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True Crime Stories: A Prequel: 4 Shocking True Crime Cases

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There are killers who stalk their prey, learning all they can about an intended target before striking. Some commit the act of murder out of hatred or revenge for someone in their lives. Killers like Detlev Guenzel searched for like-minded souls who would allow them to indulge in their deepest darkest fantasies. Then of course, there are those who brutally murder for no apparent reason whatsoever. Each of the four true crime murder cases in this true crime anthology are all different from each other in many ways. The wife who was cast aside for a much younger model; the vore who sought out a willing participant in the act of consensual homicide and cannibalism; the young man who butchered his elderly neighbours; and the man whose partners either disappeared or turned up dead over the period of 54 years. For these true crime murder stories we delve into the background of each killer, the acts they committed, and the criminal investigation that brought them down. We look at why they killed, even when there seems to be no apparent motive. True murder cases like these are hard to fathom, and will leave you wondering about the horrors of humanity. True crime stories are the most frightening of all, as you discover what people have the capability of doing to others. This is a prequel to Jack Rosewood's best true crime books series, True Crime Stories.

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 24, 2017

964 people are currently reading
824 people want to read

About the author

Jack Rosewood

89 books145 followers
I live in one of the most beautiful places in Florida, Jupiter, with my wife, two kids and our golden retriever, Vincent. I've been a full time author for the last 15 years and I wouldn't trade it against anything in the world!

My father was a journalist and wrote about some of the worst crimes you could ever imagine, and that's where my big interest from serial killers and other horrible crimes comes from. Just to hear my father talk about the evil acts of Ted Bundy as we were out fishing as a kid are some of my best memories.

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5 stars
362 (29%)
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373 (30%)
3 stars
315 (25%)
2 stars
126 (10%)
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47 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
Profile Image for Bren fall in love with the sea..
1,962 reviews480 followers
September 26, 2019
True crime stories: a prequel covers four different true life murders. It is a full length book.

I only chose to read the first three because frankly the fourth was about a cannibal and that is just not something I care to read about.

So the stories themselves were all tragic as one might imagine. It is obvious the author did some really good research in writing about them.

But the book did read more like a collection of newspaper articles. I was looking for a bit more psychological depth and did not really feel I found it here. There is some, but not a whole heck of alot.

One of the stories covered is Betty Broderick whom I had read about in "Until the twelfth of never". I did not like that book as I felt the writer was a bit to sympathetic to Betty. I give this writer credit as he takes no sides and writes in a pretty fair way. I liked that.

It is good as a short and quick read but does lack much of the depth I look for in True Crime. And this is a genre I find myself reading less of lately anyway because it is such a depressing subject. This book isn't bad though and fans of True crime who read alot of this genre may like it.
Profile Image for Cheryl .
2,419 reviews80 followers
June 3, 2017
This novella is a wonderful addition to Jack Rosewood's body of work and is meant to be an enticing offering for his collected works of true crime, which it certainly achieves.
I had not read about any of the four cases he presented, which was a double bonus! As I've said before, he writes extremely well, with an excellent pace and in a way that makes the novella remarkably fresh. It's obvious the author has researched the killers well and his talent lies in the fact that he is able to present the information in an interestingly open way that allows you to draw your own conclusions to some of his suppositions. His work has entirely changed my view of the true crime genre and I look forward to reading more of his books.
Profile Image for Amy.
21 reviews3 followers
October 6, 2023
Very short read.

Book consists of 4 true crimes, each with a background of the killer, a brief description of the crime and details of the trial. It also has 7 'mini' cases within case 4.
I normally watch documentaries, but as an introduction to reading true crime books this one is a good place to start.
Profile Image for Crime Traveller.
50 reviews16 followers
April 1, 2017

Four gripping and recent true crime cases make up this prequel to Jack Rosewood's True Crime Stories series. These cases are entirely different from each other highlighting the range of shocking acts us humans can do to each other and the motivations behind them. Providing a taster of the writing and true crime you can expect from Jack Rosewood’s full True Crime Stories anthology series, these are fascinating tales of murder leaving you in no doubt that you want to read more.

Each chapter is more shocking than the last with cases including the jealous and enraged woman who murders her ex-husband and his new wife in cold blood, the ordinary man who decides to slaughter his elderly neighbours simply because he could and the German police forensic officer who kept his dark fantasies about eating human flesh secret until he met the perfect partner who wanted to be killed and eaten. Written in a free flowing style this is a book you cannot help but keep reading and most definitely highlights Jack Rosewood as a true crime author to look out for. To date Jack Rosewood has published six books in his True Crime Stories series and if you like gritty well-written true crime, pick up a book from Jack Rosewood and you will not be disappointed.

Read my full review of True Crime Stories on Crime Traveller at: https://www.crimetraveller.org/2017/0...

Profile Image for Emilija.
1,903 reviews31 followers
June 17, 2017
This was really interesting. It details four cases; Felix Vail who killed two wives and a partner, Betty Broderick who killed her ex husband and his wife, Scott Tomaszewski who killed his next door neighbours and Detlev Guenzel, who killed and ate a consenting adult.

What I found most interesting was the last paragraph concerning consenting homicides. If a person asks you to kill them, are you then committing murder? Or a twisted version of suicide?

As usual, Jack Rosewood has delivered another brilliant book.
Profile Image for Ashley (pagesofhorror).
73 reviews24 followers
September 23, 2018
3.5 Stars.. Not a bad little book. It was under a hundred pages and briefly explained 4 true crime cases. Sometimes the writing was a little off, but otherwise it was a pretty good and quick read.
Profile Image for Whitebeard Books.
235 reviews66 followers
May 17, 2017
Not a lot of information in this volume but an appetizer to sell the following titles. I'll try a couple more based on this one though.
Profile Image for Bettye McKee.
2,190 reviews159 followers
March 12, 2017
Four interesting true crime cases.

The Broderick case was the only one I was familiar with, and I still think it should have been called justifiable homicide. No decent person would go so far in persecuting a former spouse. He was a real a$$h01e.

This is a good presentation of these four cases. I enjoy reading all of Mr. Rosewood's books.

If I had proofread this book, I would have corrected 34 errors. Here's a tip: An apostrophe does not make a word plural. The plural of cat is cats, not cat's. Therefore, the plural of Smith is Smiths, not Smith's. When you understand plurals, you will see how possessives work. That's Harry Smith's car. The Smiths' dog chased me. Mom and Dad are parents. The party was at my parents' house.
Profile Image for Jeanie.
392 reviews6 followers
May 13, 2021
Interesting

Quick and interesting but definitely could use a better edit. Wasn’t exactly what I was looking for when I found it, but it was a decent read for a quickie. I normally like a bit more meat to the story, but it had enough detail to work for this format. A couple of names got switched up and in one case the person’s pronoun changed from him to her. These types of errors/typos are hard to overlook in a non-fiction story. It gets annoying having to re-read lines and figure out what was intended. A better edit would make it an easy 4-star rating. A bit more meat to the stories as well and I’d give it 5 stars. Overall worth reading but definitely not a masterpiece. I’ll probably buy one of the full length books at some point. Doubt I’ll read them all.
Profile Image for Amy Shannon.
Author 156 books134 followers
May 3, 2017
Very interesting and disturbing

The cases were interesting and full of information. Murder without remorse and even learning about those who desire to be killed to feel euphoric is a step into a mind not quite understood. I'm not sure why I am drawn to true crime books but it's more than just research for my own writing.
Profile Image for Bonnie Kernene.
352 reviews195 followers
March 8, 2017
Another great book by Jack Rosewood. This book contains 4 well known murders and the stories behind them. He also talked about how murder affects society and people. It was very interesting. It is a fast read, and very good.

I received a copy of this from the author for an honest review.
Profile Image for Bonnie Dale Keck.
4,677 reviews58 followers
July 23, 2017
Not kindle unlimited? permafree? not sure. As usual {have read quite a bit of his} can be disturbing, gross, nauseating, etcetera {and/or combination of different things} so obviously small children and those with weak constitutions might want to pass or consider it first. I don't personally do horror and the like, but am used to Rosewood {nothing to do with the tv show}.

There are killers who stalk their prey, learning all they can about an intended target before striking. Some commit the act of murder out of hatred or revenge for someone in their lives. Killers like Detlev Guenzel searched for like-minded souls who would allow them to indulge in their deepest darkest fantasies. Then of course, there are those who brutally murder for no apparent reason whatsoever. Each of the four true crime murder cases in this true crime anthology are all different from each other in many ways. The wife who was cast aside for a much younger model; the vore who sought out a willing participant in the act of consensual homicide and cannibalism; the young man who butchered his elderly neighbours; and the man whose partners either disappeared or turned up dead over the period of 54 years. For these true crime murder stories we delve into the background of each killer, the acts they committed, and the criminal investigation that brought them down. We look at why they killed, even when there seems to be no apparent motive. True murder cases like these are hard to fathom, and will leave you wondering about the horrors of humanity. True crime stories are the most frightening of all, as you discover what people have the capability of doing to others.

This is a prequel to Jack Rosewood's best true crime books series, True Crime Stories. {See amazon page for full list of titles}
Profile Image for Sandy.
566 reviews24 followers
December 28, 2024
Not bad. Not complicated and not so attractive either.

The first three stories weren't much attractive. People are crazy and they do shitty stuff like taking other lives; doesn't matter it's a cat or a human. It's the methods they use that differs. Defines the level of insanity of the person I guess. Those three stories were just about another ordinary day at the killers club.

It's the last one that attracted me. Well, with all the little sub stories in it, it made it a quite an interesting reading. I've heard about these loonies who advertised to be killed and eaten and someone kill me and I'll pay you kind of stuff but never knew there's a horrendously large bunch of fellows who had completely lost their marbles. Shocking. It was also good to know that a fried human penis is not the best delicacy out there. Not that I'm ever gonna try that special cuisine, ever... Even if I won't, it just bugs me to know that, there are those who would like to do so.

Nice book for a gloomy afternoon.

Book #70 of 2024..
Profile Image for Christy.
658 reviews8 followers
October 6, 2018
Not for Youngsters

I chose this book because I am interested in human behaviour, the psyche, how the mind works, why some humans do the things that they, some even committing ghastly acts as you will find in this short book and act as though what they did was not bad deed, even going so far as to murder an older couple and sit close to their grisly remains and drink a soft drink as one killer did. We also learn insight to Betty Broderick, another well known story of a wife who reeks havoc on her ex-husband and ultimately seems her own vengeance. It is up to you to decide if these people are psychotic or simply chose to commit their crimes for other motives. I know I have my options regarding all four people you will read about in this brief prequel. It is truly frightening what some humans are capable of doing to others. I would not recommend this for youngsters, the faint of heart, or those prone to severe dreams, night terrors, etc.
Profile Image for Clued-in With A Book (Elvina Ulrich).
917 reviews44 followers
October 5, 2021
This book is a prequel to the author's best selling True Crime Stories series. There are four cases in this book:

Felix Vail's case was the oldest prosecution in US history of a suspected serial killer. It was really interesting to learn about the 'the doctrine of chances' which the prosecutor invoked in this case. The most shocking and disturbing case was Detlev Guenzel, a forensic specialist who worked for the German police. His dark secret of vorarephilia sparked the controversial topic about consensual homicide. The other two cases in this book were Betty Broderick and Scott Tomaszewski.

Overall, this was a quick read and a great way to get a taste of the author's writing style. The information in this book was presented in a concise way and yes there were some gore details due to the nature of these crimes. It is definitely not for the faint of heart!
Profile Image for Julie Haigh.
794 reviews1,005 followers
March 13, 2017
Aaarrrgh!!!!!

I’ve read many of Jack Rosewood’s True Crime Stories compilations. These usually comprise of 12 cases examined. This new book is a shorter, taster book which follows a similar format but focuses on just four cases. Don’t let that make you think that there’s not much to this-I found it an excellent, gripping and at times shocking read.

Most of these cases were relatively recent-one is less than a year ago, so it kind of brings it even closer to home to think these are not that many years ago, things like this are still happening. So many different things crop up in these books so no matter how many I read, there’s always something else to surprise me, cases and deeds I hadn’t heard of before or thought that any other human could do to anyone else. Just when you think you've heard of everything-you haven't heard the half of it. I whizzed through this book very quickly and was left wanting more. Another cracking book. With such a horrifying finale!
Profile Image for Kristen Snow-White.
9 reviews6 followers
May 25, 2018
Since I hadn't read a Jack Rosewood, I decided to give his "True Crime Stories: A Prequel..." a spin. And, boy oh boy, am I glad I did!

As a wannabe, Forensic Psychologist/Author, riding in a Serial Killer-Lamborghini is a thrill and a 1/2, by the length alone, this short didn't take me "Back to the Future," but it is a great ride all the same. As a lifelong Californian, I'm going to take up "Cary Stayner: The True Story of The Yosemite Park Killer (Audiobook)" next. Cary's name is familiar, he's a couple months younger than me and his rampage took place when my youngest was only 2 1/2 yrs. old. Apparently, I wasn't paying attention to the news, because -- as much as I am loathed to admit it -- only his name, not his crimes, ring a bell.

Maybe it's the Cali air, but some really hideous monsters have come out of this, once Golden, state.
Profile Image for Ashley Hedden.
5,259 reviews43 followers
April 30, 2023
True Crime Stories: A Prequel: 4 Shocking True Crime Cases was a great read by Jack Rosewood. This true crime anthology consists of four murder cases that are very different from each other. These stories delve into the background of each killer, the murders they committed and the investigations that caught them. These cases are hard to fathom how someone could do what they did. The four cases see is wife that is set aside for a younger woman; someone who sought out a willing person to participate in homicide and cannibalism; someone who butchers his elderly neighbors; and a man that sees his partners either disappearing or dying over 54 years. I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read more by the author.
Profile Image for Beth Shuler.
208 reviews
May 31, 2019
As always good read

I know when I pick up a book that is written by Mr. Rosewood then I will be thoroughly entertained and I will also learn more then most books. That being said I also know I won't be disappointed. So if you are looking for a good true crime book then this is one of his many! Btw if you are wondering why this one says prequel and doesn't have a number like his others in this series it's just a short read! But it's still very good and worth it!
Can't wait for his next book already!
Profile Image for Elisabeth Brookshire.
528 reviews7 followers
June 4, 2018
A good anthology

I like reading true crime quickies when I just want something short. This book is well written and interesting. I only knew of the Betty Broderick story. The full length book about the case by Bella Stumbo is a true crime classic. Her daughter also wrote a book that sheds new light on the case. Betty also wrote her own book but you could go ahead and skip that.
2 reviews
March 23, 2018
Interesting read

Succinct and informative with an interesting perspective. I'm intrigued. I enjoyed it very much and would definitely read another. Keep them coming. The depth of each individual story gives you the sense of almost being there every step. I almost feel like I could have been in the courtroom or on one of those juries.
1 review
September 2, 2018
Informative, Good Read

I rated this book 5 stars because I thoroughly liked it and it's eye opening. It opens our eyes to the evil that could be lurking anywhere at anytime and we should always be very aware of our surroundings and who we meet. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
83 reviews2 followers
August 20, 2020
National Enquirer Type Stories - Not Worth Your Money

How the author pulled these highly varied crime stories together in this volume is a mystery to be. What isn't a mystery is the author's motive: money. Except for the last "killer" who wasn't even really a killer, the offenders were a pretty lackluster group.
Profile Image for shawna.
45 reviews2 followers
August 28, 2021
Love it

If consent to homicide is given, is it reasonable that those left behind are charged with murder? After all, the ‘victim’ wanted to die. They weren’t ripped from life by a predatory monster that struck in the dark. Instead, they entered into an adult agreement. Would love to know what your thoughts are on this.
Profile Image for Cari Frye.
95 reviews2 followers
January 28, 2025
I am obsessed with true crime, so I decided to check out this quick read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had actually heard of a couple of the cases mentioned. Overall, there were just a few typos/grammer errors, and people mentioned the formatting, but it didn't bother me. I feel it was well written. It was almost as though I was reading a podcast instead of listening to one.
Profile Image for christina dale.
13 reviews2 followers
September 10, 2017
Excellent and interestingly terrorfying...all at the same time!!!

These books are the best "train wrecks " out there!!! They are horrible, awful stories about the worst things possible but yet...I can't look away!
106 reviews2 followers
December 20, 2017
Wow

It's not a very long book but it is very interesting. The stories told are true and horrific. I found myself googling for more information on these cases. And it's all there. If you love true crimes Jack Rosewood is the man who writes it best!
144 reviews3 followers
February 9, 2018
Needs editing.

Interesting cases, not the same old stories, but Jack, you're a writer, learn to use apostrophes correctly! Many mistakes, including 2 on the same page -"The Broderick's visited England." Then "she called one of the paralegal's." No apostrophe needed in either case.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews

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