The Man in the Monster, Martha Elliott
The Man in the Monster, Martha Elliott
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The Man in the Monster
Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer

Author: Martha Elliott

Narrator: Kyra Miller

Unabridged: 10 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 08/04/2015


Synopsis

An astonishing portrait of a murderer and his complex relationship with a crusading journalist Michael Ross was a serial killer who raped and murdered eight young women between 1981 and 1984, and several years ago the state of Connecticut put him to death. His crimes were horrific, and he paid the ultimate price for them. When journalist Martha Elliott first heard of Ross, she learned what the world knew of him-that he had been a master at hiding in plain sight. Elliott, a staunch critic of the death penalty, was drawn to the case when the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned Ross's six death sentences. Rather than fight for his life, Ross requested that he be executed because he didn't want the families of his victims to suffer through a new trial. Elliott was intrigued and sought an interview. The two began a weekly conversation-that developed into an odd form of friendship-that lasted over a decade, until Ross's last moments on earth. Over the course of his twenty years in prison, Ross had come to embrace faith for the first time in his life. He had also undergone extensive medical treatment. The Michael Ross whom Elliott knew seemed to be a different man from the monster who was capable of such heinous crimes. This Michael Ross made it his mission to share his story with Elliott in the hopes that it would save lives. He was her partner in unlocking the mystery of his own evil. In The Man in the Monster, Martha Elliott gives us a groundbreaking look into the life and motivation of a serial killer. Drawing on a decade of conversations and letters between Ross and the author, readers are given an in-depth view of a killer's innermost thoughts and secrets, revealing the human face of a monster-without ignoring the horrors of his crimes. Elliott takes us deep into a world of court hearings, tomblike prisons, lawyers hell-bent to kill or to save-and families ravaged by love and hate. This is the personal story of a journalist who came to know herself in ways she could never have imagined when she opened the notebook for that first interview.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Erin

Journalist Martha Elliot became intrigued by serial killer Michael Ross when, instead of fighting for his life, he chose to accept the death row sentence he was handed, claiming he “owed it to the families of his victims”. During ten years of court appearances and appeals, Elliot met with Ross (in p......more

Goodreads review by Heather

A book is meant to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader. This is what an author strives for, correct? Martha Elliott has succeeded. My emotional reaction is irritated. Elliott, a reporter at the beginning of following of this story, befriends convicted serial killer and rapist Michael Ross as h......more

Goodreads review by Meghan

This may well be the hardest review I have written. Not because I did not like the book or disagreed with something, but rather because my mind can't settle after finishing this story. I had never heard of Michael Ross before this book. So his stories, his victims, their families and the insight Mar......more

This book was given to me by Netgalley to read and review for Penguin Press. Journalist Martha Elliott wrote it after spending more than a decade talking to, writing, and at times meeting with Michael Ross, a serial killer from Connecticut who raped and murdered at least 8 women between 1981 and 198......more