Flesh Collectors: Their Ghoulish Appetites Drove Them to Crimes that Only Began With Murder [Paperback]

Fred Rosen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

Misfit Jeremiah Rodgers, 21, and racist devil worshipper Jonathan Lawrence, 23, were serving time for petty crimes when they met in a Florida penal system mental hospital. A friendship grew from their shared lust for sadistic brutality, and once released, they teamed up to hunt human prey. In March, 1998, in Pensacola, Florida, while quietly watching TV, Leighton Smitherman was shot in the back by assailants hiding outside his home. Amazingly, he survived, not knowing that he'd been chosen at random by would-be-thrill-killers. Their next target wasn't so lucky.Justin Livingston, 20, died from multiple stab wounds - some more than six inches deep. The horror peaked on 7 May 1999, when Rodgers went on a 'date' with pretty Jennifer Robinson, 18, with Lawrence tagging along. The young woman was drugged and assaulted first by Rodgers, then Lawrence, before Rodgers shot her execution-style. But the worse was yet to come, an unspeakable act of mutilation that followed in the bloody footsteps of one of the most infamous serial killers of our time...

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786019484
• ISBN-13: 978-0786019489
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More depravity from the master, February 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Flesh Collectors: Their Ghoulish Appetites Drove Them to Crimes that Only (Paperback)

If you want to know what's going on in the dark corners of America's nightmare, just check out the latest Fred Rosen true crime. Rosen, who wrote 'Lobster Boy' among others, is one of the best unsung true crime writers doing it today.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK, December 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Flesh Collectors: Their Ghoulish Appetites Drove Them to Crimes that Only (Paperback)

I couldn't believe the depravity of the two killers, Rodgers and Lawrence, or the way, Rosen held me spellbound as he cut back and forth between the killers and soon to be victims.

In the end, I really was moved to tears by Rosen's descriptive compassion for the victims, and the way Rodgers and Lawrence seemed fated for death.

3.0 out of 5 stars Intense, Captivating, and Disturbing!, December 16, 2008

By 

Sylviastel - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Flesh Collectors: Their Ghoulish Appetites Drove Them to Crimes that Only Began With Murder (Paperback)

Fred Rosen writes an interesting book about the true case of Jeremiah Rodgers and Jonathan Lawrence who are involved in the gruesome murders of young adults, Justin Livingston, and Jennifer Robinson. It's not how they killed them but what they did afterwards. Fortunately, Rosen does explain their backgrounds which helps understand their lack of empathy and sympathy for their chosen victims. The crimes occurred in the Florida Panhandle near Pensacola. I didn't know that they called this part of Florida as the Lower Alabama since it's below the Alabama borders and that residents have been descendents of confederates and can go back generations in their family history. The criminals had disturbing backgrounds and the author paints most of it well while he also explains the geographic background. But I felt that the author could further explain the depraved minds of these two criminals and why society didn't stop them when they could. Like their victims, the criminals were treated and discarded like garbage by the system. Still there's no excuse for their horrific crimes together. The author tries to explain the criminals background which helps the reader understand how they could be so depraved enough to come up with such crimes in the first place.
In the end, it's about Justin and Jennifer and the two young men who took their lives away from their families.