No Kill No Thrill: The True Story of Serial Killers Charles Ng And Leonard Lake

by Darcy Henton and Greg Owens, Greg Owens

More than a story about a cop, a killer and his confidante, No Kill, No Thrill draws upon meticulous research and far-ranging sources to tell the whole story of Charles Ngñfrom his childhood experiences in Hong Kong to his experience in the U.S. marines to his heinous killing spree and subsequent arrest, extradition, trial and conviction. Several books have previously been published on Charles Ng. None contains the full story, and none draws on sources so extensive nor provides a portrait so penetrating of the dark mind of a sociopathic killer.

Genres: True Crime

441 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 2001

About the author

Greg Owens began a 22-year career in journalism as a crime writer for the Edmonton Journal and went on to co-write an award-winning book, The Third Suspect, about the mass murder of nine miners during a violent strike at a gold mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Owens later served as City Editor of the Pacific Daily News in Guam and Metro Editor of the Bradenton Herald in Florida. He and his wife sold their real estate businesses in Florida and moved to Penticton BC where you can find him biking, wine touring and enjoying semi-retirement.

Darcy Henton is an Alberta based journalist and author who has covered justice issues and other stories across Canada for nearly four decades. His award winning investigative reporting broke the story of one of Canada’s largest child sexual abuse cases, helped expose the torture murder of a Somali prisoner by members of the Canadian Airborne and probed the deaths of children in the care of the Alberta government. When he is not at his computer keyboard, he is often cheering on his fav hockey team, the Edmonton Oilers!

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book in June 2006, a few years after it came out in September 2002. It was a neat style book I've only run into a couple of times, a paperback with french flaps. It turned out to also be one of the most frightening true crime books I've ever read and that's saying something. The two guys that were involved in this were truly something else, as far as the crimes that they were involved in, and had further plans for, and ones they may have previously done and never been caught for. It boggles the mind. Because of how they were caught unexpectedly, it left a lot of evidence behind about what they did.

But still, I wondered about how much more could have happened that might not have been recorded or written down. There could be double the wrongdoing and no one would even know, as long as they took care to make sure that they hid the bodies in a totally different place and used a different method, didn't mention it or record it in any way, and didn't leave any survivors.

I've read true crime for several decades and of all the books, I think the mentality behind the crimes in this one scared me the most. They are just so cruel and sadistic. I'm so thankful for that random shoplifting that day that ended it all. I recently saw a show on the Investigation Discovery Channel, I think it was, that did a re-enactment of the case. I found it fascinating to watch so many years after reading it as I'd forgotten so much of it but remembered bit and pieces and some returned to me as I watched. It drove home all over again how bad this duo was, and how much of a fluke it was that the shoplifting triggered the break that outed what was going on and began the ending of it.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is well written. The facts are tediously recounted, and the level of research that went into this is incredible. That being said, this is not the kind of book you expect about these disgusting, heinous crimes. Skirting the typical graphic descriptions and storytelling of some of the crimes, this book takes a more detailed explanation into the lives of all parties involved. This includes victims, the killers, the investigators, victims' families, lawyers, and anyone else who was affected by this event. Though it can be a little lengthy and hard to follow at times, it is a very well explained and detailed telling of the case and all the insane legal hurdles needed to extradite Ng. It shows severe issues in the legal system of both the US and Canada. It is very interesting and upsetting. I do wish the author spent a little more time detailing the murders themselves, but I totally understand and greatly respect the position this book takes.