Monster

By: Steve Jackson

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

On a snowy winter evening in 1982, 21-year-old Mary Brown accepted a ride from a handsome stranger in the resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado. The trip ended with her brutally beaten and raped. Mary survived, but her predator's violence had only just begun.

After 10 years in prison, Tom Luther was released a far more vicious criminal. Soon, from the Rockies to West Virginia, like Ted Bundy, Luther enticed a chain of women into his murderous trap. In this gripping new edition of a true crime masterpiece, acclaimed author Steve Jackson recounts the intriguing pursuit and long awaited conviction of a charismatic, monstrous psychopath - one who remains a suspect in three other crimes, and has never given up hope of escape.

©2013 Steve Jackson (P)2020 WildBlue Press

Critic reviews

"One of the best books short of the famous Ann Rule works." (True Crime Book Reviews)

"Steve Jackson is a born storyteller. He makes you sweat...and turn the page." (Ron Franscell, author of The Darkest Night)

AWESOME writing and narration!

Loved it! Gregg Olsen did a fantastic job with this work, and Kevin Pierce narrated the story superbly!!!

Powerful and chilling

This first book by Steve Jackson is a haunting, in-depth history of a foul serial killer, his crimes, and the relentless homicide detective who pursues him for years of his life. Outstanding true crime.

Chilly

This book was amazing from beginning to end it always left you on the edge of your seat!

The narrator is so amazing! Kevin Pierce has the perfect Voice for True Crime. I actually got this book because he is the narrator.

This is a Must Read!

Reads like great fiction

One of the best books I've heard on audible. Long and so worth the credit.

repetitive

at the end Steve says this is his first book so I cut him some slack and gave him 4 stars. it is so repetitive. sometimes I would just tune it out. the flow isn't very good. it's like it was disorganized or something. or maybe it seems that way because there are so many lying witnesses...

I listened to no stone unturned and it was much better.

but if you are looking for detailed info on the case, well you'll definitely are in the right place

Unbelievable

The thing that stood out about this story was the writing style. It read more like a fiction novel than a true crime book, much like a made for tv movie "based on a true story." If it was a fictional book, I would say the cast of characters were largely unrealistic and have to assume that a lot of the discussions and descriptions were exaggerated or paraphrased or outright just made up for dramatic effect. That being said, it was still a very well written story and gave me a lot of content to digest as I drove my delivery route all week. I had never heard of this crime even though I know very well the places described in the book from driving in Colorado for many years. I will never again be able to drive by some of these places without thinking of what took place there. The narration was really good too. I especially liked his changing voices for each character and the voice he used for the main character was quite unsettling and the female voices were kind of humerous. I would recommend this book if you are at all interested in this genre and especially if you just want something a little longer and with more of a novel-like presentation than a forensic style matter of fact kind of crime story.

The first two hours will take your breath away.

The first two hours will take your breath away. Then it begins to slow down and for the next couple of hours it will drag and become tedious. Then it picks up speed again to an awesome ending I truly love this book and would recommend it highly.

Great story, but some issues with the era

I overall really enjoyed this book, the story is told well and it’s intriguing. My only qualms are with the language that was typical of the late 90s when this was actually published. It was written in a time when victim blaming was fine if they engaged in “high risk behaviors” or hung around the “wrong crowd”. I know this narrative would be written differently today, so I do not hold this against the author, it’s simply a sign of the times and I’m reminded of how happy I am that views have shifted since that time regarding victimization.

This was a gut wrenching true story

I love true crime and this book was everything you could want in a book. As you listen you are amazed at the ruthlessness of the killer; the stupidity of some of his friends and insane devotion of his "girlfriend".
I was so frustrated by the flaws in the justice system throughout the years that this monster committed his crimes but heartened by the dedication of Scott Richardson in solving some of the crimes.
I will definitely listen to another book by this author.
Warning: the description of the crimes is very graphic so consider that before buying this book.

Gruesome

To think that a person can have no regard for life. Scary to think how many more.