****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Florida author Jack Rosewood inherited his fascination for heinous crimes from his father, a journalist covering major grim crimes. He is fascinated with serial killers – their development psychologically, their preparation for their life of crime, and the details of how they made their bloody black marks on the world. The movie star handsome Rosewood lives in Jupiter, Florida with his wife and two children. This is now his thirteenth inimitable book from his series Historical Serial Killers and Murderers.Jack’s writing style completely captures the essence of the serial killers he studies. His astute studies of the various serial killers about whom he is providing biographies is not only fascinating reading material, but also a probing investigation of the psychopathology of serial killers. However in is 13th installment of Jack’s series he seems to grow along with his expertise in reportage. There is complete information not only about the perpetrators background and the series of murders and assaults they committed, but also about the interplay between the press and the judiciary system and relatives of the victims that makes this one of Jack’s most successful books to date. Though it may sound a bit sadistic, Jack’s books are so riveting that with the release of every new volume everything else gets set aside for the new journey into terror and madness.Jack grabs our attention with each novel with his opening sentences;’ “Heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself” was found scrawled in lipstick on the wall of a Chicago apartment on December 11, 1945. Under the bizarre inscription lay the mutilated body of Frances Brown, who was the second victim of serial killer William Heirens, the man who would later achieve national infamy for his short but brutal reign of terror on the city of Chicago. Once Heirens was identified as the killer, he was quickly given the moniker “the Lipstick Killer” for the unholy epitaph he left in Brown’s apartment.’Perhaps few of us outside Chicago have heard of this serial killer but Jack informs us well: ‘In the early 1940s, the city of Chicago was in the midst of a one-man crime wave. But this crime wave was unlike any other in Chicago history. It was not perpetrated by a seasoned gangster like Al Capone or sophisticated serial killer like John Wayne Gacy: the offender in question was an unassuming teenager named William George Heirens. Before Heirens’ crime spree was over, he burglarized over 300 hundred homes and murdered three innocent people. In this true crime murder book you will learn the details of Heirens’ rampage through the city of Chicago and what drove him to become one of the most disturbed psychopaths and sociopaths in the annals of all true crime stories. At first glance, as an American serial killer, Heirens may not appear as formidable as others since he only claimed three victims. He was also much younger the average serial killer and was a nice looking young man when he was arrested. But the truly frightening aspect of Heirens’ story is how a seemingly normal child, with a stable home, can evolve into a petty criminal and eventually to the status of serial killer. A close examination of Heirens’ life will reveal that beneath the façade of normalcy lurked a vicious killer waiting to be unleashed on the hapless citizens of Chicago.’Thirteen and going – one wonders how many more of these terrifying sociopaths Jack will unveil. As always, this is a terrific read. Grady Harp, February 16
