An Evil Love. The Life of Frederick West: The Updated Story

by Geoffrey Wansell

Book Overview

Drawing on more than 100 hours of taped confessions and on his own handwritten autobiography whilst in jail, an account of the life of Frederick West, Britain's most notorious mass murderer, which... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0747254818
• ISBN13: 9780747254812
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Headline
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

What?

What in the WORLD is with the unbelieveably high price of this book? Is it that good?

One Hell of a Fiendish Tale

"An Evil Love" is truly one of the most amazing books I have ever read. Fred West was one of the most fiendish characters to ever walk this earth. His wife Rosemary was running a close second. Between them, they got up to some trully sick stuff, colourfully explained in this unbelievable read. Highly recommended if you're a bit of a sicko and like this kind of stuff. Come on, order it! You fit the description.

Absolutely fascinating

This has got to be one of the best books I've ever read. It's very explicit, so anyone with a weak stomach - forget it. To all others I can only say it is a must read. If you want to know how serial killers work. It's very detailed. I've read this book several times and I really feel like I'm there as it happens.It really scares me to think that I was in England on vacation at the same time as he was murdering young women. A few years ago I saw Fred & Rose's house on tv, they filmed as they walked down the steps in their house and it was creepy to think what actually happened there. If you want a great read and something that will keep you up at night, this is it! I don't really care that the author (as another reviewer described it) seems to draw his own conclusions to what happened with the victims. I think that if you read the explanations of what the remains look like and what the police knows, it is most certainly that they were killed as the author describes it. I cannot recommend this book enough. This is my #1 true crime book along with Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me.

Incredible journey into family darkness

"An Evil Love" is a gripping account of 2 horrible serial killers. As familiar with the case as I was, it was still unnerving to read the full detail of Fred & Rose's crimes. And yet, at times there was a feeling of empathy for both of them. In an obviously morbid way, Fred and Rosemary West's life is a tragic love story - the kind of commitment most of us look for in a mate, without the horrendous crimes involved. To read how two people could have such little regard for human life, even going well past what most of us would find utterly shocking, and yet raise a family of 8 children to be well adjusted adults who love and miss their parents, is a very difficult mental image to process. This is an excellent book for someone interested in the nature of mass murderers, for truly Fred & Rose will forever sit beside the likes of Gacy, Bundy, & Dahmer. I highly recommend it.

Frederick West's Evil Life and Love.

In the postmodern simulacrum swirl of the late 20th century the hypereal spectacle of evil, perversion and bloodlust as personified by serial killers seems to have a dominant hold on the popular imagination. Frederick West's crimes certainly hogged the headlines after they came to light. The chilling world of "Westland"; the alternative universe that "Flirty Fred" conceived, created and lived was a jolt to even the jaded sensibilities of post Moors Murders, post Bundy, post Nilsen public opinion. The elements of incest and the role of Rosemary West, Frederick's wife, in the killings were shocking additions to the serial killer profile. West was also no weird loner. Rather he was to the casual eye a family man, a sociable character, a hardworking ordinary guy. Like Bundy, Frederick West was disingenuous with his interrogators and to a large extent took most of his secrets to the grave. West was different from Bundy though in his motivation for hiding the truth. Geoffrey Wansell's excellent opus argues that it was West's desire to protect his beloved Rosemary which led him to mislead, disimulate and lie after his exposure as a killer. This twisted, evil love provides Wansell not just with a title, but also with a leitmotif for his book. West's evil love for his father, mother, sibling John, for his children, his victims, his wife; it pervades the whole tale and allows us to discern a terrible yet consistent logic through the appalling career of West, Britain's most notorious serial sex murderer. Mr Wansell's book is a compelling read. It manages to maintain a level of seriousness and dignity which helps enhance its credibility with subject matter that could have descended into the realms of sensationalism all too easily. West's squirming under interrogation and subsequent suicide and Rosemary's studied silence under incarceration have left us with few details of events surrounding West's killings. Wansell has managed, through extensive research and investigation and exhaustive use of forensic evidence, to offer plausible reconstructions of West's known crimes (many victims may have gone undetected). This work is highly recommended to all serious students of serial murder and crime and to anyone striving to understand the dark side of human nature present in all of us, but so intense and total in someone like Fred West. Wansell has his own rationale too. West's traumatic childhood may have provided the "nurture" factors which moulded the monster of 25 Cromwell Street. The impact of West on his own childeren is of concern. Can we, asks Wansell "....by examining his [West's] case with intelligence and with charity, and then by acting with charity too, begin to help all abused children, including his [West's] own, to free themselves from the burden of their childhood?" Wansell himself admits that his book is "a terrible journey through the darkness of one man's mind". This journey is mitigated to some degree and made worthwhile by the book's inte