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clwils982's review against another edition
4.0
I put off reading this book for awhile bc of the allegations against the author. Definitely regret that.
anovelnerd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.75
lablife's review against another edition
2.0
Sometimes I read as fast as I can because I’m so into a book. In this case, I just wanted it to be over. This subject is near and dear to me as a long time treatment professional and harm reductionist, and it was incredibly disappointing to read an amateurish, surface level narrative of such an important topic. I wondered if it was just me, so I read some other reviews and found out this POS who sat on his hero-complex high horse throughout the entire book was simultaneously harassing and abusing the women around him. I only gave it an extra star for raising up the names of missing and murdered women. I can’t wait to start a new book to refresh my brain.
kevin_shepherd's review against another edition
4.0
“All these women, missing and murdered within a span of a handful of years and a few highways between them, with the state capital of Columbus at its center. Why is this not a national story?”
When I think “serial killer” what comes to mind are the smart ones: Gacey, Dahmer, Bundy, BTK… those cunning, conniving, meticulous sons of bitches who out maneuvered and out smarted task forces and veteran homicide detectives for months or years or sometimes even decades. In truth, the so-called intellectual murderers, the “Hannibal Lectors,” are rare exceptions to the rule.
The truth is that the vast majority of degenerates who commit serial murder are not smart or cunning or the least bit clever. They are predatory douche-bags reacting to targets of opportunity. And in south-central Ohio, nothing affords monsters more targets of opportunity than the American opioid crisis.
“There were 16,425 murders in the US in 2019. That same year, 70,630 people died of drug overdoses, and 49,860 of those overdoses were opioid-related.”
And it gets worse.
“In the twelve months ending May 2020, eighty-one thousand people [in the U.S.] died of drug overdoses… Two hundred and twenty-one deaths every day.”
The bottom line is that opioids create more addicts. Addicts tend to gravitate toward more ‘hard-core’ substances (like heroin). More ‘hard-core’ addicts means more targets of opportunity for hustlers, dope peddlers, and sadistic slime-bags.
The question is, if most serial killers are morons why are the ones preying on Ohio’s opium addicts so hard for law enforcement to catch? Three primary reasons: (perceived) public indifference, police corruption and law enforcement incompetence.
“They said in a news release that the circumstances were suspicious. No shit—her body was found in a trash bag.”
Take, for example, the case of serial killer Anthony Sowell - the Cleveland Police had ample opportunity to put him away and chose not to:
On December 8, 2008, Sowell forced a woman named Gladys Wade into his house and assaulted her. Incredibly, she fought her way outside and managed to flag down a passing patrol car.
“The officers saw droplets of Glady’s blood in the snow outside Sowell’s house. They saw the scratch marks on her neck. They knew that Sowell was a registered sex offender…”
Sowell was arrested on a charge of robbery but incredibly, for whatever reason, they let him go.
“…they decided not to charge him at all. Once free, Sowell went on to murder Nancy Cobbs, Telacia Fortson, Amelda Hunter, Le’Shanda Long, Diane Turner, and Janice Webb.”
It wasn’t until much, much later that the Cleveland PD paid any more attention to Anthony Sowell. When they finally did (only after a naked woman fell out of his window) they found the remains of eleven women inside his home.
“If the Ohio police couldn’t catch a serial killer when he was seemingly caught red-handed, how the hell were they going to catch a killer who was more careful…?”
Billy Jensen writes True Crime as well as anyone I have ever read. I cannot put his books down. And it’s not just his writing; he has a drive to solve the unsolvable—a task at which he is often surprisingly successful. I highly recommend both Killers Amidst Killers and his previous book, Chase Darkness With Me.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4423605850
When I think “serial killer” what comes to mind are the smart ones: Gacey, Dahmer, Bundy, BTK… those cunning, conniving, meticulous sons of bitches who out maneuvered and out smarted task forces and veteran homicide detectives for months or years or sometimes even decades. In truth, the so-called intellectual murderers, the “Hannibal Lectors,” are rare exceptions to the rule.
The truth is that the vast majority of degenerates who commit serial murder are not smart or cunning or the least bit clever. They are predatory douche-bags reacting to targets of opportunity. And in south-central Ohio, nothing affords monsters more targets of opportunity than the American opioid crisis.
“There were 16,425 murders in the US in 2019. That same year, 70,630 people died of drug overdoses, and 49,860 of those overdoses were opioid-related.”
And it gets worse.
“In the twelve months ending May 2020, eighty-one thousand people [in the U.S.] died of drug overdoses… Two hundred and twenty-one deaths every day.”
The bottom line is that opioids create more addicts. Addicts tend to gravitate toward more ‘hard-core’ substances (like heroin). More ‘hard-core’ addicts means more targets of opportunity for hustlers, dope peddlers, and sadistic slime-bags.
The question is, if most serial killers are morons why are the ones preying on Ohio’s opium addicts so hard for law enforcement to catch? Three primary reasons: (perceived) public indifference, police corruption and law enforcement incompetence.
“They said in a news release that the circumstances were suspicious. No shit—her body was found in a trash bag.”
Take, for example, the case of serial killer Anthony Sowell - the Cleveland Police had ample opportunity to put him away and chose not to:
On December 8, 2008, Sowell forced a woman named Gladys Wade into his house and assaulted her. Incredibly, she fought her way outside and managed to flag down a passing patrol car.
“The officers saw droplets of Glady’s blood in the snow outside Sowell’s house. They saw the scratch marks on her neck. They knew that Sowell was a registered sex offender…”
Sowell was arrested on a charge of robbery but incredibly, for whatever reason, they let him go.
“…they decided not to charge him at all. Once free, Sowell went on to murder Nancy Cobbs, Telacia Fortson, Amelda Hunter, Le’Shanda Long, Diane Turner, and Janice Webb.”
It wasn’t until much, much later that the Cleveland PD paid any more attention to Anthony Sowell. When they finally did (only after a naked woman fell out of his window) they found the remains of eleven women inside his home.
“If the Ohio police couldn’t catch a serial killer when he was seemingly caught red-handed, how the hell were they going to catch a killer who was more careful…?”
Billy Jensen writes True Crime as well as anyone I have ever read. I cannot put his books down. And it’s not just his writing; he has a drive to solve the unsolvable—a task at which he is often surprisingly successful. I highly recommend both Killers Amidst Killers and his previous book, Chase Darkness With Me.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4423605850
jenniferbbookdragon's review
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.75
The primary message of the book is that women with opioid use disorder who are forced to turn to sex work are being killed without any serious interest in solving their murders, and many others have disappeared and police and the media pay no attention. Paying particular attention to missing and murdered women in Ohio who form a large cluster, it is made clear that there are more than one serial killer in the region as well as other murderers who kill casually and simply move on. The data and stories are troubling. I was left with a feeling of compassion for the forgotten casualties of the opioid epidemic and anger at law enforcement, the criminal "justice " system, and our society for allowing people to be classified as disposable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Classism, Addiction, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Police brutality, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Bullying, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
cararainx's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.5