Behold the Monster - by Jillian Lauren

About the Book

"It all started when journalist Jillian Lauren asked LAPD Homicide Detective Mitzi Roberts about which case Roberts was most proud of closing. "Samuel Little," Roberts answered. The now 79-year-old Little had murdered approximately 90 women over six decades and repeatedly got away with the murders due to lack of evidence (or jurisdiction); Roberts finally brought him to justice by tying him to the murders of three Los Angeles women. Surprised she had never heard of Little, Lauren started digging. She started exchanging letters with Little until she got a face-to-face meeting that led to hundreds of hours of interviews full of information Little had never shared with law enforcement. Lauren knew this journey to the truth was taking its toll on her, but she couldn't stop-Little was giving her a powerful and harrowing window into the psyche of a serial killer. To balance out his darkness, Lauren decided to illuminate the lives of the women he killed. In her interviews, he confessed to 12 additional murders, supplying details that Lauren could share with families in need of closure. Harrowing, insightful, and extraordinarily adept at giving Little's victims a chance to have their stories heard for the first time, Behold the Monster is a true crime book as unforgettable as it is terrifying"--

Book Synopsis

Jillian Lauren had no idea what she was getting into when she wrote her first letter to prolific serial killer Samuel Little. All she knew was her research had led her to believe he was good for far more murders than the three for which he had been convicted. While the two exchanged dozens of letters and embarked on hundreds of hours of interviews, Lauren gained the trust of a monster. After maintaining his innocence for decades, Little confessed to the murders of ninety-three women, often drawing his victims in haunting detail as he spoke. How could one man evade justice, manipulating the system for over four decades?

As the FBI, the DOJ, the LAPD, and countless law enforcement officials across the country worked to connect their cold cases with the confessions, Lauren's coverage of the investigations and obsession with Little's victims only escalated.

New York Times bestselling author and lead of the Starz docuseries Confronting a Serial Killer Jillian Lauren delivers the harrowing report of her unusual relationship with a psychopath. But this is more than a deep dive into the actions of Samuel Little. Lauren's riveting and emotional accounts reveal the women who were lost to cold files, giving Little's victims a chance to have their stories heard for the first time.

Review Quotes

"The serial killer speaks--and so do his victims. Behold the Monster is a rare gem of a true crime narrative. Author Jillian Lauren pushes away spiders and cobwebs to take you deep inside the torturous mind of an apex predator while also adding a heart-wrenching dimension to the many lives he destroyed. The writing is crisp, disturbing and ultimately terrifying!" -- Casey Sherman, New York Times bestselling author of Helltown

"Wildly original... True crime fans will find this a unique and disturbing thrill ride." -- Publishers Weekly

"Equal parts harrowing and imaginative, Behold the Monster looks straight into the face of pure evil and doesn't blink. Jillian Lauren's devastating portrait of Sam Little and his innumerable victims is a journey into a darkness that is almost unfathomable; as well as an indictment of a failed justice system and the social decay that created a serial killer in the first place. Utterly gripping, this book will tear you apart." -- Janelle Brown, New York Times bestselling author

"It's always been on my mind. How my sister died, who killed her and why. But now we know, thank the Lord. After all these years, the Lord has answered our prayers." -- Deborah Duvall, sister of Alice Duvall

"Jillian confronts the man with the dubious honor of being America's most prolific serial killer. His revelations were gleaned due to Jillian's work with Little, law enforcement, the Texas Rangers, and the FBI...she got this murderer to confess." -- Joe Berlinger, award-winning true crime documentary filmmaker and producer

"Jillian Lauren employs a bewitching blend of empathy and brio, deep imagination and cold curiosity, to unleash a tale of horror that is also humane and self aware. This is a hard book to read, and even harder to put down." -- Jennifer Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Candy House

"Sam Little is the monster in this story and Jillian Lauren is the slayer. She is the one who stuck her nose into it, saw something was not right, was dreadfully wrong, in fact, and did something about it." -- Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author