Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women [Mass Market Paperback]

Dan Mitrione (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1996 | Series: Suddenly Gone (Book 1)

A serial killer hunting young girls...

The horribly mutilated condition of young Terri Maness's naked body held the first clue. One smart Wichita detective suspected the legal secretary's murder might be the first in a string of depraved sexual slayings. He would be right on the mark.

A spree of torture and murder...

Six days later Michelle Katf was badly beaten and barely escaped with her life. Twenty-year old Joan Butler was not so lucky. She soon disappeared without a trace. But when Richard Grissom, a handsome onetime college student, started driving the dead girl's red Corsica, the cops were hot on his trail. By then the twisted thrill killer, now a desperate fugitive, was already looking foe fresh victims.

Nothing could satisfy his lust for death...

Attractive roommates, Theresa Brown and Christine Rusch were only too happy to have a handsome guy like Grissom at their Saturday night party. They never suspected that 48 hours later they would be trapped in a horrifying nightmare. For days, Grissom terrorized them, before finally snuffing out their young lives, and sending police on one of the most exhaustive manhunts in Kansas history.

Former FBI agent Dan Mitrione follows the dark, twisted path of a man with all the cunning, sexy good looks, sexy good looks and deadly charm of Ted Bundy, exposing Grissom's secret bloody past that shocked even the most jaded detectives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A riveting and remarkably detailed study." --Kansas City Star

About the Author

Dan Mitrione is a native of Indiana, but was raised in Brazil, where his father worked for the State Department. Mitrione graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in international affairs, and later served the United States Marines in Vietnam.

A former federal investigator, Mitrione lives in the Midwest with his wife Janet. He is currently at work on a new project.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (September 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312960522
• ISBN-13: 978-0312960520
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening!, June 13, 2000

By 

"dfnj" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women (Mass Market Paperback)

There are many things I find incredible about the telling of this story. The first being Mr. Mitrione's account of seeing the poster of Joan Butler and how it led to the writing of this book. From there the reader gets a horrifying glimpse into the mind of a cold blooded killer, but also gains an appreciation for the dedication of the law enforcement officers who brought him to justice, largely on circumstantial evidence. Most importantly, Mr. Mitrione makes us feel the pain of loss of the families of the missing girls and the agony of never being able to lay them to rest. I know that I will be much more careful after reading this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A family's view, July 13, 2006

By 

Reader (MO-CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women (Mass Market Paperback)

My Aunt was one of the women this book was written about. For the people who feel the women weren't "honored" or the families were intruded on, they are misinformed or just ignorant. Mr. Mitrione was respectful and showed great concern to try to get details correct for our family's sake. For those who feel he just got too close to the families involved to write an objective book, that's your opinion. I have to disagree. I feel this was an important piece needed to bring a personal side to this cold, senseless crime.
Thank you Mr. Mitrione for acknowledging our pain and feelings. We miss Theresa every day.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Suddenly Gone, October 3, 2000

By 

Thomas A. Tucker (Gregory, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women (Mass Market Paperback)

Overall this book is ok reading. The beginning starts out talking about the first murders and the reading is very interesting, but as the book progressed, there were spots in the book that were so long and boring. For the most part, the boring parts talked about how the police weren't able to find any evidence or what had to be done in order to find the evidence. I guess the book wasn't made to be extremely interesting in the first place. It was made to tell the stories of the murdered girls in Kansas and show the loss of their families. Other than those boring spots, the book was actually quite good. The author was very descriptive and always gave a good sense of what was going on. I beleive that this author told the story of what happened to these four girls really well. I give a lot of credit to Dan Mitrione for taking on this project and going through all of the trouble of interviewing all of the people involved with this case to accurately tell his story.