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IT'S ME, Edward Wayne Edwards, the Serial Killer You Never Heard Of
Now featured in the Paramount Network series "It Was The Many Murders of Ed Edwards"
Meet Edward Wayne Edwards, the most evil serial killer you've never heard of. In this chilling case-by-case analysis and story of the killer's life, former detective John A. Cameron argues that Edwards was not only responsible for the five torture-murders he confessed to and was eventually convicted for, but for dozens more across the U.S., over decades. Tracing the murderer's life from his beginnings as a misguided boy who witnessed his mother's suicide, Cameron conducted hundreds of interviews, including exchanging phone calls and letters with the killer and interviewing his family. The result is a complex, terrifying, and fascinating analysis of Edwards' travels across the U.S. in the periods of his as a young itinerant handy man, an escaped fugitive on the run after a jailbreak, and of all things, an author on tour to promote a book about his life as a reformed criminal, followed years later by his arrest and confession. Each part of this haunting timeline is tied by Cameron to murder cases in the areas Edwards lived, based on his MO and his sick joy in taunting police, attending trials on the cases, and getting people wrongfully convicted for the murders he claims he did. These cases and ties include links to the famed Zodiac Killer, and more.
Meet Edward Wayne Edwards, the most evil serial killer you've never heard of. In this chilling case-by-case analysis and story of the killer's life, former detective John A. Cameron argues that Edwards was not only responsible for the five torture-murders he confessed to and was eventually convicted for, but for dozens more across the U.S., over decades. Tracing the murderer's life from his beginnings as a misguided boy who witnessed his mother's suicide, Cameron conducted hundreds of interviews, including exchanging phone calls and letters with the killer and interviewing his family. The result is a complex, terrifying, and fascinating analysis of Edwards' travels across the U.S. in the periods of his as a young itinerant handy man, an escaped fugitive on the run after a jailbreak, and of all things, an author on tour to promote a book about his life as a reformed criminal, followed years later by his arrest and confession. Each part of this haunting timeline is tied by Cameron to murder cases in the areas Edwards lived, based on his MO and his sick joy in taunting police, attending trials on the cases, and getting people wrongfully convicted for the murders he claims he did. These cases and ties include links to the famed Zodiac Killer, and more.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 15, 2014
131 people are currently reading
758 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 7, 2014
A book about a dude who committed all the famous murders ever? Who also killed everyone ever, including his own mom before the age of six? OMG, pull me up a chair because I am so there. Crazy-town is the best town.
This book is hella disappointing though, and not even worth reading for the craziness (which never really even sets in). Firstly, the author is an absolutely terrible writer. Avengers fanfiction written by a second grader with severe dyslexia would be better engaging. This book is written in the third person...the author is writing in the third person about himself and his investigation. Also, the entire book is a series of conversations between himself and others. Cameron cannot write engaging dialouge and when he attempts to, in a typical third person omnipotent point of view, give the reader insight into the other "characters" in this tale it gets really cringe-worthy. We've been informed that these other characters, Cameron's secretary, Neal and Edwards are intelligent people, but their "thoughts" that Cameron writes for us are super one-dimensional "oh that Cameron is so smart" simple sentences. Cameron is really into himself.
Cameron, throughout the book, harps on and on about how Edwards told him to "hold off writing". Cameron believes that this is because he has yet to solve all the murders ever. I choose to believe that Edwards sincerely wanted our author to take a few creative writing classes at the local community college first.
Next, let's talk about Cameron's partner in crime solving, shall we? Neal, sweet, dumb Neal. Neal, who is presented in the first chapter as an expert in the Zodiac case who is re-introduced in chapter 2 as someone who knows nothing about the case. Neal, who is an expert in several languages and who as read the Egyptian Book of the Dead "in the original" and who sincerely believes that the Egyptian religion has a Satan figure named "Ray". Harmless Neal, who is a murderer.
Wait-what? This is, I believe, the impetus behind Cameron's work here. His buddy Neal caused a car accident that killed a young girl and Cameron, believing that the less than a year of probation that he received was too much for this "great guy" helped lower it even further. Cameron has reconsidered this and feels guilty, and to assuage his own sense of guilt, he single-mindedly tries to heap as much onto this one sleazeball (for a sleazeball Edwards surely was, and a murderer, among numerous other things) as he can in order to say, "Hey, this guy was worse! He literally killed everybody!"
A leap, you say? Much less of a leap than what Cameron expects his audience to swallow about Edward's career as a serial killer. For one, he tells, tells and tells some more and never once shows. We "know" that Edwards was influenced by a strong anti-Christian (primarily anti-Catholic) bias because Cameron continually tells us that but never once do we, the readers "see" this in Edwards own writings, admissions, etc. We are expected to take Cameron's word on it because he repeats it so much. This goes for the Egyptian influences, satanism, etc. The main body of evidence lies in the fact that Edwards was in the general area whenever some horrific murders or kidnappings go down, because his book is a "puzzle" that hints at murders by admitting that Edwards was in the same area at the same time people were murdered. By that logic, I am also a mass murderer, because in everyplace I have ever lived and/or traveled, murders and other sundry events have taken place! It's like murders take place every day or something! Don't tell Cameron, though, otherwise I'll probably be the star of his next writing endeavor.
This book, for all the reasons mentioned above, was insanely hard to read. I was expecting some half-way decent writing and some off-the-wall shenanigans, but I got crap. I would not recommend this to anyone, there are better true-crime books out there with interesting and off-the-wall theories.
This book is hella disappointing though, and not even worth reading for the craziness (which never really even sets in). Firstly, the author is an absolutely terrible writer. Avengers fanfiction written by a second grader with severe dyslexia would be better engaging. This book is written in the third person...the author is writing in the third person about himself and his investigation. Also, the entire book is a series of conversations between himself and others. Cameron cannot write engaging dialouge and when he attempts to, in a typical third person omnipotent point of view, give the reader insight into the other "characters" in this tale it gets really cringe-worthy. We've been informed that these other characters, Cameron's secretary, Neal and Edwards are intelligent people, but their "thoughts" that Cameron writes for us are super one-dimensional "oh that Cameron is so smart" simple sentences. Cameron is really into himself.
Cameron, throughout the book, harps on and on about how Edwards told him to "hold off writing". Cameron believes that this is because he has yet to solve all the murders ever. I choose to believe that Edwards sincerely wanted our author to take a few creative writing classes at the local community college first.
Next, let's talk about Cameron's partner in crime solving, shall we? Neal, sweet, dumb Neal. Neal, who is presented in the first chapter as an expert in the Zodiac case who is re-introduced in chapter 2 as someone who knows nothing about the case. Neal, who is an expert in several languages and who as read the Egyptian Book of the Dead "in the original" and who sincerely believes that the Egyptian religion has a Satan figure named "Ray". Harmless Neal, who is a murderer.
Wait-what? This is, I believe, the impetus behind Cameron's work here. His buddy Neal caused a car accident that killed a young girl and Cameron, believing that the less than a year of probation that he received was too much for this "great guy" helped lower it even further. Cameron has reconsidered this and feels guilty, and to assuage his own sense of guilt, he single-mindedly tries to heap as much onto this one sleazeball (for a sleazeball Edwards surely was, and a murderer, among numerous other things) as he can in order to say, "Hey, this guy was worse! He literally killed everybody!"
A leap, you say? Much less of a leap than what Cameron expects his audience to swallow about Edward's career as a serial killer. For one, he tells, tells and tells some more and never once shows. We "know" that Edwards was influenced by a strong anti-Christian (primarily anti-Catholic) bias because Cameron continually tells us that but never once do we, the readers "see" this in Edwards own writings, admissions, etc. We are expected to take Cameron's word on it because he repeats it so much. This goes for the Egyptian influences, satanism, etc. The main body of evidence lies in the fact that Edwards was in the general area whenever some horrific murders or kidnappings go down, because his book is a "puzzle" that hints at murders by admitting that Edwards was in the same area at the same time people were murdered. By that logic, I am also a mass murderer, because in everyplace I have ever lived and/or traveled, murders and other sundry events have taken place! It's like murders take place every day or something! Don't tell Cameron, though, otherwise I'll probably be the star of his next writing endeavor.
This book, for all the reasons mentioned above, was insanely hard to read. I was expecting some half-way decent writing and some off-the-wall shenanigans, but I got crap. I would not recommend this to anyone, there are better true-crime books out there with interesting and off-the-wall theories.
April 8, 2018
This reads like a middle school research paper that didn't quite get an outline together before writing it. The timeline is confusing. It seems to be written chronologically in the order the information was put together, but it keeps going backwards to revisit the same murders multiple times as if the evidence has not already been discussed. The author is writing his first hand account in third person and offering his own speculation of Ed Edwards inner thoughts. There are way too many exclamation points, which may have been a choice as Ed Edwards uses many in his own correspondence, or maybe the author just did not have an editor. The conspiracy is griping if you're into sensational details and serial murders, but it is written and presented so poorly.
February 2, 2015
The information and research included here are worth five stars; only the average writing detracts from what could be more compelling reading. As the author says, this book is only a start on what could be a decades-long investigation. The underlying theme is that Edwards always reacted to the deeds of anyone except him being in the headlines by killing and leaving cryptic clues - what confuses most humans is that it is so difficult to believe any human could be so unfeeling and manipulative. Unfortunately, further investigation may be hindered by the fact that law enforcement agencies are loathe to admit they were so clueless in their reaction to these heinous crimes.
May 19, 2016
Did not finish. Barely started. I thought it probably impossible for one murderer to kill that many people and be involved in so many prominent cases, but I thought it would be interesting. Just a glimpse into the killer's own writing makes it clear that he is another con who thinks he is brighter than he is. The author's writing is not very good, either. And! There! Are! So! Many! Exclamation! Points!
February 3, 2016
Very Interesting Book....
This book is thoroughly well written, and takes the reader on a journey to consider that just one demented man committed many crimes and homicides over the course of his lifetime. These crimes (murders) were not only run-of-the-mill type, but were committed solely for the purpose of "Crimes of Recognition."
Which the author does a great job in taking us readers back into time in Edwards' childhood, which according to Edwards' own book, he confesses to these exact same words, and if you read Edward Edwards book "MOAC," it will certainly confirm it.
As I read this book, my mind had so many questions, and from my perspective, just as I would come to a conclusion that he is/was responsible for all of these highly publicized nationwide murders, my mind would naturally say "no way, how could one person elude authorities for over a span of 50+ years,?" and that's when the author would connect the dots.
What I came away after reading this book is that, Edward Edwards underneath it all, is possibly "THE MOST intelligent, complicated, egotistical criminal there EVER was."
This book is thoroughly well written, and takes the reader on a journey to consider that just one demented man committed many crimes and homicides over the course of his lifetime. These crimes (murders) were not only run-of-the-mill type, but were committed solely for the purpose of "Crimes of Recognition."
Which the author does a great job in taking us readers back into time in Edwards' childhood, which according to Edwards' own book, he confesses to these exact same words, and if you read Edward Edwards book "MOAC," it will certainly confirm it.
As I read this book, my mind had so many questions, and from my perspective, just as I would come to a conclusion that he is/was responsible for all of these highly publicized nationwide murders, my mind would naturally say "no way, how could one person elude authorities for over a span of 50+ years,?" and that's when the author would connect the dots.
What I came away after reading this book is that, Edward Edwards underneath it all, is possibly "THE MOST intelligent, complicated, egotistical criminal there EVER was."
January 11, 2018
This book is atrocious. It's terribly written, and there are so many inaccuracies. One example that comes to mind is a photo of Stevie Branch (an 8 year old boy from West Memphis, Arkansas who was murdered) and underneath the photo it says that it's a photo of Christopher Byers (another boy who was murdered at the same time and place as Stevie). It's written in the third person, so the author is essentially referring to himself in third person. *insert shoulder shrug*
August 19, 2014
This book was horrible. I couldn't even get through the whole thing. The writer used so many unneeded exclamation marks it was absurd. And you couldn't read many of the letters copied in the book. I HIGHLY suggest NOT reading this book.
September 4, 2019
I’m a fan of true crime but this book (aside from learning about the victims and their history) has to be one of the worst books I have ever read.
Point the 1st: it is incredibly annoying to the reader to have exclamation points at the end of virtually every sentence. Because it was such a source of annoyance for me (I’ll explain why in a moment), I actually counted exclamation points versus periods. The exclamation points win, hands down, by appearing 3x more than the periods. Here’s why it annoys me: overuse of the exclamation points was meant to apply a gravitas to what the detectives, investigators, and others found but came off like everything was an earth-shattering revelation meant to be screamed to the heavens. It didn’t impart gravitas... it imparted a sense that the author, by using the exclamation points so frequently, was trying to cram the theory down the readers throat. In what could have been an earnest and compelling argument or vignette about the victims and the murder, this simply screamed that a conclusion had be reached by the author and the author was like a terrier worrying a favorite bone.
Believe me, I’m not calling out poor punctuation. My argument is thus: overuse of the exclamation point in this book caused the book to feel surreal, forced, and contrived. This distracted from the actual happenings because each time something occurred, it was of prime importance and the author wanted you to know that he felt that way, even when what was being described should have been background material.
An example (I’m paraphrasing): The couple was found murdered on Lovers Lane! The boy had been shot and the girl was nowhere to be found! Headlines in the paper talked of the brutal event for several days. Then, almost a week later, the girls body was found 4 miles away! And, after checking the arrest records, the killer had been stopped in a routine traffic stop and arrested! He had been in the same city at the same time that the killings occurred!
Instead of imparting the seriousness of the event, and the tragic history of those killed, the author’s choice of punctuation made the book laughable and virtually unbelievable, and did the victims no justice whatsoever.
Point the 2nd: For as many murders Edward Wayne Edwards admitted to have allegedly committed, it seemed as though the author went to the extreme and attributed any unsolved case with any degree of similarity to Edward Wayne Edwards. Once again, the over abundance and inclusion of murders that matched in some degree, however slight, detracted from the victims that could be attributed to Edward Wayne Edwards. Any connection to a similar murder, with however minute (down to the fact that Mr. Edwards was in the state, but not necessarily anywhere near the murder scene), was included as a potential victim, thereby causing actual victims to be relegated to the background.
Point the 3rd: The authors enthusiasm to connect Mr. Edwards to pretty much every high profile murder that has occurred since the early 1940’s was made because Mr. Edwards claimed to have committed them. It is clear from the book that Mr. Edwards was seeking a way out of life (jurisdiction hopping to find the one that would give him the death penalty, even if it meant admitting to killings in states specifically due to their willingness to engage in capital punishment). He was in severely declining health, was in a wheelchair, was incredibly overweight, and suffering from diabetes. Apparently, the author didn’t give much credence to the fact that a) Mr. Edwards had severe depression, was in atrocious health, and psychologically unstable enough to admit to any killing in order to be put to death (because, in my opinion, he was afraid to do it himself). Mr. Edwards should have had a forensic psychologist speak with him and provide a psychological profile that would likely indicate delusions of grandeur, an overwhelming need to feel important, and a desire to be the worst of the worst.
Some of the killings that he admitted to doing were taken as read and included in the book as shocking. He was in the state when it occurred! To connect him to these brutal crimes based solely on his word, with the only tie being that he happened to be in the state (sometimes hundreds of miles away), is a violation of the precepts of law enforcement investigations as well as the true-crime writer’s credo: Trust but verify and get more than circumstantial evidence to support the perpetrators claims.
Now, please keep in mind that I’m not claiming that Mr. Edwards did not murder people, and did so with malice aforethought, but linking him to the Jon Benet Ramsey case, the Nicole Simpson case, the BTK case, the Zodiac Killer case, the Nightstalker case, and many more with very thin circumstantial facts (I won’t even deign to call it evidence), smacks of pure and utter sensationalism in an attempt to sell books.
All in all, I feel that the verified victims of Mr. Edwards murderous desires were completely overshadowed by poor writing and overly sensationalistic content, which is by far, the worst part of this train wreck of an attempt (which failed spectacularly) of an entry into the true crime genre.
Point the 1st: it is incredibly annoying to the reader to have exclamation points at the end of virtually every sentence. Because it was such a source of annoyance for me (I’ll explain why in a moment), I actually counted exclamation points versus periods. The exclamation points win, hands down, by appearing 3x more than the periods. Here’s why it annoys me: overuse of the exclamation points was meant to apply a gravitas to what the detectives, investigators, and others found but came off like everything was an earth-shattering revelation meant to be screamed to the heavens. It didn’t impart gravitas... it imparted a sense that the author, by using the exclamation points so frequently, was trying to cram the theory down the readers throat. In what could have been an earnest and compelling argument or vignette about the victims and the murder, this simply screamed that a conclusion had be reached by the author and the author was like a terrier worrying a favorite bone.
Believe me, I’m not calling out poor punctuation. My argument is thus: overuse of the exclamation point in this book caused the book to feel surreal, forced, and contrived. This distracted from the actual happenings because each time something occurred, it was of prime importance and the author wanted you to know that he felt that way, even when what was being described should have been background material.
An example (I’m paraphrasing): The couple was found murdered on Lovers Lane! The boy had been shot and the girl was nowhere to be found! Headlines in the paper talked of the brutal event for several days. Then, almost a week later, the girls body was found 4 miles away! And, after checking the arrest records, the killer had been stopped in a routine traffic stop and arrested! He had been in the same city at the same time that the killings occurred!
Instead of imparting the seriousness of the event, and the tragic history of those killed, the author’s choice of punctuation made the book laughable and virtually unbelievable, and did the victims no justice whatsoever.
Point the 2nd: For as many murders Edward Wayne Edwards admitted to have allegedly committed, it seemed as though the author went to the extreme and attributed any unsolved case with any degree of similarity to Edward Wayne Edwards. Once again, the over abundance and inclusion of murders that matched in some degree, however slight, detracted from the victims that could be attributed to Edward Wayne Edwards. Any connection to a similar murder, with however minute (down to the fact that Mr. Edwards was in the state, but not necessarily anywhere near the murder scene), was included as a potential victim, thereby causing actual victims to be relegated to the background.
Point the 3rd: The authors enthusiasm to connect Mr. Edwards to pretty much every high profile murder that has occurred since the early 1940’s was made because Mr. Edwards claimed to have committed them. It is clear from the book that Mr. Edwards was seeking a way out of life (jurisdiction hopping to find the one that would give him the death penalty, even if it meant admitting to killings in states specifically due to their willingness to engage in capital punishment). He was in severely declining health, was in a wheelchair, was incredibly overweight, and suffering from diabetes. Apparently, the author didn’t give much credence to the fact that a) Mr. Edwards had severe depression, was in atrocious health, and psychologically unstable enough to admit to any killing in order to be put to death (because, in my opinion, he was afraid to do it himself). Mr. Edwards should have had a forensic psychologist speak with him and provide a psychological profile that would likely indicate delusions of grandeur, an overwhelming need to feel important, and a desire to be the worst of the worst.
Some of the killings that he admitted to doing were taken as read and included in the book as shocking. He was in the state when it occurred! To connect him to these brutal crimes based solely on his word, with the only tie being that he happened to be in the state (sometimes hundreds of miles away), is a violation of the precepts of law enforcement investigations as well as the true-crime writer’s credo: Trust but verify and get more than circumstantial evidence to support the perpetrators claims.
Now, please keep in mind that I’m not claiming that Mr. Edwards did not murder people, and did so with malice aforethought, but linking him to the Jon Benet Ramsey case, the Nicole Simpson case, the BTK case, the Zodiac Killer case, the Nightstalker case, and many more with very thin circumstantial facts (I won’t even deign to call it evidence), smacks of pure and utter sensationalism in an attempt to sell books.
All in all, I feel that the verified victims of Mr. Edwards murderous desires were completely overshadowed by poor writing and overly sensationalistic content, which is by far, the worst part of this train wreck of an attempt (which failed spectacularly) of an entry into the true crime genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2017
I got through less than one page. It was written like a starter fan fiction, written for a class assignment in middle school, about the writer. I would give it no stars if I could.
April 9, 2016
If this book is to be believed Edward Wayne Edwards is a serial killer's serial killer, responsible for a multitude of brutal murders over a nearly 70 time spanning the 1940s through the 2000s.
The Lipstick Killer. Zodiac. JonBenet Ramsey. Black Dahlia. West Memphis Three. Chandra Levy. And that's just a tip of the murderous iceberg.
That, in and of itself, is a pretty remarkable set of dots to connect. The problem is the author/former cop who wrote the book has compiled a headache-inducing mixture of allegations-as-fact, strung together in a dizzying collection of theories.
I won't spend much time on just how poorly written/assembled this book is, and while I love the inclusion of images of MANY actual letters/correspondence from Edwards there is no transcription and most are nearly illegible. The nice part about these documents is when Cameron (who for some reason has written the book in third person) uses Edwards' handwriting as links to other crimes not attributed to him.
But if I throw away the sloppy construction of the book I am left with Cameron's bold accusations against Edwards and his life of crime. And those accusations are pretty huge. And Cameron does paint a very compelling case most of the time. A lot of it is loose, but there is a lot here that seems plausible, despite the theoretical absurdity.
The book itself gave me a headache trying to keep things straight (though in Cameron's defense the book's second half is marginally easier to follow) and the author never met a tangent he wouldn't jump. But the allegations - which in Cameron-speak is FACT - are unnerving if true, and at the very least it raise some interesting questions.
The Lipstick Killer. Zodiac. JonBenet Ramsey. Black Dahlia. West Memphis Three. Chandra Levy. And that's just a tip of the murderous iceberg.
That, in and of itself, is a pretty remarkable set of dots to connect. The problem is the author/former cop who wrote the book has compiled a headache-inducing mixture of allegations-as-fact, strung together in a dizzying collection of theories.
I won't spend much time on just how poorly written/assembled this book is, and while I love the inclusion of images of MANY actual letters/correspondence from Edwards there is no transcription and most are nearly illegible. The nice part about these documents is when Cameron (who for some reason has written the book in third person) uses Edwards' handwriting as links to other crimes not attributed to him.
But if I throw away the sloppy construction of the book I am left with Cameron's bold accusations against Edwards and his life of crime. And those accusations are pretty huge. And Cameron does paint a very compelling case most of the time. A lot of it is loose, but there is a lot here that seems plausible, despite the theoretical absurdity.
The book itself gave me a headache trying to keep things straight (though in Cameron's defense the book's second half is marginally easier to follow) and the author never met a tangent he wouldn't jump. But the allegations - which in Cameron-speak is FACT - are unnerving if true, and at the very least it raise some interesting questions.
July 9, 2023
The devil made him do it, or Sister Mary Agnes, a nun at an orphanage who mistreated him. His childhood led to a long life of Satan worship with a good deal of zodiac astrology thrown in.
Edward Edwards is either the most prolific killer in history or just another raging megalomaniac.
John Cameron is a retired cop who came upon Edward's story and now believes that he has stumbled upon the greatest criminal mind in the history of America.
The Zodiac Killer material links most of the book together. The symbols are analyzed ad infinitum and compared with Edward's autobiography. His letters are shown throughout the book and are often difficult to read photocopies written in cursive.
Cameron is convinced that Eddie killed the Black Dahlia at the age of fourteen. A photo of someone with Elizabeth Short is shown and it is supposedly Ed as a boy.
JonBenet Ramsey is another suspected murder. Edward lived thirty miles from her home at the time of the murder and the letter contains some similar language to the Zodiac Killers writings.
Cameron lost me with the Atlanta child murders as Wayne Williams is likely guilty.
Other notorious cases are the Lipstick Killer Heirens, Marilyn Sheppard, the West Memphis Three. Adam Walsh. Chandra Levy, and even a nun killed at a church in Ohio where a priest was convicted.
I do believe that Edward's was a career criminal and murderer but most of the conclusions are just speculative coincidences.
Leaving aside the outrageous claims made by the author, I was entertained by this book.
Edward Edwards is either the most prolific killer in history or just another raging megalomaniac.
John Cameron is a retired cop who came upon Edward's story and now believes that he has stumbled upon the greatest criminal mind in the history of America.
The Zodiac Killer material links most of the book together. The symbols are analyzed ad infinitum and compared with Edward's autobiography. His letters are shown throughout the book and are often difficult to read photocopies written in cursive.
Cameron is convinced that Eddie killed the Black Dahlia at the age of fourteen. A photo of someone with Elizabeth Short is shown and it is supposedly Ed as a boy.
JonBenet Ramsey is another suspected murder. Edward lived thirty miles from her home at the time of the murder and the letter contains some similar language to the Zodiac Killers writings.
Cameron lost me with the Atlanta child murders as Wayne Williams is likely guilty.
Other notorious cases are the Lipstick Killer Heirens, Marilyn Sheppard, the West Memphis Three. Adam Walsh. Chandra Levy, and even a nun killed at a church in Ohio where a priest was convicted.
I do believe that Edward's was a career criminal and murderer but most of the conclusions are just speculative coincidences.
Leaving aside the outrageous claims made by the author, I was entertained by this book.
March 13, 2016
I was introduced to this book after watching to popular Netflix documentary, Making a Murderer. As most viewers, at the time I believed that Steve Avery was innocent. I was exploring other possible theories (as if I'm a detective myself).
Anyways, the thought behind this book is brilliant. You can tell that John Cameron was very passionate about his research and that he did a lot of it. There is an abundance of concrete evidence to back up his claims. He even includes copies of real documents to back up his claim - that Ed Edwards is responsible for several unsolved murders in several different states. Including the Zodiac Killings and Therese Halback's murder.
With that said, the book is poorly written. It is as though they were in such a rush to get the book out, they did little to no editing.
John Cameron is the author, and the entire book is basically him commending himself on being so brilliant - it makes the facts of the murder seem like a secondary story under his intelligence. It made me lose interest in the book. It was hard to get through for me personally.
I did however find the Ed Edwards theory intriguing so rather than finishing the book - I just googled articles on Ed Edwards and satisfied my curiosity that way. I would recommend you do that rather than buy the book.
Anyways, the thought behind this book is brilliant. You can tell that John Cameron was very passionate about his research and that he did a lot of it. There is an abundance of concrete evidence to back up his claims. He even includes copies of real documents to back up his claim - that Ed Edwards is responsible for several unsolved murders in several different states. Including the Zodiac Killings and Therese Halback's murder.
With that said, the book is poorly written. It is as though they were in such a rush to get the book out, they did little to no editing.
John Cameron is the author, and the entire book is basically him commending himself on being so brilliant - it makes the facts of the murder seem like a secondary story under his intelligence. It made me lose interest in the book. It was hard to get through for me personally.
I did however find the Ed Edwards theory intriguing so rather than finishing the book - I just googled articles on Ed Edwards and satisfied my curiosity that way. I would recommend you do that rather than buy the book.
September 11, 2017
I, too, heard about this book after watching "Making a Murderer" and the assumption that Edward Edwards had to have killed Teresa Halbach. I very very rarely give up on a book once I have started reading it, and this one nearly made me do so based on the terrible writing style alone. It was seriously all over the place, jumping from one case to another and back again. Supposedly, this guy was the Zodiac, the Atlanta Child murderer, killed Chandra Levy, Adam Walsh, Laci Peterson, JonBenet Ramsey, Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia) the boys killed in the Memphis three murders, perpetrated the anthrax scares after 9/11, and killed his own mother at the age of five. Maybe Edward Wayne Edwards killed Christ too. These "experts" in this book seem to think he's responsible for every single killing in the past 70 years. That's not to say that E.W.E. wasn't a sicko and a killer, I just don't buy the so-called "evidence" ("He used the number three! OMG! That's his signature!" "He capitalized the letter E! It's him again!" "Well this has to be him because he talked about the cross, and the stab wounds kinda resembled a cross!" "The body was covered with a sheet! That's his MO!") whatsoever. Bottom line: even if you can stomach the garbled writing and the serious reaches to make "connections" between the crimes, don't waste your time reading this book.
March 21, 2015
Cameron makes a very convincing case. I've always been curious about the zodiac killer and who was behind it all. well I am convinced that Ed Edwards was the Zodiac killer. too many coincidences for it to be someone else. so yeah i give it four out of five stars. its a great read. especially if you are familiar with the zodiac killings. even if you never heard of the case... well then its stool worth the read.
May 3, 2018
This book is insane. The far reaching links the author is pulling for to convince the audience that Ed Edward's killed everyone ever murdered is crazy. At some points I thought to myself the author is crazier that the serial killer. The writing itself was as if a 10 year old wrote it, I would only recommend this book for a good laugh. The best part of the book are the included letters and pictures from previous crimes. This book is full on CRAZY talk.
February 6, 2016
This was an amazing book. John did a great job of research and I think he definitely proves that Ed Edwards committed dozens of more murders than anyone thought. Well worth the read!
March 4, 2016
This book is terribly written. I mean hire an editor. Even a college student. Leaps abound in logic. Still, ~I want to believe~. The ultimate in "bath books".
April 21, 2017
A serial-murder loving conspiracy theorists wet dream. It's almost as if someone took up the challenge of trying to link as many murders as possible to one person.
March 1, 2016
What motivated me to start this book was another case, advanced in an interview with the author that was posted to YouTube, suggesting that the murder of Teresa Halbach was yet another of Edwards' dirty deeds, fitting the modus operandi the author developed for Edwards. This was the murder made famous in the Netflix documentary miniseries Making A Murderer, for which Steven Avery was ultimately convicted. In the interview, the author suggests that a bystander, captured for only one second in one courtroom hallway scene, was none other than Edwards himself. He suggests that this seemingly incidental cameo would have been no accident, that Edwards could have been in the area during the time in question, and that the framing of another person, indirectly manipulating law enforcement to pursue a false version of the crime, was Edwards' murderous career stock-in-trade. The author theorizes that the attention given to Avery's earlier wrongful conviction may have attracted Edwards to come to the area to do the alleged murder and frame-up.
I felt rather open-mindedly optimistic about that theory after watching the YouTube clip, and it was shortly after that when I coincidentally spotted this book while wandering the stacks at my local library! After getting to page 211, however, I am very decidedly pessimistic about not only the theory that Edwards killed Halbach and framed Avery, but also the entire related story which the book advances.
A good story though both are, I've abandoned this book for now. I may finish it later. I should be clear that the Steven Avery/Teresa Halbach connection was advanced by the author after the book was published, so you'll find no details about that within.
This edition (likely the only one) is a lovely hardcover. Yet I am baffled by the publisher's choice of typeface. Who sets a book entirely in sans serif? While the materials of the book are quite lovely, and no-doubt not cheap to use, the publisher seems to have given the book to a team of noobs to execute, and the author was apparently left entirely to his own devices as to how to present the story. After reviewing an intermediate draft, I think any reasonable editor would have had a serious conference with the author on points of style and presentation to insist on a serious reworking. Alas, what you see is what you get.
This book attempts to sell you on a serious crime theory, and to do this, you need a first-person documentary account. Instead, we have a very awkward third-person retelling that essentially novelizes the whole concept. Conversations are had, set in passages of quoted dialog, and the reader is left to wonder: is this an actual quote, as in, did he really say this, or is this just a bit of stylistic dialog advancing a point in the narrative, intended to be interpreted as the "gist" of what transpired? To take this book SERIOUSLY*, you do not want to find yourself confronted with such questions.
The author advances a novel theory of crimes alleged to have been committed by Ed Edwards, some of which have been attributed to other perpetrators, a number of whom have been convicted and, if the author's theory is correct, are wrongfully so. If the author's timeline and attributions are correct, it would make Edwards the No. 1 serial killer in the world, par excellence, with a killing career spanning some 62 years or so. From the first kill in the late 1040s to the last in 2010 (if I'm remembering correctly), every one done with an extremely high level of skill and precision so as to not attract attention at the wrong moment, and not leave evidence pointing directly at him. Here is a purported serial killer who required no learning curve, no sloppy or hesitant early kills to acquire skill and technique. He was born a master, and that was by itself going too far for me to believe.
The author assembles various prison and judicial records (or unofficial reports, the formatting set in the book for some exhibited listings appears contrived to look official, but may not be an actual record in any real database or file, in this way becoming only a dressed-up synopsis notation) in an attempt to create a timeline tracking Edwards movements and correlating them to crimes. But, there are very large empty spaces in the result of this process where no firm evidence is forthcoming. The author also gives us the cryptograms from the Zodiac case, along with a purported solution and recovered plaintext messages via his friend Neal, a genius. The messages are interesting, for what it's worth, and feed into the notion that Edwards might be the Zodiac, but not one page is spent elucidating the process which arrived at this solution, nor a discussion about how Neal can be confident it is a valid solution.
Another opportunity to gather firm evidence to bolster the theory is completely wasted in the letters and conversations which the author and his friend Neal have with Edwards. Rather than frank factual discussions about their ideas and direct solicitations from Edwards for corroborating statements or dis-confirming evidence, the keystone players engage in a sort of tongue-in-cheek string-along game with the man. They adopt personas and hedge their information, structuring a contrived relationship with him which they think might get Edwards on their side; somehow make him more cooperative, less likely to be dismissive or engage in deliberate misdirection (a tactic the author warns Edwards is a master at).
Well, I think they seriously misplayed their chance. Edwards responded very cordially to all their inquiries, eludes that there are more bodies and stories to talk about than they apparently know about, and that in any case, a meeting ought to be arranged soon as he knows a state execution is already pending on other recent convictions. Yet, in my opinion, the author and his friend instead choose to continue to toy with Edwards about their theory and knowledge, and in due course not long after their direct communications open, Edwards' death sentence is carried out...leaving all their questions still effectively unanswered!
The rest of the author's evidence consists of little more than entirely subjective handwriting and photo analysis. Does this writing sample from Edwards' correspondence with the author look like this note left by the Zodiac? Does this face, known to be Edwards, sufficiently resemble this face, possibly the perpetrator of one of the other documented crimes?
And with that the whole book's case melts down to the simple judgement of the eye of the beholder. No real leads are developed or run down conclusively. No new evidence is brought to light. And most tragically, Edwards' is never really given the opportunity to come forward and explain how "It's ME" and provide details of the listed crimes and leads or details which could be later corroborated and verified, the substance that would form the foundation of a solid case.
If in fact Edwards is the killer he is alleged to be, guilty of the other murders the book attributes to him, especially the Zodiac and Black Dahlia killings, I am afraid that clear and convincing evidence of this fact may be, with Edwards' death, forever lost to history. But, at least with respect to the Zodiac legend, we can add both Edwards and the author's names to the very long list of people who have claimed to have clear and convincing evidence to have either been or known the Zodiac.
* This use of capitals is an INSIDE joke. The text is infected with plenty of words and sentences highlighted in all-caps; the author makes no use of typographical or other mechanisms for adding emphasis to his points (well, except for !!!). Instead he's written it all out in a sort of plain-text fashion that reads a little like an emailed screed from a CRACKPOT. Too bad really, as I don't think he is one, exactly.
I felt rather open-mindedly optimistic about that theory after watching the YouTube clip, and it was shortly after that when I coincidentally spotted this book while wandering the stacks at my local library! After getting to page 211, however, I am very decidedly pessimistic about not only the theory that Edwards killed Halbach and framed Avery, but also the entire related story which the book advances.
A good story though both are, I've abandoned this book for now. I may finish it later. I should be clear that the Steven Avery/Teresa Halbach connection was advanced by the author after the book was published, so you'll find no details about that within.
This edition (likely the only one) is a lovely hardcover. Yet I am baffled by the publisher's choice of typeface. Who sets a book entirely in sans serif? While the materials of the book are quite lovely, and no-doubt not cheap to use, the publisher seems to have given the book to a team of noobs to execute, and the author was apparently left entirely to his own devices as to how to present the story. After reviewing an intermediate draft, I think any reasonable editor would have had a serious conference with the author on points of style and presentation to insist on a serious reworking. Alas, what you see is what you get.
This book attempts to sell you on a serious crime theory, and to do this, you need a first-person documentary account. Instead, we have a very awkward third-person retelling that essentially novelizes the whole concept. Conversations are had, set in passages of quoted dialog, and the reader is left to wonder: is this an actual quote, as in, did he really say this, or is this just a bit of stylistic dialog advancing a point in the narrative, intended to be interpreted as the "gist" of what transpired? To take this book SERIOUSLY*, you do not want to find yourself confronted with such questions.
The author advances a novel theory of crimes alleged to have been committed by Ed Edwards, some of which have been attributed to other perpetrators, a number of whom have been convicted and, if the author's theory is correct, are wrongfully so. If the author's timeline and attributions are correct, it would make Edwards the No. 1 serial killer in the world, par excellence, with a killing career spanning some 62 years or so. From the first kill in the late 1040s to the last in 2010 (if I'm remembering correctly), every one done with an extremely high level of skill and precision so as to not attract attention at the wrong moment, and not leave evidence pointing directly at him. Here is a purported serial killer who required no learning curve, no sloppy or hesitant early kills to acquire skill and technique. He was born a master, and that was by itself going too far for me to believe.
The author assembles various prison and judicial records (or unofficial reports, the formatting set in the book for some exhibited listings appears contrived to look official, but may not be an actual record in any real database or file, in this way becoming only a dressed-up synopsis notation) in an attempt to create a timeline tracking Edwards movements and correlating them to crimes. But, there are very large empty spaces in the result of this process where no firm evidence is forthcoming. The author also gives us the cryptograms from the Zodiac case, along with a purported solution and recovered plaintext messages via his friend Neal, a genius. The messages are interesting, for what it's worth, and feed into the notion that Edwards might be the Zodiac, but not one page is spent elucidating the process which arrived at this solution, nor a discussion about how Neal can be confident it is a valid solution.
Another opportunity to gather firm evidence to bolster the theory is completely wasted in the letters and conversations which the author and his friend Neal have with Edwards. Rather than frank factual discussions about their ideas and direct solicitations from Edwards for corroborating statements or dis-confirming evidence, the keystone players engage in a sort of tongue-in-cheek string-along game with the man. They adopt personas and hedge their information, structuring a contrived relationship with him which they think might get Edwards on their side; somehow make him more cooperative, less likely to be dismissive or engage in deliberate misdirection (a tactic the author warns Edwards is a master at).
Well, I think they seriously misplayed their chance. Edwards responded very cordially to all their inquiries, eludes that there are more bodies and stories to talk about than they apparently know about, and that in any case, a meeting ought to be arranged soon as he knows a state execution is already pending on other recent convictions. Yet, in my opinion, the author and his friend instead choose to continue to toy with Edwards about their theory and knowledge, and in due course not long after their direct communications open, Edwards' death sentence is carried out...leaving all their questions still effectively unanswered!
The rest of the author's evidence consists of little more than entirely subjective handwriting and photo analysis. Does this writing sample from Edwards' correspondence with the author look like this note left by the Zodiac? Does this face, known to be Edwards, sufficiently resemble this face, possibly the perpetrator of one of the other documented crimes?
And with that the whole book's case melts down to the simple judgement of the eye of the beholder. No real leads are developed or run down conclusively. No new evidence is brought to light. And most tragically, Edwards' is never really given the opportunity to come forward and explain how "It's ME" and provide details of the listed crimes and leads or details which could be later corroborated and verified, the substance that would form the foundation of a solid case.
If in fact Edwards is the killer he is alleged to be, guilty of the other murders the book attributes to him, especially the Zodiac and Black Dahlia killings, I am afraid that clear and convincing evidence of this fact may be, with Edwards' death, forever lost to history. But, at least with respect to the Zodiac legend, we can add both Edwards and the author's names to the very long list of people who have claimed to have clear and convincing evidence to have either been or known the Zodiac.
* This use of capitals is an INSIDE joke. The text is infected with plenty of words and sentences highlighted in all-caps; the author makes no use of typographical or other mechanisms for adding emphasis to his points (well, except for !!!). Instead he's written it all out in a sort of plain-text fashion that reads a little like an emailed screed from a CRACKPOT. Too bad really, as I don't think he is one, exactly.
August 26, 2019
I’m not going to lie. I thought this book was an insane conspiracy theory from the start. The most interesting part by far is at the beginning of the book, where we get facts about Edwards and the crimes he is confirmed to have done. From there on, it’s a steep downhill dive. I got through the part about zodiac, which had some interesting connections and a shared MO. It was enough for me to go “Hm, maybe they’re onto something here!” And then.... they just go catapulting into a different direction. After they mention the Jon Benetton case, the author begins to build other cases almost entirely off of the belief that Edwards is also zodiac, and starts to stretch extremely far to find parallels, before passing them off as fact. The book even declares that the theory that this guys the zodiac is widely accepted now, and dismisses anyone who doesn’t agree as old fashioned and unaware.
It could have made it into this review with three stars, but the author decided I needed to see color crime scene photos of a child’s bloody corpse, and I’m still angry about that. I believe that John Cameron believes all this stuff. I just don’t believe it’s true, and I regret giving it attention and my money.
It could have made it into this review with three stars, but the author decided I needed to see color crime scene photos of a child’s bloody corpse, and I’m still angry about that. I believe that John Cameron believes all this stuff. I just don’t believe it’s true, and I regret giving it attention and my money.
February 24, 2018
I don't usually write a review but I felt I needed to for this book. At the beginning the former detective was providing pretty good links from Edward Wayne Edwards to some of these cases and I felt like he more than likely did commit those murders. However as the book went on he made fewer actual links to Edwards. He would link to Egyptology or other things that a lot of people believe in. It never directly led to Edwards. I was really surprised how abstract this detective got with his links. There's no way these would be even looked in touch less prosecuted. He did have a lot of the same MO early on as the Zodiac so I would seriously look into him for that but almost everything after that just got more and more ridiculous. I had heard he has also linked him now to Teresa Halbach and would like to see how he has linked that but his website is not working now. This book was interesting but needed more actual links and not reaching for imaginary links.
June 12, 2018
Read it because a local author wrote it and was interested in seeing additional information as it relates to the TV series about this same serial killer. Huh. Like the show, it leaves the viewer/reader wanting more compelling evidence. I appreciate the passion that Cameron has put into his life's work, and I think that he is probably correct in some of his theories and detective work, but the lack of editing really weakens the book and makes some crime stories within in implausible. Hopefully, detective work in the future will help clear up some of the suppositions in this book (one way or the other). Best wishes to the author and condolences to the victims, their families and Edwards' own family members.
October 26, 2019
Wish I could give half stars on here, because this really isn't quite a 3. I'm a conspiracy theorist at heart and most people would be surprised at the thickness of my tinfoil hat, but even for me, this was a bit far fetched. In the beginning, it was intriguing and things were making sense, but by the end, it was getting further and further into the realm of unbelievability. I found myself thinking of the oft underrated Jim Carrey movie, "The Number 23." You can make anything fit any theory if you want to badly enough. The tattered pieces of evidence Cameron was stringing together at the end would never hold up to any basic scrutiny. Furthermore, the writing is confused, befuddling and rudimentary even in the best moments. I wonder if this whole was also a badly written puzzle...
April 30, 2025
While this tended to be a fascinating read, I feel most have a hard time getting past whether the feats of criminal excellence in it are even possible. The idea of a mastermind killer flying under the radar for over 60+ years murdering so many people is a huge pill to swallow. But, there were a few times my mind wandered, wondering could it be true? Could one person have committed so many famous major crimes? And not only undetected, but pinning many of them on innocent people as he went along. Mind-boggling, to say the least. I hope someone does a major investigation on this, to give us better insight as to the veracity of its points.
March 21, 2018
There's a documentary coming out next month based on this book. The writing is strangely in third person which makes it sound fictionalized. But true crime fans have to read it because this guy tries to pin every murder you ever heard of (Zodiac, Atlanta child murders, West Memphis 3, Jon Benet, Teresa Halbach, Laci Peterson) on one guy, Edward Wayne Edwards. And even though that's nuts and there's no way, he has such interesting research to back up his arguments that you have to keep reading. He has me wondering about the Zodiac at least.
November 17, 2019
As a lover of true crime I found this book very interesting. I totally believed that Ed Edwards was a vile heartless man that killed many people. In saying that I felt the author was reaching with some of the murders he was trying to tie to Edwards. I wish he would of presented the facts more chronologically starting with his mothers and ending with his death. The constant skipping around was confusing and made it hard to keep all the facts straight. I will say this book will make you wonder if one man did all these crimes and if so how was he never caught.
December 30, 2021
Possibly the dumbest book ever written.
Edwards commited just about every unsolved murder in the USA apart from the assassination of JFK (the author must have forgotten to include that)
Anyone who takes this bullshit seriously needs to get help, and fast!
Steve Hodel must be really pissed off about Cameron, because he claims his father George commited all these murders.
Which of them has got it wrong?
How about both of them!
Edwards commited just about every unsolved murder in the USA apart from the assassination of JFK (the author must have forgotten to include that)
Anyone who takes this bullshit seriously needs to get help, and fast!
Steve Hodel must be really pissed off about Cameron, because he claims his father George commited all these murders.
Which of them has got it wrong?
How about both of them!
November 18, 2022
This book is hard to recommend but also hard not to. It very much leaves you conflicted. On the one hand, I do think there is a good chance he committed many crimes in this book, maybe 50% or so and that alone is fascinating. He may even be the Zodiac. But the author seems to go right off the rails and finds ways to pin basically every crime in America between about 1940-2009 on him using in many cases little logic and simple coincidences, despite being a former police detective and therefore should know better. However, I recommend you read the book as there is something to many cases, so I recommend reading so you can make up your own mind about which ones.
January 13, 2021
This book was unbelievably poorly written. It is clear that nobody even did preliminary editing as the author tries to include hyperlinks. I could barely get through the first couple chapters. It was extremely hard to read and seemed to be all based on the fact that the author had been exchanging letters with Edward Wayne Edwards.
November 17, 2022
I am not sure how to go about this: I would usually just not rate such a poorly written and factually challenging account of anything. Of everything that is wrong with this book, what changed my mind in this case was the utter disrespect for the families of the victims in the way the book was put together. I would definitely not recommend it.
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