Perfect Poison: A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine [Paperback]

M. William Phelps (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

Details the horrifying true account of twisted killer Kristen Gilbert, a.k.a. the Angel of Death, who, as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northamption, Massachusetts, murdered many of the helpless patients in her care with a lethal drug that caused fatal heart attacks. Original.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A first-rate investigative examination." -- Dr. Michael Baden, forensic pathologist, host of HBO's Autopsy series, and author of DEAD RECKONING: The New Science of Catching Killers and UNNATURAL DEATH: Confessions of a Medical Examiner

"A stunner from beginning to end, Phelps renders the story expertly, with flawless research and an explosive narrative." -- Gregg Olsen, author of several best-selling true crime books, including BITTER ALMONDS, ABANDONED PRAYERS, MOCKINGBIRD and IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG: The Shocking True Story of Mark Kay Letourneau

"Captivating, exciting, a jolt-a-minute. With his encyclopedic knowledge of police procedures, Phelps earns a deserved place among the best." -- Harvey Rachlin, author of 13 books, including THE MAKING OF A DETECTIVE and THE MAKING OF A COP

"In perfect harmony with the best true crime writers, Phelps unmasks the psychopath with facts, insight and journalistic leg work." -- Lowell Cauffiel, author of MASQUERADE, EYE OF THE BEHOLDER, FOREVER AND FIVE DAYS and HOUSE OF SECRETS

From the Inside Flap

LETHAL INJECTION

At five p.m. on February 4, 1996, a Northampton, Massachusetts, Veterans Affairs Medical Center nursing assistant looked up and saw nurse Kristen Gilbert standing by the entrance to patient Angelo Vella's room.

Gilbert was drawing a syringe, but it was unclear what she was filling the syringe with, because it appeared as though she was trying to hide what she was doing.

After the syringe was full, Gilbert entered Vella's room.

Seconds later, Vella's heart monitor alarm went off.

"Ow, it hurts . . . it burns!" Vella yelled.

When the other nurses heard Vella scream, one raced into the veteran's room and rushed to his bedside, while the others in the vicinity looked on. Gilbert, frozen in her tracks, just stood there in some sort of daze.

Vella's heart rate began to race uncontrollably--as much as 300 beats per minute. But he remained conscious.

"Mr. Vella?" a nurse asked. "Mr. Vella?"

"She did it!" Vella lashed out, pointing at Gilbert. "It started when she flushed my line . . ."

A moment later there was a flatline . . . and then . . . Vella's pulse stopped.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 477 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786015500
• ISBN-13: 978-0786015504
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,603 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Crime expert, lecturer, TV personality and acclaimed investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the national bestselling, award-winning author of nineteen nonfiction books. Winner of 2008 New England Book Festival Award for I'll Be Watching You, Phelps has made close to 100 television appearances, including CBS's "Early Show," Court TV/truTV, Discovery Channel, Fox News Channel, ABC's "Good Morning America," Learning Channel, Biography Channel, History Channel, Montel Williams, Investigation Discovery, Oxygen's "Snapped" and "Captured;" he's been on USA Radio Network, Catholic Radio, Ava Maria Radio, ABC News Radio and Radio America, who calls him "the nation's leading authority on the mind of the female murderer." He's written for the Providence Journal, Hartford Courant, New London Day, and consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series "Dexter."

Profiled in such noted publications as Connecticut Magazine, Writer's Digest, NY Daily News, Newsday, Albany Times-Union, Hartford Courant, Advance for Nurses Magazine, Forensic Nursing, and NY Post, Phelps lives in a small Connecticut farming community. Beyond his true-crime books, in 2008, Phelps published a highly acclaimed narrative nonfiction biography of Revolutionary War patriot Nathan Hale, NATHAN HALE: The Life and Death of America's First Spy (Thomas Dunne Books).

I have been busy! This December, THE DEVIL'S RIGHT HAND will publish. It is a book about Sam and John Colt, and how one brother invented the revolving firearm and the other murdered someone with a hatchet, culminating in the tragedies that took place afterward and how they juxtapose against the epic story of the Colt family legacy.

I have five more "Deadly Women" episodes in the can for Beyond Productions to air soon on Investigation Discovery channel. Don't miss the latest season--the best yet! Thank you everyone who has written in to say how much you like the shows.

My first TV series, DARK MINDS, is in post-production and will air in early 2012 on Investigation Discovery (ID). The concept of the show is unique and fresh. I have one of the preeminent serial killer profilers working today, John Kelly, ECD (a National Board Certified Addiction Specialist, Board Certified Social Worker, Certified Forensic Examiner and Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Examiners, president of S.T.A.L.K., Inc.), starring with me in the show--and one VERY special guest star each week--a bona fide serial killer in prison we are calling "13".

My thriller series, introducing Boston PD Detective Jake Sundance Cooper, is in the pipeline, and closer to publication.

When time permits, I continue to work on a Christmas story/literary murder-mystery, featuring an old curmudgeon and WW II survivor who, through a little girl, learns a great lesson in redemption and accountability.

Photo Credit: "Dark Minds"/Investigation Discovery

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazingly written: easy-to-read, could not put it down, June 23, 2003

By 

"bdlbob" (upstate New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Poison: A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine (Paperback)

If this is M. William Phelps's first book, I cannot believe it. With short chapters of 4-6 pages, the book reads so easy you've devoured 10 chapters without even realizing it. Serial killing nurse Kristen Gilbert is so carefully examined and explained by Phelps, with the most important and intuative details dropped throughout the narrative here and there, before you know it, you feel like you've walked beside nurse Gilbert her entire life without her knowing. The investigation portion of the book is written better than anything Ann Rule or Joe McGuinnis has even penned. I have read true crime for decades. If there is anyone deserving of the Edgar Award this coming year, it is Phelps. Perfect Poison is true crime not at its best, but at its finest, like it was back in the day--written by a journalist so in tune with his subject and observant of detail it was a disappointment that this book had to end. I could have read it forever.

Way to go Mr. Phelps! I will be first in line for anything you write in the future.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A note from the author, January 27, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Perfect Poison: A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine (Paperback)

It has been said that "a book is not a book until a reader actually reads it." These reviews prove to me that the theory holds a bit of truth.

I would like to thank each and every reader who has been so gracious as to purchase my book and write your kind thoughts about it here on Amazon. I am humbled by your keen sense of awareness and love for true crime as a genre. Thank you so much for giving PERFECT POISON a chance! I hope all of you feel the same way about my future books . . . and that I can continue to deliver the quality work you, as consumers, so much deserve in today's market.

All my best, M. William Phelps

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down, September 22, 2003

By 

Terry M. Callen (Gloucester City, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Perfect Poison: A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine (Paperback)

I picked this book up at the CVS because I was looking for something to read and I love "true crime" stories.

I could not put it down. Great read. Very in-depth study of a "bad seed"...a person just born evil, Kristen Gilbert.

This woman traumatized everyone who came into contact with her, and I am glad she is locked away permanently.