Predator

De: Jack Olsen

Narrado por: Kevin Pierce

Predator is a true crime account of Edward Lee King, a serial rapist whose crimes spanned more than a decade across Washington State, as well as the related wrongful rape conviction of Steve Titus. Jack Olsen uses the pseudonym “McDonald Smith,” for Edward Lee King, to avoid any legal issues as the convictions, at the time of Predator’s publication, were still potentially subject to legal review/appeal.

Two-time Edgar Award winner Jack Olsen, known as “the dean of true crime”, traces how Edward Lee King manipulated women, deceived authorities, and avoided accountability while law enforcement failed to connect a pattern of violence that left dozens of victims traumatized.

King appeared outwardly respectable. He held steady jobs, dated regularly, and often posed as religious and polite. But behind this image, he led a secret life of predatory behavior. Starting in the late 1960s, King attacked women in parking lots, homes, and isolated areas. He used intimidation, deception, and force. Although his attacks followed a pattern, local police departments working in isolation mistakenly treated each case as a standalone incident. Olsen documents how this lack of coordination allowed King to avoid suspicion.

Meanwhile, a respectable young businessman named Steve Titus found himself charged with one of Smith's most sadistic rapes in a nightmarish case of mistaken identity and injustice. The idealistic Titus was certain that the American system of justice would clear his name right up to the day that a jury of his peers returned a verdict of guilty. As Edward Lee King continued to terrorize the women of Seattle, Steve Titus lost everything: his reputation, his job, his loved ones, his freedom and eventually his life.

It was only when a Pulitzer prize-winning Seattle Times reporter, Paul Henderson, answered Titus's pleas for justice that the terrible truth emerged: a truth that was darker than anyone imagined. Predator is a gripping work of true crime reporting: Jack Olsen doing what he does best. It is a searing study of violations: of women, of justice, of power, and of the human spirit.

What sets Predator apart is Olsen’s disciplined, evidence-based storytelling. He avoids sensationalism. He centers victims and shows how institutions dismissed them. He illustrates how King operated openly for years, relying on people’s willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt. Olsen draws a picture of a man who was not clever or elusive but enabled by weak oversight and a culture unwilling to take sexual violence seriously. The book is also a critique of how law enforcement and the courts treated rape during that period. Olsen shows how male authority figures often discounted women’s testimony, ignored patterns of repeat behavior, and failed to act until the damage was irreversible. By the time King was finally sentenced to life in prison, the lives of many women had been permanently altered.

©2014 Jack Olsen (P)2015 Evan Olsen, Su Olsen

Great read, sad story

If you could sum up Predator in three words, what would they be?

This is a disturbing tale of a sick sick man. This man happens to be my second cousin and this is how I had to read about it because no one in our family talks about it.

Gripping!

I just couldn't wait to hear "what's next". I would call it 'grippingly disturbing'.

Great True Cime

Would you consider the audio edition of Predator to be better than the print version?

I enjoy audio better than written and Kevin Pierce does a great job narrating.

What did you like best about this story?

That it is a true example of the mistakes that can happen in our justice system, I think everyone who sits on a jury should have to read this book. I felt sickened, saddened and downright angry reading this. Thank you Mr Olsen for writing this book !!

Have you listened to any of Kevin Pierce’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to Murder of a Mafia Daughter. He did a great with both. His voice is perfect for true crime.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Everything that Steve had to endure. It is scary how flawed and unjust our system can be. How do you give back all that was taken from someone unfairly?

Any additional comments?

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

good book

A good interesting book and Kevin Pierce is always great. it's amazing how long some criminals get away with their crimes.

Start to finish excellent book

The intro had me hooked from the beginning. The social history was impeccably written. Details and the narrators voice were in sync. I would recommend this to any fellow true crime fanatic!!

Great book

Well researched, well written. Lots of family history on Mac. Absolutely love the narrator!! I recommend.

great book

excellent just like all of Jack's books, very interesting story and one I had never heard of even tho I was born and raised here

Predators

Any additional comments?

Jack Olsen is one of the best True Crime writers around. Not only will this book keep you on the edge of your seat, but it will also enrage you at the injustice put up by people. Predator is one of the best True Crime audiobook.

Another Jack Olsen/Kevin Pierce winning book... 5+

Jack Olsen's, writing is unlike I think any other. He doesn't just write, words, it's like you are there and know these folks. Kevin Pierce, is EXCELLENT ! As somebody else wrote it is like you are sitting on your front porch as he tells u the story. I don't want to give anything away for others, but there was unexpected twists, I absolutely did not see coming. Very disturbing ! but any true crime buff will love the book 5 + stars from me. L.B Nelson ....

Another book filled with religious nonsense

Only about a minute in and already the incessant references to religion, gods, saints, etc! How do these victims never seem to see the irony of praying to some magic sky fairy that is supposed to help them while they're being murdered, raped, etc??! Does this stop these people from being convinced that this magic sky fairy has their best interests at heart or even exists? Of course not... it's just silly that in 2020 there are really still people that believe in such ridiculous nonsense. Unbelievable!