Review: Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer by M. William Phelps

I chose to read this book for Non-Fiction November. I didn't know at the time who the serial killer the title refers to was until I started reading it. The author does not just write true crime novels but he also produces true-crime docuseries such as Dark Minds. While filming this series he used Keith Hunter Jesperson as an advisor under the pseudonym of "Raven". It was while filming this series that the author became "friends" with Jesperson. I say it this way because the author was just using him and was not really friends with him.

I wanted to recommend this book because being that this is based on interviews with the Happyface Killer that this may be the best source for information regarding his case. I know that other books were written about him, and one was even written by the killer's daughter. At one point in the interview process, Jesperson admits to the author that not all of the information in his daughter's book is accurate, and the other book written about his case is full of embellishments and falsely fed information from Happyface. Jesperson admitted to providing false information to make himself seem more interesting. Now I will state that Happyface admits to the author later on that he is a notorious liar and that not everything he says should be believed. But I think this will be the closest to the real story as one can get.

There are some bonus content things such as Jesperson talks about his first victim and how he didn't really want to become a serial killer. Plus the author kind of persuades him to help solve one of his Jane Doe's which the technique they used was very interesting and I will not spoil it here.

Some of the negatives about the book and why I chose to give this a standard rating of 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. The author for some reason chose to use this book as a way to analyze why he is into true crime and to try and rationalize some of his life choices regarding the death of his sister-in-law and his older brother's heroin addiction. These personal matters I felt did not belong in this book, and honestly, he should have written them as a separate piece if he really felt it necessary to share with the world. So as a reader you have to slog through some of his personal issues time and again as you read this. I found his personal family history to be kind of a pain, but they are short sections and he gets right back into the interviews with Happyface.

But overall I found this to be an interesting book about the Happyface serial killer and his case. Down below is a link to purchase a copy of this book for yourself. and if you live outside the US I have another link that offers Free Worldwide shipping and the same discounts.

Review: Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door by Roy Wenzl

If you are like me and you have an interest in True Crime, and you already know who BTK is and you just want to learn more about the case than this book is for you.   This is written from the perspective of the people who investigated this case. Not only from the perspective of the detectives but a few of the journalists involved as BTK was sending correspondence to the Witchita Eagle.

Now I had already known a little about BTK prior to reading this book, so a good majority of this was no surprise. I have listened to many a true-crime podcast about this individual. But I figured this would be a good way to get an in-depth look at this case, and I was not wrong in thinking so. This started off with the first murders which were of the Otero family. The authors went over how the killer had done this and we get that this is his first time doing this because he fumbles his way through it and even left a piece of evidence behind which he had to go back for. Often while learning more about this killer we learn that he just didn't get caught due to dumb luck. And if not for his ego he may have literally gotten away with murder.  Each and every individual murder is mentioned in detail in a timeline fashion.

During the trial, the cops were embarrassed and shocked to learn that Dennis Rader was not this brilliant guy who eluded them at all.

"BTK IS A DORK!?!"

Yes! One of the detectives actually said that. I found that hilarious. But the one downside to this book was that the authors decided to mention personal details regarding the lives of journalists and detectives during the 30 plus years it took to catch BTK. It doesn't seem vital to the story that detective XYZ dated so and so during a period of investigation. So yeah there were some slow parts that I felt were very unnecessary to telling this story. Aside from that this is a very informative book on the case. I know that some of the details were direct from the killer and I have to say I think he "romanticized" and embellished a lot of what he told them during the interrogation.

This was a good book for those who may be interested to learn more about BTK. I do not recommend this for those used to True Crime lite, as this does contain some graphic details of rape and murder. Also, this does mention the murder of children. I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com. Below I have a link for those in the US, UK, and Canada to purchase this book. Anyone living outside of those areas I have a link that offers free worldwide shipping and great deals on books.

Review: Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders

Coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Tate-Labianca murders there seems to be an explosion in the media of things related to this case. From Manson Girls specials on Oxygen to it being hinted at in the new Tarantino film, this crime has not been forgotten. I did not really know who Sharon Tate was. Just that she was an actress and that she had been murdered due to a plot conspired by the Manson Family. Most Baby Boomers I'm sure remembered who she was, but this was my parent's generation and not mine. I only knew her because of how well known this true crime case was. I wanted to learn more about this case so I decided to read this book about it. Written by Greg King and reprinted with updated information. I found this to be an intriguing read.

First off Kudos to King for humanizing the victims of this terrible tragedy. This book starts by introducing Sharon Tate. It's basically a biography of her very short life. From her early years as an Army brat to the start of her film career. While I thought it was good to share that Sharon was a good person and that she had potential as an actress I found the descriptions of some of the films she was in to be too much detail that was not really needed. The detail of whole scenes and plots of films was very unnecessary. I did however appreciated the timeline listing of events from and about all parties involved in these events. Once you get past the listing of Tate's film career the book really starts to get interesting. The details into her marriage with Polanski, and the way her friends were with drugs and lifestyle, etc. I thought it was interesting to learn about Abigail Folger and how she was a humanitarian who donated her time by volunteering at a welfare office and even raised money for charities as well. It was said she felt guilty of her wealth, and I wonder what she would have accomplished if she had lived. 

I also found his information into the Manson Family to be intriguing as well. I learned details about them that I didn't know and about the events of this crime which I also did not know. Especially the updated info regarding the parole hearings and where are they now type info about the criminals who committed the crimes. I can see why he has updated the book over the years. Doris Tate (Sharon's mother) became an advocate for victims rights and really pushed for legislation that has greatly made a difference to the legal system. I recommend this book to anyone interested in this case or someone interested in true crime. Like I mentioned before Greg King did a very good job in putting a face to the victims and showing the lost potential of what could have been. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com. I will have links down below to purchase this book. The UK and Canada get your copy here - Sharon Tate 

All others from the world can shop through my link here - Manson Murders.