Murderland
Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
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4.1 • 102 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
An Edgar Award finalist for True Crime • A National Bestseller • A Washington Post Notable Book • Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker, Forbes, NPR, Vulture, Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, Slate, Newsweek, New York Post, LitHub, Kirkus Reviews, and The Nerve • A finalist for the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
“Scorching, seductive . . . A superb and disturbing vivisection of our darkest urges.” —Los Angeles Times
“This is about as highbrow as true crime gets.” —Vulture
“Fraser has outdone herself, and just about everyone else in the true-crime genre, with Murderland.” —Esquire
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Prairie Fires comes a terrifying true-crime history of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest and beyond—a gripping investigation of how a new strain of psychopath emerged out of a toxic landscape of deadly industrial violence
Caroline Fraser grew up in the shadow of Ted Bundy, the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, surrounded by his hunting grounds and mountain body dumps, in the brooding landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and ’80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid an uncanny explosion of serial rape and murder across the region. Why so many? Why so weirdly and nightmarishly gruesome? Why the senseless rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing?
As Murderland indelibly maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers in mayhem—the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, even Charles Manson—Fraser’s Northwestern death trip begins to uncover a deeper mystery and an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. At ground zero in Ted Bundy’s Tacoma stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world, but it was hardly unique in the West. As Fraser’s investigation inexorably proceeds, evidence mounts that the plumes of these smelters not only sickened and blighted millions of lives but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers.
A propulsive nonfiction thriller, Murderland transcends true-crime voyeurism and noir mythology, taking readers on a profound quest into the dark heart of the real American berserk.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
True-crime tales about serial killers so often leave you asking, “But why? What turns a man into a monster?” Caroline Fraser has an answer. She grew up in Seattle when the area was at the center of a serial-killer epidemic. Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, and many other infamous murderers all emerged in the ’70s and ’80s and proceeded to terrorize the Pacific Northwest. But why did this phenomenon skyrocket so dramatically in such a concentrated area during such a limited period? In this fascinating nonfiction read, Fraser briefly profiles the many, many killers who popped up in this time and place. But instead of focusing on the gruesome details of their crimes, she puts them in context, meticulously connecting each man to something that’s been scientifically linked to violent crime: lead poisoning. We never knew that tracing a killer’s proximity to this region’s unchecked smelting industry could be so breathlessly gripping.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What makes a murderer? Pulitzer winner Fraser (Prairie Fires) makes a convincing case for arsenic and lead poisoning as contributing factors in this eyebrow-raising account. Fraser, who was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where smelters belted out poison for decades and a proliferation of serial killers in the 1970s and '80s earned the region the nickname "America's Killing Fields," marries a poignant memoir of her Washington State childhood with a vivid catalog of crimes by Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, and others. Throughout, she forges links between ballooning 20th-century crime statistics and declining health outcomes due to pollution, noting that the so-called "golden age" of serial killers came to an end in the '90s as leaded gasoline was banned, smelters shut down due to decreasing profits, and the Environmental Protection Agency stepped up pollution controls. While it initially sounds far-fetched when, for instance, Fraser links brutal violence on Mexico's borders—where 500 women were murdered between 1993 and 2011—to a rise in unregulated factory towns, her methodical research and lucid storytelling argue persuasively for linking the health of the planet to the safety of its citizens. This is a provocative and page-turning work of true crime.
Customer Reviews
Probably the scariest book I’ve read
And you thought IT or Pet Sematary was scary. Think again. This book was terrifying. I had nightmares during the time I was reading. Harrowing, extremely well written and down right creepy. Not just about serial killers but the environmental reasons for their being. Glad I finished this but will never ever read again.
Wow!
I feel like I learned so much from this book. It’s fiction it’s a biography it’s history it’s everything rolled in one that helps you understand the making of serial killers in the north west.
It’s changed my perspective of how nature can sometimes bring out the worst in nurture. Definitely read this book if you are looking for a more in depth of how serial killers in the northwest were made.
Different
I selected this book primarily based on its cover and title, without prior knowledge of the author's work. The book presents a fascinating narrative that weaves together a multitude of facts and theories surrounding poorly constructed bridges and environmental pollution involving metals such as lead and arsenic, which are linked to violent behavior in humans, specifically in the northwest region of the United States. Notably, this context is tied to the emergence of serial killers like Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, Israel Keyes, Gary Ridgeway, and Randy Woodfield, among others. Additionally, author Caroline Fraser incorporates engaging anecdotes about her childhood, which adds a unique dimension to the narrative. The book's exploration of serial killers from the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s is particularly compelling, with well-crafted connections that sustain the reader's interest throughout. Overall, the book's distinctive writing style made for a captivating read that I completed in its entirety.