Review by Divya Vijayan -- Cold Serial: The Jack the Str...
Posted: 16 Feb 2020, 01:33
[Following is a volunteer review of "Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders" by Brian E. Forschner.]
I am so glad that I chose to read this book. It completely blew my mind! It managed to surpass all my expectations. Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders by Brian E. Forschner is a story of four girls named: Ada Lantz, Dona Giljman, Anna Markowitz, and Elizabeth Fulhart, who died a tragic death. These girls were strangled and then raped by the Dayton strangler between 1900 and 1909. As their stories unraveled, a similar pattern and a common link emerged that was able to connect all the murders to one shadowy figure lurking in the dark.
The reason the author gave for pursuing the death of these girls was that he had found worn card catalogue files in the drawers of the mausoleum of Woodland Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio, where he chanced upon the name, “Mary Forschner”. Soon he discovered that she was his great-aunt, his grandfather’s sister. He was sure that his father had never mentioned her before. His father had promised him that he would share the secrets of his family once he gets old enough to understand but his father passed away and the secret was never to be known. He pursued Mary Forschner and found her in the newspapers of that era and uncovered a trove of information and a link to these four other girls, “all of whom were forgotten.”
The book contains compelling, captivating and fast paced displays of the victims' lives and their personality, also the mind set of the people and the affect these crimes brought in the society. The book also depicts the poor condition of the police departments in Dayton when compared to other major cities like New York, Dayton didn’t have any advanced police enforcements that would’ve been helpful in solving the murder of these four girls. However, after the death of these girls, there were significant changes in the functioning of police departments.
I loved this book so much that I cannot pinpoint the exact things that were my favourite, it is one of the rare gems of crime thriller. The author is amazing at conjoining words in the most compelling way possible (it was so much so, that while reading I forgot to keep track of my notes on the book. I had to read it all over again. Not complaining though). The way he has researched the lives of these girls is something that I could’ve never imagined being done. It is as if he was there while the witnesses were giving their statements and he recorded everything, from the way they talked to the way they behaved.
I would give 4 out of 4 stars to this book as it was almost perfect, the grammatical errors were almost next to none. The rating is based on the beautiful writing of the author and also for making me care so much about the lives of the victims that I actually searched for them on the internet. If you like crime novels, this book is for you. Don’t miss the chance to read it. I am sure you would have a great time.
Enjoy the book!!
******
Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
I am so glad that I chose to read this book. It completely blew my mind! It managed to surpass all my expectations. Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders by Brian E. Forschner is a story of four girls named: Ada Lantz, Dona Giljman, Anna Markowitz, and Elizabeth Fulhart, who died a tragic death. These girls were strangled and then raped by the Dayton strangler between 1900 and 1909. As their stories unraveled, a similar pattern and a common link emerged that was able to connect all the murders to one shadowy figure lurking in the dark.
The reason the author gave for pursuing the death of these girls was that he had found worn card catalogue files in the drawers of the mausoleum of Woodland Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio, where he chanced upon the name, “Mary Forschner”. Soon he discovered that she was his great-aunt, his grandfather’s sister. He was sure that his father had never mentioned her before. His father had promised him that he would share the secrets of his family once he gets old enough to understand but his father passed away and the secret was never to be known. He pursued Mary Forschner and found her in the newspapers of that era and uncovered a trove of information and a link to these four other girls, “all of whom were forgotten.”
The book contains compelling, captivating and fast paced displays of the victims' lives and their personality, also the mind set of the people and the affect these crimes brought in the society. The book also depicts the poor condition of the police departments in Dayton when compared to other major cities like New York, Dayton didn’t have any advanced police enforcements that would’ve been helpful in solving the murder of these four girls. However, after the death of these girls, there were significant changes in the functioning of police departments.
I loved this book so much that I cannot pinpoint the exact things that were my favourite, it is one of the rare gems of crime thriller. The author is amazing at conjoining words in the most compelling way possible (it was so much so, that while reading I forgot to keep track of my notes on the book. I had to read it all over again. Not complaining though). The way he has researched the lives of these girls is something that I could’ve never imagined being done. It is as if he was there while the witnesses were giving their statements and he recorded everything, from the way they talked to the way they behaved.
I would give 4 out of 4 stars to this book as it was almost perfect, the grammatical errors were almost next to none. The rating is based on the beautiful writing of the author and also for making me care so much about the lives of the victims that I actually searched for them on the internet. If you like crime novels, this book is for you. Don’t miss the chance to read it. I am sure you would have a great time.
Enjoy the book!!
******
Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon