Helpful Score: 6
I read this book because I know Kendall. Yes, that's right, I know this serial killer. I don't want to go into how I know, but I do.
It was intersting reading this book because I could dovetail my life into it. The party that I went to where my cousin slapped Kendall was between murder number 4 and murder number 5. The time he taught me how to play a game was between murder 2 and murder 3. Very creepy.
The book itself, however, was dull. If I hadn't known Kendall, I never would have finished this book. And the other users comments about how the author wrote as though he didn't know for sure what happened is accurate. Kendall only ever told police what happened. The author never talked to Kendall. He tried, but Kendall won't talk about it.
This "second hand" really kind of takes it out of the relm of true crime for me.
It was intersting reading this book because I could dovetail my life into it. The party that I went to where my cousin slapped Kendall was between murder number 4 and murder number 5. The time he taught me how to play a game was between murder 2 and murder 3. Very creepy.
The book itself, however, was dull. If I hadn't known Kendall, I never would have finished this book. And the other users comments about how the author wrote as though he didn't know for sure what happened is accurate. Kendall only ever told police what happened. The author never talked to Kendall. He tried, but Kendall won't talk about it.
This "second hand" really kind of takes it out of the relm of true crime for me.
Helpful Score: 5
This book was pretty bland in comparison to other True Crime books I've read. The first half of the book was somewhat interesting only because it described the crimes, but the whole book contained a vague feel, like the author was relaying what "apparently" happened. Each crime Francois committed was described exactly the same too, which I know is obvious when describing the acts of a serial killer, but the author used the same sentences in each rape/murder case which made for a boring monotonous read. All the legalities/conviction piece during the second half of the book was factual until the last few chapters when it felt the author was using fluff to make the book longer and boring. In any case, not a book that I will remember reading down the road, but entertaining enough for a lazy Sunday afternoon. :)
Helpful Score: 4
Interesting true crime book--the killer was a middle-school hall monitor and killed at least 8 women and hid them in his house. Even though neighbors thought something was weird about him and the house smelled terrible no one had a clue what he was doing. He even had family members living with him and he had them believing that a family of raccoons had died in the attic. (shiver)
Helpful Score: 3
In October 1996, women began vanishing off the streets of Poughkeepsie, New York. All were young, pretty and petite. Most were hustlers and crackheads. By August 1998, as the toll reached eight, a victim's mother said bitterly, "When they find one they will find them all." She didn't know how horrifyingly right she was.
At the height of the manhunt, prostitute Christine Sala, hysterical, told police she had barely escaped being strangled by Kendall Francois, middle school hall monitor whose slovenly personal hygiene had earned him the nickname "Stinky." When caught, Francois said that he'd killed the women because they hadn't given him all the sex he claimed he'd paid for.
Investigators in white bio-azard suits entered the house where Francois lived and found eith female corpses, almost all decomposed. Some were placed in plastic bags togther in the attic. Others lay in shallow graves in the crawl space under the house. It was such a tangle of rotting flesh and bones, even the investigators couldn't tell how many bodies there were. Now, sentenced to life in prison without parole, the man whom others dismissed a smelly oaf had finally been unmasked as one of the most bizarre serial sex-killers of modern times.
At the height of the manhunt, prostitute Christine Sala, hysterical, told police she had barely escaped being strangled by Kendall Francois, middle school hall monitor whose slovenly personal hygiene had earned him the nickname "Stinky." When caught, Francois said that he'd killed the women because they hadn't given him all the sex he claimed he'd paid for.
Investigators in white bio-azard suits entered the house where Francois lived and found eith female corpses, almost all decomposed. Some were placed in plastic bags togther in the attic. Others lay in shallow graves in the crawl space under the house. It was such a tangle of rotting flesh and bones, even the investigators couldn't tell how many bodies there were. Now, sentenced to life in prison without parole, the man whom others dismissed a smelly oaf had finally been unmasked as one of the most bizarre serial sex-killers of modern times.
Helpful Score: 3
This book was pretty bad. I don't know how Rosen could make such an interesting story so BORING! He kept filling the book with details that didn't even have to do with the story. They were side items that were not necessary. I finally gave up and skimmed the end. I think this is a good subject, but the book was poorly put together.
I didn't care for this book at all. I skimmed through it in about 30 minutes.
This was an interesting book about the efforts of the local Poughkeepsie city and town police to catch the serial killer, Kendall Francois.
I have to start this review with feelings of anger towards a community and hopefulness towards law enforcement. A complete role reversal took place during this case. A community that did not care about the "Girls on the street and a police department that did. As I ponder what may have taken so long to bring justice to heartbroken families I guess I blame the judgemental attitude of a town that thought they were "Above" the victims. For a change from the norm law enforcement did not and treated these victims equal to any other victims regardless of class. I admire this department for their tenacity. As Edmund Burks once said, "All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing." As I digest what I really learned from this book I will need to come back to finish this review.
This was a good one.
The true story of Kendall Francois, a very large man who killed at least 8 women. I disliked this book because I felt that the writing (or maybe the editing) was sloppy and could have been better. Also didn't like that one aspect of the story was left unexplored (the family life of Francois).
Gross...very very gross.
Held my interest. Kind of like reading a Law and Order episode. If you like true crime you will like this book.
