(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

For more than two years, a rapist prowled the night streets of the homey, All-American city of Spokane, Washington, terrorizing women, sparking a run on gun stores, and finally causing one newspaper to offer a reward—the calls taken by the distinguished managing editor himself, Gordon Coe. In March 1981, luck and inspired police work at last produced an arrest, and Spokane shuddered. The suspect was clean cut and conservative…and Gordon Coe’s son.
For eighteen months, Jack Olsen researched the cases of Fred and Ruth Coe to try to learn not only what happened within that family, but how and why. He interviewed more than 150 people and built up a portrait not only of that extraordinary family, but of the mind of a psychopath. And searching the memories of the women in Fred Coe’s life, he unearthed a most horrifying question: What is it like to love and live with a man for years—and then discover he is a psychopathic criminal?

*3.5 stars*

Odd and bizarre - both the book and the characters within it.

I have long been a fan of true crime and I do think, if I scratch a certain part of the back of my head, I somehow remember reading this when it came out in the mid-1980's. Or sometime very soon after.

What I didn't remember was pretty much all of it! I didn't remember the weirdness of Kevin Coe, Spokane's South Hill Rapist. I didn't remember his version of "reality" - and how unaware he was of everything else in his world. I didn't remember all the cool psychological snippets are the start of each chapter, giving the reader a little idea of what was ahead. Nor did I remember reading about the perspectives of family and friends, the police and media at the time, or that the book is written in a chronological format, allowing all the story to pan out as if in real time. All of that was great and interesting and exciting...

The downside for me was that it was all just a little bit boring. 550 pages really is far too long for a true crime book - unless it is something of interest to a lot of people (thinking Jon Benet Ramsey, for example.) There were times during the middle half of this book that the story just drageed with one annoying detail after another. Sure, you could argue they were important but, as far as the narrative went, I think it just slowed it down and made the story a bit sluggish.

Overall, a really good story about an incredibly horrifying man and his actions. Worth a look but I think it could have been a little shorter.


Paul
ARH