The Green River Killer/Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case

Green River Killer: A True Detective Story by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case; true crime; 240 pages

Beginning in the early 1980s, an unknown killer stalked the Green River area of King County, WA. He targeted primarily prostitutes, and was known for strangling the women and leaving the bodies on roadsides, or submerged in the river for which he was named. The hunt for the killer took almost twenty years, and Jeff Jensen's father was the lead detective that whole time. The story follows Jensen's father, flashing back and forth between the 1980s, when the kills were fresh, and 2003, when the killer brokered a controversial plea bargain to avoid the death penalty.

This wasn't a story I was familiar with, so I really didn't know how it would end. Jensen does a good job of casting doubt on the killer (who has apparently committed so many murders that he can no longer remember specific details), as he attempts to prove he's the killer and validate his confession. Ultimately, 48 bodies are found, though the killer claims there were more victims that remain undiscovered. A grisly, chilling read, but gripping; I finished it in a single sitting.