Darkest Waters (True Crime Box Set): Notorious USA

Notorious USA

by Katherine Ramsland, Gregg Olsen (Introduction)

WELCOME TO THE LATEST BOX SET in the New York Times bestselling series of stories about America’s most notorious criminals. For DARKEST WATERS, Wall Street Journal bestselling author Katherine Ramsland is the perfect guide to the famous and not so famous cases that still haunt the states huddled around the Great Lakes. Say hello to Notorious USA! Dr. Ramsland is one of the best in the business and here she takes readers on a journey through darkness with insight and clarity. With this box set, the acclaimed crime author set her sights on Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. Any state that contains a large city will yield many crime stories. Chicago has certainly had its share. With the impact of gangsters, Prohibition, and a few creative serial killers, this city has it all. But murder happens in smaller towns, too, because greed, depravity, and jealousy exist everywhere. Indiana or the “Hoosier State” has its share of serial killers, from pig farmers to nurses to psychopathic businessmen. Indiana also hosted a historic murder that decimated the Midwestern Ku Klux Klan. With Katherine as your guide, you’ll meet a kid who watched too much TV, a woman who sent “company” to heaven for her deceased husband, and a cop who fought to clear his name and identify the real killer of his wife and kids. And as they say, there’s much, much more. We’ve included maps of each state and a photo archive so you can see what these infamous people look like. Don’t miss Bodies of Evidence, Notorious USA’s first box set and New York Times bestselling collection about the criminals from my neck of the woods (the Pacific Northwest). Like all of our collections, Bodies of Evidence (and Unnatural Causes and Overkill) is available as an eBook on most formats, as paperback and audio.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Ebooks, Crime

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 12, 2014

About the author

I've loved books since I was 3, and the library was a highlight of my childhood. I've been fortunate to be able to find great joy in what others have written and sometimes to give this to readers. I follow my own muse, because it leads me on interesting adventures. I began my writing career with "Prism of the Night: A Biography of Anne Rice." I had a bestseller with "The Vampire Companion." Since then, I've published 69 books and over 2,500 articles, reviews and short stories. I have also been an executive producer for "Murder House Flip" and "BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer." From ghosts to vampires to serial killers, I have taken on a variety of dark subjects, mostly in crime and forensics. I hold graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justice, creative writing and philosophy. Currently, I teach forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University. My books include "I Scream Man," "How to Catch a Killer", "Confession of a Serial Killer", "The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds", "The Mind of a Murderer", "The Human Predator: A Historical Chronicle of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation", "Inside the Minds of Serial Killers", "Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators", and "Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers". My background in forensic studies positioned me to assist former FBI profiler John Douglas on his book, "The Cases that Haunt Us", and to co-write a book with former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, "The Unknown Darkness", as well as "Spree Killers" with Mark Safarik, "The Real Life of a Forensic Scientist" with Henry C. Lee, and "A Voice for the Dead" with James Starrs. I speak internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder, and has appeared on numerous documentaries, as well as such programs as The Today Show, 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, Dr. Oz, Coast to Coast, Montel Williams, Larry King Live and E! True Hollywood. Currently, I'm working on a fiction series, The Nut Cracker Investigations, which features a female forensic psychologist who manages a PI agency. "I Scream Man" is the first one.

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of brief tellings of stories, most I've read before. More for a newcomer to true crime.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you do not like reading those lengthy detail-driven true crime books that come out after grisly murders but prefer to read short 10 page versions, then this book is for you. Let’s be honest, some of those true crime books are deathly dull.

There are some quite horrific cases in this book. Really very nasty. There are some crimes I had never heard of and then there are the biggies like Henry Lee Lucas, Ed Gein, Speck and Gacy. What always fascinates me about some of the older crimes and I mean 1960s and 1970s is the way technology can be used like DNA to snag the killer years later. I just find that incredible. Seems like most of them that are caught this way end up being in prison anyway caught for other crimes.

This is not a book that you should just sit down and read over a couple of days. It is a dip in and out of book. There really is only some much raping, killing and mutilation you can take in one go. Saying that I did glaze over some of stories. You ever had that when you read 5 pages, you have read it but nothing has gone in? That happened quite a few times to me in this book. There are other volumes but I don’t think I’ll bother with those.

[Jacky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have liked this better had they included less stories, but more details in the ones they included. Some of these just felt so rushed and barely researched and would have benefited from more information being included.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

This set is just basically a brief retelling of well known crimes with a few lesser known ones. Little detail is given and easily found in a quick internet search. No hard investigation or research done here. Books are poorly edited and all have some kind of errors. A quick read if you can stay awake. I like Troy Taylor's books so much better.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quit reading because the editing was just terrible and made reading difficult and I didn't want to work that hard.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting even confusing at times.

As an RN who spent several years doing psychiatric nursing / counseling I have always had a somewhat morbid curiosity about how the psychological mind thinks. After many years of researching, reading, studying the behaviors I have come to several conclusions related to the behaviors of this evil animals. They are not crazy but perhaps they are demon possessed. I also believe they are most often a 50/50 production of genetics and environment. These stories reaffirm my conclusions. Although I continue to have difficulty even remotely making my mind consider how they can contemplate the horrible acts that they commit. These are a fine collection of men/women who commit evil atrocities against human beings.

[evette white · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book set

If you are a true crime reader that appreciates a lot of research going into a novel then this is for you.
I was impressed with all the information this set involved & how the author categorized the books.
I also enjoyed how thorough he was with each case, quick & to the point. There were some cases I hadn't heard of before.

[MoDonasChridhe · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always a great read!

Love following this author and have never been disappointed in reading his work. Stories are detailed but condensed enough for a satisfying read in the waiting room or on the way to work and written so well you can't resist pulling it out to keep turning the pages reading the next stories when you are snug in bed!

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book!

This book offers fascinating details of murder cases in Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. There are a few spelling errors in the book. I highly recommend it to other true crime readers.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great books. Basically just retold stories. Really enjoyed them. However, books do have a pretty high number of basic typos throughout.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three books set of fast-paced paramilitary desperation. Each book is better than the one before with building tension from beginning to end.

[Mary Standard · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Crime Stories:

This is a good collection of true crime stories. I enjoyed Katherine's writing style and her choice of cases she included in the books.

[Joann 'bartunek' prashek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read about various murders, but I prefer one story line.

[Laurie Krebs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, though there were a ton of typos and was rather annoying.

[Bettye McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four books of true crime

This boxed set is a true crime fan's idea of hitting the lottery. There are four books covering crimes in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. Included are a few stories you know by heart: Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Dillinger, the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Henry Lee Lucas.

Some of these are cold cases, never solved. Some are familiar because of a book or a movie. All of them are memorable.

If I had proofread this book, I would have corrected 50 errors.

Includes photos.

[Charlene A. Lester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tragedies throughout the country

This book set was interesting as it reviewed numerous stories concerning murders over a long period of time and in different areas of the country.

[Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was obviously well-researched. It teaches without boring. It's objective but not dry.