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emb2857's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.75
Informative and well-researched but redundant. I listened to this as an audiobook and had a few times where it sounded so familiar I thought I had accidentally gone backwards.
It was also a hard listen through a 2024 lens given the emphasis on ethical true crime now compared to when this was published in 2017. For example, these women and their families deserve to have their stories told. Therefore I would have liked to hear more from them or feel their involvement more. It also felt cringey hearing “prostitute” instead of sex worker (not used as a legal charge/term), a trans woman repeatedly referred to as “he,” etc.
Overall with a little editing and revising I think this could be a solid telling of this story. That said, I’ve heard about these cases from better sources.
It was also a hard listen through a 2024 lens given the emphasis on ethical true crime now compared to when this was published in 2017. For example, these women and their families deserve to have their stories told. Therefore I would have liked to hear more from them or feel their involvement more. It also felt cringey hearing “prostitute” instead of sex worker (not used as a legal charge/term), a trans woman repeatedly referred to as “he,” etc.
Overall with a little editing and revising I think this could be a solid telling of this story. That said, I’ve heard about these cases from better sources.
duchessofreadin's review against another edition
4.0
The New Bedford Highway Serial Killer ran rampant for several years. The police had plenty of suspects, but no clear evidence pointing to any one person.
The search for justice continues, while the police do everything in their power to identify each body, and bring closure to the families.
This was a good read. I enjoyed it!
The search for justice continues, while the police do everything in their power to identify each body, and bring closure to the families.
This was a good read. I enjoyed it!
bluesleepy's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
lizkoroskenyi's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Murder
sam_is_reading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
3.25
I thought this was very well researched and presented in a clear way. Frustrating that it presents a lot of leads with no conclusion (yeah, I know the cases remain “unsolved” but thought the author could’ve drawn a conclusion for us, or provided their own conclusion) but the story was still compelling and interesting.
sarahannimal's review against another edition
2.0
I can’t say I’d recommend this book. It’s well-researched, but gets lost in the many details of the case and the periphery. I do really appreciate the empathy from the author regarding the victims, but that’s one of the few merits, in my opinion. Some of the writing is repetitive and makes reading exhausting. This case is also unsolved, no physical evidence was ever collected from the all nearly skeletal remains, and both of the main suspects are dead, so I doubt that there will ever be any closure in this case. It does illustrate poor handling of the case by the prosecution, politicians more focused on their careers than solving these serial murders, and I think Kenny never would have been tried if a profiler was consulted.
gusreads's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.0
I’m conflicted about this book. It’s an interesting cold case and there’s a lot of information here, but this book has som significant issues.
First, it’s clear this was written by a journalist and not somebody with any experience in narrative storytelling. This book reads like a long newspaper article - just the facts, dense, no storytelling. It’s such a dense and dry book and she missed so many opportunities to really tell the stories of the victims, the suspects, and the investigators.
Second, she doesn’t advance any theories about who the killer was or even get the investigators to do so. We hear about the two primary suspects but the author never tells us who most likely committed the crimes, nor give us enough information to form our own theories.
Third, the book is very dense and bogged down with a lot of tangential or unimportant information. It desperately needed a good editor.
If you want to learn about the case, go for it. Just be prepared for a long slog of a read.
First, it’s clear this was written by a journalist and not somebody with any experience in narrative storytelling. This book reads like a long newspaper article - just the facts, dense, no storytelling. It’s such a dense and dry book and she missed so many opportunities to really tell the stories of the victims, the suspects, and the investigators.
Second, she doesn’t advance any theories about who the killer was or even get the investigators to do so. We hear about the two primary suspects but the author never tells us who most likely committed the crimes, nor give us enough information to form our own theories.
Third, the book is very dense and bogged down with a lot of tangential or unimportant information. It desperately needed a good editor.
If you want to learn about the case, go for it. Just be prepared for a long slog of a read.
melaninny's review
3.0
A very educational and comprehensive look at the New Bedford serial killings that lacks a bit of luster. The author interviewed a lot of people so you do get a glimpse of the finer details of the cases--the emotions of the victims' families, the struggles of the victims, and the imperfect lives of the two main suspects.
As I said, it's comprehensive but lacks a bit of suspense, something to keep you invested.
Also a brief note to the author and editors of this--there was a trans woman briefly mentioned, one who was a potential witness. Despite the fact that she was even described as showing off her new breasts to the officers who interviewed her, she is consistently misgendered and referred to as "he." This should absolutely be corrected in future editions. Even for someone mentioned so briefly, this was a real person who deserves respect.
As I said, it's comprehensive but lacks a bit of suspense, something to keep you invested.
Also a brief note to the author and editors of this--there was a trans woman briefly mentioned, one who was a potential witness. Despite the fact that she was even described as showing off her new breasts to the officers who interviewed her, she is consistently misgendered and referred to as "he." This should absolutely be corrected in future editions. Even for someone mentioned so briefly, this was a real person who deserves respect.