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True Crime by Evil Killers

Herbert Mullin: The True Story of the Psycopath of Santa Cruz

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A priest, a homeless man, small children, a drug dealer and a witness….these are just some of the supposedly random victims of Herbert Mullin. In just four short months, he managed to kill 13 people, using a range of weapons and reasons. But were they all random victims, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or was there a much more sinister plan behind them all? Of all the American serial killers, Herbert Mullin is perhaps the most bizarre. His killing spree spanned 13 victims, and his battles with mental illness and addiction were well publicised throughout his trial. But was he really mentally ill? Can a psychopath be so clever he can fake it? Whatever the truth, his murders left a permanent mark in, California history. Santa Cruz became known as the California murder capital of the world, partly due to Herbert Mullin. When you think of true crime California, you are reminded of the likes of Edmund Kemper III, John Linley Frazier and Herbert Mullin, all of whom committed their bloody rampages across California at the same time. Mullin’s beliefs that killing innocent people would prevent a major earthquake from occurring was indicative that not all was well inside his brain. Was Herbert a very intelligent and scheming man whose plan all along was to kill to hide an act of revenge? The answers may lie inside the pages of this book. You will have to read through and make that decision for yourself.

106 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 13, 2015

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About the author

Jack Rosewood

81 books135 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
6 (19%)
4 stars
10 (32%)
3 stars
10 (32%)
2 stars
3 (9%)
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2 (6%)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for Robin Morgan.
Author 5 books286 followers
December 17, 2015
As I read more and more of Jack Rosewood’s endeavors in this genre of True Crimes, the more can I see how his writing style is continuing to improve. The reason I’m saying this because for several years I wrote items for a community newspaper and as I look back to what I’d written I can see the same kind of improvement. I believe that the astuteness in our selection of words as continues increase the effectiveness and impact of what we’d like to communicate to our readers.

In this outing Mr. Rosewood has chosen to write about Herbert Mullin, a psychopath who wound up murdering several individuals in California in the early 1970s. Once again in order to paint an entire picture of this individual we are given information regarding what had occurred in his life which had lead up to the beginning of his killing spree.

Mullin was diagnosed has suffering from paranoid schizophrenia which caused him to believed that killing these individuals would help prevent earthquakes in California. Since he admitted to his crimes, the trial focused in on whether he had been sane and responsible for his actions. While the defense had attempted to show Mullin’s insanity at the time, the fact he made sure he had covered his tracks proved the opposite to be true.

For once again presenting a story regarding another infamous serial killer in an enjoyable format, I’m giving this book 5 STARS.
Profile Image for Cheryl (Takin' It Easy This Year!).
2,146 reviews73 followers
June 3, 2017
I downloaded this novella for free via Kindle Australia and I'm so glad I did.

I had stopped reading true crime series before this as the books were bad rehashes of well known information and were dryer than a camel's bum during a sand storm.
Jack Rosewood's offering is anything but. Extremely well written and researched, with a lovely flow that had you at the end before you knew it. I had not read about this particular serial killer before and it was written in a surprisingly fresh way. While Rosewood did offer some suppositions, they were added thoughtfully and left in a way that let you make up your own mind, rather than supplanting them as "known" fact like many other authors have done.
This author has certainly whet my appetite for more of his novellas.
Profile Image for Lynn Hall.
48 reviews1 follower
May 5, 2019
Great read! Props Rosewood..as in another great book. Informative and daunting to say the least. Keep them coming for us true crime fans..We need our fix! Knowing so many illnesses out in the world today that can be attached to serial killings or just murderers. Here we have several diagnosis of mental illnesses that can be attributed to the maniacs out there committing so many since less crimes of hate and death. Yes some say it starts as childhood with animals sacrifices and wetting the bed or even being molested by family members or friends of the family at a young age. It still cannot be predicted you have a mental illness or are going to be a murderer or a serial killer or the likes. Things are out of our control and its hard to deal with in so many ways..yet harder when the killing is done to your family or a friends. It is as one should seek help if they know and they do know I don't care what anyone says about killers. (they do know and that's no excuse to try and get away with murder!) My opinion.! Received this ARC book for free and I'm voluntarily choosing to leave a review.
Profile Image for Connor.
57 reviews3 followers
December 15, 2015
I received an advance copy of this book for free from this author for review.
I found it to be very interesting, well researched, and informative. The author takes the time to not only tell the story of a Serial Killer, but also what traits are usually common in Serial Killers, but how their crimes effect various people (besides the victims and their families).
The most thought provoking part of this book is the different ways his behavior could be interpreted.
There are some areas where the spelling is more European, but this does not effect the overall reading or content of the work.
I look forward to reading more from this author and would recommend this or any of his other works to anyone wanting a good true crime read.
Profile Image for India.
Author 15 books97 followers
December 19, 2015
I received this book as a gift in return for an honest review.
This book is part of a series, each book being dedicated to a serial killer. Herbert Mullin’s life is detailed and laid bare from his childhood and then scrolls through to the killings. The facts are simply laid out and not embellished, which is a fresh quality in this genre, and the chronological layout is nicely done. I really appreciate the style that Jack Rosewood adopts for this genre and it flows well. He dishes the juicy details without gore or glamorization, and I think he gives the right amount of detail. Easy to read biographical series.
Profile Image for Cynthia Gillespie.
3 reviews9 followers
June 13, 2017
Great book if you are into reading about serial killers. Goes into great detail and gives extra information you never knew. I feel like I know more and more about the minds of serial killers with each Jack Rosewood book I read!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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