The Grim Sleeper: Talking with America's Most Notorious Serial Killer, Lonnie Franklin

by Victoria Redstall

During the mid-1980s, a brutal killing spree began in Los Angeles as several women were murdered, having been sexually assaulted and shot in the chest with the same .25 calibre gun. The man responsible was Lonnie David Franklin Jr. However, his identity wouldn't be revealed for more than 20 years, by which time he had become one of America's most prolific serial killers. At the time, Los Angeles was a city struggling under the weight of racial inequalities and a crack epidemic that was sweeping through its most deprived areas. The victims were black women, and often addicts and sex workers. Many in the communities of South Central felt that these factors all caused a lack of interest on the part of the LAPD in investigating the murders, allowing Franklin to carry on his killing spree undetected.

Genres: True Crime

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2018

About the author

British born American true crime writer, model and actress.

Redstall has personally interviewed several serial killers for her books.

Reviews

[Anne Tanner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Considering the title, not much of this book is dedicated to words from the killer himself. There are 300 and odd pages, 210 or so of which recount the trial, in great detail, including what the accused wore each day! And how smartly the prosecutor was dressed! Yet some days of the trial the writer admits she was covering another trial down the street! Despite the apparently close reporting of the trial, there are several questions where the witnesses answers are not recorded.

A bit of interest to me as it gives a little insight into the he American court system and how it differs from ours. Pretty messy and leaving a lot more questions than answers. The author says she has moved on to a different career since writing this book. Probably wise.

In my opinion, this adds very little of intellectual weight to the workings of the mind of a serial killer. Pretty poor.

[teleri]

dnf.

the writing was so bad. it also didn’t help that the author gave off a “i’m better than you” attitude for knowing a serial killer. like congrats?

you can probably find a better book about this killer, that doesn’t jump around the place and read like its a first draft. if not, just read the wikipedia page.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book to review by the publisher so would like to say thank you to them.

I had never heard of this serial killer, I did my masters dissertation on serial killers (SK) so have an interest in them. However, in terms of SK this is one that is very tame. There are no stories of him luring people in and killing them, keeping their body or even eating them. No all he seemed to do was rape them and kill them hiding them under a blanket or whatever was near by.

The writer is a journalist and it is done in a very journalistic style, for me it was very hard to get on board with, it was a bit bland and boring. There was only a few bits in which the words from Franklin himself spoke, the rest seemed to be her opinion, and the trail.

Franklin as far as the book states did not have any traits of the MacDonald Triad, which is present in serial killers – however his childhood wasn’t looked into very much so this cannot be too accurate.

In terms of his killing, there wasn’t much to write about, he fabricated a lot of his story making it seem how he wanted it to seem. You later on find out that the stories you have read are fabricated, you do not find out at the time.

Most of this book could be skimmed over, there was no details really to draw you in and hook you to make you want to read every page in its entirety.

I feel like the only reason the author got this story was before she is friends with someone in the police department, if that hadn’t been the case I am pretty sure he wouldn’t be getting all the press. I understand that he is a serial killer but this one could have just been left alone. Yes they do come in all shapes and sizes and all have different MO’s but this one for me was rather dull.

I cannot help but think that he is classed as Americas most notorious serial killer, most are in order to draw attention, yet I had never heard of him.

[Alexandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish!!! Badly written!!! Such a shame! Think I’ll watch the documentary on him to make head and tail of this case!!!

[jennybennyhillbilly Martinez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a boring book. Wanted to toss it at least halfway through but I’m no quitter . Too bad for me because it really sucked.

[Jessica Venters · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - the writing was terrible. I tried to get past it but couldn’t. She kept switching from calling him Lonnie to Franklin, sometimes within the same sentence. The grammar also didn’t help.

[Fiona McIntosh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing,waste of money, dont buy this book.

Poorly researched, no structure, no analysis.. First half of the book consists of her diary entries from meeting Franklin and the other 3/4 virtually a transcript of the trial. Name dropping all the way through about how well connected she is to law enforcement etc.