The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez

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Summary: The Night Stalker: The Truth
Review: The Night Stalker: The Life And Crimes Of Richard Ramirez Is Simply One If Not The Greatest Book I Have Ever Read. As Said, It Grips You From Begging To End, Its Like A Sick Roller Coaster, You Hate What He's Doing And Going On, But Then You Cant Help But Feel Sorry For Him, His Childhood, The Way He Grew Up, His Influences, His Enviroment, You Have To Factor Everything In To See What Makes Him Tick, Again This Book Is Pure Genius, Described Very Well, And Just Simply One Of The Best Books About Someone Besides A Biography.

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Summary: unbelievable!!
Review: This book will grip you from beginning to end. Definitedly a quick read. The author has written in a way that makes you feel like you actually know the killer and his victims. You will find yourself becoming (unbelievably) emotional about the killer. At times you want to hate him, then in the next page you find yourself feeling so sorry for this poor guy that you just want to cry for him -- which I did several times. I especially enjoyed reading this book because it didn't get hung up in hundreds of pages of technical jargon that's hard to follow like a lot of true crime books out there -- it reads like a spine tingling novel -- hard to believe it's all real!! You have got to read this book! I now find myself wondering what happened to Richard and what he's doing today -- it really grips you that tightly! WOW

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Summary: Keeps the reader interested all the way through!
Review:
This book is one of the few True Crime books I've read that talked more about the crime, and less about the trial. I enjoyed the way it described the movements Richard Ramirez took with every murder & his childhood. I am not interested on every detail of the trail or how the trees swayed in the breeze. I like more information on how the crime was acted out. For instance, when it talks about events Richard did before and after each break-in. Also it goes in great detail about his childhood so the reader has some idea of where he was coming from with each kill. If you are someone who likes more crime & less trial than this is an excellent book to get.

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Summary: "The Night Stalker" will captivate you
Review: This was the first book I have read about Richard Ramirez and I found it to be fabulously written. At I first I thought Carlo went into to much details about certain people that were pertaining to the hunt, Example the exact description of Gil Carrillo or of Frank Salerno. I had no interest in learning what weight there were or how tall these gentlemen are. I did enjoy though the progression of growth and experience these two received thru searching for the Night Stalker. There is a lot of information about Richard family, their lives, the relationship that they had with Richard and the true abilities and thoughts of the night stalker. When you are reading about the crimes ... you go deep into the details of the victims and what was suffered by them and of the loved one after their deaths. After Richard was sentenced some family member where able to speak on behalf of there lost loved one, and I found that to be a great part of the book. To hear what they were feeling after the death of their loved ones. The breakdown of the trial was wonderful written...Very informative!! I was quite young when Richard was sentenced in 1986 but I can remember bit and pieces of information which kept me interested and this book was a great find after so much time wonder what really went on. Phillip Carlo speaks a lot about the "fans" of Richard Ramirez and I was amazed about all of that. I never realize how intrigued Richard made women at that time. How women felt being near him or being able to actually speak to him. You can never really understand what is going on inside a person mind, but I think that Carlo explained Doreen to people very well. He took you into her life and her thoughts about Richard and his family. She fell in love with him and did what any women does for the man that she loves...she stood by him and on 10/03/96 they became Mr. and Mrs. Richard Munoz Ramirez.

All in all I hope that you choose to read this book. I 100% enjoyed reading this book!! I think it was a wonderfully written book by Philip Carlo and I hope I have written my opinion good enough for you to want to read "The Night Stalker"...


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Summary: Excellent True Crime
Review: A true crime treasure. This is one of the best true crime books out there. If you like true crime and criminal psychology, get it. If you scare easily - don't. This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

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Summary: More Narrative Drive Than Any True Crime Book I've Ever Read
Review: --with the possible exception of IN COLD BLOOD. Michaud and Aynesworth's THE ONLY LIVING WITNESS (about Ted Bundy) is probably the finest exploration of the genesis of homicidal mania, but for detail and incredible narrative drive, no true crime book I've ever read tops this one. May it always remain in print.

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Summary: An amazing introduction to true crime reading
Review: This was my first true crime novel I had ever attempted to read, and my foray into this subject was a success. I am a psychology major, and I wrote a term paper on Mr. Ramirez with the help of this novel as one of my sources. This nonfiction work reads likes fiction in that it is so descriptive and jarring it almost seems like you are entering a sadistic universe that doesn't exist, although in the mind of Richard it actually does. A sadist to the tenth degree as well as a religiously obsessed genius, Richard is a man who one feels sympathy for if only for the fact that if it were not for his uncontrollable psychosis he could have actually been a wonderful asset to society with his unexpected wit and high intelligence. Read this man's quotes, ponder his wonderful speech given in court, and you will realize this is no "average joe" killer. This is an intelligent, sadistic, individual who is at war with the philosophical demons he posseses and the incredible beauty, talent, and genius he holds deep inside.

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Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: i first bought this book from Brnes and Nobles, and finished the book hte next day. I didnt finish it so soon becuase it was so short, i finished it becuase it was great. The writer puts you inside of the killers shoes. It actually made me paranoid, becuase I live in Philadelphia, a big city like LA. It was weird how Ramirez could get into the homes and take lives so easily. The author describes it well. Would reccomend this book to anyone.

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Summary: There are such things as monsters
Review: Richard Ramirez is, in my opinion, the most harrowing serial killer in American history, and maybe of all time. What made his heinous crimes so chilling was the methodical and totally arbitrary way in which he picked his victims. You didn't have to fit a specific profile for Ramirez to want to kill you -- you simply had to be sleeping in your house on the night he happened by. He was -- and still is, I imagine -- the very definition of evil ... a thoroughly ignominious "honor" to which he proudly confesses. This book does a great, albeit excruciatingly sad and frighteningly vivid job of recounting Ramirez's terrifying exploits.

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Summary: The Night Stalker
Review: I had become very interrested in Richard as I grew up in California and lived there durring the time these crimes happened and was all scared all over California so I had to know why. I also felt compelled to know him, to know why, and to understand why. After reading this book, though I felt the author had him already guilty from the beginning of the book. He tells about all the horrible crimes as he says Richard explains them to him, then goe's into the family history, they the capture and court preceedings. I thought in the US one was innocent until proven guilty. It's not what happened here all though there is overwhelming evidence here, the fact remains, that this man's rights were violated.......... The author had to be in it for the money, otherwise he would've started from the life of the Ramirez family or the court proceedings then the life and then the crimes he claims Richard confessed to him. Another great injustice in our so called freedom of the USA.