The Beast: A Chilling True Story of a Psychopathic Child Killer

by Ryan Green

In July 1981, just days after his release from jail, Clifford Olson Junior unleashed hell on British Columbia. He kidnapped, raped and killed six children and teenagers in a single month. While the previous missing children had been treated like runaways, there was now no question that somebody was abducting children in the Lower Mainland area, and the media went berserk.

The police immediately came under scrutiny for failing to connect the previous disappearances. The missing person cases were passed to homicide detectives, and a whole new investigation began. The police were now hunting a serial killer and Clifford Olson Junior was one of the main suspects.

From the age of seventeen, Clifford Olson Junior spent only 1,501 days outside of prison or jail. If his claims are to be believed, he averaged about one murder every ten days. During his imprisonment, he was assessed on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a tool designed to evaluate psychopathy. The standard threshold is 25-30. He scored a 38 out of 40, the highest rating ever recorded.

The Beast is a chilling account of Clifford Olson Junior and one of the most disturbing true crime stories in Canada’s history. Ryan Green’s riveting narrative draws the reader into the real-live horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller.

CAUTION: This book contains descriptive accounts of torture, abuse and violence. If you are especially sensitive to this material, it might be advisable not to read any further.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Serial Killer, Audiobook, Crime, Horror, Biography Memoir

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 5, 2021

About the author

Ryan Green is a true crime author in his late thirties. He lives in Herefordshire, England with his wife, three children, and two dogs. Outside of writing and spending time with his family, Ryan enjoys walking, reading and windsurfing.

Ryan is fascinated with History, Psychology and True Crime. In 2015, he finally started researching and writing his own work and at the end of the year, he released his first book on Britain's most notorious serial killer, Harold Shipman.

He has since written several books on lesser-known subjects, and taken the unique approach of writing from the killer's perspective. He narrates some of the most chilling scenes you'll encounter in the True Crime genre.

"Ryan Green is an incredible storyteller...he doesn’t just tell the story, he allows you to be part of it." ~Blackbird

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

to prawdopodobnie ostatnia ksiazka tego autora, po ktora siegnelam

[Kathleen Riggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains details of the life and crimes of child killer and paedophile, Clifford Olson. It is a cautionary tale of stranger danger. Olson raped and killed children and teenagers without pity, with no remorse or conscience. Then afterwards Clifford would toss away these victims tiny, battered bodies. Clifford Olson was not only a child molester, but he was also an informant in prison.
Clifford claimed to have been molested and raped by his uncle, but his wife believed he had actually been abused by his father. He would molest his sister and would use a knife to threaten girls to let him molest them. Clifford also imprisoned his girlfriend and abused her. He was also a thief, swindler, and con artist. When Clifford was in prison he was stabbed with scissors and inmates beat and kicked him with the intent of killing him. Based on this Clifford was provided with protection as he was the target for other inmates. Clifford appears to always be protected yet none of his victims ever were.
Clifford Olson was a monster, the kind that gives one nightmare. Many details in this book will shock you. There are scenes that are extremely graphic and not for the faint hearted. But still a great book regarding the life of Clifford Olsen.
Ryan Green has captured the fear and horror that surrounded this serial killer and his young victims, whose families he continued to torment from behind bars. Another excellent well researched book that pulls you into the story from the first page.
A great read!!!! I highly recommend it to other true crime readers.
I am part of the ARC group, and I received an advance review copy for free from Ryan Green and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[L J Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ryan Green comes at True Crime from a different angle than his peers. The crimes, the people, the events of a person’s life, etc. are absolutely true. What Green adds to this is a bit of fictive enhancement to bring the story to life. He tells of thoughts that no one can actually know, such as the victims awareness of what is happening, the fear rushing in, the last thoughts. This makes for a dreadfully readable account wherein all comes to life. The story of Clifford Olson is right out of a horror novel. This is a man who is totally psychopathic. Yet he moves throughout his daily world without drawing the least suspicion to himself. There is also the fact that we truly don’t know the number of victims this maniac actually slaughtered. It appears that there could possibly have been more than a hundred. After concluding the book, my thoughts went to the families of the slain. In bringing these lost souls to life, they are then murdered again in the ugliest ways. I certainly hope that no one in their families read this book.

[Alexandria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like the way this book went into graphic detail about how the victims of Olson were killed, without much background on or regard for the victims. I just finished “On the Farm” by Stevie Cameron about Robert Pickton and that book mentioned Olson several times, as they both lived in the suburbs of Vancouver, BC. I also live in this area, so was intrigued to learn more about BC serial killers. Cameron’s book was so incredibly researched and written, that I think my expections were too high going into this book.

This read like a gory, fictional short story, with heavy focus on Clifford Olsons incarceration for petty crimes and his escape from prison before his kill-spree, the overly graphic (for shock value?) details of how he murdered his victims and not much about the victims or their families at all. The book is only 150 pages, so it’s a very condensed version of the story. I finished the book feeling gross because of the graphic nature regarding children, wishing I didn’t read this. I wouldn’t recommend.

[Emilija · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

This was different to nearly all of the other Ryan Green true crime books. Nearly always, Green humanizes the person who the book is about, which he did still do in this one, but normally he reveals brain damage or trauma that creates the focal point. For this person, there was none of that. I felt a little wrong footed listening to it as a result. That being said, it was a very good book, probably one of my favourites of the Ryan Green true crime books.

[berthamason · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

zaczelam bo myślałam ze to biografia pedro pascala
książka tez dobra, taki dluzszy podcast

[c s bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of fillers

The first half of the book centered around various prisons and their goings on and not the murderer and his victims.Considering this is a very short book, 142 pages, the opportunity was wasted to tell more about Olson and his actual crimes and his victims. This could have been a very interesting read but the book only got interesting half way through.

[kacper troll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trochę za szybko zostało to przedstawione, zbyt skompresowane, co nie znaczy że całościowo źle. Bywały momenty gdy jedna, z pozoru nieistotna rzecz, potrafiła się ciągnąć przez dwie strony. Z drugiej strony sam wątek złapania czy procesu sądowego nie został przedstawiony nawet w frakcji tego jak powinien. Gdybym mógł dać 3,5 to byłaby to trafna ocena, ale zaokrąglę w górę, bo jednak mnie wciągnęła.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tym razem postać wilka w owczej skórze. Tej serii słucha się bardzo dobrze, jak długiego podcastu. Cała uwaga autora skupiona jest na życiorysie zbrodniarza więc o ofiarach wiele się nie dowiemy

[☆ Iga ☆]

Historia przerażająca, ale czy ta konkretna książka jest dobra? raczej nie. Słuchałxm w tle do sprzątania.

[Maja · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[lesemaus greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

sehr verstörend

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrifying tale of murder and mayhem…

Canada has many claims to fame. The Canadian people are fiercely proud of their renowned Ice Hockey teams and they proudly produce over 70% of the world’s supply of maple syrup. Add to that the breathtaking landscapes, the stunning Northern lights, and their world-famous reputation for friendly and courteous people and it is easy to see that “The Great White North” has much to offer. Sadly, though, not even Canada remains untouched by the grisly stains of misery and terror inflicted by odious individuals intent on satisfying their perverse and repellent proclivities. Clifford Robert Olson Jr. was one such individual, a habitual criminal living more of his life behind bars than not, he remains one of Canada’s most infamous and loathsome contributions to modern society. Later known as the “Beast of British Columbia”, Clifford was somehow able to camouflage his deviant mentality successfully enough to lure countless children and teens into his car for a one-way trip to terror, pain, humiliation, and ultimately death. He furthered his infamy when, upon his capture, he blackmailed authorities into paying his family large sums of money for the location of each of the bodies left in his wake. Reflecting copious amounts of research, Clifford’s story is detailed in this horrifying yet totally compelling book which delves into the mindset of an exceedingly unhinged individual in the eerily insightful manner unique to Ryan Green. In my opinion, this author offers shrewd and intuitive nuances to his exposés that leave the reader with an understanding of the subject’s psychopathy that is rarely equaled in the true crime genre. This is not a story for those easily triggered by suffering and abuse, but it is a story that needs to be told so that Clifford’s victims are remembered.

I was provided with an advance copy of this book, for which I thank the author, but I am voluntarily offering my honest and unbiased review.

[Red Denver · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was very short (only 140 pages). Although I see that a number of people rated it very high, I didn't care for it. I thought it lacked important details, giving the reader sort of a "reader's digest" version of the victims, the killer, and the crimes. So, for instance, all the info he provided about the victims was pretty much just name, gender and age. It's hard to relate to victims without having a paragraph or two of details about them. It appears that all of Ryan Green's books are like this, so I won't be wasting any more money buying his books.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read about a Canadian serial killer I knew very little about - Olson. His life of deranged rapings, kidnapping and murders were more than disgusting. His experiments were gross and I can only imagine the pain that his victims lived through. And the families? Those poor poor people. I think I would have gone insane if I received any communication from that man. Especially when it says he taunted them. It’s a shame he died of cancer in a prison hospital because I could think of a million better ways to have made his life a misery.

[Janelle Tarr · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very slow and repetitive start. I found the first 60 or so pages of the book very boring. He went to jail, escaped, went back to jail, escaped and so on and so on. I mean how many times is he gonna get released. Reading this felt like reading an essay where you need to get a minimum word count. Okay we get it. Can we jump to what the book is supposed to be about? His background is relevant of course, but way over done.

[Jessica Schlafer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gore

High on the gore and fanciful descriptions of the final moments of the victims. It seems like something that would have further traumatized the families.

[Fae Rad · Rating 3 out of 5]

didn’t even finished it.

Didn’t like it. The story is thrilling but the writer Imd say wasn’t able to put it in good words.

[blanka_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Współpraca reklamowa z @wielkalitera

Od jakiegoś casu sięgałam głównie po lekkie romanse więc z ogromną chęcią sięgnęłam po true crime. Zwyczajnie tęskniłam za mroczniejszymi klimatami i gatunkiem który jednak najbardziej lubię a w tym roku lekko od niego odeszłam.

„Bestia” Ryana Greena to kolejna książka z serii True Crime. W tym tomie poznajemy życie Cliforda Olsona seryjnego mordercy.

✨ Clifford miał szczęśliwe dzieciństwo, ze strony rodziców nie zaznał przemocy, wychowywał się w małym domu z rodzeństwem. Żyli skromnie ale rodzice starali się zapewnić im dobre warunki. Jednak Clifford różnił się od rodzeństwa które w szkole radziło sobie bez problemu, jemu nauka przychodziła z trudnością a do rodziców docierało co raz więcej listów od zaniepokojonych nauczycieli.

W końcu popełnił pierwsze morderstwo. Jego ofiarą mógł być każdy, zabijał dzieci i nastolatki. Wielokrotnie trafiał do więzienia.

„Bestia” to moja siódma książka z serii True Crime od Ryana Greena. Za każdym razem trudno jest mi uwierzyć w istnienie takiego zła. Clifford potrafił się maskować, udawać dobrego i byłam zdumiona jak łatwo przychodzi mu pogodzenie dwóch różnych stron. Jego życie było grą aktorską. Planował i realizował swoje cele, manipulował. Najdziwniejsze dla mnie w tej historii było to, że w jego życiu nie było typowego „zapalnika” który mógł popchnąć go na ścieżkę zła. Ten „zapalnik” zwykle pojawiał się u innych seryjnych morderców, bardzo mnie to zaintrygowało, że w tej historii go zabrakło 🤔

❗️Seria przeznaczona dla osób 18+

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s weird to give five star reviews and say that I like a true crime book, especially when the crimes committed are so heinous and disgusting, so just know that the review is actually pertaining to the writing style of the book, and how the story is put together by the author, and not for the disgusting crimes that were committed. It’s rare that I read a true crime book that reads more like a fictional story, rather than a documentary, or historical text. I think Ryan Green does a good job of pulling the story together and providing information, providing factual details, and yet still being respectful as much as one can, when writing about true crime.

This is the first Ryan Green book I’ve read, and the thing that strikes me about this particular story is how disgusting the criminal is. All criminals are disgusting, but this story was very difficult to read. It was interesting towards the end to read about the police procedures, and the bargains struck with the criminal. I feel for the families who never got to have closure, because the criminal refused to give more details unless more money was paid to his wife.

I can see how paying criminals for information is a slippery slope. I am glad that some of the cases were solved, but imagine they were many more that haven’t been. And never will be. I’ve read a lot of true crime books, and one of the most common ways someone becomes a victim, is via hitchhiking. don’t do it. Just keep on walking.

[Deirdre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blood Money / No Remorse
Once again Ryan Green has taken a story I thought I knew and made it into a true crime masterpiece. I knew Cliff Olson was a brutal Canadian serial killer who is infamously known for a $100,000 deal with the RCMP in exchange for telling them where ten of his victims could be found. He was cunning not stupid, despite not completing high school. He was an escape artist and incorrigible from a young age. He was bullied then turned into a bully himself.

Olson went from a petty criminal to become a merciless sadistic killer. He was a master manipulator and an escape artist from incarceration. Though foremost he was a deadly barbaric killer of kids and teens. He was brutal, depraved, incorporating sexual violence and torture into his savage repertoire. At times it was hard to read about the atrocities he subjected his young victims to.

This chilling tale joins Green's other well-written narratives about heartless murderers who who cared nothing about the atrocities they inflicted on their victims. In Olson's case he took it a step further and tormented the families of his victims by writing them letters detailing the stomach churning acts he performed on their children. He shatters the myth of the super friendly Canadian.

[Daniel Kupres · Rating 5 out of 5]

The obvious suspect



Ryan brings to us yet another story about a psychopathic child murderer. It never ceases to amaze me how people like Clifford are able to get away with crimes of this magnitude and are able to maintain a “normal” life that any suspicion can be thwarted or at least ignored at the start.

Ryan tends to write about topics that for whatever reasons, seem to escape the media spotlight. Despite multiple prison escapes and crossing the US/Canadian border, he was able to keep out of sight and continued to avoid major jail time for his crimes.

I have to imagine that since he was able to avoid Canadian authorities and for lack of better phrase, outwit them is why I suspect it was kept out of the mainstream so the police forces would not be embarrassed.

In his delivery of The Beast, Ryan definitely toned down the descriptions of his crimes. Ryan has never shied away from this before but with his crimes, I think it was best to hold a little back.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clifford Olson had an extensive criminal history. Ryan Green typically tells a true crime story from the youth of the criminal and in this case that means criminal acts from the onset. This convicted Canadian serial killer confessed to murdering 11 children and teenagers between the ages of 9 and 18 in the early 1980s. He was arrested in 1981, on suspicion of attempting to abduct two girls by a couple of proactive RCMP officers. He reached a controversial deal with authorities, agreeing to confess to the 11 murders and show the RCMP the location of the bodies of those not yet recovered. In return, authorities agreed that C$10,000 for each victim was paid into a trust for his wife, Joan, and then-infant son, Clifford III. His wife received C$100,000 after Olson cooperated with the RCMP, the 11th body being a "freebie". This incredible and unorthodox arrangement (has it any equal?) not only allowed those bodies to be recovered but from Olson's statements an incredible amount of detail comes down into this book on the abductions, druggings, rape, murder and corpse-play of The Beast.

[james adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad read

Ryan Green's "The Beast" is a nice addition to his growing list of true crime offerings. Although a bit wordy at times, the books are packed with details.
Serial killers always make for interesting reading, but sadly most books in the genre focus on the same select list of killers: Bundy, Manson, etc. And that is what separates Green from other writers. He focuses on the killers lesser known to American readers. These killers may not be household names in America, but their crimes were no less evil than those of their better known counterparts.
We have read several of Green's works and found them all to be fact-filled and readable. They aren't for the more sensitive reader, but for those who are tired of reading rehashed stories of the same killers, Green's works offer something new: Worthwhile reads about some terribly evil people.

[Zelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author truly makes this character come alive. He is presented to the reader warts and all. Clifford Olsen really is a living, breathing monster of a beast. He has very few redeeming features. I think this beast was born the way he was. Yes he got bullied at school, but he soon found a way to fight back. His total lack of regard for the pain and suffering he puts other human beings through is utterly chilling. He becomes a kind of killing machine, with not a care in the world.
I really appreciate the author's gift of looking inside this serial killer's head and giving us some understanding of what makes him tick.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys reading true crime books, including some very graphically depicted scenes.

[Kyoko909 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tym razem autor zabiera nas do Kanady aby opowiedzieć historię Clifforda Olsona, sadysty torturującego i mordującego dzieci oraz nastolatki.
Jak każda książka Greena, zaczyna się od nudniejszej części czyli dzieciństwa i wielu pobytach w więzieniach. W drugiej połowie "akcja" się rozkręca. Oczywiście autor dość brutalnie opisuje sceny zabójstw.
Olson potrafił być czarujący i wyrachowany. W więzieniach potrafił zaskarbić sobie przychylność władzy i skracać swoje wyroki. Na wolności z kolei przywdziewał maskę dobrego męża, ojca, sąsiada. I nikt się nie domyślił.
Książka jak każda z tej serii nie jest prawdziwym reportażem aczkolwiek dość dobrze się je czyta. Żadnej z tych historii nie znałam dlatego brnę to w dalej.

[Beverly Laude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, the author has done a fantastic job in getting inside a killer's mind and giving the reader some insight into what makes a psychopath! Clifford Olson is probably Canada's most prolific serial killer and this tale of his depraved killing spree is truly horrific.

Ryan Green takes the facts and weaves them into a easily readable story that seems more fiction than fact. But, we all know that fact is often scarier than the scariest horror story! If you "enjoy" the true crime genre, you can't go wrong with Mr. Green's books. They are quick reads for those who want an easy to read book, full of the horrors committed by the main chara

[Ashley Hedden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Beast: A Chilling True Story of a Psychopathic Child Killer (Ryan Green's True Crime) was a great true crime story by Ryan Green. Clifford Olson Junior unleashed hell on British Columbia, in July 1981, just days after his release from jail. He kidnapped, raped and killed six children and teenagers in one month. The police came under scrutiny for failing to connect the previous disappearances. The cases were passed to homicide detectives, and a new investigations began. Clifford became one of the main suspects in the police's hunt for a serial killer. This was another good true crime read by the author.

[Kira K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts:
This is a difficult read. I liked that the history and more psychological aspects of Clifford Olson Jr were explored (especially his PCL score) and really appreciated how the details of each attack were handled seemingly as respectfully as possible.

Favourite Quote:
"Justice Harry McKay was presiding and during sentencing, he had a great deal to say about Clifford Olson Junior. 'No punishment that any civilised country could impose would be adequate for the severity of your crimes. You should never be granted parole for the remainder of your days. It would be foolhardy to let you at large.'"