The Night Stalker (Pinnacle True Crime) | 
|  | | | Title: | The Night Stalker (Pinnacle True Crime) | | Author: | Philip Carlo | | Publisher: | Pinnacle | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 01 May, 2006 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0786018100 / 9780786018109 | | List Price: | $6.99 | | Amazon Price: | $6.99 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Book Description
From out of the darkness he comes, silent and deadly. Cloaked all in black, he moves in shadows, blending and becoming one with them. No one ever sees him.....until it is too late. He is more than one of the most feared serial killers of all time. He is Richard Ramirez, a man, who ten years ago left thirteen people dead and the city of Los Angeles paralyzed with fear. Here at least is the definitive account of America's most feared serial murderer, based on sixty hours of personal interviews with Richard Ramirez himself. You will follow Richard on his odyssey into depravity and mind-numbing violence. You'll listen to an unprecedented police manhunt gather force to capture The Night Stalker. Includes an actual interview with Ramirez. In his own words, in his own voice, hear Richard discuss the death rattle, sex & serial killers & how women can avoid becoming victims. Told by Danny Aiello. Three hours.
Amazon.com
Research is the strong suit of this book about darkly handsome Richard Ramirez, who terrorized Los Angeles for 14 months in 1984-85 with his penchant for breaking into homes dressed all in black, where he fiercely assaulted, sodomized, robbed, and (in 13 cases) murdered his victims. Carlo spent more than 100 hours interviewing Ramirez on death row, more than a month in El Paso, Texas, talking to Ramirez's family and friends, and another month hanging out with the two detectives who solved the case. He made visits to all 19 crime scenes in the middle of the night. His narrative maintains a steady focus on Ramirez, drawing no conclusions about his Satanism or his mental pathology and simply letting his appalling deeds and words speak for themselves. The trial and post-trial sections are long but interesting, covering Ramirez's rage attacks and his many "groupies" (one of them a juror!), especially Doreen Lloyd, whom he married in September 1996. (This reviewer found Philip Carlo's book much better than Clifford L. Linedecker's Night Stalker.)
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Customer Reviews:
• Starts Strong, Grinds To Hault Midway Through 07 January, 2008
The detail with which Carlo writes of the murders is impressive, although the calibur of his writing could be better. I found it difficult to put the book down up until the apprehension of Ramirez, which takes place at maybe pg. 300 or so. Thereafter, the narrative becomes somewhat bogged down with superfluous details, such as meticulous but frankly boring recitation of courtroom antics and other minutiae that ultimately has no bearing on the outcome of the case or the story in general. Admittedly, it's tough to achieve the same level of excitement in the second act for obvious reasons; however, if you pick up a copy of Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter" you'll find that it's not quite an impossible feat.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2QTW5VTPF6EMW
• The Night Stalker By Philip Carlo 30 August, 2008
As I am concerned about justice in America, especially in regard to homicide and serial killers, I found Philip Carlo's book completely fascinating in its depth and broad perspective. There were no cardboard
characters in this book; there were only real, human, feeling, people; people who prayed and cried and despaired. Obviously Carlo researched
this story thoroughly. What drama! We hear on TV, or read in the newspapers, that the victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to
survive. But that's not where it ends. Victim Virginia Petersen tells
what happens afterward in her statement when she was given a chance to speak after the sentencing. If you're the type who cries, you weep as
you learn of her family's agonies and the devastation and shambles
and fragmented pieces left of their lives after the attack. Then again,
some object to giving a killer's family any sympathy. But when Carlo
told of the family's deep grief, especially of his mother's and father's
despair over his terrible murders, I felt, these, too, were victims.
This is a book that helps men and women understand the serial killer
and perhaps edge toward learning how to better handle such horrors when they arise.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AGKQHBZCWLQCE
• An Insightful And Well-written Account Of True Crime. 08 March, 2008
Philip Carlo certainly did his homework when researching the crimes of Richard Ramirez. After reading his unbiased account of what happened, I am now much more critical when selecting a true-crime novel. He tells the story just as it happened and lets you form your own opinions about Ramirez, good or bad. I disagree with the reviews that criticize Carlo for not giving his own opinion of Richard Ramirez; it was not his purpose for this book. I also disagree with the reviews on this website that criticize Carlo's account of the trial; I found it fascinating, well-written, informative, and full of detail. If you are only a voyeur of blood-lust, put the book down when the courtroom drama begins. He systematically divides the book into sections of time and place, allowing the reader to look at Ramirez's crimes from all points of view of all persons involved. He is what every journalist should strive to be: unbiased and only reports the facts. As a pre-criminology major, I found this book very insightful.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1XD4DQM46XNEH
• Scary, Suspenseful, Very Detailed Biography... 12 August, 2008
I've read some complaints here about the fact that this book is too long because the author covers the trial of Richard Ramirez at great length in the second half of this novel. (The first half covers the crimes and the Night Stalker's childhood.) I'll have to disagree with those reviews. Author Philip Carlo is clearly well-researched. He provides a lot of input here not only into the crimes, victims, and the killer. We get to know the key players of this harrowing story of one of the most dangerous and scariest serial killers of the annals of crime. I highly recommend this gripping book. You'll find it hard to put down and even harder to forget.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AYUQRYH51OHXU
• The Complete Night Stalker. 06 April, 2008
Philip Carlo has written a very exhaustive book about the Night Stalker. It's hard to imagine a more complete book on the serial killer.
The first portion of the book dealt with the horrible crimes of the Night Stalker.
Following that was a section dealing with Richard Ramirez from birth all the way to his arrival in L.A. from El Paso. His temporal lobe epilepsy of childhood and the influence his cousin Miguel had on Ramirez when he was a pre-teen.
The next section of the book was about his attempts to avoid arrest and his eventual apprehension by citizens.
The last part gave a detailed summary of Ramirez's trial.
What made the Night Stalker so dangerous was that he was a different breed of serial killer, he didn't victimize a certain type of person. He really didn't stalk his victims, he chose his targets at random from an ever-expanding area.
Philip Carlo effectively connected the combinations of influences that fueled Ramirez's criminal drive;sex,drugs,pornography,heavy metal music,and satanism.
He was a dedicated satanist reading books authored by Anton LaVey and even meeting him once.
The strange,surreal actions by the Night Stalker "groupies" and Ramirez himself are reminiscent of the Charles Manson trial from "Helter Skelter".
If you want to learn why the Night Stalker was arguably the most feared killer this is the book to read!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A124S6MYD45PIQ
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