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An Evil Love
There has never been a more relentless murderer in British penal history than the Gloucester builder Frederick West, who escaped justice by hanging himself in Winson Green Prison on 1 January 1995. Charged at the time of his death with the murder of twelve young women - including his first wife and two of his own daughters - he was probably responsible for the deaths of many more in the course of his fifty-three years.
Despite the massive coverage given to the trial and conviction of Rosemary West, Frederick West himself remains an enigma, his life shrouded in mystery. West, a nondescript little gnome of a man with a ready smile, demonstrated none of the characteristics usually associated with a serial killer.
Geoffrey Wansell has had unparalleled access to West's own explanations of his actions, including more than 150 hours of tape recordings West made. With the collaboration of the Official Solicitor, Wansell has also been given access to the views of the people who knew West throughout his life, including the social workers and psychiatrists who came into contact with him.
The book also draws on West's own 100 page 'autobiography' - I Was Loved By An Angel - written during the last weeks of his life, as well as many previously unpublished letters and photographs.
Geoffrey Wansell's definitive biography of Frederick West gives a unique insight into the mind of a serial killer, bringing not only an understanding of the motives behind his hideous crimes, but also an appreciation of the lessons society can learn from his behaviour. The life of Frederick West is, inevitably, an examination of the nature of evil itself.
Despite the massive coverage given to the trial and conviction of Rosemary West, Frederick West himself remains an enigma, his life shrouded in mystery. West, a nondescript little gnome of a man with a ready smile, demonstrated none of the characteristics usually associated with a serial killer.
Geoffrey Wansell has had unparalleled access to West's own explanations of his actions, including more than 150 hours of tape recordings West made. With the collaboration of the Official Solicitor, Wansell has also been given access to the views of the people who knew West throughout his life, including the social workers and psychiatrists who came into contact with him.
The book also draws on West's own 100 page 'autobiography' - I Was Loved By An Angel - written during the last weeks of his life, as well as many previously unpublished letters and photographs.
Geoffrey Wansell's definitive biography of Frederick West gives a unique insight into the mind of a serial killer, bringing not only an understanding of the motives behind his hideous crimes, but also an appreciation of the lessons society can learn from his behaviour. The life of Frederick West is, inevitably, an examination of the nature of evil itself.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
42 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
About the author
Geoffrey Wansell
21 books42 followersGeoffrey Wansell is a London based author and free-lance journalist, who now works principally for the Daily Mail.
He’s published twelve books, including biographies of the movie star Cary Grant, the business tycoon Sir James Goldsmith, and the playwright Sir Terence Rattigan, a book which was short-listed for the Whitbread Prize as book of the year.
Geoffrey Wansell is an experienced true crime author whose past books include The Bus Stop Killer, about the shocking murder of Milly Dowler, and An Evil Love, telling the story of Frederick West through exclusive access to tape recordings.
A member for more than 25 years, he is also the official historian of the Garrick Club in London, one of only four appointed during the Club’s 185 years of existence.
He’s published twelve books, including biographies of the movie star Cary Grant, the business tycoon Sir James Goldsmith, and the playwright Sir Terence Rattigan, a book which was short-listed for the Whitbread Prize as book of the year.
Geoffrey Wansell is an experienced true crime author whose past books include The Bus Stop Killer, about the shocking murder of Milly Dowler, and An Evil Love, telling the story of Frederick West through exclusive access to tape recordings.
A member for more than 25 years, he is also the official historian of the Garrick Club in London, one of only four appointed during the Club’s 185 years of existence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
April 10, 2021
This book left me speechless. I struggle to write a review because I am just... speechless. The most horrifying, disgusting, can’t-put-it-down, car crash you can’t look away from, book I’ve ever read in my life. When you think it couldn’t get worse, it does and then it does again. I couldn’t put it down but it was hard to get through. The fact that it is non-fiction I don’t know if that makes it worse or not. That someone could actually do the things he did.
If you want true crime and some gripping disgusting accounts of terror. Be my guest, read this book.
If you want true crime and some gripping disgusting accounts of terror. Be my guest, read this book.
April 13, 2009
In my opinion, this is the best account of the life and crimes of Fredrick West and the cruelty that went on in 25 Cromwell Street. Geoffrey Wansell paints a detailed and vivid picture of the life of Fred West, from his family and upbringing to the rape, torture and murder he devoted his life to. The book offers psychological analysis throughout the book, with constant reference and quotations from the various members of the West family.
I have read many books on the crimes of the West's and I personally feel that this is the best account. The content of the book is the most disturbing and graphic I have encountered, so therefore I would not recommend this book to the fainthearted amongst us. This book will shock, sicken, disturb and even anger you, but it is an important book, allowing the reader to try and understand the cruelty man is capable of.
I have read many books on the crimes of the West's and I personally feel that this is the best account. The content of the book is the most disturbing and graphic I have encountered, so therefore I would not recommend this book to the fainthearted amongst us. This book will shock, sicken, disturb and even anger you, but it is an important book, allowing the reader to try and understand the cruelty man is capable of.
October 21, 2013
Having read so many accounts of murders over the years, more recently BTK by Roy Wenzl, and had studied them meticulously, I thought I had become desensitized to it; to the graphic nature of it all. that is until I read this book. I got overcome with raw emotion a number times throughout. But I still struggled to put the book down. It was a fascinating and compelling read. In a nutshell - Fred West makes Dennis Rader look like a tame pussy cat by comparison. He is, quite simply, the epitome of evil. And, even though he is long dead, he is still very much alive in these pages.
March 6, 2025
Not an easy book to review it was really interesting with lots of gruesome details which would fit into any extreme horror book. This book has made me realize that true evil does exist
February 6, 2012
It feels wrong to say i enjoyed this book given the subject matter but once i started it i couldn't stop .... i like the way Geoffrey Wansell writes and although it pulls no punches and is extremely graphic and gruesome in places it's a must read ... if only to serve as proof of the depravity of this 'man' and 'woman' .... terms i use very lightly ..
December 20, 2008
Workmanlike book chronicling one of the most disturbing serial killers ever. Gave me nightmares for months at age 30. Only for the strongest minds. Pure poison.
May 22, 2011
It was seriously too disturbing for me to get through and I like true crime books. It just gets too graphic.
November 29, 2018
A very interesting read, learnt a few more things about this case.
February 6, 2025
I really enjoyed the audio version. Very graphic and detailed on the horrible crimes of the Wests.
July 28, 2020
A very detailed account of the atrocities committed by Fred and Rose West. The reason for why I’ve given three stars is that the book felt a bit repetitive at times. I also didn’t appreciate how much the author speculated without giving reasons for why he thought what he did. For some of the chapters I simply could not put it down, but in others I nearly gave up on the book altogether.
The author doesn’t seem to differentiate between half-sister and step-sister and this annoyed me more than it probably should.
This book is recommended for dedicated true crime readers who wants to know everything there is to know about Fred West.
November 4, 2020
An evil love indeed...
An Evil Love is a fascinating and harrowing journey through the lives of Frederick and Rosemary West. The book provides a well-written account of the terrible murders of 12 young women and children, and an insight into the minds of two of the most depraved individuals to have ever existed.
This book is simply a must read for anybody interested in true crime.
The kindle version is unfortunately riddled with errors, however for me this did not detract from the content.
An Evil Love is a fascinating and harrowing journey through the lives of Frederick and Rosemary West. The book provides a well-written account of the terrible murders of 12 young women and children, and an insight into the minds of two of the most depraved individuals to have ever existed.
This book is simply a must read for anybody interested in true crime.
The kindle version is unfortunately riddled with errors, however for me this did not detract from the content.
July 28, 2020
A truly harrowing account of Fred and Rose West's abhorrent lifestyle and crimes. The kindle edition contains an awful lot of typos but it doesn't detract from the book's worth. Recommended for real crime readers but certainly not for people of a sensitive disposition as it contains graphic, horrifying and distressing details of the murders and child abuse.
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March 27, 2014Not for the faint of heart or for those with sensitive stomachs... A gut-wrenching look into the life of Fred West, notorious serial killer, and his family members - from the parents who raised him to his partner in crime, Rosemary - and his victims along the way.
February 19, 2011
Reading this book shows just how unstable Fred west was, I don't think even he knew what was real or not.
January 28, 2013
Fantastic!!!!
January 21, 2015
This book is a total mind bender and Fred West is one sick puppy. DNF. Too much for my sensitive tummy.
November 1, 2022
Uneven. It starts good but after a few chapters the cracks start to show. Author begins to explain, in great detail, what was going on behind closed doors early in Fred Wests' life. Things that are mentioned only as rumour in other books are given as fact and detailed extensively. So much about this case is unknown and lost in rumour but this book rattles on for pages at a time, without stating where the information is coming from, giving highly detailed account of interactions and chains of events that are pure assumption. There is also a lot of conjecture on both Wests' feelings and state of mind over the course of their lives which is presented as fact. His comparison of Fred West to Frankensteins' monster in his quest for a similar mate is where the book started to loose credibility for me. (This is when i checked and realised i'd read this authors' disappointing book on Levi Bellfield so should never have bothered with this one!)
*spoilers* Some of his speculation on Fred Wests' 1st wifes' possible involvement/knowledge of certain things seems a reach to say the least and i've never seen it in any other book or article i've read on the case. As is the same for random speculation that Rose could have initially been a woman Fred raped and that lead to their involvement - no proof, no evidense, just the author drawing lines and parallels on a whim. Multiple other instances of speculation of multiple other peoples involvement in places are littered throughout too. The case is already as sensational as it gets with what is known and established without this bollocks.
There are many quotes and disections of Fred Wests' own accounts and those made the book worth persevering through but these are some of the only times the author is objective and a lot of the rest of the book is highly speculative and sensational. He can be very good, citing witnesses and explaining all of Fred Wests' varying lies on a given incident in places, but it's patchy, and other times there's very little of this and he seems to just trust a particular account of Wests' despite his unreliability. I reckon every rumour and accusation by anybody that ever knew the Wests after their apprehension, some no doubt looking to get their names in the paper, has made it in this book without discrimination. Crap book.
*spoilers* Some of his speculation on Fred Wests' 1st wifes' possible involvement/knowledge of certain things seems a reach to say the least and i've never seen it in any other book or article i've read on the case. As is the same for random speculation that Rose could have initially been a woman Fred raped and that lead to their involvement - no proof, no evidense, just the author drawing lines and parallels on a whim. Multiple other instances of speculation of multiple other peoples involvement in places are littered throughout too. The case is already as sensational as it gets with what is known and established without this bollocks.
There are many quotes and disections of Fred Wests' own accounts and those made the book worth persevering through but these are some of the only times the author is objective and a lot of the rest of the book is highly speculative and sensational. He can be very good, citing witnesses and explaining all of Fred Wests' varying lies on a given incident in places, but it's patchy, and other times there's very little of this and he seems to just trust a particular account of Wests' despite his unreliability. I reckon every rumour and accusation by anybody that ever knew the Wests after their apprehension, some no doubt looking to get their names in the paper, has made it in this book without discrimination. Crap book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2023
Borrowed via Borrowbox.
A biography of one of the worst humans who ever lived. We all kind of know, right?
Geoffrey Wansall 'updated' this book recently, but unfortunately didn't update his attitude much, so there is some terminology used that's a bit old-fashioned. Perhaps when talking about the rape, abuse, torture, and murder of numerous children, girls and women, the odd bit of victim blaming, or referring to "half-caste" kids might seem a bit trivial by comparison, but at the very least it demonstrates the lack of care taken with this update.
Starting with West's childhood, the book follows his life in a chronological timeline more or less, and after a point that becomes a timeline of known murders.
There are three main sources quoted: the recorded tapes of Fred West's interviews; his prison-written autobiography; and Ann-Marie West's autobiography. The inclusion of West's changing, exaggerated, spurious accounts is interesting, but at times it feels like West's influence is creeping into the narrative. Too much speculation on Wansall's part of the feelings and motives of the victims, and how some evidence ended up the way it did...
By necessity the ways in which the victims most likely met their end is included, and it's pretty graphic and horrible, as well as potted biographies of their lives. And yes, this is a book about West, but it seems like the victims have a lot presumed about them, particularly how they may have been infatuated by (ugh) their killer(s). Wansall wonders if West picked victims for their centre-parted dark brown hair and glasses, relying perhaps on the low quality reproductions of the victims' (most of whom were killed in the 70s) images and comparing them with Rose's 90s mugshot. (This is MY speculation, having seen lots of photos of Rose, and knowing she looked quite different when young.) I'm particularly annoyed that he even entertains the possibility that student Lucy Partington, who had made a rare trip to see a friend before disappearing from a bus stop, could have somehow met the Wests beforehand and planned to go back to theirs for a secret trist.
It's also quite overwritten, with the same information repeatedly paraphrased two or three times in a paragraph.
A biography of one of the worst humans who ever lived. We all kind of know, right?
Geoffrey Wansall 'updated' this book recently, but unfortunately didn't update his attitude much, so there is some terminology used that's a bit old-fashioned. Perhaps when talking about the rape, abuse, torture, and murder of numerous children, girls and women, the odd bit of victim blaming, or referring to "half-caste" kids might seem a bit trivial by comparison, but at the very least it demonstrates the lack of care taken with this update.
Starting with West's childhood, the book follows his life in a chronological timeline more or less, and after a point that becomes a timeline of known murders.
There are three main sources quoted: the recorded tapes of Fred West's interviews; his prison-written autobiography; and Ann-Marie West's autobiography. The inclusion of West's changing, exaggerated, spurious accounts is interesting, but at times it feels like West's influence is creeping into the narrative. Too much speculation on Wansall's part of the feelings and motives of the victims, and how some evidence ended up the way it did...
By necessity the ways in which the victims most likely met their end is included, and it's pretty graphic and horrible, as well as potted biographies of their lives. And yes, this is a book about West, but it seems like the victims have a lot presumed about them, particularly how they may have been infatuated by (ugh) their killer(s). Wansall wonders if West picked victims for their centre-parted dark brown hair and glasses, relying perhaps on the low quality reproductions of the victims' (most of whom were killed in the 70s) images and comparing them with Rose's 90s mugshot. (This is MY speculation, having seen lots of photos of Rose, and knowing she looked quite different when young.) I'm particularly annoyed that he even entertains the possibility that student Lucy Partington, who had made a rare trip to see a friend before disappearing from a bus stop, could have somehow met the Wests beforehand and planned to go back to theirs for a secret trist.
It's also quite overwritten, with the same information repeatedly paraphrased two or three times in a paragraph.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2021
A very interesting read.
Read this on kindle, as such there was a lot of grammatical mistakes, which were very annoying. Also Caroline Owen is given a new name - Carol Raine !!!!!
I read this with a book group, they had paperback copies without any errors and pictures of crime scene. No such thing in the kindle version. Because of this, it somewhat spoilt the reading.
My advice would be is to but the book.
Read this on kindle, as such there was a lot of grammatical mistakes, which were very annoying. Also Caroline Owen is given a new name - Carol Raine !!!!!
I read this with a book group, they had paperback copies without any errors and pictures of crime scene. No such thing in the kindle version. Because of this, it somewhat spoilt the reading.
My advice would be is to but the book.
May 28, 2023
Not a read for the squeamish. Fred and Rose West are undoubtedly the most depraved murderers in British criminal history, eclipsing even the horrific crimes of Brady and Hindley.
Geoffrey Wansell narrates the story in a gripping fashion, although he does tend to use a little too much conjecture in relation to certain events that no one really knows the truth about. An absorbing book nevertheless.
Geoffrey Wansell narrates the story in a gripping fashion, although he does tend to use a little too much conjecture in relation to certain events that no one really knows the truth about. An absorbing book nevertheless.
October 18, 2020
Brilliant
A scary look into the life of the West's. it is unbelievable no one questioned what happened to his daughters .He should have been caught so much earlier. The only downside of this book someone should have used spell check as the word the had been replaced with the word die all the way through. Otherwise brilliant read.
A scary look into the life of the West's. it is unbelievable no one questioned what happened to his daughters .He should have been caught so much earlier. The only downside of this book someone should have used spell check as the word the had been replaced with the word die all the way through. Otherwise brilliant read.
December 3, 2025
Spent too many pages talking about his dad and mom and that's not what i came for.
Also the author try so hard to be poetic for a nonfiction and it came off very schlocky. For example, at the prologue, the author will describe roughly the crimes and at the final line would be something like, "it was, an evil love"
Also the author try so hard to be poetic for a nonfiction and it came off very schlocky. For example, at the prologue, the author will describe roughly the crimes and at the final line would be something like, "it was, an evil love"
December 1, 2019
Rather pearl-clutchy and...so very elderly English gentleman. Made me wince every time Wansell called rape "making love" and an eye roll every time the author used "evil love" to describe the Wests' relationship (eeeeeeeeevilllllll loooooooveeee~).
March 15, 2021
Good
Really interesting to read this book from a different perspective and what actually happened during interviews
A whole lot of typos and slightly repeatative, also quotes at the beginning of every new chapter which seemed odd to me
Would recommend
Really interesting to read this book from a different perspective and what actually happened during interviews
A whole lot of typos and slightly repeatative, also quotes at the beginning of every new chapter which seemed odd to me
Would recommend
June 10, 2021
This was hard to read in parts, and so it took me much longer to finish than usual. There was a lot of information I didn't know before reading this, and some information I wish I didn't know after reading it.
October 18, 2022
I listened to all 17 hours of this audiobook. It isn’t for the faint hearted. Fred and Rose West were true evil. This book gives a very specific, detailed overview of their lives. Be warned that it is very disturbing at times. However, fans of true crime will appreciate this book.
April 5, 2023
Very thorough account of Fred Wests life and crimes. Some of it made me feel uneasy but still wanting to know more. Then one or two chapters struggled to keep me interested but overall it was an interesting read.
December 11, 2017
Severely disturbing read, but manages to capture the extent of the depravity of Fred West. Meanders at times but is generally an interesting read. Keeps one morbidly hooked.
December 5, 2020
Sensationalist, hyperbolic bullshit pseudo-journalism.
December 13, 2020
Very interesting and incredibly sad tale of 2 adults totally disregard for human life. Great book but so many spelling mistakes!!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews