Rough Trade

by Steve Jackson and Steve Jackson

Book Overview

Former cop-turned-crack-addict and prostitute Joanne Cordova shares her true story of her relationship with psychotic murderer Robert Riggan -- a monster who preyed on women. This is the riveting story of Riggan's crimes, and the woman who pulled herself out of a criminal world -- and her own hell -- to testify against him. of never-before seen photos.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786011920
• ISBN13: 9780786011926
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

True crime writing at its best

He likely was a serial killer, and he might have gotten away with his latest murder. But just as he was dragging the body away in a sleeping bag, a car happened by and someone inside noticed something very odd about that sleeping bag. Amy Johnson, sitting next to her fiance, spied a pair of legs hanging from the sleeping bag. She urged her fiance to turn around, and they managed to spy the first three numbers on the license plate the man's minivan before it sped away. It was only this chance glimpse that ended up with the murderer being convicted. This book delves into the seamiest layer of life, of prostitutes addicted to drugs, of the desperate and lost, of people who have little more than the clothes on their back. It is well written and full of fascinating revelations, but its topic may be too distressing for some.

RIVATING

I'M ONLY 1/2 WAY THROUGH THIS BOOK AND WHAT A STORY. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN. WILL TELL EVERYONE WHAT I THINK ABOUT WHOLE BOOK WHEN I'M DONE.

A cut above

Adjectives are difficult descriptors for me. Comparisons seem to fit better. So, here are mine for Steve Jackson:John Grisham:Scott Turow; Nancy Rosenberg:John Lescroart; Ann Rule:Steve Jackson

A cut above

Here's how I compare Steve Jackson's writing: John Grisham:Scott Turow; Nancy Rosenberg:John Lescroart; and Ann Rule:Steve Jackson.

GRIPPING

One of the investigators in this True Crime story notes that ". . . this case had a variety of characters that the most fertile mind in Hollywood would have a hard time imagining . . ." and author Steve Jackson manages to make me feel that I know them. Some I like, some I detest . . . and I do want to know how Joanne Cordova is doing with her life now. Joanne is a former Denver policewoman who fell into a life of drug addiction and prostitution and was involved in the story from the underside, yet found the courage to come forward and testify against killer Robert Riggan. The book is well written and the author has a real facility for holding on to all the different lines of the story and keeping them straight and moving toward the resolution. I'm sure that many crimes must have as fascinating a story underneath the headlines if only that story could be told. My hat is off to the heros of the story and to Steve Jackson for introducing me to them.