Lust Killer, Updated Edition
by Ann Rule
List Price:
Our Price: $4.23
You Save: $3.76 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Ann RulePseudonym: Andy Stack
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1983-06-07
ISBN: 0451166876
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Signet
Book Reviews of Lust Killer, Updated Edition
Book Review: "He has no mercy in him."
Summary: 4 Stars
One of the most frightening aspects of this true-crime story is that theoretically, the serial killer, Jerry Brudos could be released back into the community. He's been in the Oregon State Penitentiary for over twenty years now, manufacturing leather key fobs, collecting women's shoe catalogues, and keeping the prison's computer network humming. If he does get his freedom, no one should be surprised if he starts collecting women's shoes again--with the feet still in them.
I found "Lust Killer" to be one of Ann Rule's most disturbing books, not in the least because a young, door-to-door encyclopedia saleswoman was Jerry Brudos's first murder victim. Usually I can distance myself from serial killer victims, telling myself that I would never allow myself to get in a situation like that, e.g. hitching a ride on the freeway. However, I did sell encyclopedias door-to-door while I was working my way through college, and yes, our bosses insisted that we wear high heels. If I'd been flogging my books in Oregon, my foot might have ended up in Brudos's freezer, too.
Ann Rule, a former policewoman writes about the victims with a compassion that sometimes ventures over the border into cliché. Many are described as stunningly beautiful, innocent, soft-spoken, harmless, well-loved, kindhearted creatures who would certainly have qualified for sainthood if their lives had not been cut tragically short. One good lesson does come out of this book though: the author emphasizes that the victims who fought got away. The ones who yielded or tried to talk their way out of captivity, died a gruesome death.
The author tells the story of Jerry Brudos, from several perspectives, including that of the unlucky encyclopedia saleswoman, Brudos's wife, and the homicide detectives who finally trapped and arrested him. Mainly though, we see the serial killer through his own thoughts and actions. I don't know how Ann Rule got into his head, but she does a very chilling job of portraying this man who preferred his sex partners dead, and who saved some very grisly souvenirs of his exploits.
One of the most pitiable victims was Jerry Brodos's clueless wife. She was actually arrested, charged, and tried for abetting in his murders (he brought his victims to his workshop in his garage, where he tortured, murdered, and dismembered them), mainly because her neighbors and the police couldn't believe that she didn't know what was going on. Her husband certainly gave her lots of hints: he never let her access the freezer in the garage--if she wanted something from it for dinner, he fetched it for her; he left nude photos and moulds of women's breasts lying around in the house; he occasionally paraded around in front of her wearing women's clothing.
She was just one of those women who never challenged an authority figure, no matter how strangely he behaved.
One factual error in the book: Wisconsin killer Ed Gein did not murder his mother as stated by the author in this book. On December 29th, 1945, Gein's mother died after a series of strokes, and Ed felt that he had "lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world." (quoted from Harold Schechter in his book "Deviant").
Summary of Lust Killer, Updated Edition
Linda Slawson disappeared while trying to make a living selling encyclopaedias door-to-door. Jan Whitney never completed her two-hour drive home on the freeway. Karen Sprinkler failed to turn up for lunch with her mother. As a pattern of disappearances emerges, Oregon State Police launch a search for the sadistic monster capable of the most grisly murders.Murder & Mayhem Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Murder & Mayhem Books
The Soul of a Copby Paul Ragonese, Berry Stainback
St Martins Mass Market Paper; Published: 1992-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.90
Who Named the Knife: A True Story of Murder and Memoryby Linda Spalding
Anchor; Published: 2008-10-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.76
Price in other shops:
Murder, Inc.: The Story Of The Syndicateby Burton B. Turkus, Sid Feder
Da Capo Press; Published: 2003-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.14
Price in other shops:
Protecting Your Life, Home, and Property: A Cop Shows You Howby Robert L. Snow
Plenum Pr; Published: 1995-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops:
Victims: THE LDS CHURCH AND THE MARK HOFMANN CASEby Richard E. Turley
University of Illinois Press; Published: 1992-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.52
Price in other shops:
The Serpent's Toothby Christopher P. Andersen
Harpercollins; Published: 1987-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.01
Price in other shops:
American Taboo: A Murder in the Peace Corpsby Philip Weiss
Harper; Published: 2004-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.39
Price in other shops:
The Invention of Murderby Judith Flanders
Harper; Published: 2011; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.31
The Enforcer: Johnny "Pops" Papalia: A Life and Death in the MafiaHarperCollins Publishers; Paperback; Book
Best price: $159.82
Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Executionby James L. Swanson, Daniel Weinberg
William Morrow; Published: 2006-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.13
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases (Ann Rule's Crime Files)by Ann Rule
Pocket Books; Published: 2007-12-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops:
No Regrets (Ann Rule's Crime Files, Vol. 11)by Ann Rule
Pocket Star; Published: 2006-10-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.12
Price in other shops:
The End Of The Dream The Golden Boy Who Never Grew Up : Ann Rules Crime Files Volume 5by Ann Rule
Pocket Books; Published: 1998-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.36
Price in other shops:
Mortal Danger (Ann Rule's Crime Files #13)by Ann Rule
Pocket Books; Published: 2008-11-25; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops:
Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayalby Ann Rule
Simon & Schuster Audio; Pocket Books; Published: 2007-11-20; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
But I Trusted You: Ann Rule's Crime Files #14by Ann Rule
Pocket Books; Published: 2009-11-24; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.70
Price in other shops:
The Want-Ad Killer (True Crime)by Ann Rule
Signet; Published: 1983-09-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.24
Price in other shops:
The I-5 Killer, Revised Editionby Ann Rule
Signet; Published: 1984-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.24
Price in other shops:
Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder (Signet)by Ann Rule
Signet; Published: 1988-07-05; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.35
Price in other shops:
The Stranger Beside Meby Ann Rule
Pocket Books; Published: 2008-12-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops: