The Night Stalker (Pinnacle True Crime)
by Philip Carlo
List Price:
Our Price: $4.03
You Save: $2.96 (42%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Philip CarloEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-01
ISBN: 0786018100
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Pinnacle
Book Reviews of The Night Stalker (Pinnacle True Crime)
Book Review: An Incredibly Thorough Book and a Classic in the Genre
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll begin with a few words about the author, because it's noteworthy. Philip Carlo is a man who strongly believes in research, and by that, I mean extremely thorough research. He spent over 100 hours with Richard Ramirez, and I cannot imagine how much more he spent studying the case. Carlo also is a man much concerned about the evil in this world and shows tremendous courage in his quest to understand and prevent these terrible things.
The book itself is one enormous piece, about 600 tight pages, and I can't think of anything that is not covered by it. The structure of it is quite interesting as well: you first begin by the crimes commited by Ramirez, and believe me that part is seriously affecting (I am quite used to true crime books involving atrocious acts, but I had never felt so repulsed and shocked), then you move backwards in time to learn about Richard Ramirez's origins and family and life up to when he began murdering people. Then there's the capture, and the final parts are about the trial; probably the most thorough trial prose I've ever read in a true crime book. The quality of Carlo's work is truly outstanding.
In this edition, there's a new chapter containing an interview with Richard Ramirez and some excerpts about females fans of Richard which just about blow one's mind with disturbing revelations about the woman psyche. It is extremely interesting.
I would conclude by saying that if you are curious about Ramirez's case, then this is definitely the book for you, and I cannot imagine that another book covered so much material, with so much insight, as this one. With this book, you have an author who has a strong personality and is driven; and also one who definitely can write with excellence and leave himself out of judgement, however hard that is to do, he did it very professionally. This is one of the most impressive true crime books I ever read. The only other book that is similar in quality, I think, is Richard Lourie's book about Andrei Chikatilo. A must read.
Summary of The Night Stalker (Pinnacle True Crime)
Twenty years after Richard Ramirez left thirteen dead and paralyzed the city of Los Angeles, his name is still synonymous with fear, torture, and sadistic murder. Philip Carlo's classic "The Night Stalker", based upon three years of meticulous research and extensive interviews with Ramirez, revealed the killer and his horrifying crimes to be even more chilling than anyone could have imagined. From watching his cousin commit murder at age eleven to his nineteen death sentences to the juror who fell in love with him, the story of Ramirez is a bizarre and spellbinding descent into the very heart of human evil. Incredibly, after "The Night Stalker" was first published, thousands of women from all over the world began to contact Carlo, begging to be put in touch with the killer. Carlo began to interview them and, in this compelling tenth-anniversary edition, presents their disturbing stories and the dark sexual desires that would drive them towards a brutal murderer. And in an exclusive death row interview, the killer himself gives his thoughts on the "Ramirez Groupies" - and what he thinks they really want.Research is the strong suit of this book about darkly handsome Richard Ramirez, who terrorized Los Angeles for 14 months in 1984-85 with his penchant for breaking into homes dressed all in black, where he fiercely assaulted, sodomized, robbed, and (in 13 cases) murdered his victims. Carlo spent more than 100 hours interviewing Ramirez on death row, more than a month in El Paso, Texas, talking to Ramirez's family and friends, and another month hanging out with the two detectives who solved the case. He made visits to all 19 crime scenes in the middle of the night. His narrative maintains a steady focus on Ramirez, drawing no conclusions about his Satanism or his mental pathology and simply letting his appalling deeds and words speak for themselves. The trial and post-trial sections are long but interesting, covering Ramirez's rage attacks and his many "groupies" (one of them a juror!), especially Doreen Lloyd, whom he married in September 1996. (This reviewer found Philip Carlo's book much better than Clifford L. Linedecker's Night Stalker.)
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: $7.85
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: $19.58
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: $19.85
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
The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare (St. Martin's True Crime Library)by Donald A. Davis
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 1991-11-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.20
Price in other shops:
Murder Machine (Onyx)by Gene Mustain, Jerry Capeci
Onyx; Published: 1993-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Cellar of Horror: The Story of Gary Heidnikby Ken Englade
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 1992-04-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops:
The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopathby Philip Carlo
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2010-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.46
Price in other shops:
Zodiacby Robert Graysmith
Berkley; Published: 2007-01-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.39
Price in other shops:
Killer Clownby Terry Sullivan
Pinnacle; Published: 2011-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.06
Price in other shops:
The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killerby Philip Carlo
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2009-04-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.54
Price in other shops:
The Stranger Beside Meby Ann Rule
Pocket Books; Published: 2008-12-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.41
Price in other shops:
Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Doorby Roy Wenzl, Tim Potter, Hurst Laviana, L. Kelly
Harper; Published: 2008-05-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops:
Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original Psychoby Harold Schechter
Gallery Books; Published: 1998-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.94
Price in other shops: