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I started listening to My Favorite Murder while doing my no fast travel 100%-ish Breath of the Wild run (~750 korok so far) and was like, yanno what might be even better than the easy-listening recitation of Wikipedia pages is maybe some true crime books on audio, so I've been listening to ... true crime books ... on audio.
( Thoughts on reading true crime post-2020-BLM. )
Title: American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
Author: Maureen Callahan
Narrator: Amy Landon
Published: Penguin Audio, 2019
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 295
Total Page Count: 376,450
Text Number: 1393
Read Because: just going through a lot of true crime rn; audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Not that it's a surprise, but law enforcement is a farce. The subtitle—"the most meticulous serial killer of the 21st century"—creates a framing that highlights the unexpectedly simple, albeit laborious, techniques that Keyes used to evade detection: less an especially brilliant murderer; more a capable one who exploited retrospectively obvious weaknesses in human nature and law enforcement in particular. The prosecution of his case is frequently cringe-worthy.
The reverse narration echoes the structure of Keyes's testimony, beginning with his final known victim and then, following the investigation, backtracking through his development and prior crimes. This delays the "meticulous" subtitle to good effect, illustrating the ways a serial killer's pathology and behavior escalate into chaos; like the speech patterns and filler words preserved in his testimony, it's a deeply unromanticized depiction. But an insightful and interesting one, since Keyes possessed such textbook characteristics but committed relatively diverse crimes. I went into this never having heard of Keyes; I came out satisfied & knowing significantly more. The audiobook narration isn't memorable but it's more than adequate.
Title: The Trial of Lizzie Borden
Author: Cara Robertson
Narrator: Amanda Carlin
Published: Simon Schuster Audio, 2019
Rating: ???? of 5
Page Count: 75 of 375
Total Page Count: 376,825
Text Number: 1394
Read Because: just going through a lot of true crime rn; audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: DNF at 20%. While I didn't read enough to make a judgement, but the text itself seems fine, a little dry perhaps, but thorough and providing productive historical context. But I prefer to read my true crime in audio, and the narrator is pretty bad: flat, weird delivery of quotations, and when sped up legit sounds computer-generated.
Title: A Death in Belmont
Author: Sebastian Junger
Narrator: Kevin Conway
Published: HarperAudio, 2006
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 290
Total Page Count: 377,465
Text Number: 1399
Read Because: just going through a lot of true crime rn; audiobook borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A 1963 murder that fit the pattern of the Boston Strangler was instead attributed to another man. Breaking down this case requires seeing it in context: the Boston Strangler and Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to those crimes (but not this one); Roy Smith, convicted of this murder, a black man and petty criminal, and therefore demographically predisposed to become a suspect; the flaws, both innate and cultural, of the legal system. It's a holistic approach to a specific focus, satisfying not because it has answers but because it's radically open to uncertainty. Easily some of the best true crime I've read.
( Thoughts on reading true crime post-2020-BLM. )
Title: American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
Author: Maureen Callahan
Narrator: Amy Landon
Published: Penguin Audio, 2019
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 295
Total Page Count: 376,450
Text Number: 1393
Read Because: just going through a lot of true crime rn; audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Not that it's a surprise, but law enforcement is a farce. The subtitle—"the most meticulous serial killer of the 21st century"—creates a framing that highlights the unexpectedly simple, albeit laborious, techniques that Keyes used to evade detection: less an especially brilliant murderer; more a capable one who exploited retrospectively obvious weaknesses in human nature and law enforcement in particular. The prosecution of his case is frequently cringe-worthy.
The reverse narration echoes the structure of Keyes's testimony, beginning with his final known victim and then, following the investigation, backtracking through his development and prior crimes. This delays the "meticulous" subtitle to good effect, illustrating the ways a serial killer's pathology and behavior escalate into chaos; like the speech patterns and filler words preserved in his testimony, it's a deeply unromanticized depiction. But an insightful and interesting one, since Keyes possessed such textbook characteristics but committed relatively diverse crimes. I went into this never having heard of Keyes; I came out satisfied & knowing significantly more. The audiobook narration isn't memorable but it's more than adequate.
Title: The Trial of Lizzie Borden
Author: Cara Robertson
Narrator: Amanda Carlin
Published: Simon Schuster Audio, 2019
Rating: ???? of 5
Page Count: 75 of 375
Total Page Count: 376,825
Text Number: 1394
Read Because: just going through a lot of true crime rn; audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: DNF at 20%. While I didn't read enough to make a judgement, but the text itself seems fine, a little dry perhaps, but thorough and providing productive historical context. But I prefer to read my true crime in audio, and the narrator is pretty bad: flat, weird delivery of quotations, and when sped up legit sounds computer-generated.
Title: A Death in Belmont
Author: Sebastian Junger
Narrator: Kevin Conway
Published: HarperAudio, 2006
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 290
Total Page Count: 377,465
Text Number: 1399
Read Because: just going through a lot of true crime rn; audiobook borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: A 1963 murder that fit the pattern of the Boston Strangler was instead attributed to another man. Breaking down this case requires seeing it in context: the Boston Strangler and Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to those crimes (but not this one); Roy Smith, convicted of this murder, a black man and petty criminal, and therefore demographically predisposed to become a suspect; the flaws, both innate and cultural, of the legal system. It's a holistic approach to a specific focus, satisfying not because it has answers but because it's radically open to uncertainty. Easily some of the best true crime I've read.
