Green River, Running Red

By: Ann Rule

Narrated by: Michele Pawk

Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the most extraordinary journey Ann Rule has ever undertaken, America's master of true crime has spent more than two decades researching the story of the Green River Killer, who murdered more than 49 young women.

For 21 years, the Green River Killer carried out his self-described "career" as a killing machine, ridding the world of women he considered evil. His eerie ability to lure his victims to their deaths and hide their bodies made him far more dangerous than any infamous multiple murderer in the annals of crime.

A few men eventually emerged as the prime suspects among an unprecedented 40,000 scrutinized by the Green River Task Force. Still, there was no physical evidence linking any of them to the murders until 2001, when investigators used a new DNA process on a saliva sample they had preserved since 1987, with stunning results.

Green River, Running Red is a harrowing account of a modern monster, a killer who walked among us undetected. It is also the story of his quarry of who these young women were and who they might have become. A chilling look at the darkest side of human nature, this is the most important and most personal audiobook of Ann Rule's long career.

©2004 Ann Rule (P)2004 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Divison, Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Rule once again validates her standing as one of the pre-eminent chroniclers of modern serial murder....Perhaps her greatest achievement is bringing Ridgeway's victims to life as distinct individuals." (Publishers Weekly)
"Interweaving her individual profiles of the murdered women with the story of Ridgway and the officials who caught him, Rule gives full, heartbreaking emotional weight to what America's most notorious serial killer truly wrought." (Booklist)

Pedestrian prose...

I've listened to some of the serial killer books, including Zodiac and BTK Killer, and I must admit that while Zodiac was fast-paced and a breeze to read, and BTK Killer almost novel-esque in its tone and writing style (literary, almost), this particular book was terribly pedestrian in its writing style. It appears that this author is popular (I like Stephen King, so nothing wrong with popular authors), but this book was simply a digest of this horrific killer's deeds and nothing more. It's like a bad magazine article that just goes on and on, or one of those uninformative segments on a 30-minute TV show that somehow wound up to be an unnecessary mini-series. I recommend the other two mentioned, and hope that someone else tackles this killer's story in a more meaningful fashion.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Painfully Boring

This simply was not a good telling of the Green River killings. It would have been a much more interesting book had it focused a little on the investigation, but it dealt way too much on the lives of the victims. I did not mind that aspect, but since most of them had such similar life styles, the redundancy couldn't keep me awake. It is not the victims lives that makes this an interesting story, but rather that this maniac was so prolific at what he was doing and how it took over twenty years to finally arrest him. This seemed like a pretty novice attempt at writing. Perhaps somebody who is actually involved in the investigation will release a more interesting telling of the events in an audio format. This story deserves a better telling than this. I didn't read the book so perhaps it was better than this abridged version.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Captivating and Depressing

Ann Rule's "Green River, Running Red" is a fascinating and saddening account of the Green River Killer. In what becomes almost a homage to the dead, Ann Rule spends a lot of time on who the victims were and the circumstances that eventually led to their deaths. It is appalling that the killer eventually managed to kill 49 (and presumably more) young girls before getting caught. While the book is captivating, I personally would have preferred more details about the investigation. She does explain somewhat why it took so long to bring the killer to justice, and there is some delving into his background and the events that fuelled his hate and murderous rages, but for a police effort so large that took so much money and time I would have liked more insight into the politics and machinations of such a massive investigation. The long descriptions of the victim's lives and circumstances is as depressing as it is alarming- how could this go on for so long?

It is worth noting that the version I listened to was abridged; nevertheless it was engrossing enough that I spent the afternoon and evening listening to it in one session.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Be THANKFUL this is the abridged version!

I am fascinated with serial killers and have been since I was a teenager. I have read many books on the subject as well as seen all of the movies and documentaries. The Zodiac book and the BTK story were fantastic and Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" was bone chilling. However, this book had none of the fine writing and storytelling of those previously mentioned. I originally downloaded this over 2 years ago and remembered not being able to get through it due to the repetition of the author and the boring, monotone narration. I decided to give it another try and forced myself to listen to the bitter end. I'm not quite sure how anyone could take a topic as horrific as these serial killings and make it, as a previous reviewer had commented, so "painfully boring", but I now realize that Ann Rule has succeeded in that task. I am just happy for the fact that I downloaded the abridged version and that it is over.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Ann Rule is Great, When Unabridged

I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as any other Ann Rule I've read. It could be somewhat because the individuals weren't as fleshed out as I'm used to in her other books. Seems like maybe it was cut down a little too much? But if you're interested in this particular story then maybe it's worth it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

If you like true crime, you will like this.

Ms. Rule does a great job, but I really wish that Audible offered more of her stories and in an unabriged format.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Interesting

Well told and read. I knew almost nothing about the Green River killer before I listened to this book. I think Ann did a good job, kept the facts straight and focused on both the victums and the killer (not the detectives).

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Boring

This was my first Ann Rule book. This book had no heart and the narration was lackluster to say the least. I will admit that I generally shy away from female narrated books because they are so boring and they don’t draw me in like other narrators do such as Kevin Pierce. Unfortunately this will be my last Ann Rule book.

Not the whole book

this is my first book on here and I didn't realize there were abridged versions, there are really people out there who just want part of books? so now I've listened to this and wasted my credit. I don't really wanna purchase the full book or waste my next credit to get the full work and have to piece together around the 5 hours I've already heard of the full 19. very frustrating, thinking about just deleting this app now.

Abridged

Would you consider the audio edition of Green River, Running Red to be better than the print version?

This isn't the book in its entirety and I'm seriously disappointed. The book is huge and I read it a few years ago. I wanted to hear it instead of reading it a second time and five hours is way too short.

What did you like best about this story?

Despite the short length, excellent coverage of the victims and a good summary of the murderer.

What about Michele Pawk’s performance did you like?

Ms Pawk's performance was excellent. I could easily see Ann dictating this.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I'd planned on listening to this all in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Overall, I'd recommend this, but you need to understand that it's the abridged version. :( It was nearly as disappointing as John Douglas' Manhunter, which was extremely abridged.

breathtaking confession

Ann Rule tells this real crime story in a way that makes you want to find out more as quickly as possible and the confession of this serial killer of young women is breathtaking!