Winner of the Washington State Book Award for Memoir“Extraordinarily suspenseful and truly gut-wrenching. . . . A must-read.”—Gillian Flynn, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Gone GirlIn this superb work of literary true crime—a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense—a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search … suspense—a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us.
“Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I’ll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you’re honest, as honest as any reporter. . . . You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn’t it?”—Kendall Francois
In September 1998, young reporter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite twenty-seven-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister.
Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly fascinated by the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women—and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims’ rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil.
Reaching out after Francois was arrested, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to clearly see herself and her own past—and why she was drawn to danger.
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This story is both horrific & tragic, a awesome book, written by a incredible author. Both vivid & fast-paced, the “Spider” was truthfully terrifying, but it was the writer’s personal projection, her skill–use of words/sentences that I absolutely devoured. I could not wait to get to the end of the book to see what else she had written. It saddened me to see this was her only “book” (so far!) I was not surprised to find she had won several awards (for journalism), which is what she is (a journalist). It would be nice to have more books from her. Each & every sentence is like poetry–you “feel” them all over. I wish she had more “full-length” books to take me away. I truly believe she would end up being “required reading” for future HS/college students–an author reread for years by many generations. I will re-read this book, mainly for the purpose of enjoying her eloquence with words. I highly recommend it for the story itself (scary!) and for people that enjoy a good writer.
Several years ago, I tried to read Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. It’s the granddaddy of the New Journalism/ficitionalize non-fiction killer book. I hated it.
Capote obviously had a crush on one of the killers. Maybe not a sexual crush but he was fascinated. The victims were virtually ignored. It’s understandable in a movie where you have ninety minutes to scare people but in a novel you can at least make the dead human. So half way through, I stopped reading that book. I rarely read many murder-y books.
But I did listen to the audiobook of The Spider and the Fly by Claudia Rowe. There was no reason except it was recommended to me and I was tired of podcasts and I needed something I could drop in and out of.
The rest of the review is at http://www.howardmcewen.com
In the hands of talented writer and journalist Rowe, this story induces spine-tingling chills that will haunt for years. While shining a spotlight on one town’s underbelly, Rowe reveals the horrific aftermath of a missing women’s case (most prostitutes) that didn’t seem to garner enough care to be quickly solved. By putting herself in harms way, and corresponding with their killer, Rowe pieces together a story about daughters, sisters, and mothers who deserved better treatment from those who’d sworn to protect.
A writer is obsessed with a serial killer. She doesn’t get much in the way of answers and neither do we.
3 stars for her persistence and determination.
None of the above choices apply.
Interesting and compelling. She helped u understand a difficult subject.
Author strays onto her own life and thoughts without getting to the main point of the book.
The writing was wonderful- however, author kept eluding to her own dark past/secrets and never delivered. It’s difficult to connect with her as she was holding back. Never got “full story” from her subject either ( obviously not her fault) but with the lack of closure For both parties, I feel cheated. Not a satisfying read.
so hard to follow
Poignant and honest look at relationships with people we think we need and those we need something from…and all those in-between.
Weird. The writer obviously had a few issues of her own as well as writing about this murderer. The fact that she stood by while her boyfriend (at the time) beat their dog was definitely as disturbing as delving into the mind of this serial killer.
Very good writing where the author’s self-reflection is an important part of the story about a murderer