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Shadows of Evil
Claiming he'd been sent by God to confess, truck driver Wayne Adam Ford walked into the Humbolt County Sheriff's Office and admitted to them that he was a serial killer. After police found a gruesome piece of evidence in Ford's pocket, he told them that he had to be stopped before he killed again, before he murderer his ex-wife, and made his beloved three-year-old son an orphan. Authorities arrested the long-haul trucker and listened in horror to his startling confession...
Ford was a long-distance trucker who had traveled fourteen western states. Prowling the highways in his big rig tractor-trailer, he picked up young, vulnerable women and then raped, killed, and dismembered them. He scattered some of their bodies in waterways along the road. He parts of others for over a year in the freezer of his trailer home. Learn the shocking truth in this chilling account of madness, depravity, and murder...
Ford was a long-distance trucker who had traveled fourteen western states. Prowling the highways in his big rig tractor-trailer, he picked up young, vulnerable women and then raped, killed, and dismembered them. He scattered some of their bodies in waterways along the road. He parts of others for over a year in the freezer of his trailer home. Learn the shocking truth in this chilling account of madness, depravity, and murder...
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
273 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 15, 2001
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115 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 10, 2013
A True Crime story about serial killer Wayne Adam Ford. I liked how the author focused a lot on the history of the lives of his victims, and not just on Ford himself.
But i personally don't like the author's writing style. Lots of repetition (repeating the point in the next or even the same paragraph, sometimes with the exact same sentence!). Pages & pages describing a geographical area...
First chapter dedicated to blowing his own horn on how many books he's written...
Second chapter completely about how hard it was to get the information on Ford... Let's get to the story please!!
I guess there was just way too much unnecessary filler in my opinion. Others may say that was a good thing though, with lots of detail to help them understand the situation more thoroughly..
But i personally don't like the author's writing style. Lots of repetition (repeating the point in the next or even the same paragraph, sometimes with the exact same sentence!). Pages & pages describing a geographical area...
First chapter dedicated to blowing his own horn on how many books he's written...
Second chapter completely about how hard it was to get the information on Ford... Let's get to the story please!!
I guess there was just way too much unnecessary filler in my opinion. Others may say that was a good thing though, with lots of detail to help them understand the situation more thoroughly..
October 14, 2018
This was a garden-variety wife-beating type who went on to become a serial killer, but the author seems not to know this. The author goes on and on about how the poor widdle defendant was the victim of a tragic head injury. I'm sorry, Mr. Smith, but this guy is NOT the victim in the case.
January 7, 2020
One of the stranger true crime accounts I've read, this is less about Wayne Adam Ford's crimes and victims than it is about the author's seeming obsession with proving that Ford's actions were the result of a brain injury he received in an accident.
It's a well-known fact that a lot of serial killers have suffered a head injury in the past, usually when they were children. I can also understand the driving need of an author, especially an investigative journalist, to answer the question, "Why?" What turns a marine into a serial killer? But Smith's attempts to prove, without medical or psychiatric evidence, that Ford was a "normal" guy whose brain injury turned him into a killer were clumsy, heavy-handed, and repetitive. While Smith claimed he wasn't trying to excuse Ford's actions with his brain-injury theory, it certainly seemed like that's exactly what he was doing. At times, it actually pissed me off.
Still, the book remained at least somewhat interesting until the trial portion, where Smith has to remind us every three sentences or so that a gag order kept some information out of his reach. Apparently he was really frustrated by this, as he mentions it so often. Weirdly, this book was published before the outcome of the trial was known, which is highly unusual. So I had to do my own research to find out that Ford was indeed convicted of murdering four women and sentenced to death. (He's still alive, of course, with mugshots that are creepy AF.) It's strange that Smith was able to publish this book before Ford's conviction, as it might have hurt Ford's chances of getting a fair trial. What if he'd been found innocent? In that case, Smith and his publisher could have been sued.
Smith appears to have compassion for the victims, and questions why no one did anything to help them while they were floundering, and he has a point. I also wonder why no one did anything to save Lanett White's four young children, since their mother was a meth addict with a criminal conviction who was clearly incapable of staying sober and taking care of them. While White's life and death were both tragedies, I hope her children were at least given a chance at a healthy life.
It's a well-known fact that a lot of serial killers have suffered a head injury in the past, usually when they were children. I can also understand the driving need of an author, especially an investigative journalist, to answer the question, "Why?" What turns a marine into a serial killer? But Smith's attempts to prove, without medical or psychiatric evidence, that Ford was a "normal" guy whose brain injury turned him into a killer were clumsy, heavy-handed, and repetitive. While Smith claimed he wasn't trying to excuse Ford's actions with his brain-injury theory, it certainly seemed like that's exactly what he was doing. At times, it actually pissed me off.
Still, the book remained at least somewhat interesting until the trial portion, where Smith has to remind us every three sentences or so that a gag order kept some information out of his reach. Apparently he was really frustrated by this, as he mentions it so often. Weirdly, this book was published before the outcome of the trial was known, which is highly unusual. So I had to do my own research to find out that Ford was indeed convicted of murdering four women and sentenced to death. (He's still alive, of course, with mugshots that are creepy AF.) It's strange that Smith was able to publish this book before Ford's conviction, as it might have hurt Ford's chances of getting a fair trial. What if he'd been found innocent? In that case, Smith and his publisher could have been sued.
Smith appears to have compassion for the victims, and questions why no one did anything to help them while they were floundering, and he has a point. I also wonder why no one did anything to save Lanett White's four young children, since their mother was a meth addict with a criminal conviction who was clearly incapable of staying sober and taking care of them. While White's life and death were both tragedies, I hope her children were at least given a chance at a healthy life.
September 8, 2013
on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 I wrote:
I had it set as available (on bookcrossing) because of the bad reviews on amazon.
Well,I am reading it now and yes now I do understand the bad reviews.
Carlton Smith is not writing like he should have, neutral, but he is constantly telling us that poor serial killer, had suffered a mayor head trauma, so it was not really his fault.
I tried to skip those parts and then it is a good read.
What I think is annoying, he seems to know more negative facts about the victims than about the serial killer Adam Ford.
I had it set as available (on bookcrossing) because of the bad reviews on amazon.
Well,I am reading it now and yes now I do understand the bad reviews.
Carlton Smith is not writing like he should have, neutral, but he is constantly telling us that poor serial killer, had suffered a mayor head trauma, so it was not really his fault.
I tried to skip those parts and then it is a good read.
What I think is annoying, he seems to know more negative facts about the victims than about the serial killer Adam Ford.
May 20, 2009
This could have been a very good book. But... it is poorly written, repitious and the story is all over the place. It is hard to stay focused. It is seldom that I start a book and can not get through it. I kept reading and waited for the story line but it just got so slow and went nowhere that I gave up on page 96 of 256 pages. I have read other books by Carlton Smith and found him to be an entertaining author but he really missed this one.
January 3, 2018
The story behind the killer is interesting; however, the author's skills at writing it are not captivating. He does provide good information on the victims and is respectful of their life story and the atrocities they suffered. Too much info on the background of cities/counties that did not add to the case. Skip this!
December 26, 2009
Wayne Adam Ford was a truck driver that traveled through Calif and Las Vega in the 1990s. He was in the Marines. He married Leigh in 1981. That lasted about two years. In Dec. 6, 1980 Ford had an accident that may have caused him brain damage. He later had a relationship with Anaya. That didn't work out either.
In 1994 he met Lucie. She was from Las Vegas. They had a relationship andhad a son togehter. That ended. The body of Tina Gibbs was found in JUne 1998.The body of Lanette White was found in September 1998. The body of Patricai Tamez was found in October of 1998.
Nov. 2, 1998 Ford turned himself in for the crimes. In his pocket the severed breast of Patricia Tamez was found in a plastic bag.
In 1994 he met Lucie. She was from Las Vegas. They had a relationship andhad a son togehter. That ended. The body of Tina Gibbs was found in JUne 1998.The body of Lanette White was found in September 1998. The body of Patricai Tamez was found in October of 1998.
Nov. 2, 1998 Ford turned himself in for the crimes. In his pocket the severed breast of Patricia Tamez was found in a plastic bag.
October 2, 2014
What I really appreciated about this book was that the author told the stories of each of the victims. Many times true crime books don't go into much detail about the victim's lives and what they did before they were murdered.
I also understand the authors need to publish this book before the trial began. I am not convinced that Wayne's killing spree had anything to do with his head injury from his accident years ago......
I will be following up on this case to see what became of his conviction.
I also understand the authors need to publish this book before the trial began. I am not convinced that Wayne's killing spree had anything to do with his head injury from his accident years ago......
I will be following up on this case to see what became of his conviction.
December 29, 2013
I'd give it another half star if possible. The story is interesting, but the author is too opinionated. In fact, the first 20 pages are nothing but his views & opinions. Despite claiming to be a journalist himself, he attacks the media as well as the police, lawyers & politicians; pretty much anyone w/ an interest in the case other than himself. He also includes a fair amount of irrelevant information.
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March 7, 2016paperback
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews