Green River Killer: A True Detective Story [Hardcover]

Jeff Jensen (Author), Jonathan Case (Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2011

-“Terrific. It’s got the scariest opening sequence I’ve read in years, and the novel as a whole makes compelling stay-up-late reading. Great, creepy stuff.” – Stephen King

-The story of one of America's most notorious killers is revealed in this true-crime comic unlike any other! Green River Killer tells the story of a historical manhunt, and a compelling family saga.

 

Throughout the 1980s, the highest priority of Seattle-area police was the apprehension of the Green River Killer, the man responsible for the murders of dozens of women. But in 1990, with the body count numbering at least forty-eight, the case was put in the hands of a single detective, Tom Jensen. After twenty years, when the killer was finally captured with the help of DNA technology, Jensen and fellow detectives spent 188 days interviewing Gary Leon Ridgway in an effort to learn his most closely held secrets-an epic confrontation with evil that proved as disturbing and surreal as can be imagined. Written by Jensen's own son, acclaimed entertainment journalist Jeff Jensen, Green River Killer: A True Detective Story presents the ultimate insider's account of America's most prolific serial killer. Green River Killer is bound to become a well-recognized member of the crime-genre graphic novel family, including titles like Darwyn Cooke’s The Hunter and Alan Moore’s From Hell.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (September 13, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595825606
• ISBN-13: 978-1595825605
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > True Accounts > Serial Killers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down September 10, 2011

By Jamie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was a great read. I read it in one sitting. Not that it was a spectacular feat, it only took about an hour. There are a lot of pages, but not a crazy amount of dialogue. The art is very good and does a great job of making you experience the grim nature of the material without ever becoming exploitative.

The writer is the son of one of the detectives and the story is more about his father than the killer, but the way he uses the subject matter to tell a great story while also expressing his respect and love for his father is exceptional.

I just really enjoyed this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Trying to get into a serial killer's mind December 23, 2011

By Ella

Format:Hardcover

The plot is based around trying to find the Green River Killer, and finding sufficient proof. The story is told from the detective's point of view, and written by the detective's son.

This graphic novel had quite the opening, rather dramatic and suspenseful, and it drew me in quickly. The rest of the novel was more psychological rather than action-based which heightened my interest without desensitizing me. The stark black and white artwork grew on me throughout the novel, and a lot of expression was packed into the amount of lines drawn. The understated art worked excellently with this novel, and kept it from going into the flashy gore zone. The examination and quasi obsession with the killer is fascinating, as the killer's motivations remain largely a mystery. As the book is extremely readable and compelling, I finished it in one go this morning. I found the story all around interesting, perhaps more so as I'm from the East Coast, and hadn't heard much about this serial killer. All of the main characters were complete, and gave the right emotional depth for this piece.

The only thing against this story, is I don't think it would hold up to multiple reads. It also had many time jumps, for long and short amounts of time forwards and backwards, which took me out of the story as I tried to imagine an accurate timeline.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading about the darker side of human nature.

Nibble: "When the Vietcong hear of my legend, they quiver in fear, then staple something."

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great storytelling and quick read March 19, 2012

By Kevin

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I picked up "Green River Killer" after the author Jeff Jensen appeared on an episode of RadioLab (podcast) dealing with evil and people who do bad things.

My recommendation for this book/graphic novel comes from the ability of Jeff to tell the story in a way that illustrates the common denominator between altruists and psychopaths: empathy. Aside from "The Walking Dead" series, I have never read a story where the hero shows no greater empathy and the villain shows complete lack of empathy.

In "Green River Killer", Jeff recounts the past thirty years where his father was the primary detective on the Green River case. Although there are numerous flashbacks, the story primarily takes place in 2003 when Jeff's father has to travel around with the recently captured Green River Killer - Gary Ridgway - to isolate locations where he left or dumped bodies and murdered some of his victims.

Overall it is written and illustrated very well where I highly recommend to anyone interested in crime or mystery.