Customer Reviews

Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--Americas Deadliest Serial Murderer

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Ann Rule waited 20 years to write this book, until the GRK was caught, and it was well worth the wait. The first half of the book is devoted to the victims: desperate women, many of them drug addicts and/or emotionally fragile, most of them uneducated and living on the fringes of society. She draws sensitive, compelling portraits of these young women, too many of them still in their teens, living a hard existance. They had families, children in some cases, and friends who loved and cared for them. They weren't just faceless nobodies, walking the streets, not caring about themselves and their families. Many of them wanted to escape the life they were living, but could see no way out. These poor, victimized women are worthy of the reader's attention not just as some kind of object lesson, but as human beings engaged in a very real tragic struggle.

The victims also offer some insight into the nature of their killer: a marginalized, banal little man who got his kicks murdering defenseless women desperate enough to get into a vehicle with a total stranger on the mere promise of 30 or 40 dollars. Ann Rule introduces us to him slowly at first with brief snapshot-like depictions of his childhood and early adult years. Then in the second half of the book, readers come face to face with this meaningless individual whose primary interest in life (aside from murder) was collecting and hoarding other people's junk. He is, it turns out, no fiendish genius, no Hannibal Lecter, just an inconsequential man who hates women and can only feel important when he is taking someone's life. I cannot even imagine how the law enforcement officers charged with interrogating him could stand to be in the same room with him.

The contrasts between the two halves of this book are illuminating and remarkable. It is well worth reading as a study of a killer and his victims. It is also quite well written and readers will have no trouble becoming absorbed in Ann Rule's fluid and evocative prose. Readers looking for a sensationalized account of lurid murders and street life will be disappointed, I'm afraid. Readers looking for a more in-depth examination of this series of murders, the victims involved, and how the tenor of the times enabled the killer to carry out his crimes for so long without being caught, will find this book well worth the time and money.

Having written such true crime standards as "The Stranger Beside Me" and "Small Sacrifices," Ann Rule long ago established herself as one of the brightest stars of her genre. Her best work shines in its detail, moves along quickly, and reads almost like fiction rather than cold fact.

In "Green River Running Red," though, Rule takes her eye off the ball and spends less time (a LOT less time) telling us about Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway than about his dozens of victims. Yes, it's a noble cause to give these young women an identity beyond 'known prostitute' or 'Jane Doe #4.' But in spending literally hundreds of pages on mini biographies, Rule can't help but make them seem, well, boring. As reported in `Green River Running Red,' there's a downbeat, dreary sameness to the lives of the killer's victims. They have, for the most part, unhappy childhoods and incapable parents. They become estranged from their families. They drop out of school. They get into drugs. They hang out with losers and, eventually, fall into prostitution. They're busted a few times. They live in motels. Finally, they meet Gary Ridgeway, and their sad lives come to an abrupt, violent end. Wading through hundreds of pages of "She was a beautiful, intelligent, well-liked girl," you get the feeling that Rule isn't giving you much credit. After all, these women don't HAVE to have been beautiful or well-liked for their lives to have had value. If we have any humanity at all, we're already on their side, and we're horrified by Gary Ridgeway. In spending SO much time telling the victims' stories, Rule simultaneously sugarcoats their lives and underestimates her readers.
There are other flaws with Green River Running Red, too, most of which spring from the author's coziness with the Seattle locale and the cops investigating the murders. Not only does Ann Rule insert herself rather inappropriately into the story (telling us, among other things, of tips that come her way from the public and of her own speaking engagements that have nothing to do with the case), but, in detailing her relationships with the police, she obliterates any sense of objectivity toward their work in catching the killer. At times, Rule comes off as more cheerleader than reporter.

Keep in mind, this book is not about Ann Rule and her friends' involvement with the case of Gary Ridgeway. It's a story in which she shouldn't be a character at all, but occasionally sees fit to say, "By the way, I know this guy! We're pals!" The problem with this sort of lapse of detachment, of course, is that we don't get a sense of truth and accuracy. As heroic as the officers on the Green River Task Force may have been - and they truly were - Rule can't portray them as anything less than perfect.

This is never more clear than in Rule's retelling of the Task Force's early interest in Ridgeway. When traces of a rare auto paint found on three of the victims point the police to the truck painting shop where Ridgeway works (the only shop within thousands of miles to use this paint), he becomes a `favorite' suspect among some in the task force. This occurs in the 80s - years before Ridgeway's eventual arrest - and a few years AFTER he first pops up as a suspect. So, did the police drop the ball at this point? Or did they feel that they had their man but couldn't quite prove it? Well, Rule isn't saying. Leaving such a question dangling in the minds of her readers does leave the impression that she didn't want to go there.

To be sure, there will be other books written on the Green River Killer. As with books inspired by other sensational crimes, most will invariably be shoddy, poorly written and barely researched. This book will outshine those, and will probably prove to be the definitive report on this particular case. But, given her back catalog and her familiarity with this turf, it's a wonder indeed that Ann Rule couldn't come up with something better than it is.

As a person who has read all of Ann's books, I didn't find this one of her best. Satisfaction in this book is largely dependent on what draws a reader to true crime. I for one am interested in the killers and what makes them tick. This book gave a tremendous amount of attention to the victims and their background stories. I mean no disrespect to the victims, and I certainly empathize with them and their families, it's just that the detailed aspects of the victim's lives felt over-done for my taste. I realize that Ann was trying not to glamorize Ridgeway at the expense of his victims, however I feel she went a little overboard. Ann is a true crime writer not a victims right's advocate. She should therefore write her books accordingly.

On the other hand the second part of her book that focused more on Ridgeway, the people in his life and the investigation of the killings was excellent. The latter half of the book was more in keeping with the Ann Rule style I have come to know and love over the years.

Ann Rule is one of the most infuriating writers of any genre. When she puts her mind to it, she can certainly write true crime well, but this book suffers from a heavier dose of E.A.R.S. (Excessive Ann Rule Syndrome) than her other writings, and she always manages to inappropriately abruptly stop the flow of her narrative to put herself into whatever she is writing about.

Also, her research at times is faulty, to say the least. I read the paperback version of this book -- which presumably would have given her time to correct errors from the hardback edition -- and she still, in the afterword, places the infamous Scott Peterson on death row "in Alcatraz", which has not been used as a prison since the early 1960s. Peterson is, of course, in San Quentin State Prison, but the reader is left to wonder: if Rule got this fact wrong, how many other inaccuracies are in this book?

Unlike some of the previous reviewers, I found this book to be both interesting and engaging. If you have followed Ann Rule's work over the years, you know she has been waiting for (and working on) this book but was unable to do so because the killer had not yet been caught. I've read other books on the GRK and found this one to be the perfect book 'end' to the story.
I find it refreshing that she focused on the victims, who were for the most part, faceless "hookers" to much of the population while these crimes were happening. I also liked the way the narrative went from crime to killer; weaving time together for the reader. I wanted to read this book precisely because Ms Rule was so involved. I enjoyed the fact that she'd been to the scenes and met the key players. As a true crime reader, I put this near the top of my list.

You have to wonder what makes a serial killer tick. Perhaps this book by Ann Rule will help to explain a little. The case of the Green River killer began in 1982, when the first body was found. The case went on for twenty years until a new DNA matching technique was available and used to identify Gary Ridgway. He later confessed to killing 48 women, and is suspected of killing an addition twenty or more.

This extraordinary book chronicles the search for the killer, but in doing so it brings great humanity to the murdered girls and their families. It also covers the years of frustration for the police working on the case. Finding body after body with no evidence to go on to link them to a killer.

In the beginning, perhaps Ann spent too much time telling about Gary Ridgeway's victims, although it's easy to see how a writer could easily feel compelled to do so. Yet, as a reader, I found myself hoping the next page I turned would really start the story. And then, she would do that in bits and pieces, but she would revert back and forth to the victim description again. It wasn't until I'd gotten about half way through the book that I'd quit jumping ahead. But by then, I didn't want to put it down. Grant it, I can see where she might have felt she owed them that much, as well as the families of the victims. But a writer must remember that the reader wants a page turner filled with action.
Ann is a favorite of mine. And because of the research, effort and time she put into this story, I wanted to give this book a better rating. TOO MUCH victim description and police procedure wouldn't excite an avid reader of true crime. Regardless, I still think Ann is a very talented and wonderful writer of non-fiction, true crime. This just wasn't one of her better efforts. Sorry Ann.

Ann Rule, Queen of True Crime, recounts the horrors of the Green River Killer, in her 24th book entitled "Green River, Running Red." A book that was over 20 years in the making, Rule begins at the beginning with the Green River Killer's first known victim, Wendy Coffield. From that point forward, the reader is shown how the investigation unfolded and would eventually put a name and face to the Green River Killer with his arrest in November of 2001. Justice was long overdue for the 49 women that were brutally murdered.

Rule acquaints the reader with each victim, putting a face, personality, and family with their names. Rule treats all of her subjects with a great deal of respect, even the killer himself. The author manages to present the information in detail, without sensationalizing it.

If you have never read an Ann Rule book and you like true crime, I highly recommend her works. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Green River Killer, but don't read it alone at night!

Others have critiqued how, in essence, "Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer" is almost broken into mini-chapters on a per victim basis. For me, this is one of the strengths of the book as I was always drawn back to the included picture of each known victim in her section to ponder what might have become of these young ladies. Where would their presently troubled paths have led? If only they hadn't gotten into the blue truck with the evil sociopath who sometimes lured his victims with pictures of his young son just to prove that he was a "normal" guy. If only...

It was also eerie how his wife learned (both during the "Come to Jesus" meeting with authorities and then later slowly over time) that she was, in fact, married to the Green River Killer. One particular spine-tingling moment for me was when she was queried about some of Ridgway's dump sites she noted that, indeed, these were places that she and Gary liked to hike and pick berries.

I've read all of Ann's non-fiction books, and this is her finest work since "The Stranger Beside Me". As an ex-Seattle police officer and prolific true crime author she brings a certain nexus to this work that no other author could possibly offer. As she does with all of her books, her observations and insights at the trial phase are unique because she is almost always physically present in the courtroom.

As everyone knows, the Ridgway prosecution was cut short after plea bargaining extra body sites with King County prosecutor Norm Maleng to avoid the death penalty. Still, Ann brings her unique style to the description of the victim statements. Nobody but Ridgway will ever know how large the real body count is, how to account for his "serial killer unusual" dry spell, and what he didn't disclose to avoid prosecution in other jurisdictions. Many authorities feel the 48 victims that he pled to is perhaps twice that number. Ridgway once said he killed as many as 71 women, according to transcripts of interviews with investigators that were released in 2004. Almost all of his identified victims were prostitutes or runaways. It cannot be overstated how Ann Rule is able to recapture, two decades hence, the dynamic that was "The Strip" in the early eighties.

Tomas Guillen and Carlton Smith's 1991 book "The Search for the Green River Killer" is a riveting read as well, although the mere 30 pages devoted to the "Killer Found" section in the 2004 re-release are rushed and limiting.

Former King County Sheriff/Current Representative (R-WA) Dave Reichert's book "Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer" is a must-read as well if only for his unique perspective, but nobody can match Ann's gripping human portrayals of Ridgway and each and every known victim.

In addition to her extensive research with people who knew Ridgway she utilized the King County Sheriff's office extensive DVD catalog of the Ridgway interrogations. King County Sheriff's Office Spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart told me that it's available as an 111 DVD set at a cost of around $2000 from an outfit named Chameleon Data. How appropriate...

I have read all of Ann Rule's books and this is just too disjointed. By the very nature of the crime, no. of victims, no. of years, and the changing of the many investigators, the common thread of character development that interweaves throughout the victims and investigation in most of her books, was not there. I was really disappointed.