The Search for the Green River Killer [Paperback]

Carlton Smith (Author), Thomas Guillen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 1991

The complete story, updated with new information on the apprehended suspect and his conviction.

Between 1982 and 1984, forty-nine women in the Seattle area were murdered. Despite an exhaustive search and investigation, the sadistic killer eluded authorities for the next two decades. Even to this day, bodies are still surfacing that are believed to be linked to America's most brutal serial killer case. But then in 2002, King County police arrested Gary Ridgway, a 53-year-old truck painter-and longtime suspect in the case-and charged him with the crimes. In November 2003, Ridgway admitted to the murders, finally ending the search for the notorious Green River Killer.

Now with startling new revelations, Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen, two journalists who have exhaustively followed the murders from day one, offer the most authoritative insight into the history of-and the controversial developments around-the crimes that have held a nation spellbound for more than two decades.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This reckoning of the deaths of almost 50 women in Seattle is distressing not only for the gruesomeness of the crimes but also for reasons probably not intended by Smith and Guillen, who reported on the murders for the Seattle Times. The descriptions of decomposed corpses are nauseating, and the blundering and so far unsuccessful police attempts to find the murderer are irksome. Readers are likely to be equally angered by accounts of how the media hampered the investigation by meddling in it and exploiting it, and by a nagging sense that this book is just one more example of that exploitation. Unable to secure the cooperation of two primary police investigators (who wouldn't comment because the cases are still open), the authors rely on sources as diverse as an FBI agent, a psychic who is investigating the cases on her own and a former suspect with a demonstrated ability for manipulating the media. Moreover, the book offers abundant chaff with the wheat as when, for example, it discusses unrelated murders committed in Canada and Hawaii. Maps.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the first book about the investigation--so far unsuccessful--of the worst case of serial murder in American history. Beginning in 1982 with the discovery of the first victims in the Green River near Seattle, at last count 49 young women--almost all prostitutes or teenage runaways--have been murdered. Despite a massive effort, police have uncovered no good suspects, due in large measure to the victims' soliciting behavior. The killer may have stopped for whatever reason or possibly moved--similar serial murders have occurred in Portland, Oregon, and San Diego. The authors are Seattle journalists in command of their material, and the result is a cut above the typical mass market paperback original. Recommended for true crime collections.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (March 5, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451402391
• ISBN-13: 978-0451402394
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,099,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fine piece of journalism, June 7, 2000

By 

Michael Bulger (Rochester, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Search for the Green River Killer (Paperback)

Between the Summer of 1982 and Spring of 1984 someone, almost certainly a man, picked up at least 40 and perhaps as many as 60 young women, mostly prostitutes, strangled them and disposed of their bodies in various locations in the Pacific northwest, predominantly in southern King County, Washington. Despite the efforts of a special police investigative unit that developed a proficiency in forensic techniques that would later prove useful in countless other investigations, and that had the lessons of Ted Bundy nearly a decade before to draw upon, this killer was never caught, and to this day his identity and final fate remains unknown. This book is an essentially journalistic account (in the modern sense, in which a description of the facts is coupled closely with a subjective evaluation of them) of the investigation of the "Green River" murders (so named because the first victims found were disposed of in the Green River, though most others were found elsewhere). Thus we read about the victims, who they were and in some cases how they drifted into prostitution and/or drug use, when they were last seen and with whom, when their absence first came to the attention of the police or the Green River investigators. We read of the detectives themselves, of the leads they followed, the manner in which they were forced to learn about the lives of prostitutes and the violence routinely directed against them, the political conflicts that occasionally helped but more often hindered their investigation, the forensic approaches they learned and perfected, the mistakes they made, the attempts to find links between the Green River murders and similar slayings occurring elsewhere, such as Portland and San Diego. We read of the occasional suspects, the coincidences or other apparent evidence that led the police to them, and the frustrating regularity with which they were always exonerated.

What we do not read about at all, of course, is the killer himself; in a book of true crime, this is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because we are largely spared the psychological mumbo-jumbo that might otherwise have dominated such an account, and as a result we are presented only with the basic descriptions of "profiling" as practiced in the 1980's by the FBI, and generalizations regarding the psychology of serial murderers. A curse because the real subject of the narrative, the one character we do want to know about most, never makes it onto the stage. It is perhaps a testament to the skills of these writers that we as readers experience some measure of the frustration that must have gripped the detectives on the case.

Unlike other reviewers of this book, I don't see how this book is "horrifying" or otherwise comparable to anything in the suspense or crime genre. While the crimes described were certainly horrendous, they were committed 20 years ago, the victims almost uniformly possessed a very specific profile that most readers will not fit, and most of the book is concerned not with the crimes themselves (which were never witnessed in any case) but with the investigation of them, which is a much less sensational and much more tedious process to describe. That these authors managed to maintain my interest in such subject matter should stand as a sufficient compliment to their skills. This book is worth reading whether you are interested in the Green River murders by themselves or police investigations of this scale in general.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For all True Crime Buffs, August 2, 2001

By 

Tonia Van Leuven (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Search for the Green River Killer (Paperback)

This was probably one of the best books on a Serial Killer that I have read since Helter Skelter. I really liked the way the authors wrote in chronological order. Many true crime authors try to get creative and jump back and forth to make themselves look smarter or something; when all we want is the information. I also liked the way it went into depth about the problems within the different law enforcement agencies, as well as how the media and government play in to funding these type of investigations. It made the entire investigation much more clear. I also felt that the authors knew it was vital to give full descriptions of each victim (when they disappeared, where, cause of death, etc.) and comparisons between each victim. You could actually follow the killer's subtle signature, and watch their M.O. develop throughout the book. Anyone interested in Serial Killers should definitely give this book a second glance.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The better of the two books available, March 2, 2003

By 

Robert St. James (Salem, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Search for the Green River Killer (Paperback)

Better than the Ted Bundy "Riverman" book, since you don't have to wade through that maniac's ravings. One of the better true crime books in that neither you (the reader) nor they (the author and his sources) really know who did it or why. This is what makes the Green River Killer case so disturbing--the very high number of victims taken in a short period of time from the same geographical area by someone who was never identified. Was it Ridgway? Who knows. The trial is upcoming.

Strengths: gets behind the scenes of the investigation and traces the growing horror of the sheer number of bodies being discovered. Points out some critical points in the investigation where costly mistakes were made (like not searching further up the river when the first bodies were found, and blowing a chance to catch the killer returning to the river because the media got wind of the stakeout and showed up with a helicopter!)

Weaknesses: Doesn't give a very good description of the scene around the Strip in 1982-84, nor speculate just why this area was the killer's hunting ground of choice. Gives some details on the victims, but not enough to make them real people. They remain simply street prostitutes with some background information. A critical missing piece is some accounts of how they lived while they were on the strip. But maybe nobody knows much about that. That's where the author should have dug a little deeper.

Worth reading if you're interested in true crime, and essential if you follow the Green River case.