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Deadly Lust: A Serial Killer Strikes
Sex Slayings
Throughout its long and colorful history, St. Augustine, Florida has been home to pirates and villains, marauders and despots. But it wasn't until the late 1980s that the city's red-light district, known locally as Crack Head Corner, became the hunting ground for a serial killer whose brutality knew no bounds.
A Killer's Taunts
On November 29, 1988, Anita Stevens, 27, climbed into a stranger's vehicle, thinking to turn a quick trick to fund her drug habit. She was the first to die. Over the next six years, six more prostitutes would fall victim to the same phantom killer, slain by gun, blunt objects, a strangler's noose--and the murderer's bare hands. His signature was the obscene poses in which he arranged his half-nude victims.
Final Justice
Frustrated by false confessions, investigators sifted through a myriad of suspects until a Christmas Eve, 1996 murder in Asheville, North Carolina led them to the real William Darrell Lindsey. Twice-married, a father of five, Lindsey had drifted across the South for years. Wherever he went, rape and murder followed. He admitted to seven sex slayings, but experts believe that the death toll was somewhere between twelve and twenty. Here is the chilling true story of a fiend whose sadistic lust was the most depraved addiction of all.
Includes 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos
McCay Vernon, Ph.D., is a psychologist whose career has been concentrated in the fields of deafness and forensics. He is the author of seven books, over 300 articles, and award-winning documentary films and television productions in those fields. Although his path never crossed that of William Darrell Lindsey, Dr. Vernon attended the same high school, delivered the local paper to Lindsey's family, and shared many acquaintances with the killer.
Marie Vernon is a freelance journalist whose columns, feature articles, and book reviews have appeared in such major newspapers at the Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Vernons live near St. Augustine, Florida.
Throughout its long and colorful history, St. Augustine, Florida has been home to pirates and villains, marauders and despots. But it wasn't until the late 1980s that the city's red-light district, known locally as Crack Head Corner, became the hunting ground for a serial killer whose brutality knew no bounds.
A Killer's Taunts
On November 29, 1988, Anita Stevens, 27, climbed into a stranger's vehicle, thinking to turn a quick trick to fund her drug habit. She was the first to die. Over the next six years, six more prostitutes would fall victim to the same phantom killer, slain by gun, blunt objects, a strangler's noose--and the murderer's bare hands. His signature was the obscene poses in which he arranged his half-nude victims.
Final Justice
Frustrated by false confessions, investigators sifted through a myriad of suspects until a Christmas Eve, 1996 murder in Asheville, North Carolina led them to the real William Darrell Lindsey. Twice-married, a father of five, Lindsey had drifted across the South for years. Wherever he went, rape and murder followed. He admitted to seven sex slayings, but experts believe that the death toll was somewhere between twelve and twenty. Here is the chilling true story of a fiend whose sadistic lust was the most depraved addiction of all.
Includes 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos
McCay Vernon, Ph.D., is a psychologist whose career has been concentrated in the fields of deafness and forensics. He is the author of seven books, over 300 articles, and award-winning documentary films and television productions in those fields. Although his path never crossed that of William Darrell Lindsey, Dr. Vernon attended the same high school, delivered the local paper to Lindsey's family, and shared many acquaintances with the killer.
Marie Vernon is a freelance journalist whose columns, feature articles, and book reviews have appeared in such major newspapers at the Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Vernons live near St. Augustine, Florida.
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
348 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2005
13 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 9, 2013
Finished last night.(Sept 7) This is a book that has been on my wish list for years and I finally managed to buy it and it does not disappoint.
lot of Info about the victims,and he also tried to understand the serial killer.
I would have given this book 5 stars were it not for one big annoyance.
This author accepted the serial killer's story that all his victims did something to piss him of and that was why he killed them. (To me this reads as it is their own fault or something, plus I have read many books on serial killers and know a lot of them use this excuse.
No I do not believe that all the victims ripped him of or laughed over his small little wiener.Too bad the author did.
Besides that which is a bummer I do recommend you reading this book.
lot of Info about the victims,and he also tried to understand the serial killer.
I would have given this book 5 stars were it not for one big annoyance.
This author accepted the serial killer's story that all his victims did something to piss him of and that was why he killed them. (To me this reads as it is their own fault or something, plus I have read many books on serial killers and know a lot of them use this excuse.
No I do not believe that all the victims ripped him of or laughed over his small little wiener.Too bad the author did.
Besides that which is a bummer I do recommend you reading this book.
November 9, 2012
Another good Ann Rule book
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October 9, 2012bought this at local store today, and finished it in one evening...love days that I can read and completely finish. The book was good, one of the first true crime books where details, intricate details of the victims are actually put to print...these weren't just women, victim of a crime but real people and they were portrayed greatly in this book. The insight to the killer, was dark, with somewhat typical "serial killer in training" material but the insight which the authors give to sexual sadists/lust killers was intense. THIS BOOK NOT FOR THE WEAK MINDED....
September 24, 2012
this is the first time I read another true crime Author. I am finding his writing iffy. I am hoping it gets better! I plan to read this crime again written by Ann Rule.
I never finished this book.... :(
I never finished this book.... :(
November 26, 2009
I glad my puppy ate this book. If I wanted to know actual facts I would go to a newspaper. It would have been much more enjoyable to read this this.
November 26, 2009
The only time you want to read this book is if you are having a hard time falling asleep.
September 18, 2017
For true crime, this book had a lot of conjecture. The author seemed to be more interested in the proclivities of the victims, and guessing at their thoughts at the time of the crime. He also seemed very concerned with their families' religious affiliation at the time, and race.
Though this could be construed as an attempt to capture the social climate of the times, he went out of his way to point out racial slurs and the concept of the 'good Christian family.' He even appeared to at least partially sympathize with those opposed to interracial interactions.
Though not overly concerned with the politically correct approach, I prefer my nonfiction to be much less subjective.
It is also not very well written.
Though this could be construed as an attempt to capture the social climate of the times, he went out of his way to point out racial slurs and the concept of the 'good Christian family.' He even appeared to at least partially sympathize with those opposed to interracial interactions.
Though not overly concerned with the politically correct approach, I prefer my nonfiction to be much less subjective.
It is also not very well written.
October 29, 2023
True crime is one of my favorite genres, but this one could’ve had less a story telling approach, and more of from the victim’s’ perspectives. It was hard to get a feel for the victims because the book was just basically “telling you” instead of showing you and making you use your imagination
March 29, 2020
Hard to get through
If I wasn’t from st. Augustine I wouldn’t have tried to finish it. I found the narrative very dry with a lot of repetition.
If I wasn’t from st. Augustine I wouldn’t have tried to finish it. I found the narrative very dry with a lot of repetition.
June 7, 2020
Meandering account of serial murders in St. Augustine, Florida.
January 23, 2025
Forgot to log this when I first started it. It's not the best, not the worst. Lots of info about the victims, though.
March 18, 2024
This book just was not for me, I just did not like the writing style and the way the book was laid out. However, I hope that all the victims R.I.P =(
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January 8, 2017This book was so interesting and heartbreaking of the life of such young women who are so addicted to hardships and keep going back to it. A must read.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews