This book was amazing. It was a very well researched book about The Grim Sleeper. What I really liked about the book was the author took the time to tell you about the victims. They weren’t just nameless faceless people found murdered. They were real people, mothers, sisters, daughters, and loved by their families.

The author made them real again, and told their story. Easily one of my favorite true crime books of the year.

Reporting the story of drug-addicted black women living in Central LA in the 1980s on and how they were preyed upon by a serial killer is important, especially given that none of the women's deaths were reported on or investigated at length by the LAPD until years, or even decades, later. If they'd been blonde haired white women their deaths wouldn't have been swept under the rug. So while the subjects of this book were very important, the writing was basic and disappointing compared to other true crime writing. For instance, this book included virtually identical paragraphs within its chapters. The formatting on the kindle edition was weird which made reading the text a bit odious at times. The last third of the book is mostly quoted transcripts from the trial when the killer was brought to justice.

This is an interesting look at first the victims, but also a serial killer. I appreciated that the stories of the victims and their families are highlighted, rather than the killer himself. There's a lot of detail that I'm sure only this author would be able to offer. However, there were times when the main story gets a bit distracted by side stories, like other serial killers. Overall, though, an interesting read.

This is one of the best true crime books I've ever read. The attention to the women who were marginalized for so long is a refreshing take on the true crime genre.

In solid, unflashy prose, journalist Pelisek traces her involvement with a series of grisly serial killings of mostly young women in South Central Los Angeles, soon dubbed the "Grim Sleeper." The circumstances and m.o. are mostly the same, which finally helps in the cases being solved. He turns out to be one of 6 serial killers active from the mid-1980's to the mid-2000's who are preying on the same vulnerable population.

Trial section got a bit tedious