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The Search for the Green River Killer

The True Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer

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The Search for the Green River Killer

By: Carlton Smith, Tomas Guillen
Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
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About this listen

In the 1980s and 1990s, 49 women in the Seattle area were brutally murdered, their bodies dumped along the Green River and Pacific Highway South in Washington State. Despite an exhaustive investigation - even serial killer Ted Bundy was consulted to assist with psychological profiling - the sadistic killer continued to elude authorities for nearly 20 years.

Then, in 2001, after mounting suspicion and with DNA evidence finally in hand, King County police charged a 52-year-old truck painter, Gary Ridgway, with the murders. His confession and the horrific details of his crimes only added fuel to the notoriety of the Green River Killer.

Journalists Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen covered the murders for the Seattle Times from day one, receiving a Pulitzer Prize nomination for their work. They wrote the first edition of this book before the police had their man. Revised after Ridgway's conviction, The Search for the Green River Killer is the ultimate authoritative account of the Pacific Northwest killing spree that held a nation spellbound - and continues to horrify and fascinate, spawning dramatizations and documentaries of a demented killer who seemed unstoppable for decades.

©1991 Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen (P)2019 Tantor Americas Crime Murder State & Local True Crime United States Serial Killers True Crime
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Great listen. Narrator was easy to listen to and content was well researched. One of the best SK books i've read.

Great read

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Very good book. I found it a little detail heavy, which can be confusing at times to follow, but the book weaves a very long, elaboate thread which all comes together at the end.

Great

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More about the police and political side of the case then the actual case itself

It’s ok.

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As far as research goes and story telling it was a pretty good story. I felt they wrapped it up pretty quickly but about the actual serial killer thou

It was a pretty good story

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I finally twigged why they didn't name Ridgeway... this book was written before they caught him... but never fear there is an update chapter. This is written with great detail, not a fast listen but worth it.

Well researched and narrated... very detailed

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So much detail. Wish there was more about Ridgeway. The end seemed rushed to me

Pretty good

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The book was more about the investigation or lack of investigation then the actual crimes

Not enough information on the victims or Israel himself

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Concentrates far too much on the infighting between the relevant law enforcement agencies, does not go into any of the FBI profiling involvement, in my opinion this book is incredibly boring, does not mention anything about Ridgway's family, a very strange book that left me totally unsatisfied in every way. Nothing new is told, just stuff that was available on any website, the writers obviously didnt get any inside info from anyone involved in the investigation. Waste of my time to listen to it.

Not nearly as good as the Anne Rule book

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If I end up in hell, this will be playing on loop. It is the most excruciatingly detailed book. I mean you’ll be told everything EXCEPT about the killer, in ridiculous minutia. I literally screamed regularly in the car at this book and it’s snail paced nit picking details. Could have been done in a few hours. Literally 20 hours longer than needed.

Excruciating

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If I had have researched this book, I never would have read it. It really was not what I was looking for in a Green River Killer book.

Time taken to read/ listen: 16 Days

I listened to this as an audiobook on Audible, and it is really not what I was looking for from a true crime book.

This book is split into several five parts. The first four sections of this book broke down the investigation into the Green River Killer based on who was in charge of the investigation; Book 1: Kraske (1982-83), Book 2: Adamson (1984-86), Book 3: Pompey (1986-87), and Book 4: Evans (1988-90). The last section of this book is an epilogue that was written several years after the book was originally published which looked at Gary Ridgeway's capture and prosecution.

My issue with the book, which is completely my own fault because I didn't do enough research before reading this one, was that it was originally published before Gary Ridgeway was even caught. The only mention of the actual killer was the epilogue. This book goes into very rich detail about the minute details of the investigation but you don't really get a sense of the killer.

Not the book for me , could work for someone else

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