Ryan GreenBesprekingen

Mr. Green is detailed in his descriptions of the crimes of "The Vampire of Dusseldorf". For those who are interested in true crime, it should be added to your list. One warning, it is graphic and may not be for those who do not want to read all the bloody (literally) details. I usually read these type of books and I did need to follow this up with a fluffy cozy mystery book to clear the palate so to speak.

I really like Ryan Green's writing and this one was a challenge. For me, it was different than the others I have read by him, but I did like it. This one took place in war, so I was not sure how to handle it, but after reading it, I thing he handled it fine. The rest of the book was written great and hard to put down, as usual, with characters described so well you could picture them in your head. This book was easy to read, as most of Ryan Green book's are. I high recommend this book.

The Monster Within is not for the feint of heart. This is true crime with graphic descriptions of the criminal’s deeds. In early 20th century Germany, Peter Kurten was the first of what we now term a sexual serial killer, and his career was the basis for modern-day profiling. The violence is made even worse by knowing this is a non-fiction book, not some writer’s fantasy of “how evil can I make my villain”? In the end, it presents the causes for Kurten’s psychopathology, causes which are still all too present in the early life of too many of us.

A well-written and absolutely brutal recounting of life and crimes of Peter Kurten. I knew his story before starting this book, but Ryan Green filled in many details and presented a full picture of Kurten and his crimes. Be warned: this is a distributing book. It isn't overly gory, but it is not for the faint-hearted. I have been reading true crime for decades, and it took me much longer than usual to get through this book because I kept having to put it down for days at a time to process what I had read.

The book is well written; that is always a plus! Truly brutal depiction of a serial killer's acts of evil. The book is obviously researched well, however the author speaks of the motives and thinking of the killer, and I don't know how he could be aware of the killer's thoughts. That being said, it's a quick read and kept my interest.

I love true crime and this book is as real as it gets. Excellent if you like raw gritty true stories that leave you OMG thoughts! Will definitely be checking out the rest of this author’s books.

Peter Kurten has to have been one of the evil men ever born. He grew up seeing his father consistently rape and abuse his mother. He was also abused by his father, as well as his 12 siblings. Growing up the way he did, I guess it makes sense that he didn't really know anything different. Although he tried to change his horrible ways, I guess he didn't really try hard enough.
This was well written and well researched.

This book tells the story of one of the earliest "serial killers" to earn the name, Peter Kurten, a.k.a. The Vampire of Dusseldorf. It is not for the faint-of-heart - Kurten is about as barbaric and emotionless killer as any I can think of, and the author spares little detail about his crimes. They are horrifying, indeed.
However, that is not to say that the book, itself, is horrifying. In fact, it's quite the opposite. It's well-written, easy to read/follow, and a quick read, as well. Although it is mostly a timeline of Kurten's crimes, i.e., who did what, when, where, and how, it also looks at how his early life contributed to making him who and what he was, and what roll he and his crimes played in the early development of psychiatry in the early 20th century.
The only areas I found lacking were a) what of his personal life/wife/children, and b) how much of his behavior can be attributed to having his father's genes v. watching his father's behavior, i.e., nature v. nurture. I can understand how the author might have left out the former out of respect for the privacy of his descendants, and I don't know if the latter can ever be truly known, so these minor deficiencies are hardly worth quibbling about.
If you are at all into true crime or mystery, or are just a fan of examples of abnormal psychiatry, I think you will...if not exactly enjoy this book (it's hard to actually enjoy something so gruesome), you will at least find it interesting! I think the author did an excellent job telling a distasteful tale with a minimum of sensationalism.
I give this book 5 stars out of 5.

Oh buddy… if you want a raw, unfiltered look at true crime, go here. There were some passages that were too tough to read. And that’s good when it comes to true crime. It shouldn’t be fancy or clear or sweet. This book was written about a monster and his crimes were monstrous. A credit to the author. I do wish there was more about the trial, but it was an amazing look at a horrible person.½

The Monster Within: A True Story of Bloodthirst, Brutality and Barbaric Evil was a fascinating read, but also it was very difficult to read certain parts of it because of the sheer brutality of Peter Kurten's crimes. Ryan Green does a complete and thorough job of detailing the crimes, peeling back the warped psyche of Peter Kurten and exposing the reader to the thought process of this monster. This book details his life, the people and events that formed him into the person he became and the way his story ended.
I am an avid reader of true crime stories, this book did not disappoint! Though there were certain parts that were difficult to read, it was crucial in painting a true portrait of who this man truly was. Monsters are not just mythical creatures in horror films and sci-fi fiction, as Ryan Green shows us, some of these monsters are real and they walk among us.

This book profiles twelve notorious and maybe not so notorious killers from the past. The format is in a quite detailed narrative that is not only superbly written but remarkably detailed. In fact when I got into the first profile of a man I had not heard of before I thought is was probably and fictional account as it made it seem like it was from an eye witness. In doing some background research myself on the individual it sure enough related very closely what happened and the perp had left behind a lot of material for reference.

The careers of many here are long and brutal in their depravity of savagery regarding human life. It makes one wonder how do these individuals get so disconnected to human decency? Usually it appears in their early history often with a disjointed family life. Add to this a total lack of basic human empathy and you have the perfect formula for the mayhem that ensues.

True crime aficionados will have a field day with this massive work, each profile is like a book in itself. It will provide you with hours of griping narrative that will leave you on the edge of your seat, and grateful that you never encountered on of these monsters in the proverbial dark alley. Or anywhere else!

Twelve Fr Hell 2: The Ultimate True Crime Case Collection by Ryan Green
12 from Hell is a book with 12 very detailed accounts of some of the most notorious crimes and criminals. Some of the stories were familiar as in The Townhouse Massacre which happened when I was a young girl living in Illinois. Charles Whitman was another one I remember from my youth.
These stories are not easy to read because of the subject matter, but the author gives insight into the lives of the people who commit horrific crimes. They are well-researched with details you don’t usually get with books like these.
If I had to pick a favorite it was Buried Beneath the Boarding House. If you like true crime, this is an excellent book.

I honestly don't understand the hype around this book. First, the author pretends to know the various involved people's thoughts and motivations without ever indicating that he's speculating (which he must be).

Further, the book did not contain a single citation. Since there's a lot more information available here than in most other sources, and the author has proven himself willing to embellish the facts by pretending to know exactly what a murdered person was thinking when they were murdered, where the author got that information is relevant.

I ultimately had to take everything with a grain of salt. And it doesn't help that the author makes his disdain for sex workers regularly known.½

I chose to read this book after receiving a free e-copy from the author through LibraryThing. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

True crime has always fascinated me. I had never heard of Paul John Knowles before, so of course I wanted to see what he was all about. He did have a horrible childhood and survived a lot of abuse before he turned 18, but there are survivors of such abuse who don’t turn out to be serial killers. A look into his mind, although the author couldn’t have known what he was thinking, doesn’t show the real reason that he turned into a murderer except that he had no regard for others.

The system also failed him, or society. He was charming which initially led to him receiving no charges or lighter sentences. Once he was sentenced to hard time, he was determined to escape. Eventually, he knew that he didn’t want to go back to prison no matter what. He wanted to be on the road. All these factors led to a fascinating read about a desperate killer on the run.

This is an interesting story, but the pace was a little slow for me through most of the book.

scary people, good read.

Nice collection of true crime. Some I'd heard of, some new, with a good amount of detail for each. Interesting how the viewpoint changes in the second half of books, keeps things fresh.

Got this as an Early Reviewer win. I like true crime stories. I watch the ID channel for things like this. This book offers some of that same story in written format. I enjoyed learning a few new things about each case, and this was a nice compilation. I really liked the fact that I could read a bit shorter narrative about multiple cases in a single book. This was a good read if you like the true crime genre,

This is an amazing collection of true crime stories. Each one kept me intrigued and wanting to read more and more. Very highly recommend.

Not trying to steal from one of my favorite podcasts, but this book is insane — and in more ways that I can even describe. The dedication to any topic, much less the lives and workings of 12 serial killers (or pairs), and to go so deep, so fully entangled with the lives and history, not to mention some of these cases are touched by decades, sometimes hundreds of years — insane.

And speaking of the depth, it’s 1767 pages long, according to my ebook reader of choice. It’s long. This took me many a night. I love true crime podcast, but this… it’s whole episodes, and it’s 12 times over. Some of them, I’ve heard before — even the casual human is aware of the horrific Robert Speck, Charles Whitman, and some have niche followings, the soap maker, Dumollard. But some, some are just terrible humans??? doing just some horrible stuff. The amount of detail poured into this book is just insane.

And horrific stuff spread evenly, not just over time, but gender, country of origin, social economic standing, maybe, but it’s all there. I’ve listed the murderer names, but obviously there are partner, accomplices, those who let this go on… if you have the time, or make the time for stuff like this, it’s good. Dense and well written, but loooooong. Besides the weight of it, I would say, I wish there was some sort of through line, should they be chronological, or Americans first, then the foreign killers, or something to organize the killers in some way, but it’s all there, one by one or all in.

And of course the selection of these monsters, why pick this one and not that one? Maybe some scoring rubric as to why these were the interesting ones, at least to the author. I can’t say I’ve been beating down my local book shop for a Earle Nelson or a Boone Helm story, but it’s here and I’m thrilled, just wondering why.

In short, it’s great. It’s a very sinister encyclopaedia of horror — you could do six and have a wider appeal for those who can’t spend a month on a book. Or keep writing and do all the psychos out there, with this level of dedication I’d spread that month, I just think my mental health probably could use some unicorns and rainbows and fluffy kitties to forget about it. Well done, I don’t shudder but this is top notch stuff.

Carl Panzran
Dorothea Puente
Robert Speck
Leonarda Cianciulli, soap maker
Charles Whitman
Boone Helm
Richard Chase
Earle Nelson
John Justin Bunting
Marcel Petiot
Clifford Olson
Martin Dumollard½

Drop Dead Dangerous is different than other true-crime books I have read, which have taken the viewpoint of law enforcement. This one takes the point of view of the criminal, Paul John Knowles. In doing so, it first elicits empathy at the abusive early home life of Knowles. However, once the killing starts, one soon sees the result of the abuse and how the murders were justified in Knowles’ brain. The result is an absorbing, fast-paced, exciting trip through a crime spree, with the killer coming close to being the hero.

Ryan Green has taken true crime stories about horrible real life monsters and made them interesting and intriguing. I knew some of the stories but also learned new facts. Definitely going to check out some of his other works.

*I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*

The book "Twelve From Hell 2: The Ultimate True Crime Case Collection" written by Mr. Ryan Grenn, opens with the story of Fritz Haarmann who was born in 1879 in Hanover, Germany, in the aftermath of the 1872 Treaty of Frankfurt.

This is a biographical novel, which includes some fictionalized scenes and dialogues, the author tells us. But this is a true story!

When Germany surrendered in 1918, the country fell into disgrace, stripped of its dignity following its fallacious lies from which it advocated a resounding victory. It is in ruins and destroyed. The German troops can no longer resist the Allied armies and are collapsing!
The German revolutionary wave spread throughout the Empire and on November 9, 1918, William II was forced to abdicate.
Germany's industrial power (a major element of a nation's strength) is intact, since it has never been attacked on its soil, but the social fabric is dense, highlighting the regime and the wanderings of young men returning from the war, in search of landmarks, stability and work, in an extremely troubled time in the aftermath of this great war.
Germany is mortified and ashamed of her false propaganda of victory over her people.

On August 30, 1924, the paper mark (Papermark), was totally devalued due to hyperinflation during the years 1922 and 1923 due to hyperinflation, was then replaced by a new monetary unit called the Reichsmark
It was then that the golden age of Cabaret was born. His distractions sweeten their daily misery: it's scarcity

In 1915, the imperial government had compiled statistics on the fodder of pigs, mainly consisting of potatoes, and had estimated that it would soon be difficult to feed them. At the same time, there was some fear of a shortage of potatoes for human consumption.
Before World War I, 95% meat self-sufficiency was possible in the German Reich. Most of the cattle consisted of pigs, but to feed them they depended on barley imported from Russia. The start of World War I inevitably led to the end of trade with Russia, which was now an adversary of Germany. Without barley imports, there was a shortage of pig feed and the bread supply of the population was also threatened.
In early 1915, the Imperial Statistical Office counted the stock of grain and fodder potatoes. Statistics have shown that there are not enough raw materials for the approximately 25 million German pigs.
The quality of these statistics is questioned in the literature. For fear of being confiscated or to obtain higher prices, farmers often reported that actual forage stocks were lower than they really were. As it was possible to make higher profits with the meat, the hidden potatoes were given to the pigs. The fodder potato survey at the end of 1914 therefore underestimated the actual stock.
Since the stocks of potatoes and grain needed to fatten the pigs could be used directly to supply the population, the slaughter of five million pigs was ordered.
An announcement by the Federal Council required all municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants to stock up on permanent meat products.
More than five million pigs were slaughtered in the first quarter of 1915. The immediate consequences were a flood of the market with durable meat products and a considerable drop in prices. They were forced to preserve them, but since inferior material had to be used for the cans due to a wartime shortage of metal, much of the preserved meat spoiled. However, hog prices rose rapidly in the second half of 1915 due to a severe shortage of cattle for slaughter. At the end of 1915, a maximum price for pork was therefore set, which ultimately only led to the development of a black market in pork and the scarcity of pork on the market.
This is the story of the “Schweinemord”
In addition, due to the slaughter of pigs, there was a lack of animal manure for the fields. This could not be replaced by artificial fertilizers, as the British naval blockade also prevented the import of saltpeter. Thus, grain and potato yields fell by more than half compared to the pre-war period, which ultimately led to a famine disaster.
(quote)

Fritz then uses a genius idea! Get rich on the black market! Even the Police won't suspect him since he blinds them, being a valuable informant who gives him his competitors!
For six years, this serial killer cold-bloodedly murdered more than twenty young men – and young boys – in a particularly gruesome way: he raped them, dismembered them and then cooked them into pies on the black market!
Without a fixed occupation; by turns thrift dealer, junk dealer, butcher, pharmacist's assistant, itinerant merchant, beggar, then private detective in the pay of the Police (who use him as an indicator of the environment in the underworld) he frequents the sordid underworlds of Berlin and from Hanover.
.
Its first victims are young men under the age of 18, who wander out of Hanover station, without any objective.
Fritz comes to "pick" them by choosing them according to his homosexual preferences, and drags them to drink at his house later, in order to rape them by force, then to massacre them, not without having bitten them savagely! Then he makes them disappear using an infallible method: he cuts them with an ax, like cattle, before burying them in a bag that is easier to make disappear.
In 1924, he will be identified after only three months and twenty days of investigation, so much the evidence of bones discovered lying in a bag which goes up from the bottom of a river, will overwhelm him 500 bones belonging to more than 20 victims !

The chapters alternate between these appalling murders that multiply with impunity, a spiral of infernal horrors, ever darker designs and his love for Hans, a pimp greedy for his gifts, who fears him more than he loves him. !

The art of perfectly describing the psychological portrait of the killer is perfect!
Creepyly effective, this novel is all the more gripping as its plot is set in the environment of the aftermath of the First World War, and the theater of events is located in Germany.

I immersed myself in this very gripping biographical novel, in total immersion despite the horror inspired by the protagonist! It's as if the author had wanted his reader to immerse himself in the skin of this serial-killer, homosexual rapist and cannibal, in cold blood!...
This gallery of horrors freezes the blood, revolts and will satisfy thrill seekers! That is to say if the spirit is frightened by its own hauntings!
The great myths of desire are put to death, souls inexorably corrupted, pathological loves, patterns of attachment, repressed.

A remarkable plot, an admirably well-designed suspense, a fascinating analysis, characters at the height of malevolence that are Fritz and his lover Hans... To discover absolutely!

The work of Mr. Ryan Green is very prolific since he has written more than 35 books and he is particularly interested in true crimes, the most horrible ones!

He is not afraid to make the reader uncomfortable from the first pages, plunging him into a world of unimaginable that will leave the most sensitive breathless.

What I liked :
A gripping novel that you won't let go of! Constant tension! The author brilliantly managed to skirt the dark side of the criminal! As if he had inserted himself into it!

The complexity of the characters, especially that of Fritz, a personality with a well-defined identity, which becomes more and more accentuated over the course of the story! Born shy and effeminate, humiliated by his siblings, rejected and cruelly beaten by his father, crushed by everyone except the blind love of his mother, he early cultivates a fragmentation of his personality!

What I did not like :
The quasi-surgical description of the cut-out bodies…

The crudeness of certain details can make you feel uncomfortable because they plunge into hard-to-imagine perversities.

My advice: Read this book!

This is not your standard true crime novel. Being used to the typical fact-heavy format, this was a bit of an adjustment, but it was ultimately a pleasant, light read. The story is more novel, less journalism, focusing on the thoughts, motives and feelings of Knowles rather than the details of his crimes. It was well written, and I enjoyed it.

While this was a fascinating look at a serial/spree killer, I kind of feel dirty after having read it. Up until his is first murder, I felt a sort of empathy for everything young Paul endured.

4 Stars for the research that went into this true crime book. The early history is extensive and the storyarc flows quite well for a non-fiction book. Extra points for the almost novelization POV from the killer's perspective, it's unique if not downright frightening. This helps develop the story, even if the author had to get creative in filling in some of the gaps of the subject's timeline. Serious themes, so for adults only.

LibraryThing Early Reviewer