its initial printing, when it came with the offer of a reward for information leading to the apprehension of the killer. i more recently picked up the revised edition, and while reading it was once again impressed by the authors' ability to distill what i'm sure were mountains of information into a cohesive, coherent account of a case that stretched over 20 years.
   
   co-author carlton smith also contributed to mark prothero's "defending gary", which delves much further into the case and into ridgway's involvement. prothero was one of ridgway's defense attorneys, and he provides fascinating insights into the handling and disposition of the case. i'd recommend it for folks who've read this book and want to know more.



4. I thought this was a very good book for the most part but bogged down like others mentioned with police politics. I found myself skipping paragraph's and even pages at times just skimming to get back to the detective work.



5. this book was also purchased in conjunction with "issues explored through the green river murders." the two books together provided a very comprehensive picture of what happened. this book is long and a tedious read sometimes, however it is a fantastic reference as to the chronological timeline of events that occurred during the investigation.

2 comments about Serial Killers: Issues Explored Through the Green River Murders.

1. After co-writing the Search for the Green River Killer, Tomas Guillen sums this case up expertly. Even if you haven't read the earlier book, you'll understand the dynamics that allowed Gary Ridgway to get away with these crimes for 22 years. I highly recommend this book.



2. i purchased this book as a resource for a research project / poster presentation for a forensic science course in my undergrad work. this book provided valuable, unbiased insight as to the things that went wrong during the green river murder investigation. there were things in the book that provided great insight as to the mistakes and shortcomings of the entire investigation.
   if information is required as to the true things that went wrong and you require information as to why the apprehension of gary ridgway took so long, this is a great reference.

5 comments about Defending Gary: Unraveling the Mind of the Green River Killer.

1. This is an amazing book!!! I started reading it and could not put it down! After living in Seattle for all of these years and having the fear of the Green River Killer in my own "back yard" I had many un-answered questions. I finally had all of them answered after reading this book.
   This is also a "must read" for anyone studying psychology. Many people studied Gary but few really understood him.



2. This book provided great insight into a case that shook not only the nation, but crept into our daily lives as residents of Kent, WA. You try to unmangle the truth from the media reports and are left with just more questions. Reading this book enlightened and disheartened page after page. A job well done by Mr. Prothero.



3. This book brought me to a greater understanding of the complete Green River case. I have a special interest in this case from living and working within blocks of the areas many of the women were found and remembering the anxiety and fear during that time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.



4. Well written book. Authors had a good understanding of Gary Ridgway and yet did not lose caring about those whose lives were ended or forever changed by his behavior. By reading this book, it became clear to me that Gary Ridgway was a person who had no ability to perceive his victims as real people. Those who cared for the victims are desperate for bits of information about what happened to them. Gary doesn't know--he killed them and dumped their bodies and that's all he knows. This book gives a good understanding of the grueling months of trying to gather information and find bodies and the toll it took on all involved. I would have preferred a little less of the verbatim interviews with Gary--the book was overly long. I also didn't see the relevance of all the information about the Prothero family and their swimming skill. All in all, however, this book is recommended to those who are still trying to understand these murders which were so horrific for so many.



5. Defending Gary is written by one of Gary Leon Ridgeway's attorneys. It provides probably some of the most earliest and abnormal behaviors exhibited by very young Gary Leon Ridgeway besides Ann Rule's book, a true masterpiece,"Green River,Running Red". "Defending Gary" gives the reader a clear, comprehensive and chilling look as to why Gary Ridegeway stalked and murdered at least forty-eight prostitutes along the "Sea-Tac Strip", an area around the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washigton State. The killings seemed most likely to have started in mid 1982, although detectives cannot be positive. The bulk of the killings were from 1982-84. The murders seemed to have stopped in 1984, but in reality they had not. It took twenty years for detectives to catch one of the most deadliest and notorious serial murderers in U.S history. He did literally "hide in plain sight" as he was very average looking. Finally on November 30, 2001 Gary Leon Ridgeway was apprehended and sentenced to life in prison. The author tells of his troubles in defending this killing machine of a man. Ridgeway himself said "I tried to kill as many prostitues as I could". He blamed them for spreading the AIDS virus and actually thought he was doing society a favor of ridding the streets of women he considered "evil". A must read for anyone who wants to know about the thought processes that Gary Ridgeway had and "his reasons" why he preyed upon and killed very "down on their luck" and desperate women for whom prostitution was many of the victims' means of survival and to support their children, for the ones that had children to support. A definitive look at in my opinion, the most dangerous and scariest case in America on serial killings.

5 comments about Green River Serial Killer--Biography of an Unsuspecting Wife.

1. Judith opened herself up in an extraordinary way. Sharing her personal life in an unabashed manor that gave greater insight into Gary Ridgway. I appreciate all that she went through as his final victim so to speak in an extreme way. take care Judith!



2. the story of the former mrs. judith ridgway is simultaneously fascinating and tragic. this book provides a lot of information about her life prior to marrying gary ridgway, as well as the story of how she found out about his crimes and how she tried to cope with them. there are lots of interesting facts, along with photos, copies of letters, etc.
   
   unfortunately, this is the author's first book, and it shows. the volume could have done with a thorough proofreading and editing. also, the book's title -- which reads only as "Green River Serial Killer" on the spine -- is pretty misleading. this isn't gary's story, it's judith's. yet gary is there alone on the cover (against a backdrop of one of his letters to judith), with a caption explaining the scars on his arm. the design looks cheap & exploitative, and is not really representative of the book inside.
   
   the book ends with a lengthy chapter in which the author gets to show off her professional handwriting analysis skills with samples of gary's letters. the chapter is overlong and, to this reader, fairly tedious and unnecessary.
   
   five stars for the story, knocked down to 3 stars because of the quality of the presentation.



3. A significant part of many of the popular TV drama shows dwells on the psychological background of the "unidentified subject" who has committed heinous crimes. One of my favorite shows was Profile and the primary activity of the main character was to analyze who, why, and what is making this individual act as he/she does. I wonder how that main character would have discussed Gary Ridgway, the Green River Serial Killer . . .
   
   Pennie Morehead presents readers with an interesting alternative look at the life of America's most deadly serial killer--that is, "through the loving eyes of his wife." (Back cover) Morehead, in her first book, gives a very personal perspective of an individual affected by true crime. I found it fascinating reading!
   
   The book includes exclusive photographs from the life of Judith Ridgway, as well as letters handwritten by Gary from prison. Additionally, the author uses her professional analysis of his handwriting to give yet another "look" at a killer(s). For some reason, though I normally start reading front to back, I opened the book to these pictures and letters. Judith had been married once before and I studied the pictures of her early life, her first marriage, and then later, her fourteen "happy" years with a serial killer.
   
   Consider if you will--two husbands. One is an admitted bisexual (after they were married) who forced Judith and their two children to dress in clothes he selected, later in victorian style, and attend medieval festivals. Judith's first husband, Lee, instructed Judith on how to perform wifely duties in the bedroom as well. Having been abused in early life, Judith was not shocked about what took place--she put no emotional investment in the sexual act. Not knowing any better, she assumed other wives must be doing the same thing.
   
   On and on, strange things happened in her first marriage, including sex orgies and her children seeing their father naked with another man. She tried to figure out how she could escape! Finally, she was able to learn how to drive, and she was able to find work and begin to make her own money. Finally, she convinced her husband to allow a divorce.
   
   Judith's second husband was her prince. "It was February of 1985, Judith was forty years old, and finally free from the stranglehold of her dysfunctional, nineteen-year first marriage." (p. 59) Judith met Gary Ridgway, an attractive, slightly younger man to whom she was immediately attracted and with whom she could have fun, giggle, and live a normal life. Gary was a painter for a truck company and made a good living. They bought a camper and traveled and purchased a nice home. Judith was happier than she had ever thought possible.
   
   Two husbands--Judith's second husband was the serial killer.
   
   "Judith was not aware of...a chilling fact: Only two days after she met her prince--Gary Ridgway was sitting in the presence of Green River Killer Task Force detectives!" (P.63) Ridgway later admitted he had no idea how many women he had murdered; 48 were documented.
   
   I found myself moving around within this book...I'd study the pictures of Judith and her first husband and then go back to look at the ones where they wore victorian clothing. Then I marveled at the family pictures of the various families. I would reread portions of the letters from Gary to Judith once he was in prison.
   
   Who was the Gary Ridgway who killed at least 48 women. Why could he have a totally different, loving life with a woman who came to love him deeply within a happy marriage? There is an illusion that if he didn't "have to pass" a certain area to and from work, where prostitutes could easily be found, then maybe . . . But that doesn't explain why he murdered those from whom he acquired sex.
   
   This book doesn't provide "that profile," that would identify a serial killer, but, Morehead's review of his handwriting, noting, for instance, certain letters that referred to "socio-sexual shame," is an interesting highlight of the book. True Crime books do not normally attract me because they provide no conclusion, other than that the guilty are being punished and the book documents what happened. However, I found the story of Judith Ridgway unbelievably unique and memorable. I can only pray that Judith finds a faith and strength that will help her survive what she has endured.
   
   Needless to say, this is a must-read for anyone interested in true crime or crime-related biographies. Morehead has provided a well-documented, comprehensive book that moves through Judith's early life through to the time she is receiving intimate letters from the prison cell of the Green River Serial Killer. True life is "really" sometimes unbelievable!



4. My evaluation is similar to what has already been written. One gains a good understanding from this book of the marriage of Judith and Gary Ridgway and the devastation to Judith's life of Gary's arrest and subsequent admission to killing many women as the Green River Killer. She was treated with little respect by a system focused solely on gathering information to convict Gary and she lost so much--her possessions, the order of her belongings, her yard, her sense of herself, her security. The ripple effects of Gary's choices keep on going for others who cared about his victims or about him. One gets a real sense of all this from the book. However, the book was poorly organized, is choppy and includes a lot extraneous information, not woven together. I don't know what would have helped this, but maybe a more skilled editor, proofreader, advisor and publishing house. Maybe a more experienced true crime author could have done more with the material, but one wonders if Judith would have trusted someone more established with her story. It's a shame because the book deserves more attention than it will probably get. As for Judith, I hope she has found some way to put her life back together. One thing that might help is that, without her and the stability she brought to Gary's life, there undoubtedly would have been even more women killed.



5. This is a fascinating account of an innocent, sweet, caring woman who only wanted to be loved. How she ended up with two deceitful husbands in a row is still unclear, but it tugs at the imagination.
   
   I agree with the other reviews that the book lacks literary shine; however, the story is so compelling that I give it five stars anyway.
   
   If you can overlook amateurish writing for the sake of an inside look into the mind of an unknowing wife of a serial killer, you'll enjoy this book.

5 comments about Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer.

1. I read CHASING THE DEVIL with great interest, after reading the book by Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen, the two reporters from the Seattle Times who spent many years covering the case for the newspaper. I wanted to read Reichert's book to get a law enforcement official's perspective on the search for this elusive madman who was killing young girls in Seattle, WA. Many of these girls were runaways with drug and alcohol problems, and many had probably suffered sexual abuse and had left home to escape a traumatic situation, only to encounter brutality on the streets.
   
   Reichert is the antithesis of the killer. He is a straightforward, law-abiding citizen with deep religious beliefs and roots. His grandfather was a minister and he himself had considered going into the ministry while he was a student at a Lutheran college. However, he chose law enforcement instead, and clearly it was a good choice. His belief that the killer had to be hunted down and found, regardless of cost or anything else, shows that Reichert is a man of strong conviction. Reichert's personality comes out clearly in the book. He has great respect for humanity and believed that the murders of these girls had to be avenged. His facial expression in the photo where Ridgway appears in court in 2001 shows that the murders greatly affected him.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about how law enforcement officials have to operate, in real-world scenarios, unlike on TV, where murder investigations cannot be wrapped up in just one hour. I felt CHASING THE DEVIL was an apt title for the book, as Ridgway clearly is one.



2. I am absolutely fascinated by the fact that so many people have been captivated by this book. This book was simply a campaign ploy for Reichert to elevate himself into congress. The timing of the book came as he was running for congress and allowed him to make tons of TV appearances that aided his campaign. The book is as much fiction as it is a true account. The purpose of the book was to portray an image of a man who was running for congress. Reichert was never the head of the task force, and he was only on the task force for nine years, not twenty! The man whom his peers call selfish and unable to give credit to others, exemplifies this in this incredible book. He did have a ghost writer and even fails to mention that as he once again takes all the credit himself. I wish he was at least honest and admit that he never believed Ridgeway was the killer because he passed a polygraph test and instead always pinned his hopes on an innocent man Melvyn Foster.... nice work Congressman Reichert



3. I really enjoyed this book. I found the writing easy to read and it flowed well. There were parts that did not needed to be included in the book. At times I think the author felt he had to explain his situation in times it was convenient for him. I felt it was an unnecessary addition to the true story.
   In the end, I would read this book again!



4. I've read a lot about the Green River case, and almost every recounting, aside from this one, paints Reichert as as much a part of the problem as the solution in this protracted case. His early mistakes, and his myopic fascination with suspect Melvyn Foster are often credited with confounding the search for the real killer. Reichert, while obviously passionate about the case, seems to get caught up in his own political aspirations at the expense of his objectivity about the case. And for him to take so much credit for apprehending Ridgway -- 14 years after he'd gone off the case -- seems like a calculated attempt to curry favor with potential voters. I guess it worked -- he got elected -- but to me he comes off as overly ambitious and more than a little closed minded.



5. This book reads like a crime novel. Unfortunately, it's a true story about the worst serial killer in American history.
   The Prologue was an almost "folksy" introduction to David Reichert,the man who would spend 20 years working on the Green River serial killings.
   
   Mr.Reichert details some of the problems with the investigation from media involvement to the class of the victims. He makes the distinction between Ted Bundy's victims who were college girls and the Green River victims who were prostititutes,some in their teens. He does a good job of emphasizing the fact these victims were no less human and were missed by loved ones. They were often dificult to trace and sometimes identification was not easy.
   Another problem the task force dealt with over time was financing. A long investigation was not cheap and there was the perception that the killer had stopped or moved when the discovery of corpses declined temporarily.
   This aided the decision to cut back on staffing.
   
   Another interesting factor was technology. Over the life of this investigation DNA testing and computer technology "came of age" and were instrumental in eventually solving the case.
   Where these tools helped,the polygraph didn't. Ridgway passed multiple polygraph tests.
   
   The tough decision for the County Prosecutor was his decision to ultimately abandon the pursuit of the death penalty in exchange for more details and locations of more victims.
   
   Some of the things that this book highlights are the dogged dedication of David Reichert to bring the killer to justice and the heavy toll it took on the team. The strain that the investigation put on Reichert and his family isn't something you would normally think about.
   If you want to read a book about the Green River killings,I highly recommend this book

5 comments about The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer.

1. The reason that this book was written was to teach. I am finishing up a class taught by Keppel, and it is called Serial Murder. When I read the book for the first time, I thought it was bland and fragmented as well. But that is becuase he wrote it not for the general public but for those learining about the investigative aspect of serial murder, and what the Bundy-Ridgeway-Keppel connection could bring to light in the criminal justice world. When he implemented the book into his lectures, it all made perfect sense. In actuality, if you paid attention to the book, and knew enough about criminal investigations, you realized that Bundy was actually giving the criminal justice field valuable information on the way a serial killer thinks. The book was a little tough to get through, but if you go through and read it a second time, and watch the TV movie on A&E, its really a fascinating subject.



2. In this book Kepple kind of goes off on a tangent, more about Bundy rather than the Rivermam himself who is the title of the book. It may have been more aptly named "my interviews with Ted Bundy". I guess I cant blame him though, he persued Bundy for a long time and his blatant dislike (to put it mildly) of the man shows through, thus objectivity is not something to be expected. I much better liked his book "Signature Killers" there his experience and wisdom of the subject shows through making it a very enlightening read on the subject. I found Riverman to be more drawn out, and somewhat more disorganized than "Signature Killers". Kepples treatment of his subject is more personal but for anyone studying serial murder it is still a worthwhile read.



3. in reality, keppel was at best tangential to the hunt for the green river killer. this book comes across as nothing more than a self-aggrandizing attempt to milk some personal publicity out of a horrific murder case. those expecting for details about the search that ultimately led to the arrest of gary ridgway will likely be disappointed. those interested in ted bundy or bob keppel will fare better. sadly, i was not one of those readers. the title is misleading, and i was one of those suckered in. oh well. one star it is.



4. Seattle was gripped with another serial killer in the mid-eighties which wouldn't be solved until about twenty years later. The killer was known as the Green River Killer and he killed about 50 women who were mostly prostitutes and drug addicts. At first, nobody seemed to notice these missing transients. As they piled up in certain spots, the Seattle Task Force had another monstrous serial killer on the loose and didn't know who it could be without the use of technology or DNA evidence. Anyway, Keppel who wrote this book gets the most unlikely help and assistance from somebody who knows about serial killing, Ted Bundy, on death row in Florida. Despite the obvious reasons that anybody would associate with Ted Bundy, Keppel has his reasons and motives to get inside the mind of a serial killer without going insane and to prevent an end to the murders. Bundy is useful with some of his ideas. He calls the victims in the Green River cases as bottom-feeders. Most of Bundy's victims were not prostitutes or drug addicts but college students, wives, and pretty young women. Bundy does confirm that the Killer and himself were involved in necrophiliac acts on the victims after their deaths. The murders were not so much the act as to get the victim. For Bundy, he needs to possess them. For Ridgway, he doesn't clarify his actions. The book is well-written, researched, and graphic at times. It's not for children or adults who get sqeamish at such acts of horror.



5. I read another reviewer point out that the title of the book should be
   "How I tried to outwit Bundy, and lost". in my opinion, there couldn't be a better title. There are so many logical fallacies in the book that it really makes Keppel look quite unprofessional. He makes assertions and states as fact, information that is nothing more than suspicion speculation. Some of the information in this book has been proven completely inaccurate since its publishing date. All I ask is that a non-fiction writer present me with a review of the FACTS...NOT long winded, delusional, self promotion. One of the last things Robert Keppel writes is something about Ted being a truly insignicant creature. Well, the fact that you've written books about the guy would indicate otherwise, BOB!

5 comments about Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer.

1. I've been an off-and-on Ann Rule fan -- completely hooked by the earlier "Small Sacrifices" and "The Stranger Beside Me," and less enamored by some of her later work. Here, she tackles a huge, decades-long story that, like "TSBM," touches on her own personal life. It's a daunting undertaking that must have required hundreds upon hundreds of hours of interviews and the endless mining of information. So I wish there was more "fact" on the page -- and less of the unfortunate over-sentimentalizing of victims and general authorial melodramatics. I wish Rule didn't feel she owed every victim (and their families) adjectives like "pretty" or passages meant to manipulate our sympathies. Show us real people captured through clear-headed reporting, and we'll naturally care about them; we don't need to be told, page after page, what to feel. I came to this after reading Truman Capote's exhaustively researched and skillfully written "In Cold Blood," so most contemporary true-crime writing is going to pale by comparison. Still, I wish the reporting could have been more thoroughly presented and objective, and the storytelling less manipulative. There's more than enough real drama inherent in this story, but I feel the details sometimes get shortchanged in favor of melodrama. (Based on reading the Kindle version of this book.)
   
   One final note: While many details may be 100% accurately reported, I was shocked to see Rule make two howling errors with regard to popular music. "Heart of Glass" was not a song by Heart (it's by Blondie). And Heart's 1970s song wasn't "Tugboat Annie"; it was "Dreamboat Annie." Small mistakes, to be sure. But when you're talking about a multi-platinum Seattle-based band -- in a Seattle-based story from a Seattle-based writer -- it made me stop and wonder just how many other oversights had slipped through.



2. What a great book! Couldn't put it down! Ann Rule is one of the best authors in this genre. I felt like I was in the case myself



3. This is the very first book by Ann Rule I've ever read, and will definitely be the very last book I'll ever read by her. I don't want to spend lots of time on something I found so inferior, so I'll try to make it concise. First, the title: very sensational, exploitative and UNTRUE. This killer was not a "butcher" as the title strongly suggests. Second, the book is extremely overwritten in many places and terribly underwritten in others. Rule claims to have cared about each and every victim, but it's obvious that she had her favorite ones (some women get mentioned in LONG detail, repeatedly to boot, while others get 3 sentences maximum. And believe me, information has always been out there about them, as well). This bothered and disappointed me. Hardly NOTHING about Marcia Chapman :( a mother of three whose murder was the one that broke the case 2 decades later. Where was her sad, but proud declaration "I need this money for my kids"? The drastic differences in attention from one victim to the next made for an uneven reading experience. Furthermore, lots and lots of pages are wasted on false suspects and assaults that apparently weren't encounters with the GRK. The last section of the book, devoted to the retarded loser who was in fact the killer, and his confessions and hearing, is thin and very rushed in comparison to the drawn-out, oftentimes boring first half. If Rule hated to write about him & his actions that much, she shouldn't have tried to tackle this difficult subject.
   
   Perhaps the worst part is her need to constantly interject herself into things. There are even two pictures of HER (very bloated and quite UN-photogenic I might add) in the photo section amongst the victims and cops. I was quite offended by her unwarranted ego. Her personal experiences are relevant about three times, yet she stops the story on dozens of occasions to brag about how she was receiving worthless tips, writing other potboilers, casually covering the same ground as the killer, and arriving at the crime scenes or choosing to stay away. Who cares?! She wasn't a police officer or even a journalist assigned to the case. She was obviously so desperate to be a part of things, either as a cop, a reporter, or perhaps...??? It was pathetic and left a bad taste in my mouth. Some details were mentioned but not even attempted to be followed up on- like why the rocks were left in the two young women in the river, and just how much of the letter he wrote was (in)accurate. She could've fit all this in and more if she had removed herself from the book. That would've cut the word count down by a third.
   
   If you're unfamiliar with this case and want to learn more, I'd definitely recommend researching on the internet instead. There's only a little that you'll find in this book that isn't on reputable websites, plus there's a lot more that she didn't bother to put in, especially regarding the confessions. If you're very familiar with this case, pass on it unless you're an obsessed loser. I'll give it one star for the half-a**ed effort and another for the readability (junior high school level). Absolutely NOT the definitive book on this case.



4. I have read quite a few true crime books by Mrs. Ann Rule,such titles as "The Lust Killer"-The story of Jerome Brudos, "The Stranger Beside Me"-The Ted Bundy Murders,"The I-5 Freeway Killer"-The story of serial murderer and rapist,Randy Woodfield and "Small Sacrifices"-The story of Diane Downs. "Small Sacrifices was a particularily emotional and very heartwrenching true story of a young mother of three who shot her three small children, one died and the other two have permanent physical and emotional damages, because her lover did not want to be a "daddy", Now ,Rule's latest book to date "Green River,Running Red" in my own opinion is the most accurate, horrific,shocking and most of all, very emotional. Rule brings back life to the dead young women and gives them dignity that very few people of Seattle, except for their grieving families and even the poor women themselves, felt they did not deserve to be treated with respect and dignity simply because they were trapped in a hellish life of prostitution. Ann Rule's book literally sucked me into the story. I felt I was right there in the middle of it all. I felt I had known the victims myself because Rule gives such a clear, comphrensive account of their short lives that were over before they really even begun. I give this book 5 stars because of the accuracy,the story of how The Green River Task Force worked endlessly for over twenty years,the easy to understand literature and most of all ,the compelling emotional truth of the Green River cases and the victims and their families. A must read for all Ann Rule fans!



5. I decided to read this book after seeing the TV movie based on Ann Rule's book. However, I believe another book written in the late 80s/early 90s, The Search For the Green River Killer, was better.
   
   Rule's book goes a bit overboard in giving backgrounds to the many women who disappeared. After reading 40+ mini bio's on each of the girls, the book starts to become a bit boring. However, she does give the reader enough information to know that these girls were real people and that they all had mothers, boyfriends, and family. However, these bios continue for at least 250 pages (paperback). Once the bios are finished, the book begins to take off.
   
   One irritating factor is how Rule stops the flow of narration to interject comments about herself, or what she was doing during the course of the killings, or how she passed on certain information to the police, blah blah blah. I believe one should write objectively about the subject without personal interjection.
   
   Another facet of the book I found unusual was how the book skipped from circa 1988/89 to 2001. Rule gives basically no information as to what was happening on the case during the 90s. She starts section III with 2001 and the capture of Ridgway. Well...what happened during the 90s? How did the police slowly hone in on Ridgway?
   
   The last section of the book starts with "We've caught the GRK" and then goes into his capture, his trial and so on.
   
   I've read other Ann Rule books. I know she writes well but this book was a bit self-serving.

4 comments about Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer.

1. I was in junior high school when the Green River Killer was making his rounds. I remember watching about it on the TV news. While books have been written about the case, I was waiting until it had been solved to read about it. When I saw this book, I knew this was the one I would finally purchase because it was written by someone who actually had worked the case, not an outsider.
   
   This book is excellent--it is very well written, concise, and full of factual evidence. It also shows that we in law enforcement are humans and have feelings, too. We just often have to set them aside while we deal with horrible incidents.
   
   I am a dispatcher at a sheriff's office in a western state. I was almost finished with the book when I brought it to work with me. Within minutes of its discovery, co-workers were calling out dibs on who got to read it next. One deputy even called me on the radio to ask if I was finished reading it yet!
   
   So, this book is making the rounds at our office. And, everyone agrees with me that it is a VERY GOOD book.



2. Gary Ridgway is a pretty unremarkable man, but he inspired a remarkable story. This is one of the few serial killer cases where the investigative team is more interesting than the actual killer. At no point has Gary Ridgway crossed over from being a heartless murderer to pop culture antihero like, say, Charles Manson has. Being prostitutes, Ridgway's victims were almost too vulnerable, practically laid out on a buffet for him to prey upon. David Reichert struggles with this fact and many others throughout this story. You'll get a good sense of the intense pressure he and his team felt during their experience. The community was outraged at the task force's seeming lack of progress; the media fueled the fire by pointing out mistakes and missed opportunities. Later, budget cuts and over-involvement by the FBI were enough to drive many task force members to seek other assignments. Reichert's views on all of these are made clear, and the politics of a major city's police force are on display for all to see. Incredibly, at one point, the case had become so fruitless that only one man (not Reichert) was assigned to it for the duration. The task force's tireless work and evidence-collecting paid off in the end, and the prolific killing spree was finally ended. Others reviewing this book have called Reichert an egomaniac but I don't think he comes off like that at all. He gives a lot of credit where it's due, admits his errors, and is respectful to the victims at all times. His obsession is the reason the case got as far as it ever did. If David Reichert wanted to look like a big shot, I'd say he sacrificed a lot to get there.



3. Sheriff David G. Reichert might have written his autobiography here. After all, he was one in charge in regards to the Green River case. Reichert got involved from the first victim until the killer, Gary Leon Ridgway, finally confessed to killing over 50 victims and finding locations for the remains of some of them. For his confession, he was given life in prison without the possibility of parole. I'm sure some people felt that he deserved the death penalty and probably so. He murdered almost all women mostly prostitutes and drug addicts and runaways. Hardly the population that needed publicity. In Ted Bundy's day, he went after well-respected daughters, college students. Bundy referred to the Green River Killer's victims as bottom feeders because most families and friends wouldn't report them missing so soon. Reichert writes about the frustration and aggravation in almost every turn in trying to chase the devil who was the Green River Killer. I think we forget that law enforcement can be human and make mistakes. There were those that covered. The girls on the strip were in danger and they even knew it too. The Green River Killer took 20 years to find and he was a regular employee at Kenworth company as a truck driver. He was interviewed at times but nothing added up until the technology and DNA evidence. He finally confessed to his hideous crimes which included necrophilia something that Ted Bundy also did but was ashamed of. Ridgway comes clean and confesses to over 50 murders. It probably relieved the families that there would never be a trial which can be more painful in bringing up the past. Some victims were never found but I admired Reichert's way of memorializing them on the end pages of this book as well as writing about the many people, men and women who brought justice to the Green River victims.



4. as far as biases go, this book takes the cake. mr. reichert explains how he was the absolute pivot point around which the entire investigation rotated. i wasn't there, nor do i know what actually happened - but to think that one person solved the entire case is mind-boggling. i know forensic science is all encompassing and a community of scientists, police, etc. working together to come to the conclusion. mr. reichert makes it seem as though he did not utilize anyone else's help. interesting perspective.