Makes me realise how inefficient the judicial process is. Despite knowing with evidence he killed the guy, vast amount of money and time and emotions are wasted in proving it in court. The benefit of it all to society? Zero. Mark will still remain the same murdering psychopath when he comes out of jail. It's all so pathetic. ( )

The Good Stuff

Fast paced & truly fascinating
Very detailed and obviously very well researched
Not too sensational or descriptive of the more gruesome aspects of the case (I would have liked a lot less, but I am sensitive)
Author really tries hard not to put in his own opinions -- slips a little sometimes, but it would be hard not to
Impressed with the dedication of the Edmonton police force on making sure he didn't have the opportunity to kill again
Also impressed with the fact that justice system tried to protect his wife and child and I very much hope that they have a chance to have a decent life
Learned some interesting information on the work done by the police to catch someone like Twitchell
Writing style is easy to read, story sucks you in and disturbs you, but keeps you wanting to know what happened
Could lead to some fascinating discussions
I had never even heard of this case before I got the Random House list of books for review
You get a little glimpse into Jeff Lindsay's thoughts on what he thinks about this case
Good index (I know I am such a nerd, but hey it helped when I forgot things while I was writing this review)

The Not So Good Stuff

Could have done with a bit less of the gruesome descriptions (I am sensitive 'kay)
I am concerned that Twitchell will get attention from the publications of this, which he obviously gets off on
Concerned with the fact that the thought of him getting killed in prison wouldn't be all that bad to me& that disturbs me
The constant mentions of the comparison between Twitchell and the fictional Dexter were almost to the point that the author was saying that if it wasn't for Dexter, Twitchell never would have killed - think that is a cop out
Might be moving to Alberta and the crime statistics are very scary to me - definitely not moving to Deadmonton now!

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"Edmonton is not the end of the world -it's just easier to see it from there; Once quipped Ralph Klein, a colourful and well known politician. Many have adopted a similar self-deprecating attitude, wielding such ethos like an invaluable tool while residing in the northernmost major city of North America."

"Antsey had been waiting for lab results for three days, trying to be patient, but he was frustrated. Detectives started rolling their eyes when told the lab results for the new items taken from Johnny's condo still weren't back. They would joke that lab techs from television crime shows like CSI could get DNA results in an hour. In real life, there were city cases that had been stalled on DNA analysis for weeks, sometimes months.

"The burn lasted only a few minutes and died down as the fuel disappeared. Twitchell might have been smarter to mix some oil with the gasoline to make it burn longer, but he was a city boy and some things can't be learned on the internet."

Who Should/Shouldn't Read

Obviously fans of true crime will eat this up
Those living in Edmonton might be a little offended by the less than stellar comments about their city
Fabulous book for a book club or classroom discussion

4 Dewey's

I received this from Random House in exchange for an honest review ( )