This book covers the case of Rod Ferrell, a self-proclaimed vampire cult leader. Ferrell was the leader of a group of people known as the "Vampire Clan". Ferrell adopted the personality of a 500-year-old vampire, called Vesago, that he created on a video game he liked to play. Ferrell was introduced to the game by his mother, who also had some really bizarre hobbies that involved vampirism. Ferrell and his group of friends, aka cult members, met up to drink each others blood and discuss death rituals and other things. Ferrell and another cult member went to the home of Heather Wendorf to help her run away from her home. Both of her parents were beaten to death with a crow bar by Ferrell and his friend. I will not spoil anymore of the case for anyone interested in looking it up or reading this book.

This author was wonderful to meet and hear speak at Crime Con in Nashville. I wish that I enjoyed her books as much as I enjoyed hearing her speak, but I haven't found that one that really got my attention like some other crime writers I enjoy reading. This book was tedious in places, especially in the first half of the book. I think it is important to go over the background and living situation of the people involved in the case, especially if it may shed some light on the actual crimes. This was a bit of a beating a dead horse situation when it came to rehashing the same details repeatedly. Towards the end of the book, the pace picked up and so did my interest. The case was interesting to learn about, but this could have been done better. There were a lot of missed opportunities for research into various relevant topics. Read at your own risk. 

 

I prefer the first volume, however this one had some really good poems in it that I related to on a personal level. This is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.

 

Carl Panzram was born in Minnesota in 1891. Panzram began getting in trouble with authorities at only age 8. By age 12, he had graduated from truancy to being drunk and disorderly in public. He was sent to reform school, where he endured sexual and physical abuse. In the 1920s, Panzram would engage in a murder spree that claimed at least 5 lives, though he confessed to over 20, and it was believed that he had killed at least 100. This book is a memoir of Panzram's life and crimes. I always find books like this interesting, because the psychology and thought process of people who commit crimes like this is beyond the scope of my comprehension. This book is also part of the reading list for The Last Podcast on the Left, for anyone interested in that show.

 Adolph Coors III was born in Colorado in 1915. He was the son of Adolph Coors Jr, heir to the Coors Brewing Dynasty. Coors attended Cornell University, where he was also president of the Quill and Dagger society and involved in a fraternity. On February 9, 1960, Coors was murdered in a kidnapping attempt gone awry. I will not go deep into the details of the case, but it was very interesting how the investigation played out. If you are interested in family dynasties or just the history of brewing companies, this may be a great book for you to check out. It was very well done, and provided a lot of information both about the case and history of the company. I own the Audible version, but the physical copy is under 400 pages. 

 Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were both born in Texas. They met due to a mutual friend and engaged in a life of crime together afterwards. Parker and Barrow traveled around the country with the Barrow Gang, committing all sorts of crimes and running from law enforcement. Together, the pair killed twelve people, nine of those were members of law enforcement. The two were eventually gunned down in their car by police.

This book was exceptionally well done and well researched. I have read other books by this author, and this one was just as well done as those. We recently took another trip to the Alcatraz East crime museum, which features a replica of the death car from a movie, as well as several actual artifacts from Bonnie and Clyde. If you are in the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee area, that is one attraction worth checking out. We live pretty close and like to check out the temporary exhibits there. This book was interesting to read right after taking that trip, though I did not plan it that way. Overall, this was a good book. 

This is a wonderfully sad book of poems that I relate to on a deep level. 

 Albert Fish was born Hamilton Howard Fish in Washington, D.C. in 1870. You can look at photos of Fish and immediately jump to thinking "this guy is a creepy weirdo" and that train of thought would be correct. Fish was a child rapist and murderer, killing at least three children. If that wasn't enough, he was also a cannibal. He was into sexual mutilation and all sorts of other things that support the creepy weirdo theory. This book is pretty descriptive about his crimes, so if child crimes bother you, skip it.
 
I really enjoy books by this author, so I was looking forward to reading this one. As is the standard for this author, it was properly researched and well-written. Despite being familiar with Albert Fish and his crimes through various other books, television, and podcasts, I was engaged throughout. If you are interested in The Last Podcast on the Left, this book is on that reading list. 

 This book was okay. I thought it was going to be different than what it was. I am not really sure where I got that this was some type of 1920s era murder story, but it wasn't hardly that. Fraternities are a hotbed of shenanigans. When we think of them, we often think about wild parties with plenty of drugs and alcohol, stories of hazing and hazing gone really wrong, sexual assault, promiscuity, and who even knows what else. All of that takes place in this book, but it also hits on the types of people that enter into fraternities. Many of them are legacy members, wealthy kids, and others with some degree of affluence. The thought really hadn't occurred to me, but it was interesting to read about. There are a great many scandals in organizations like this that people have yet to uncover, I am sure. Overall, the book was decent, and I am not mad at it. 

 Vito Genovese was born in Italy in 1897. He immigrated to the United States in 1913, at the age of fifteen. Genovese got involved in street crime in Little Italy pretty much immediately. He would go on to work for Guiseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria, the leader of the crime family he would one day lead. He was cohorts with Lucky Luciano and several other well-known names in organized crime. This book outlined his life and criminal career. The book was really well done, properly researched, and written by an investigative journalist who can keep a reader's attention. 

Robert Durst was born in New York in 1943. His father was Seymour Durst, a real estate mogul. His mother died by suicide when he was seven. Robert was passed over for inheritance of the family business in favor of his younger brother, which upset him greatly. His wife, Kathleen McCormack went missing and there was much speculation and investigation into her disappearance. Prior to her disappearance, she had been seen by a doctor for facial injuries. She told a friend that she was being beaten by Durst, though she declined to involve police. Not long after she went missing, Durst disposed of her possessions in the trash compactor of their building. He divorced her eight years after she went missing, citing spousal abandonment, but was later charged with her murder. His friend, Susan Berman, publicly defended him amidst speculation about Kathleen, and later found herself murdered as well. A neighbor, Morris Black, also went missing and was found dismembered and Durst in possession of some items belonging to Black.

This book covers the police investigations into Kathleen McCormack, Susan Berman, and Morris Black. The trials of Robert Durst were pretty high profile, so many people are probably familiar with them. I will refrain from commenting on them in case there is someone unfamiliar who is really interested in reading this book to learn about them. I vaguely recall the case being in the news when it originally happened, but I mostly remember Robert Durst from when he was in court trying to get out of trouble because he had contracted Covid. At any rate, this book was pretty good and offered some really interesting information that I was previously unaware of.