Lust Killer

I've read quite a few books from Ann Rule. "The Stranger Beside Me," a flawed but still excellent read, as I believe that Ms. Rule waffled too much in written text about her personal beliefs on Ted Bundy. "The I-5 Killer," perhaps my favorite book from her, as she mostly stuck to just the facts about Randall Woodfield. "Green River Running Red," an unreadable piece of drivel, as it only discussed the victims of Gary Ridgeway, in a very boring and monotonous way. I couldn't even finish it. And now I just finished "Lust Killer" by her, or rather, "Andy Stack" I suppose, one of the better reads from her -- or is that "him"? -- about Jerry Brudos.I don't like the fact that this was originally published under a pseudonym. To me, it is disingenuous, and furthermore, writers are always more disciplined when they sign their own names to their work. I can already hear all of the rationalizations for using another name in this case -- particularly using a male's name in an earlier era -- and those rationalizations fall on deaf ears to me. My opinion: write under your own name or don't write at all.If Ms. Rule has any issues with her writing -- her style and grammar are almost always excellent, surely better than 99 percent of so-called "authors" out there -- it would be in occasional lapses in logic. For example, as she describes in "The I-5 Killer," Mr. Woodfield supposedly argued that since female guards are only allowed in female prisons, that male guards should only be allowed in male prisons. Yes, Mr. Woodfield may be a serial killer. Yes, Mr. Woodfield may be a very bad guy. Yes, I may not like Mr. Woodfield, and neither should you. But his logic was certainly correct on this point, no matter how you feel about him, and Ms. Rule seemed to ridicule his logic in that book. That made me raise more than an eyebrow, as logic stands or sits on its own.As another example, in this book, she discusses how male prisoners in prisons don't like other male prisoners "who kill women and children." Yes, that is probably true, but Ms. Rule seems to perpetuate the myth herself that women and children have more value than others in society. And you know by deduction who those "others" are. All that's left is men. I say "phooey" once again. A life is a life, and it seems that she waved her hands here by using a too-common appeal-to-emotion fallacy on this count late in this book. Perhaps she didn't believe anyone would catch it? I sure did, and I sure didn't like it.I would imagine that female readers like Ms. Rule's books better than male readers. Personally, I've always been a fan of Jack Olsen's work as he seemed to take a more balanced and logical approach to writing as a comparison; unfortunately, he is no longer with us. But whenever I read a book from Ms. Rule, I can always spot personal opinion here and there where I believe that those opinions don't have much merit in true-crime writing.Now, for the good. I am giving this book a 4 out of 5, after all.While this book is only somewhere around 250 pages, it surely gives enough detail about the life and crimes of Mr. Brudos. He was certainly an oddity as a cross-dressing serial killer who seemed to enjoy carving up his victims before disposing of them. I'm not sure that it's fair exactly to compare him to someone like Jack the Ripper, however, as Mr. Brudos didn't seem to invoke the same fury as that 19th century killer. Mr. Brudos seemed to work more slowly and methodically.I did feel incredibly sorry for Mr. Brudo's wife. She was more than dragged through the mud, by not only the media, but the judicial system and the public. Ms. Ridgeway's wife comes to mind in comparison, although Ms. Ridgeway was certainly treated better. For some reason, people always mistakenly believe that a serial killer's spouse "must know something," and that would usually be the furthest from the truth. By definition, for a serial killer to be a serial killer and therefore be "successful," he must kill at least three people. (Some people argue two, but that argument is for another day.) And to kill at least three people, usually no one else but the serial killer and his victims must know his identity; if anyone else knows he will be ratted out in a hurry. Therefore, serial killers -- minus outliers such as the "Ken and Barbie Killers" Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka -- generally only work alone. Without requiring much thought, it is completely logical to believe that even people inside of a serial killer's life have no idea about his private atrocities, and those people would include his wife. Naturally, she should have never been tried as a killer, or had private images displayed publicly. To Oregon I say, "Shame on you."Well, to those of you who dislike my review simply because you believe I'm an "Ann Rule hater" -- a phrase that I've read once too often on the web -- I say "balderdash." I just wish that she could hold her logic completely through the entirety of a book. If she did that, I would easily give her a 5. I'm waiting, Ms. Rule. Or is that Andy Stack?

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").

I read this book before and decided to read it again. I honestly still can't wrap my head around the thought that he was institutionalized as a teenager for his deviant behavior and was told to just "grow up" and released back into society.When we constantly have systems that fail to protect the innocent people from these threats, what do we do as a society to protect ourselves against this? The lawmakers, prison officials, probation officials, are supposed to be a system of checks and balances yet they fail time and time again. When they are sentenced to life in prison it shouldn't mean 12 years. A life sentence, or in this case, 3 life sentences should mean that this depraved person never walks freely beside us. I know that I'm tired of reading, seeing television reports that they released a murdered due to good behavior or overcrowding and then they killed again. Of course some of them are model prisoners because they are locked up and have a strict routine and guards who watch over them. Does that mean that, once released without the structure and being monitored, these monsters won't reoffend? The simple answer is no.We need to stand up and say that we don't want them back in society because then, we as a country, end up being victimized again. Make sentences that fit the crime and actually mean it! This is really important for the victims, their families and society. We all experience stressors, a majority aren't born into wealth, we've all experienced dysfunction in our lives, yet a small number turn to murder because of it. We all have a voice and need to rise together to tell them no more.

Can't ever go wrong reading Ann Rule. She is such an amazing author. As usual, she gets you to feel like you're right there.

This is the second Ann Rule book that I have read, and though it is much less detailed than the previous one I had read (the stranger beside me) I still found it a quick and captivating read. I don't know what it is about her style, but I can easily read the book in one sitting as she keeps you wanting more, laying out the events and facts in a way as to not bore you or overload you. This was a frightening insight into Jerry Brudos

Love the book real good read can’t put it down

This Ann Rule account did not hold my interest the way some of her books have. But then she has written so many and is undoubtedly the Queen of true American crime so I cannot be very critical. I have found most of her accounts compulsive reading.

Great book, however the copy I purchased wasn't in very good condition and had quite dirty pages.

This book arrived in fair condition but was old with the pages discoloured. However it was perfectly readable. Ann Rule is such a brilliant writer of true crime and picks her subjects well.