GR = Gary Ridgway/Green River = Creep

Book Read:  Green River, Running Red, The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer
Author:  Ann Rule
ISBN:  978-0-7434-6050-7

I just finished Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule. I usually read at night, in bed. Well, I was about 100 pages from the end last night and thought I'd just stay up and finish it. But this part of the book covered the interviews the detectives had with Gary Ridgway about the 48 women he admitted killing, mostly from 1982 to 1985 in Washington state. I am fascinating by these slasher books, but this one really got me. The details he gave were too much right before I was going to sleep. I had to stop reading. Then I had a fitful night's sleep any way. No nightmares but I woke up several times thinking about the jerk. Awful. Horrendous. Yuck.

So, I got up this morning and after checking email, doing a little online farming (pitiful, yes, but fun), etc., I sat down with another cup of coffee and finished reading. To get the bad taste out of my mouth from this horrible ending (actually it was a good ending to the book, just a horrible thing to have happened), I called my friend Marilyn who, like me, loves a good slasher, especially Ann Rule's. She hasn't read GR,RR, so I may send it to her. She remembered Gary Ridgway though from the news and that it seemed to drag on. It did. He was finally arrested in 2001 but wasn't sentenced for 2 more years--a life sentence for each count of murder to run consecutively. So he'll rot in prison. Good.

What book have you read that creeped you out?

Ann Rule Rules!

Let me just say it and get it outta the way. I love Ann Rule! In case you've been living under a rock or just don't read true crime books, Ann Rule is the leading true crime writer.

I haven't read one of Rule's books in several years; maybe that's why I've felt out of sorts. Hmmm. Anyway, I started reading Green River, Running Red night before last and just love it. Hear me out. I don't love serial killers, but I find it fascinating to read about why people kill. This story made national headlines, and I've seen the movie, The Capture of the Green River Killer, featuring Tom Cavanagh, so there's no surprise of who dunnit.

Oh, this picture of Ann Rule was taken when I attended one of her book readings/signings in Denver several years ago.

In case you've never read one of Ann Rule's books, like I said, the end is usually no surprise. In the GRRR, I know that Gary Ridgway was found guilty of killing all of these girls/women in the Seattle area and dumping their bodies, at least at first, in the nearby Green River. No, reading a true crime book is more about the whys. It's the journey, not the destination. 

Do you read true crime books? Do you have a favorite?