Joel Rifkin: The Horrifying & True Story of Joel the Ripper

The Serial Killer Books, Book 4

By: Jack Rosewood, Rebecca Lo

Narrated by: Kevin Kollins

Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Joel Rifkin trolled the streets on Manhattan and Long Island under the cover of night searching for a way to ease the intense urges he couldn’t deny. Prostitutes were his targets, and although he allowed some to live, there were many who were much less fortunate.

Dismembered bodies were soon discovered, but nobody could identify who was responsible for such despicable acts of murder and horror. Until one night when Rifkin was disposing of his 17th victim, he was finally caught.

One of the most famous serial killers, Rifkin has shared some of his thoughts and feelings about the crimes he committed, yet he still questions why he felt the way he did. He is perhaps one of the most interesting American serial killers to date, and his true crime stories are among the most disturbing.

There have been few New York murders committed by serial killers, including Rifkin and the Long Island Serial Killer. Rifkin was considered a suspect in the case of the Long Island Serial Killer, and this true crime audio discusses his opinions on who the killer could actually be.

If you are passionate about true crime serial killers, then you will absolutely enjoy this audiobook. Of all the serial killer audiobooks out there, this one delves into the controversy surrounding the death penalty and discusses whether monsters like Rifkin should be executed or allowed to live their days out in prison when they stripped that opportunity from the innocent victims they slayed.

©2018 LAK Publishing (P)2018 LAK Publishing

Great Read

Joel Rifkin: The Horrifying & True Story of Joel The Ripper (The Serial Killer Books Book 4) by Jack Rosewood and Rebecca Lo was a great read. Joel Rifkin lead New York to fear although prostitutes were Joel's targets. I enjoyed reading this true crime story.

Interesting Tale of a Killer

This was an interesting listen. Although the book is a three and a half hour listen only about an hour of it is directly about Joel Rifkin. The rest is about the other aspects of the case. Who was involved, classifying, victims, etc. I don't mind hearing all about these other aspects but thought most of the narration would be about Rifkin. Not that I wanted exact details about what he did to his victims but maybe have the other information given woven into Rifkin's story instead of adding it at the end, making the listener feel a bit cheated. If you like true crime/serial killer stories then you will enjoy this, I just think it would have flowed better if everything had been properly integrated.

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A Good read / listen

The true crime story of the self confessed serial killer Joel Rifkin. A well written and documented history of Joel Rifkin. Narration is good clear and precise.
Full of facts + additional information regarding serial killers in general.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

A must listen for fans of true crime.

Joel's story was complete in about a hour...

Joel Rifkin: The Horrifying & True Story of Joel the Ripper by Jack Rosewood and Rebecca Lo was a bit different than most of the other novels and novellas that I've read by Mr. Rosewood. First off, Joel's story seemed like it was finished within the first hour or so, at which time discussion changed to other serial killers. Seeing as how this book is just over three and a half hours, that's a lot of time where you hear about things other than Joel Rifkin. I felt that his story was kind of rushed through. I definitely would have liked to have heard more detail into his story, and instead thought that the other information presented about serial killers in general was filler that didn't seem appropriate in a book that I thought was going to be all about Joel the Ripper. The information presented afterwards didn't add to the story of Joel Rifkin. Overall, if you don't have much knowledge of serial killers then you may enjoy this book a bit more. I have read a lot about serial killers, therefore the latter part of this book was a lot of information that I was already aware of.

Kevin Kollins did a goof job narrating this novel. I can't comment on any emotion that he brought to the story, as this book is more informational and tells the story of Joel Rifkin. It's not a narrative where various characters are talking back and forth. Mr. Kollins does a good job narrating the information that Mr. Rosewood has presented in this book though. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for an honest review.

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Great Read

Loved it, told me alot about the case I never new. glad I bought it.

Informative

I really liked that this book talked about the criminal profiling. It discussed criminal profiling and informed the reader how Rifkin fit into each area. I also like that it talked about other serial killers and certain behaviors they all exhibit. It was an interesting and informative book. The narrator did a pretty good job as well.

I was given this book free at my request in return for my unbiased review.

Rifkin is lot a normal serial killer

Jack Rosewood and Rebecca Lo have written a very intriguing book about a serial killer that didn't seem to follow the norms of other serial killers. Kevin Kollins reading makes it feel like an America's Most Wanted episode. Overall,a great book with a lot of information about Joel Rifkin and other serial killers.

Interesting but towards the end it become overwhel

There are a lot of interesting facts as the author goes through Joel as a serial killer and his defense of doing it because of adoption. He gives you facts based on killers who are adopted and one of the defenses he used in this case but as you will find in Joel’s case beside being bullied from his peers he had a very loving home. He also gives other defenses he used for his reason to kill.

The narrator really bought this audio to life. He gave emotion when he needed to but for the most part he just does it in his normal voice much like someone doing the news which is the way it should be. There are no background noises, no repeating of words, no volume changes just a clean clear audio that I totally enjoyed. If any breaks were taken I could not tell, he gave the right pause for the words to sink. He lays it out and lets the listener judge what their emotion will be.

I usually really enjoy this author’s true crime but here he goes into the names of the adopted people who have killed but gives little information. After a while it becomes overwhelming and your mind goes off on its own. It is interesting to see how many adopted people have killed but just not enough information is given to hold your attention. The first part of this book is outstanding and I totally enjoyed it.

Darkly fascinating...

Excellent narration, like listening to 48 Hours or similar programming. Very well done. Quick listen, an interesting content. While the first half of the book was about Rifkin, it was more of a segue in to a larger discussion about serial killers and the death penalty. If you're looking for the true story of Joel Rifkin, this probably won't satisfy you. But if you're looking for a good book about the mind of serial killers using Joel Rifkin's background as supporting material, then this may prove informative. ***This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.***

Joel the Ripper

Joel Rifkin: The Horrifying & True Story of Joel the Ripper
The Serial Killer Books, Book 4
: Jack Rosewood, Rebecca Lo

Jack Rosewood is back with his next installment of serial killers. This one features Joel Rifkin, who murdered at least 17 prostitutes in New York between 1989 and 1993. There are mini sections that discuss adoptee murderers and longest solitary confinement. Those sections sort of jumped out of left field, but were interesting none the less.

The narration was well done. Kevin Kollins does an excellent job with this genre.



I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.