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Rating: 
Summary: Truth is Stranger than Fiction
Review: After recently reading a news story about the auction of the West household, I was compelled to read as much as I could about this travesty. Sounes' book is the definitive volume of the 20 years of terror that occurred in Gloucester. I found it strange that I had never heard of this case before, but the events sounded somewhat familiar (almost like the films Natural Born Killers or People Under the Stairs).The gruesome goings on nevertheless make for an engrossing read, where this couple (who eventually had eight children - some of which were killed, most were abused), lured people into their home, murdered, dismembered, and buried them either in the cellar or back yard. The way it captivated me was similar to Bugliosi's Helter Skelter. I'm not a fan of serial killers, but the story just holds you and scares the hell out of you - especially since it really happened.
Rating: 
Summary: Howard's Happy Tale of Woe
Review: Howard Sounes' book about the West Country's most infamous couple is an enlongated bubble gum, tabloid gossip article. Whilst I'm sure Sounes spent a lot of time researching the case and fingering through the many aspects of intricacies, the book does not delve anywhere as deep as the graves of the victims the couple butchered. The glossy account of the details is, however, intensified by the awful and very humbling circumstances in which the murderous pair grew up and met, but this has nothing to do with the author. There is minimal discussion or investigation as to the reasons why the pair undertook their Road to Hell by way of torture, ... voyeuristic prostitution, despite them being up there with the best of the serial killers. The plus point of the book is that it is written in a childish journalistic format and is thus very easy to read, almostunputdownable. The pair's heinous crimes are some of the worst I have read about and it is almost unbelievable that anyone could inflict these attrocities. For pure sensationalism and an easy introduction into the wonderful world of serial killers, this book hits the mark. But for those who want to question a little further and obtain explanations or theories as to why the necrophilliac, nymphomaniac, sadistic and self-centred pair committed such crimes, best give me a ring and we can discuss over a beer. Perhaps at a pub in Gloucester!!
Rating:
Summary: Howard's Happy Tale of Woe
Review: Howard Sounes' book about the West Country's most infamous couple is an enlongated bubble gum, tabloid gossip article. Whilst I'm sure Sounes spent a lot of time researching the case and fingering through the many aspects of intricacies, the book does not delve anywhere as deep as the graves of the victims the couple butchered. The glossy account of the details is, however, intensified by the awful and very humbling circumstances in which the murderous pair grew up and met, but this has nothing to do with the author. There is minimal discussion or investigation as to the reasons why the pair undertook their Road to Hell by way of torture, ... voyeuristic prostitution, despite them being up there with the best of the serial killers. The plus point of the book is that it is written in a childish journalistic format and is thus very easy to read, almostunputdownable. The pair's heinous crimes are some of the worst I have read about and it is almost unbelievable that anyone could inflict these attrocities. For pure sensationalism and an easy introduction into the wonderful world of serial killers, this book hits the mark. But for those who want to question a little further and obtain explanations or theories as to why the necrophilliac, nymphomaniac, sadistic and self-centred pair committed such crimes, best give me a ring and we can discuss over a beer. Perhaps at a pub in Gloucester!!
Rating:
Summary: Not So Good
Review: I don't really see how you could call a book like this good anyway. But, I have read alot of true crime stories and I definitely thought this one is the worst. I don't feel it is very thorough. You read 4 chapters at the beginning ALL about the family history and then it just kind of jumps to everything happening. In my opinion it could have been written alot better.
Rating: 
Summary: Very thoroughly written!
Review: If you're here, you've either heard of them from a friend or you're a serial killer reader... With that in mind, this book is NOT for anyone who can't handle feeling a little queasy. As a girl who's read a lot of serial killer books, this one tops the gruesomely discussed catagory. The book is so thorough, Howard Sounes gives background even on their parents...so you really get to know these two people. The book takes us through to when they meet and then in painstaking detail describes each of the girls they forced into sadomasochistic sex torture...including their little girls. As I said, the book is very creepy and could provide nightmares...so buyer beware. Of course, it offers more than you'd ever dream of knowing about any two serial killers...and the two in this book, while following patterns of organized serial killing, as described by Robert Ressler, they are dumb as bricks. Happy reading.
Rating:
Summary: Very gory & scary
Review: It scares me to know that people let alone parents like these are out there. This book haunted me for days. This is one sick family and I wonder what the kids will grow up to be, how will they raise their own family with Fred & Rose as their role models? I do not recommend this book for the weak hearted, it its very descriptive and shocking.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic True Crime Title from Britain
Review: This book is a classic true crime title. The case is extraordinary: an apparently ordinary and pleasant married couple, Fred and Rose West, molest, torture and murder a series of young women and girls -- including their own daughter -- bury the dismembered remains under their house, in the middle of the city of Gloucester, and continue living happily in said house for many years. The author, Sounes, broke the story as a reporter, and this is the big book on the case, which is very well known in England. Absolutely riveting and a big seller ever since published about ten years ago in the UK, though not so well known in the US. It will make your hair curl (if it doesn't already). A classic of the genre alongside Profession of Violence, Helter Skelter, and Killing for Company.
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