I read this as part of IG's #bookishtruecrime. I know that once the book was announced for September, I wanted to read it so much. I grew up close to the area that the killings took place so right away. I think it was just the writer's style that I just did not click with. I finished it because I switched to audio and there were some really good parts, but I just thought the author's writing style was very dry.

I am really happy that Pelisek gave these Black women a voice. It was really sad to read how a case like Natalee Holloway was all over the news and how the media completely skipped over the killings of numerous Black women. For very obvious reasons the police didn’t want Pelisek writing about the victims.

The title of this one well-encapsulates what it's about - a serial killer, but also the women whose lives were tragically taken. And I think that's what I most appreciated about this true crime book: I didn't feel like a voyeur learning gruesome details. Instead I was right there with friends and family, grieving the loss of their loved ones.

The Grim Sleeper targeted women of color, several of whom were prostitutes. This added to my frustration regarding the investigation. Often, reading true crime, I have to stop myself from yelling at the book because it seems like they could have found the murderer so much sooner than they did. But here that frustration was compounded given "society's lack of concern for his chosen victims." That's not to say the book's flawed - as far as I'm aware, it details what actually happened.

I agree w/Kirkus' review, in that I'd have re-shaped how suspects were described, and cut some of the background information about the lawyers involved. Otherwise, The Grim Sleeper is a great book about an awful reality.

If you have read [b:Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America|13153693|Ghettoside A True Story of Murder in America|Jill Leovy|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417410395s/13153693.jpg|18331880], you should read this. Pelisek focuses on a segment of society that totally gets disregarded. Her book not only details law enforcement and community problems, but also the lives of the victim.

Princess Berthomieux is a name we should all remember and something that society should do its best to never allow to happen again.

At the end of the book, Pelisek laments that we don't know why the Grim Sleeper killed all the women he did--which seems to me to negate the point of writing the book. However--and this is a big however--she brings to light the murders of women who are so marginalized in our society that, without her interest and writing, might never have been solved. Most of the women the Lonnie Davis murdered were prostitutes and drug addicts--sometimes both--and society doesn't tend to care about them. The police didn't like her writing about the murders, but I think this does her a disservice. In the end, she deserves kudos for caring. Most people--let alone most journalists--wouldn't.

3.5

Pelisek really threw herself entirely into this story and her research is incredible. She makes the victims the focus of the book and delves into their back stories. This was difficult to read because she doesn't shy away from the gruesome details. It was one heartbreak after the over for each victim and their families.

Where I think the book could have improved were more details about the public's views etc. The women's deaths were ignored for a variety of reasons and she talks briefly about them, but I think there could have been even more explanation about how racism and other negative views affected how this case went and why it hardly got any national coverage.

I'm glad someone told this story. I wasn't a fan of the author's writing style, but it was very informative.

I'm glad someone took the time to tell the stories of Lonnie Franklin's victims, because too many murders of poor black women go ignored. It was satisfying to see the leads come together to catch Franklin, and the story is good - the writing here left me a little cold, though, due to some odd tics of the writer. (more later)