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princxporkchop's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
2.0
Starts off strong, but quickly becomes a repetitive, meandering mess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Murder, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Gore, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Stalking, Child abuse, Death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Gun violence, and Sexual content
morgainlafeye's review against another edition
3.0
Learned a lot more about how his mind works and enjoyed that a lot. I struggled at the end with the trial because it felt a little bit repetitive, although it was interesting to see how they charged him. SO if you have an interest in the American legal system, since this is a president setting case, its fascinating. I would love an update to learn about his life in prison, his marriage and how he handled his death. If he ever talked about his crimes...etc.
yourlocalpieceoftrash's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
great reference to study.
angleon13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
4.0
This book consists of three parts: the killings, his upbringing and early life, and the trial. It’s equally great for people who are already familiar with Ramirez or are new to his crimes. For those not interested in the criminal proceedings, be warned because the last third of the book details Ramirez’s trials and the fanatic worship by women and even jury members during that time.
I went into this book already knowing a great deal about Richard Ramirez and this rounded out that narrative. I was especially interested to read about his upbringing and family as that was not information I knew beforehand. Admittedly, I am not usually a fan of books that write a first hand narrative of real people. Meaning, they describe thoughts and emotions of real people despite likely not actually knowing what those people were feeling at the time. Carlo writes in this way, telling us how Ramirez, his family, the victims, and even admirers felt during the events outlined in this book. As a reader, it is generally difficult to tell if those are based on real accounts or the creative license of the author. That being said, I am sure much of this book is based on actual interviews and first hand accounts, so I wasn’t too frustrated with this choice.
For those a bit squeamish, the author goes into the injuries sustained by the victims, but he never treads into gore-ish. He writes in a frank, matter-of-fact way about the injuries and doesn’t linger too long. As someone who likes knowing all the details, I maybe could have used a bit more but I think the book did a fine job at providing detail while being respectful of the victims and readers.
I went into this book already knowing a great deal about Richard Ramirez and this rounded out that narrative. I was especially interested to read about his upbringing and family as that was not information I knew beforehand. Admittedly, I am not usually a fan of books that write a first hand narrative of real people. Meaning, they describe thoughts and emotions of real people despite likely not actually knowing what those people were feeling at the time. Carlo writes in this way, telling us how Ramirez, his family, the victims, and even admirers felt during the events outlined in this book. As a reader, it is generally difficult to tell if those are based on real accounts or the creative license of the author. That being said, I am sure much of this book is based on actual interviews and first hand accounts, so I wasn’t too frustrated with this choice.
For those a bit squeamish, the author goes into the injuries sustained by the victims, but he never treads into gore-ish. He writes in a frank, matter-of-fact way about the injuries and doesn’t linger too long. As someone who likes knowing all the details, I maybe could have used a bit more but I think the book did a fine job at providing detail while being respectful of the victims and readers.
pbraue13's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating and brutal look at the "life and crimes" of Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker. I feel strange saying I enjoyed this book as it covers some very dark and violent things and one of the most brutal serial killers in criminal history. My 4.5/5 stars is due to the fact that the first half of the book was really inthralling, but slowed down and got dry when we reached the trial. I feel as though this is both because we are fascinated by the killers and after they're caught that's usually the end of the story, but also the writing through the trial sessions is very different from the earlier writing. There was seemingly no poetry to the writing in this section, Carlo is no Ann Rule or Michelle Macnamara. The epilogue and the updated afterword sort of made up for it as Carlo gives insight to what happened afterwords to everyone involved (especially Carillo and Salarno, the two detectives involved who brought RR down, love them both) and includes real transcripts of interviews with the author and RR when he was writing the book and RR was still alive. I do take a few points off for how Carlo judges the alleged "Ramirez groupies" (women attracted to the killer) as these are clearly mentally ill women and it is unprofessional that he injects his opinion in an otherwise objectively written book. Otherwise, for any true crime fan this book is essential. But I would definitely include a trigger warning for this book. The crimes are intense and described in detail thoroughly and may be rough for some viewers, but fit the tone of the book: a cold account of one of the most brutal serial killings, rapes, and assaults in history.
drguildo's review against another edition
3.0
Yes, it's not the best written book, resorting far too often to a lazy, schlocky style of writing, but the fact remains that this is the best book there is on this fascinating case.
darylg13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0