Still at Large: A Casebook of 20th Century Serial Killers Who Eluded Justice [Paperback]

Michael Newton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Loompanics Unlimited (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559501847
• ISBN-13: 978-1559501842
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,297,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A California native, Michael Newton has published 215 books under his own name and various pseudonyms since 1977. He began writing professionally as a "ghost" for author Don Pendleton on the best-selling Executioner series and continues his work on that series today. With 104 episodes published to date, Newton has nearly tripled the number of Mack Bolan novels completed by creator Pendleton himself.

Newton's first book under his own name was Monsters, Mysteries and Man (1979), a survey of unexplained phenomena for younger readers. While 156 of Newton's published books have been novels--including westerns, political thrillers and psychological suspense--he is best known for nonfiction, primarily true crime and reference books.

His firearms manual for writers, Armed and Dangerous (1990), remains a best-seller for Writer's Digest Books in its 8th printing. Newton's Encyclopedia of Serial Killers (Facts on File, 2000) is currently in its second edition. His history of the Florida Ku Klux Klan, The Invisible Empire (2001), won the Florida Historical Society's 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for Best Book in Florida History. His Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology was just named as one of twelve books on the American Library Association's 2006 List of Outstanding Reference Sources. Newton's shorter work includes horror fiction, true crime articles and case histories for Court TV's Crime Library online.

He is a member of several organizations, including the Centre for Fortean Zoology, the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and Feral Cat Friends Inc.

His 24 upcoming books, scheduled for release through 2011, include 8 novels and 16 nonfiction works. He lives in Nashville, Indiana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STILL AT LARGE, August 12, 2002

By 

"valeska_" (The Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Still at Large: A Casebook of 20th Century Serial Killers Who Eluded Justice (Paperback)

Still at Large is like a medium sized (299 pages) encyclopedia from the infamous to relatively unknown crimes. Listed A-Z from the "Alphabet" murders to "House of Horrors" murders to The "Zodiac".

It has well known crimes like The Zodiac, Bella Kiss, Kingsbury Run murders (The torso killer) and MANY MANY lesser known crimes: 195 in all!
Like the mystifying BTK strangler (bind them, torture them, kill them) who terrorized Wichita Kansas. Leaving police a message: "How many more do I have to kill, before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?"
Or the Mons Murders of Belgium where the killer dumped his victims at sites with names like: Rue de Depot (Dump street), Chemin de L'Inquietude (The path of worry) or beside the rivers Haine (Hate) & Trouille (Jitters).

Some stories are just half a page long, and others are 2-4 pages. It's clearly written with good detail & very interesting. No pictures or illustrations, just the stories. A great collection of strange unsolved crimes ranging in time from early 1900's to late 90's & from all around the world. For anyone who loves mysteries.

You'll notice some of the listed unsolved stories have now been recently solved, like the "Spokane Murders" (Robert Lee Yates jr.) & The Spotsylvania child murders (Richard Evonitz)..but most of them are "Still At Large"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Chilling Ride, May 20, 2005

By 

W.M. C. (Suburbia, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Still at Large: A Casebook of 20th Century Serial Killers Who Eluded Justice (Paperback)

This book is probably meant to frighten readers. From its cover illustration of a poor soon-to-be-victim running down a dark alley being chased by a madman, to the blurb on the back cover that reads, "So you think you'll never be the vicitim of a serial murderer? Don't be so sure", Michael Newton's encyclopedic "Still at Large" is a scary look into the world of serial killers and their unsolved crimes.

The author has researched crimes globally to give us a jam-packed thriler with over 180 entries listed alphabetically by either the presumed killer's nickname or the region where he/she did the killing.

Some crimes are well-known and now solved, like the Green River prostitute murders of the Seattle, Washington area. Gary Ridgeway has now been found guilty of the crimes which plagued investigators for years.

Another famous elusive killer has now been brought closer to justice as the BTK murders have been attributed to an unassuming man named Dennis Rader.

Still, most of the cases in this book are still unsolved. Some are so old that even if the killer is "still at large", there hardly seems to be reason for the public to worry about becoming the latest victim. And even though this book refers only to the 20th century's serial killers, there are many mentions of London's "Jack the Ripper", who terrorized prostitutes in the late 1800s because so many men have taken up where he left off and have also gotten away with it.

This book is chilling in its depiction of unsolved crimes and will have you looking over your shoulder. However, it is sometimes a little insensitive, I believe, toward victims because it is such a compact roll-call of killers. Most victims end up mere names in a laundry list of murders, with lines like, "the next to die was known junkie/hooker...", which I see as a little cold. That person was still somebody's daughter or friend.

Overall, Newton does a pretty good job of handling the victim situation. No matter how hard authors try, victims are usually secondary to the infamy and celibrity of a killer, even an unnamed one like the "I-45 Killer" or "Frankford Slasher".

I was impressed by Mr. Newton's research. He even discredits other writers of true crime who he feels have stretched the truth by either adding numbers to a victim list or making up murders altogether. It kept me from buying a book by one such writer, and I am grateful!

Read this book if you are a true crime buff- it's a keeper!