Customer Reviews

Dead of Night (Onyx True Crime)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A supposed highlight of this true crime book is that Ted Bundy turned Jimmy Rode on to the classified ads as a means of finding women victims. There is absolutely nothing in this book that would indicate Rode ever met Bundy....and absolutely nothing about want ads...unless I went into a trance while I was reading it. I found Lasseter's book very middle-of-the-road in terms of true crime books. I found it neither frightening nor informative. Rather, it proceeded from criminal stage to the courtroom without a moment of my heart stopping. Lasseter's approach to this case is, while thorough, boring and dispassionate. Don't buy this book!

I've read dozens of true-crime books, this one belongs to the category "very good". Lasseter describes the Jimmy Rode alias Cesar Barone case in a very interesting, matter-of-fact way, not in the "blood-was-splashed-all-over-the walls" style of some books that often give the true-crime genre a bad name. I especially liked the way the author described the location, Hillsboro,OR and the northwest of Oregon. I admired the outstanding work of all the detectives who finally brought the killer to justice.

Lasseter and King take you into the world of a serial killer. It was well-written and made you feel like you were in the midst of the actual investigation. I could hardly put the book down! It was a fantastic read!

I just finished reading the reviews of this book. I agree with eightofhearts8. the book was good but not great. I also agree with the reader from Boulder, Colorado about warrenel. Ann Rule is one of the best true crime writters and one of the reasons is because she gives you background. that is a very important part of a true crime book. A book with no background tells you nothing.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very well done and kept me interested. There were times that I did not want to put the book down, and other times that I did not mind putting it down so I could go to sleep.

Coming from a reader who really dislikes the true crime genre, I really enjoyed this book. As a Rule I dislike books by Ann because I find that most of her stories spend most of the paper and ink on background ad nauseum. What Mr. Lasseter has created here is an fascinating picture of a sociopathic killer and the story of his comeupance. The story is well told without unnecessary shock or fill material. I may buy another true crime book when I'm desperate for a read.

I enjoyed the reading this novel because i felt as if it was going on at that moment. It gives you a sense of what goes on in the mind of a murder who seems to have no emotions about the things he has done.

My comment is to take exception with warrenel who writes that he doesn't like this genre and Ann Rule uses too much paper on background. As a reader with a library of about 500 true crime books my question is, if you don't like the genre why read the book, and if you don't have background how can you possibly know what precipitates a killer's destruction?