Behold the Monster
Confronting America's Most Prolific Serial Killer
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- 3,99 €
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- 3,99 €
Publisher Description
'Fearless and fierce ... transcends a crime story to be a story that threatens social order' - Michael Connelly
'Bewitching . . . a tale of horror that is also humane and self-aware' - Jennifer Egan
'[Lauren] writes in film-noir ... American prose, so you feel you're in the seamy backstreets in the Rust Belt' - Daily Mail, Book of the Week
'Wildly original... true crime fans will find this a unique and disturbing thrill ride' - Publishers Weekly
'Blending gruesome forensic details with tender domestic moments . . . a panoramic tale of America's worst serial killer' - Daily Telegraph
'Chilling' - the Sun
Jillian Lauren set out to research a serial killer for a novel. Instead, she put one at the centre of her life.
Months of exchanging letters with Samuel Little in prison landed her a face-to-face meeting - and the trust of a monster. In the hours of harrowing interviews that followed, Little confessed to the murders of ninety-three women, making him America's most prolific serial killer. As the investigations escalated, the disturbing relationship took its toll on Lauren, both psychologically and legally - but she couldn't stop.
Conversations with a psychopath, intertwined with intensely personal experience and the stories of those killed told for the first time, result in an unforgettable true crime account. Behold the Monster is a journey into a mind and murderer that shocked the world, but one that ultimately lifts the lives of the victims with such grace that we cannot look away.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Lauren (Some Girls) recounts the murders of Samuel Little, America's most prolific serial killer, in this wildly original blend of narrative nonfiction and true crime reporting. At the time of publication, officials had confirmed 60 of Little's 93 jailhouse confessions, many of them told for the first time to Lauren, whose notes helped a national task force led by LAPD, FBI, and Texas Ranger officers close many of the cold cases. Attempting to give voice to Little's victims, Lauren reconstructs their final hours based on her interviews with the killer, whom she first met after writing to him while he was imprisoned in the late 2010s in pursuit of a more traditional feature story. Interspersed between those harrowing episodes, Lauren recounts her time researching and interviewing Little before his death in 2020, at which point the killer named her his next of kin, giving her possession of his ashes and the few trinkets he still held onto. In vivid prose ("In Jungian terms, Sam wasn't all shadow, but his shadow was definitely in the driver's seat"), Lauren convincingly sketches Little, his victims, his relatives, and the lawmen and women who dedicated their lives to catching him. True crime fans will find this a unique and disturbing thrill ride.
