Monster

by Steve Jackson

Book Overview

"One of the best books short of the famous Ann Rule works." --True Crime Book Reviews

On a snowy winter evening in 1982, twenty-one-year-old Mary Brown accepted a ride from a handsome stranger in the resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. The trip ended with her brutally beaten and raped. Mary survived, but her predator's violence had only just begun.

After ten years in prison, Tom Luther was released a far more vicious criminal...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786032537
• ISBN13: 9780786032532
• Release Date: July 2013
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 3.9" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

One of the best true crime books

I really liked this one. It was very hard to put down.Why is this book so good?Because you do not learn about one vision but Jackson gives you the versions of how the people who lived near "The Monster" experienced him.For example you will see Luther through the eyes of the woman who loved him,through the eyes of the detective who tries to nail him for years,and bites his teeth in the case. You will be in the skin of his victims their families,but also you will feel their pain,how scared they are,how he managed to create a web surrounding him with people who got mixed up by this men.The style of the writer appeals a lot to me,eye for detailAs i said before, when i was reading i felt like i was there.If you start reading this book,make sure you have a lot of time,cause you can't put it down!Hope you understand my English

Excellent in-depth profile of a serial killer

This is one of the best true crime books I've ever read, and I've read hundreds. It is very well-written and gives detailed insight into what went on in Tom Luther's mind. The reader gets to know the 'two Toms' -- the Good Tom and the Bad Tom, and we see him as a human being, not just his criminal side that the media reports. Additionally, the reader gets to know Deb Snider, the woman who loves Good Tom enough to put up with Bad Tom year after year; it's very easy to say she was stupid to tolerate his treatment of her, but the author does a great job of helping you understand why she did so. Highly recommended reading for true crime fans!

Compelling

I read true crime occasionally out of a need to know what makes these people tick, though I'm not sure that anyone will ever have the answer to that question. This book details the ghastly crimes of suspected serial killer Thomas Luther. Although convicted of only one murder, Luther left a bloody trail of rapes and assaults, as well as compelling circumstantial evidence linking him to numerous unsolved murders. The one victim he was convicted of killing, Cher Elder, is brought to life in these pages by the author. One shudders to think of her last moments in the hands of evil incarnate. The woman who loved and stood by Luther, a "psychiatric nurse" named Debrah Snider, is a complete cypher. Even after she was confronted with the chilling and unmistakable evidence of what he was and what he did, she remained true to her man. This book, which I made the mistake of reading while home alone at night, spares few details of the hideous carnage committed by Luther. Although I would have liked to see a chapter on Luther's childhood and the abuse he alleges he suffered, this book nonetheless gives the reader a fairly comprehensive insight into the psyche of a monster.

Gripping coverage of a horrible crime.

I'm a voracious reader of true crime and find that too many of them are poorly written. This book is unusually well written and well organized. I came across the book by following a cable show on NecroSearch, the volunteer forensics organization that participated in helping Richardson put Luther away.