True Crime Books That Read Like Novels
Riveting real-life stories that examine the
darker side of human nature...
By Jordan Foster
1 of 7
Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
By Robert Kolker
416 pages;
Harper
In 2010, the bodies of four women—Megan, Maureen,
Melissa and Amber—were found in an overgrown area of Long Island's
Gilgo Beach. All had been escorts who utilized Craigslist to connect with
clients. Rather than focusing on their professions, Robert Kolker delves into
each woman's life, uncovering drugs, abusive childhoods and a plethora of other
life-stunting complications. Referring to a fifth escort, Shannan Gilbert, whose disappearance triggered
the search that revealed the other bodies, Kolker reminds us of the ugly,
undeniable truth: "Shannan's profession had sealed her fate. Even before
she disappeared, she ceased to matter." Four years later, while theories
still abound—is one killer responsible for the first four bodies and
another for Shannan's? is one person responsible for all five
deaths?—still no murderer has been found. The gut-punching power of
the book comes instead from Kolker's examination of how judgments of the
victims' lifestyles overshadowed any questioning of America's twisted trifecta
of sex, money and the Internet.
— Jordan Foster
Published 09/04/2014