Cannonball Read 9

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

To catch a killer…

Whoever Fights Monsters by Robert K Ressler

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I don’t know how I’d never heard of this book before. First hearing about it on My Favourite Murder, I’d already read and loved Mindhunter, by Robert K Ressler’s sometime partner John Douglas. Having loved that, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Whoever Fights Monsters was even better. Robert K Ressler was the FBI agent who pretty much started the whole profiling ball rolling, when he took it upon himself to start interviewing some of the worst serial murderers the American justice system has ever caught and incarcerated. If you’ve heard of them, he’s interviewed them – including Charles […]

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8/12/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:49 |

Why I’ll never help anyone with a broken limb

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

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I was about 8 or 9 years old when I first stumbled upon a book of my dad’s – an encyclopaedia of serial killers. Up until that point, I’d known that people died, whether that be through accident, illness, war or whatever, but it was this book that informed me that sometimes people died because someone enjoyed hurting them. Given that I’ve been reading about murder ever since, I’m amazed that thirty years later I’d still somehow never got around to reading The Stranger Beside Me – a giant in the true crime genre thanks to the unusual circumstances that […]

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7/21/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:45 |

True crime at its juicy best

Heart Full of Lies: A True Story of Desire and Death by Ann Rule

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This is my first Ann Rule book, which is probably a somewhat scandalous confession for someone who considers herself a murderino. The truth is I hadn’t really read any true crime other than In Cold Blood before becoming a My Favorite Murder fan, I more just watched a lot of true crime shows and movies (The Betty Broderick story anyone!? Anyone? Fist bump? No? Okay.) I obviously would have preferred to start out with The Stranger Beside me, but that wasn’t available from my audiobook service, so instead I got this.   There was one aspect of this story I […]

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7/19/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:15 |

Some People Will Do Anything to Become Famous

Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann

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True Crime novels are one of those tricky types of books that are hard to do well. Most of the time the writer manages to do a dry retelling of events that, while factual, fails to ignite my interest. I’m afraid this one falls into that category. While Mann adds little details like what the weather was like in order to bring the story to life, in the end the book is a pretty dry accounting of the events. To be honest, I suspect that my real issue is that I have been ruined by fiction, and real life events […]

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7/17/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:60 |

History AND true crime? Yes please.

Underworld London: Crime and Punishment in the Capital City by Catharine Arnold

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I’ve gotten somewhat behind with my reviewing after taking a week out in incredibly sunny Crete, so please forgive my brain dump whilst I catch up. First up for my holiday reads was Underworld London, combining my fascinations with true crime and history into one entertaining and informative book in the company of Catharine Arnold, someone who I’ve already read much of and enjoyed. Underworld London takes a look at crime and punishment throughout London’s history, from the medieval executions for pretty much anything (with over 170 capital offences recorded at one point, you could be hung or burnt at […]

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6/19/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:40 |

A strange anti-depressant, but it worked for me!

Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas, Mark Olshaker

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I’ve fallen down something of a true crime rabbit hole recently. Having watched Mommy Dead and Dearest, The Keepers, The Staircase and more episodes of Forensic Files than I’d have thought imaginable, I picked this up one sleepless night and didn’t stop to put it down until I’d finished just over a day later. I’ve since noticed that a series based on this book will soon be coming to Netflix – October now can’t come soon enough for me. John Douglas was not only an FBI agent, but the man credited with making psychological profiling what it is today and […]

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6/1/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:37 |

Thoughts and Prayers

Columbine by Dave Cullen

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I drive a lot for work, so I’ve started listening to audiobooks when I get sick of music. I’ve had Columbine on my TBR list for years and since it was free on Audible, I thought maybe it might be a good choice. ‘Twas not. Now, please don’t confuse my review of the book itself with my review of the audio version. The book itself was exactly what you’ve heard: powerful, disturbing, sad, and full of new information about the Columbine High School massacre that I didn’t know before. But if you want to read this, do yourself a favor […]

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4/29/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:18 |

A frightening man, a so-so book

Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door by Roy Wentzl, Tim Potter, Hurst Laviana, L Kelly

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I spent the best part of the Bank Holiday weekend reading about creepy real life encounters, when I came across a post on a serial killer who called himself BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill). Although I’ve read rather a lot of true crime books, I hadn’t really come across BTK before and so headed to the kindle store to rectify that. And although this did give me all of the facts, I kind of wish I’d had someone else relay them to me. BTK – or Dennis Rader – first struck in 1974, killing four members of the Otero family – […]

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4/19/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:26 |

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