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Death by Cannibal: Minds with an Appetite for Murder
Peter Davidson, the author of Homicide Miami , the true crime story that inspired the film Pain and Gain , compiles the true stories of some of America's most notorious cannibal murderers.
They violated one of civilized society’s most sacred taboos, and they’re anathema even in the twisted world of serial murder. Most frighteningly, the cannibal killer hides behind a mask of normalcy, as documented in the vivid profiles of American murderers who ate their victims. Drawn from revealing interviews with family members, authorities, and the killers themselves, Death by Cannibal exposes the secrets behind the most fiendish compulsion of them all.
Gary Heidnik, the financial wizard whose Philadelphia home was a dungeon of sexual slavery, torture, and diabolical feasts.
Albert Fentress, a mild-mannered schoolteacher who lured a teenage boy into the inescapable darkness of his secret obsessions.
John Weber, a country boy who found an outlet for his sick fantasies when he ate his teenage sister-in-law for dinner.
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, a gourmand and aspiring chef who allegedly shared the remains of his prey with unsuspecting friends.
Marc Sappington, a high school dropout who aimed to outdo his idol, Jeffrey Dahmer, by embarking on a three-day feeding frenzy.
But where does gruesome desire end and true crime begin? The book includes new details on the unprecedented case of “Cannibal Cop” Gilberto Valle, the former NYPD officer who used online forums to describe his fantasies of kidnapping up to a hundred women and of eating “girl meat.”
Includes photographs.
They violated one of civilized society’s most sacred taboos, and they’re anathema even in the twisted world of serial murder. Most frighteningly, the cannibal killer hides behind a mask of normalcy, as documented in the vivid profiles of American murderers who ate their victims. Drawn from revealing interviews with family members, authorities, and the killers themselves, Death by Cannibal exposes the secrets behind the most fiendish compulsion of them all.
Gary Heidnik, the financial wizard whose Philadelphia home was a dungeon of sexual slavery, torture, and diabolical feasts.
Albert Fentress, a mild-mannered schoolteacher who lured a teenage boy into the inescapable darkness of his secret obsessions.
John Weber, a country boy who found an outlet for his sick fantasies when he ate his teenage sister-in-law for dinner.
Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, a gourmand and aspiring chef who allegedly shared the remains of his prey with unsuspecting friends.
Marc Sappington, a high school dropout who aimed to outdo his idol, Jeffrey Dahmer, by embarking on a three-day feeding frenzy.
But where does gruesome desire end and true crime begin? The book includes new details on the unprecedented case of “Cannibal Cop” Gilberto Valle, the former NYPD officer who used online forums to describe his fantasies of kidnapping up to a hundred women and of eating “girl meat.”
Includes photographs.
361 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 30, 2016
Gary Heidnik and John Weber were interesting cases to learn about.
FOR ALL OF YOU SICK PSYCHOS OUT THERE (like me :P)
READ THIS.
FOR ALL OF YOU SICK PSYCHOS OUT THERE (like me :P)
READ THIS.
March 13, 2017
Shocking, repulsive, sickening and deeply disturbing, gives you a glimpse of the dark side of the human nature
December 15, 2016
One heck of a read.
Not for the fainted; six cases of 'Cannibalism' as they range from sick thoughts of a cop to the actual butchering and cooking of a victim's parts.
The cases are all male cannibals who end up imprisoned, executed, or back into society after rehabilitation and therapy.
The men share some similarities as most of them battled with their inner demons or suffered from intense mental illness.
The author describes the case, how the person got caught, and the trial that followed each case and the reaction of the jury to it all.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys a taste of the macabre.
Not for the fainted; six cases of 'Cannibalism' as they range from sick thoughts of a cop to the actual butchering and cooking of a victim's parts.
The cases are all male cannibals who end up imprisoned, executed, or back into society after rehabilitation and therapy.
The men share some similarities as most of them battled with their inner demons or suffered from intense mental illness.
The author describes the case, how the person got caught, and the trial that followed each case and the reaction of the jury to it all.
Recommended to anyone who enjoys a taste of the macabre.
July 3, 2016
This book was so disgusting but also very educational and interesting, in like a sick sort of way. Like a car crash. You don't want to see it but you can't stop yourself from looking away. I just couldn't put this book down. I walked all around town while reading this book and every little noise I heard, I thought it was someone in the bushes wanting to eat me. I had spaghetti for dinner and had to remind myself over and over that it was spaghetti. This book made me very uncomfortable. I gagged a few times. But I still really enjoyed it.
November 17, 2019
Wow! These men are psychotic.
February 27, 2015
Sometimes the book seemed to stray a bit into historical details about the states/land these people lived in. I didn't expect to get a history lesson about the Native Americans moving east when I picked up this book. If the author stayed on track and talked less about history of the land or boring the reader with details about the long-winded court trials, it would have been a lot more interesting. No doubt about it, the trials are very important, but when it comes to telling the story about these murderers, their victims and the victims' families, it should have been more about the people and less focused about just the trials. Granted, the author did detail about the lives of both the murderers and their victims, but it could have been more fleshed out perhaps. Some parts of the book I found interesting but there were others that I just could have skipped over and it wouldn't have been a loss. If anyone wants to read a book about cannibals, I would probably recommend Cannibal Killers: Monsters with an Appetite for Murder and a Taste for Human Flesh. Even though the book has an excessive amount of spelling and grammatical errors as well as a few factual errors, it is a far better read than this one and has a wider range of subjects throughout the US and Europe.
September 4, 2015
Given the subject matter I knew this book would be gruesome but it was actually even worse than I expected. So if you are queasy and have a vivid imagination I recommend you don't read this.
Otherwise this book is very interesting and well written. Sometimes the author starts rambling a bit. (Headlines of newspapers that cover the case, the history of the towns the murderers lived in, the trials) But otherwise I recommend this book if you are interested in the topic.
Otherwise this book is very interesting and well written. Sometimes the author starts rambling a bit. (Headlines of newspapers that cover the case, the history of the towns the murderers lived in, the trials) But otherwise I recommend this book if you are interested in the topic.
June 5, 2017
It takes a lot to get me queasy but this book managed to do it - let that be a bit of warning to you if you choose to pick this one up. It's very matter of fact, which is probably for the best because the facts of these six cases are enough without any attempts to make things overly dramatic or to analyse the actions of these people further. Six true stories, well more than six horrific crimes, but if you're up for this sort of reading it delivers exactly what you would expect.
October 7, 2019
**Note: this book is not for the faint-of-heart**
An interesting and gruesome compilation of six different cannibalism cases from the 1970s to 1990s. This does not include any of the better known cannibalism cases (such as Dahmer).
The chapters were awkward in that their lengths vary significantly. The first chapter (about Gil Valle) was by far the longest, almost a third of the book, whereas Marc Sappington and Nathaniel Bar-Jonah’s chapters were 15-20 pages.
Unread shelf project 2019: book 8.
An interesting and gruesome compilation of six different cannibalism cases from the 1970s to 1990s. This does not include any of the better known cannibalism cases (such as Dahmer).
The chapters were awkward in that their lengths vary significantly. The first chapter (about Gil Valle) was by far the longest, almost a third of the book, whereas Marc Sappington and Nathaniel Bar-Jonah’s chapters were 15-20 pages.
Unread shelf project 2019: book 8.
July 2, 2021
This is really more a 2.5. The actual subject matter is really interesting (in a horrific sort of way), but the book suffers from some of the common pitfalls of true crime books written by men; it's kinda gross. Women's attractiveness is often at the forefront of the descriptions, and it constantly used the r-slur for the victims of one killer. Outside of that, I wouldn't say this is a terribly written book, but the prose is dull. The interesting aspects come more from the quote and events of these horrible crimes.
I will say, I don't know how into True Crime I am after this book. The murders in these books are so sadistic, cruel, and disturbing that honestly, the cannibalism feels like a bit of an understatement in comparison. A man-eating his step-sister's breast feels like nothing once you read of the torture she had to endure leading up to that point.
One aspect I did really enjoy is the depth it went into the trial parts for these cases. This is a book equally concerned about enacting justice as it is in the sheer shock value of the cases. Overall, I didn't regret reading this book. it was hard to get through, sure, but at the very least it was interesting.
I will say, I don't know how into True Crime I am after this book. The murders in these books are so sadistic, cruel, and disturbing that honestly, the cannibalism feels like a bit of an understatement in comparison. A man-eating his step-sister's breast feels like nothing once you read of the torture she had to endure leading up to that point.
One aspect I did really enjoy is the depth it went into the trial parts for these cases. This is a book equally concerned about enacting justice as it is in the sheer shock value of the cases. Overall, I didn't regret reading this book. it was hard to get through, sure, but at the very least it was interesting.
March 25, 2016
Reading this book was painful, and not because of the subject matter. I assumed this book would follow the lives of the cannibals discussed, but was disappointed to find the focus became the trials. The author would've done better to simply bind the court transcripts together than to narrate the "He said" and "She rebutted" of the court rooms.
The author's voice is a large cause for the pain. The book is riddled with grammatical errors, typos, cliches, repetitive phrases, and sentences so simple that I couldn't keep from rolling my eyes. Try not to count the amount of times sentences begin with "What's more".
Every chapter seemed shorter than the last. The first, covering the Cannibal Cop, was stretched over 93 pages, with much of the information being presented more than once. The final chapter, discussing Marc Sappington, only fills 27 pages, as if the author had run out of steam.
I don't at all recommend this book for pleasure. It was altogether unenjoyable. However, I would recommend it for an English teacher looking for an interesting example of poor writing technique.
The author's voice is a large cause for the pain. The book is riddled with grammatical errors, typos, cliches, repetitive phrases, and sentences so simple that I couldn't keep from rolling my eyes. Try not to count the amount of times sentences begin with "What's more".
Every chapter seemed shorter than the last. The first, covering the Cannibal Cop, was stretched over 93 pages, with much of the information being presented more than once. The final chapter, discussing Marc Sappington, only fills 27 pages, as if the author had run out of steam.
I don't at all recommend this book for pleasure. It was altogether unenjoyable. However, I would recommend it for an English teacher looking for an interesting example of poor writing technique.
November 11, 2019
This book is not for the light hearted nor those with a weak stomach. It shows a graphic look into the cases of several cannibalistic serial killers files. This book not only made me think about how twisted the minds of these killers are but also the sheer simplicity of them as well. Some could pick someone random off the street who is in the wrong place at the wrong time while others plan to capture and stalk their targets. Definitely an interesting read.
July 6, 2016
Suspenseful, and at times, even funny; it's a good beach read. My only complaint is that the writing is very one-sided. I didn't care for the way he dehumanized his subjects as "the cannibal" or "the monster," but at least Davidson isn't pretending to be anything but a sensationalist crime reporter.
January 22, 2009
Eww Gross!
July 20, 2019
A complex and intense true crime procedural not meant for the faint of heart nor those with weak constitutions.
A few of the crimes described within these pages will make even the strongest of stomachs wretch.
Was the proper justice served for these disturbing individuals? Some yes & some not enough.
Did the actual punishment fit the crime?
Cannibal Cop- honestly I had never heard of this criminal, do not remember any mention of it either but surely there was a miscarriage of justice in this one.. Totally disagree on how it was handled/resolved, hugely disappointed.
Albert Fentress- do not remember this one either but was justice served? Partially agree with the results on this one.
John Weber- was a disturbing, demented, pathological evil individual; thankfully no longer roaming the streets.
Gary Heidnik embodied & personified schizophrenia, evil incarnate & thankfully no longer a danger to anyone.
Nathaniel Bar Jonah- never heard of this case; a sadistic, cannibalistic pedophile.. Frightening.
Marc Sappington- described as the "homicide time bomb" & just as insane and depraved as his "mentor"..
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes! Perfect for for those heavily interested in reading up on the psychological aspects of these crimes/criminals & the complete breakdown of the human psyche.
Questions that I was left with: with all the previous research, documentation & hypotheses on all these deviant individuals... Why have we never heard from renowned genealogists or the aspects of what DNA issues could be detected in the future?
The FBI has their behavioral program and the infamous list that all law enforcement relies on for the serial killer checklist, but what about DNA? I would say a huge percentage of true crime novellas that I have read have all been male dominant; is that specific?
A few of the crimes described within these pages will make even the strongest of stomachs wretch.
Was the proper justice served for these disturbing individuals? Some yes & some not enough.
Did the actual punishment fit the crime?
Cannibal Cop- honestly I had never heard of this criminal, do not remember any mention of it either but surely there was a miscarriage of justice in this one.. Totally disagree on how it was handled/resolved, hugely disappointed.
Albert Fentress- do not remember this one either but was justice served? Partially agree with the results on this one.
John Weber- was a disturbing, demented, pathological evil individual; thankfully no longer roaming the streets.
Gary Heidnik embodied & personified schizophrenia, evil incarnate & thankfully no longer a danger to anyone.
Nathaniel Bar Jonah- never heard of this case; a sadistic, cannibalistic pedophile.. Frightening.
Marc Sappington- described as the "homicide time bomb" & just as insane and depraved as his "mentor"..
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes! Perfect for for those heavily interested in reading up on the psychological aspects of these crimes/criminals & the complete breakdown of the human psyche.
Questions that I was left with: with all the previous research, documentation & hypotheses on all these deviant individuals... Why have we never heard from renowned genealogists or the aspects of what DNA issues could be detected in the future?
The FBI has their behavioral program and the infamous list that all law enforcement relies on for the serial killer checklist, but what about DNA? I would say a huge percentage of true crime novellas that I have read have all been male dominant; is that specific?
October 13, 2019
This book was trash. It pissed me off so much. This author is absolutely terrible and doesn't deserve any recognition at all. It was so badly written from beginning to end. He misspelled names of lawyers, criminals and even places. For example, page 272 he listed the Indian name for Webster Lake as Lake Chargiggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (in reality it's Lake Chaubunagungamaug) and it was just a complete insult and degredation of the name. He purposely misspelled it it was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life in a book. I always try my best to finish any book I pick up but this was just too difficult to get through. It was so obvious he never sent this to be proofread, that or he didn't care at all that he was misspelling people's names and degrading Indian names. The fist story was about the cannibal cop and it was repetitive. Same sentences over and over and over. It droned on for 93 pages. He also switches writing styles completely, sometimes 3-4 different writing styles on one page, and it's just extremely unprofessional and counter-productive. He never used the actual court transcripts for any of these cases. It's all "he said" "she said" or "they did this" and it's very hard to read through. Do not read this book. As someone who reads true crime regularly and reads books in general on a regular basis, this is painful to read through. Nobody should have to sit through this awful and terribly written mess. Ever. I did my part. I finished it. But I'm really mad I wasted time and money on this man's work. Do not waste your time or money. Seriously. Absolutely this book is a joke and a huge disappointment. Peter Davidson, please take at least one writing class and learn the basics.
April 28, 2021
This book was an exasperating read. Peter Davidson is terrible at recounting true crime. Was he a tabloid writer? I wish I had highlighted and annotated everything that I was displeased with to save anyone time from reading this book. My review would probably be longer in pages than this book if I had done so. He tends to use repetitive and offensive terminology to describe people. In one instance he described the victims of Gary Heidnik as "retarded" several times, and constantly referred to Marc Sappington as a "Wannabe Gangsta". The only amounts of detail that Peter Davidson likes to write about are the sexual depravities, assaults, and kinks of the offenders. Oh, and he loves detailing the weather. The cold, rainy days during the trials; the ominous blizzards of crimes to come; the sunny afternoons that would soon be drenched in tragedy...ugh. The actual cannibalism that happens in these crimes is mentioned as an after thought, and anything leading up to the why they would go so far is peppered in. This whole book is a weather report, plagiarism of court stenography and newspaper articles, and incredible details of sexual assault. I ended up giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 because I was able to finish it for the simple fact that the offenders and crimes were interesting enough that I could stomach Peter Davidson's deplorable writing.
October 24, 2019
This book was pretty amazing! I usually don’t like books that bounce from killer to killer, but these stories are very interesting and a few of the killers I had never heard of! (Which is rare.)
Extremely graphic, horrific, and violent. Delve into the minds, stories, and crime scenes of some prolific, and some less known, cannibals.
For anyone who wants to be thoroughly freaked and grossed out, this is for you. (Once you get past the Cop Cannibal (who didn’t actually kill anyone) it gets extra good. I promise.)
Extremely graphic, horrific, and violent. Delve into the minds, stories, and crime scenes of some prolific, and some less known, cannibals.
For anyone who wants to be thoroughly freaked and grossed out, this is for you. (Once you get past the Cop Cannibal (who didn’t actually kill anyone) it gets extra good. I promise.)
December 6, 2025
Intriguing and fantastic read
Wow wow wow. The amount of cases I didn’t know that were overshadowed by Dahmer and Bundy. These stories did not reach the same fanatical media but were more than worthy of being so as they are equally horrific. The writing style was easy to understand and I appreciated the thought provoking cases that were chosen in this book.
Wow wow wow. The amount of cases I didn’t know that were overshadowed by Dahmer and Bundy. These stories did not reach the same fanatical media but were more than worthy of being so as they are equally horrific. The writing style was easy to understand and I appreciated the thought provoking cases that were chosen in this book.
March 11, 2020
It felt like the whole book was rushed. The author makes many false assumptions and over generalizations. The book is very repetitive and written at a basic level. You can read the same stories in other books and learn more from them.
March 18, 2020
Well that was crazy. If you like true crime, and aren't sensitive about cannibals, give it a read! Also, there is a lot of other gruesome murder stuff and general terrible stuff in here. These people are monsters.
August 16, 2022
I read this for my 2022 Reading Challenge and the prompt was a book that had Cutlery on the cover or in the title. This book had killers in it I had never heard of which made it pretty interesting. I also liked that it compared them to more well-known serial killers to tell how they were similar.
October 16, 2017
There were some very disturbing cases in the book especially the high school teacher. That was the only one that greatly disturbed me. If you love true crime you’ll enjoy this quick read!
4⭐️'s
4⭐️'s
December 15, 2017
Not a short story fan but these were well written and not disjointed.
June 11, 2019
So messed up but I couldn’t stop reading it.
August 7, 2021
Truly disturbing.
September 12, 2022
Definitely a sick man. I do not agree with with his convictions being over turned, he seems like a very sick and deranged individual.
April 7, 2015
Disturbing.
Real.
I can not give this five stars because it is so grotesque. This book is a compilation of true stories of killers who cannibalized their victims. It was given to me so I read it. It will stick with me for all times because it was that disturbing and it is so unbelievable that there are people in this world who act on these impulses then have no remorse. This book will make you think twice and look at all of your neighbors with a bit of a question, how well do you really know anyone?
I don't know that I would recommend this book to anyone unless you just really want to be freaked out and absolutely disturbed. It is extremely graphic and has detailed courtroom information.
Real.
I can not give this five stars because it is so grotesque. This book is a compilation of true stories of killers who cannibalized their victims. It was given to me so I read it. It will stick with me for all times because it was that disturbing and it is so unbelievable that there are people in this world who act on these impulses then have no remorse. This book will make you think twice and look at all of your neighbors with a bit of a question, how well do you really know anyone?
I don't know that I would recommend this book to anyone unless you just really want to be freaked out and absolutely disturbed. It is extremely graphic and has detailed courtroom information.
October 20, 2016
3.5
to be honest, the writing wasn't great, and the author really seemed to lose his steam as he went - each case literally gets shorter as you go.
but even so, i really enjoyed this book. cannibalism in true crime... my deepest darkest morbid curiosity, i'll admit.
to be honest, the writing wasn't great, and the author really seemed to lose his steam as he went - each case literally gets shorter as you go.
but even so, i really enjoyed this book. cannibalism in true crime... my deepest darkest morbid curiosity, i'll admit.
February 22, 2022
I have enjoyed this book, it covers several 'less famous' cannibal killers that maybe you've not heard of. The details and information is good without going overboard or repetitive. I'm a true crime junkie so this was certainly a must read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews