The Night Stalker: The Disturbing Life and Chilling Crimes of Richard Ramirez

It’s very well written. Objective. Thorough. Easy to read and very interesting. It doesn’t just tell on the crimes but the development of the character and factors that might’ve participated in making the person. Does not pander to sensationalism or unwarranted gore.IMHO the trial should have went another way. Not to spoil the read I won’t get into details but the stalker was treated unfairly and the law was subverted. Did they get the criminal? Yes. Did they break the law to convict him? Big time. This trial should’ve been deemed a mistrial and the witness lineup should’ve been dismissed. Inadequate representation and emotional conviction. Justice by breaking the law was served. It was not a fair trial at all. Again IMHO

I bought this book as I have recently started a course in Criminal Psychology and have chosen Ramirez as one of my case studies. The first part of the book describes the crimes themselves and the police investigation. Ramirez is not named until the point at which the police discover who the Stalker is and the whole section is written in such an atmospheric way that you can almost feel the fear of the people in the community during the Stalkers reign. The next part deals with Ramirez's family and childhood and goes into such things as his untreated temporal lobe epilepsy, the environment in which he grew up in and the influence of his cousin Mike. The next parts deal with his arrest and his drawn out trial including so much detail including the evidence against Ramirez, the jurors and the victims themselves. In this edition there is also an interview the author carried out while Ramirez was on death row and a fascinating section on Ramirez's "groupies". The author spent 100 hours with Ramirez and he must have spent about 10 times that researching this book as it contains a wealth of useful information. This book will be invaluable to anyone studying Ramirez and fascinating to those interested in the Night Stalker

As with many serial killers, Richard Ramirez's background and formative years constituted a combustible mix. There was the U.S. government's atomic activities at Los Alamos, which may have had a baleful effect on the Ramirez children, down the line; likewise, the chemical fumes that a pregnant Mercedes Ramirez was to be exposed to in her factory job; the fiery Ramirez temper that seems to have been a characteristic of Ramirez males at least from his grandfather onwards; the very peculiar behaviour of his father, Julian, who was known to be overwhelmed by rages that could result in him beating his own head off a wall (often over rather trivial problems); the sexual abuse of Richard's brothers (though it's possible, Carlo notes, that Richard was also a victim himself) by a perverted school teacher who would visit the family home; the propensity to criminality and drug abuse amongst the Ramirez brothers (itself perhaps a consequence of the sexual abuse); and - perhaps most notable - the malign influence of his Vietnam vet cousin, Miguel, who, incidentally, happened to shoot his wife in front of Ramirez one spring day. Then there is the fact that Richard Ramirez, along with a number of other serial killers, sustained fairly serious injuries to the head whilst growing up and also suffered from epilepsy. Finally, there was unseemly Downtown LA, the Cecil Hotel, the Devil's Dandruff - of which he partook in liberal quantities - and the precepts of Satan himself.In light of these influences and experiences, therefore, it is difficult to avoid concluding that Ramirez's path to grisly murder was in some sense predetermined. I was therefore surprised when Frank Salerno - one of the chief detectives on the case - opined that Ramirez's background was comparatively normal. Of course, it is true that Ramirez also came from a staunchly Catholic and close-knit family, with his sister, Ruth, showing particular affection towards her baby brother. However, it would seem that the countervailing negative forces in his mental universe always had the upper hand. And so Ramirez's slide into anomie began with cocaine, burglary and the theft of cars, before he graduated to the grotesque series of murders that terrorized LA between 1984-85. And so, in groping for an explanation for these murders, it seems to me that the combustible mix to which I previously referred lends credibility to Professor Louis Schlesinger's view that this mix - and thus Ramirez himself - can best be explained through a bio-psycho-social perspective, but with a "heavy emphasis on neuro-biology - whether it be hormonal, chemical, etc. Many things have to go wrong in order for one of these individuals to be created".Whist this is not to excuse what Ramirez did, since he surely knew that what he was doing was morally abominable, this explanation provides context and some sort of rational explanation for these acts, since mere excoriation doesn't really get us anywhere. After reading about killers like Bundy and Ramirez, I lean more and more to the sort of explanation presented by Schlesinger and am reminded of Phil Ochs's haunting words: "there but for fortune, may go you, or I".I haven't awarded Carlo's book - which is undoubtedly the best-written and most comprehensive on the Night Stalker case thus far (the opening couple of paragraphs are great set-pieces of writing) - five stars, since I was a tad disappointed that he didn't attempt a psychological analysis of Ramirez in the same way that someone like Schlesinger did. Perhaps Carlo does so in his 'The Killer Within', which I have yet to read. The interview with Ramirez at the end of the book, though interesting, is not terribly insightful, and I didn't feel that Carlo pressed him anywhere near enough. There won't be another opportunity to do so, alas, since both men are now dead.Nevertheless, this is an excellent true crime book and should be the one that people reach for if they want the most accurate account of "Richie" and his terrible acts.

The media could not be loaded.  Touche Philip Carlos! Only thing I have to say which probably has nothing to do with the writer but the book was damaged, not too bad... but to the extent it seemed like it was used before me. Not in the best condition if I must say.

It's very interesting, but disturbing at the same time. The first part is his murders which took me a while to read as it was upsetting but this gives you a look at his upbringing and what lead up to his crimes.

Like a great deal of people, I have always been fascinated by the serial killer and how their minds work. This book not only describes the horrific crimes committed by Ramirez, but it also gives insight as to his thoughts and frame of mind at the time. Whilst I still can't quite understand how a person could commit such atrocities and I certainly cannot empathise, this book has allowed me to see life through a killer's eyes. Not a pleasant view but very interesting.

Unfortunately, some of the pages are missing in my Kindle version.

the author is able to capture so much in one book which i love, very informative.

This book is an interesting book, extremely detailed I could not put it down , I highly recommend this book I even learned some things about the U.S government that I had no clue about!

I loved the book. It arrived in perfect condition and the writing is very well done, it's as if we were inside some scene described in the book. Very good, it's like I'm there. I really felt like I was there, in the same place as Richard Ramirez. There are a lot of important stuff that people usually leave out in documentaries, necessary stuff. Not just the police rush to catch a serial killer. It really talks the whole thing, from another perspective. You guys won't regret it. Philip Carlo is awesome.

I got this book after watching the Netflix documentary and being completely astounded by this killer's brutality and wanting to know more about his spree and the background behind the killer and how he turned out to be this way. I was so happy to discover that Carlo's writing in this book is both factual but also reads like an actual fiction book. Very interesting all the way through, extremely informative, and well written. I will say that the trial portion of this book became a little TOO detailed and factual, but I understand the purpose behind it, as he's actually recounting the trial itself. I think this part is the only part that reminds you you're reading a nonfictional book. Towards the end, we get to read the transcript of his interview with Carlo, and you can almost sense Ramirez's introvertedness by the way talks. Its exactly what you expect, especially if you've ever heard him in interviews. It was fascinating that Carlo was able to describe this part of him in a way that makes you really get a glimpse of what its like to SPEAK to the night stalker. Overall, this book is an excellent read for those wanting to supplement the Netflix documentary. You really get all the details of his childhood, upbringing, and adult life, which actually gives such great insight into how he became this crazed killer. The only bad part of this book was that towards the very end, when Carlo describes his own relationship with Ramirez, I got an inkling of a creepy vibe from Carlo hisself. He seems to allude to happily riding the coattails of Richard Ramirez, gaining benefits from his affiliation to this infamous serial killer, and not even including the financial benefits he receives from telling this story. He admits to readers that he received nudes from Richard's groupies, and Richard even shared some of his collection with Carlo for "safe keeping." You get a sliver of this vibe that Carlo is also a bit pervy himself, making physical judgments on some of the groupie girls, when you know he probably would not get this type of female attention if he was not affiliated to Richard as he is. That last part definitely took a bit of credibility away from Carlo, but I believe this part of the book was a special update/edition that was added later, so the actual book and story itself shouldn't be tainted by Carlo's own character flaws. Overall, highly recommend!

It was so exciting i couldn't stop reading, it definitely made me obsessed and some moments made me so happy, some made me so sad. Would definitely recommend if you love truecrime.

Ottimo libro, interessantissimo, l'autore non giudica, sembra obbiettivo e riesce a descrivere i punti di vista dei protagonisti, senza giudicare il colpevole, ma neppure giustificarne le violenze, consigliatissimo anche per la capacita' di coinvolgere il lettore nella vita tormentata di Ramirez, nel periodo storico degli USA anni 70 - 85