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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
3.5 stars, if you’ve watched Homicide Hunter there’s not really much new to be read in this book. I remembered almost every case and I haven’t finished the series yet. I will say it was definitely entertaining to get a more unfiltered & cussing Joe Kenda
3.5 stars, if you’ve watched Homicide Hunter there’s not really much new to be read in this book. I remembered almost every case and I haven’t finished the series yet. I will say it was definitely entertaining to get a more unfiltered & cussing Joe Kenda
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
I first became aware of now retired Lt. Joe Kenda through his television show Homicide Hunter, which is a real life account of the crimes that he investigated with a career that spanned 23 years with the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Solving 356 out of the 387 crimes that Kenda and his team investigated, Killer Triggers takes the reader through some of these cases, in particular those that were motivated by sex, money and drugs. For a true crime fan, this book and his previous, I Will Find You: Solving Killer Cases from My Life Fighting Crime, is a must read penned by an amazing man who stopped at nothing to bring justice for the victims and their families.
Solving 356 out of the 387 crimes that Kenda and his team investigated, Killer Triggers takes the reader through some of these cases, in particular those that were motivated by sex, money and drugs. For a true crime fan, this book and his previous, I Will Find You: Solving Killer Cases from My Life Fighting Crime, is a must read penned by an amazing man who stopped at nothing to bring justice for the victims and their families.
I’ll be honest, this one isn’t as good as the first. This one seemed like more about the cases that you would see in the show.
I still liked it don’t get me wrong, it’s just not the same as the first.
I still liked it don’t get me wrong, it’s just not the same as the first.
“Welcome to the world of murder and mayhem.”
“Violence can happen anywhere, and it can come from anyone. There is no one profile for a murderer. They come in all shapes and sizes, all religions, all ages, and all socioeconomic levels. We learn to prepare ourselves for the worst from every person, in every environment and in every situation.”
“They say life is random. Death has it beat.”
This is my second Joe Kenda book and I enjoyed it as much as the first. A fan of Homicide Hunter, I find it fascinating to peek behind the law enforcement curtain and see things that happen in the course of murder investigations. Kenda tends to write in a stream of consciousness at times, gets a little sidetracked, and then weaves back into his original story. But I love every minute because it is such an honest and authentic voice. I recognized a lot of the stories from the TV show but still found it all interesting. And if Joe Kenda puts out another book, I will be there reading it.
“Violence can happen anywhere, and it can come from anyone. There is no one profile for a murderer. They come in all shapes and sizes, all religions, all ages, and all socioeconomic levels. We learn to prepare ourselves for the worst from every person, in every environment and in every situation.”
“They say life is random. Death has it beat.”
This is my second Joe Kenda book and I enjoyed it as much as the first. A fan of Homicide Hunter, I find it fascinating to peek behind the law enforcement curtain and see things that happen in the course of murder investigations. Kenda tends to write in a stream of consciousness at times, gets a little sidetracked, and then weaves back into his original story. But I love every minute because it is such an honest and authentic voice. I recognized a lot of the stories from the TV show but still found it all interesting. And if Joe Kenda puts out another book, I will be there reading it.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder
If I were going to repeat my criminology degree, this book would make for a perfect assessment of police bias -- why is the white, middle class male murderer discussed as sympathetic vs. the young, black killers referred to as stupid "dopes," who get what they deserve when bad things happen to them, etc.
And the basic rule of thumb for writing true crime is that you should be writing the facts (and/or your editor should be doing a better job). At the end of the chapter about the death of the mom and four boys he talks about meeting a friend of the little girl [victim]. Did he mean boy? Was he mixing up cases? And Kenda says "There are only two crime labs run by the state of Colorado: one in Pueblo and one in Denver..." Perhaps that was true 30-40 years ago, but considering I send my police department's evidence to the CBI lab in Grand Junction - the 3rd of 4 labs that CBI runs in CO, I have to wonder: what else is Kenda fibbing about?!
A writer’s writing must speak for itself; the author cannot be there to defend it, so a book must clearly make its own point. I don’t know this guy, and I’ve never seen the TV show, which means I can only go by the writing in this book. And here’s what the writing is telling me right from the first chapter: sure, this guy has a great record as a detective, but he also comes across as a dick who thinks his dickishness is humor; a man who speaks out of turn about things he has no true expertise in, such as child development. The reasons behind why people commit crimes are not so black and white. You don’t "just" rob people because you’re stupid and your parents didn’t spank you. These stories themselves might be interesting, but this will be my first and last Joe Kenda book.
And the basic rule of thumb for writing true crime is that you should be writing the facts (and/or your editor should be doing a better job). At the end of the chapter about the death of the mom and four boys he talks about meeting a friend of the little girl [victim]. Did he mean boy? Was he mixing up cases? And Kenda says "There are only two crime labs run by the state of Colorado: one in Pueblo and one in Denver..." Perhaps that was true 30-40 years ago, but considering I send my police department's evidence to the CBI lab in Grand Junction - the 3rd of 4 labs that CBI runs in CO, I have to wonder: what else is Kenda fibbing about?!
A writer’s writing must speak for itself; the author cannot be there to defend it, so a book must clearly make its own point. I don’t know this guy, and I’ve never seen the TV show, which means I can only go by the writing in this book. And here’s what the writing is telling me right from the first chapter: sure, this guy has a great record as a detective, but he also comes across as a dick who thinks his dickishness is humor; a man who speaks out of turn about things he has no true expertise in, such as child development. The reasons behind why people commit crimes are not so black and white. You don’t "just" rob people because you’re stupid and your parents didn’t spank you. These stories themselves might be interesting, but this will be my first and last Joe Kenda book.