In general, this book is a great resource for anyone doing research on Aileen Wuornos. Unlike Michael Reynolds's *Dead Ends* Russell does not idealize the police, and her details on the police and others' behind-the-scenes wrangling over Aileen's story is thorough and even-handed. An interesting feature of this account is Russell's repeated tendency to offer a quasi-Eugenicist explanation for "Lee's" behavior--her behavioral similarities to her criminal father, for example, and even Tyria's resemblance to him--only to ultimately back away from this implication by the end of the book. I think the book could have been tightened up, made just a bit shorter, but all in all it is studiously researched, thoughtful, and written in an accessible tone. I will now read more of Russell's work, and I hope this review helps others.

LETHAL INTENT by Sue Russell is the story of the life and crimes of serial killer, Aileen Carol Wuornos. It is loaded with details of Wournos' life, crimes, convictions, and time spent on death row. Further, it is evident this author has put a great deal of energy into researching the topic and writing the book.

Having derived facts of Wournos' history from hour-long TV new shows, I didn't have much information prior to reading this book. So Russell does a great job of filling in the gaps.

However, the author's writing ability flucuates from good to bad with the storyline's ebb and flow, which can be frustrating for a reader.

In addition, Russell is from the U.K., and she uses their spelling, etc., ie, defence instead of defense, tyre rather than tire, the term boot instead of trunk. Time is reflected as 6.10 rather than 6:10 or sometimes simply 6. In addition, dates are given as 5 May 1974 instead of May 5, 1974.

Yet, in spite of coming across a bizarre snipet of writing occasionally, the story is so interesting that I couldn't put the book down. Also of note, I would not normally give a book that's poorly written/edited a 4 star rating, but the sheer volume of pertinent details included in the book and Russell's overall ability to keep the narrative moving along, offset any negatives for me.

Wuornos' life begins in a highly dysfunctional family environment and drug-riddled community. Needless to say, her life spirals downward from there. So is a very depressing story, especially her childhood.

No one interviewed for the book is able to pinpoint the exact circumstance(s) which started this 12-year-old girl to begin selling sexual favors for money and cigarettes. Familial incest is alluded to but not able to be confirmed.

Wournos' motive for the killings seems to be a mixture of hatred of men (she would deny that) and a need for cash. Although it was never determined her lesbian lover, Tyira, was ever part of the murders, she did have knowledge of some of them afterthefact. And her involvement is still suspect with people familiar with the cases to this day.

In the end, Wournous achieved her "15 minutes of fame," yet it wasn't the kind of heroic grandeur she quite envisioned for herself. What a strange tale of a pathetically sad life.

This is a thoroughly researched book on Aileen Wournos. So many examples of ill-fated choices and full-blown borderline behaviors are packed into this biography. Her strange upbringing is presented with detailed information that isn't covered in other biographies. The familiar family dynamics are presented (Aileen's mother left Aileen and her brother, Keith, to live with their grandparents and half bro & sis). We also learn more about specific incidents of Aileen's inability to control her temper as a pre-teen, getting kicked out of her own booze parties,and sexual escapades with the local boys. Still, we are never sure who initially molested her as a young child. Aileen protects her grandfather ("father") yet despised him and it is not clear what had happened as far as early trauma. Aileen blamed her pregnancy on a family friend and later changed her story to a guy who looked like Elvis. When her grandmother ("mother") died she blew smoke at the body in state, switched bathroom signs and had giggle fits.

We then learn about life on the road and her moves to Colorado and Florida. Aileen keeps in touch with her half-sister Lori here and there. Havoc and drama burdens Lori and her husband. A visit to her birth mother, Diane, in Texas causes more rages and Diane fears to go to sleep with Aileen in the house. In between the visits she rides with men and steals and pokes and conives her way here and there, occasionally being raped and traumatized further. Aileen even has a brief marriage with a millionaire socialite who quickly divorces her due to her temper (she beat him with his cane because he only doled out $30.00 at a time to her).

As with many people with boderline disorder, Aileen had difficulty knowing who she really was. She seemed to prefer the outlaw, rebellious image. Her looks may have gotten her a few places and her deep attachment might have been seductive but all of her relationships fell short and hard except for Tyria whom she was with for four years. Aileen fought viscously and easily used scare tactics when lovers, family or friends did not respond accordingly. She would vasillate, suffering from "black and white" thinking - putting people on a pedestal or accusing them of being the lowest of the low.

Then we learn of the awful killings and tactics that Aileen utilized to get her victims out in wooded areas to rob them and use their cash, vehicles and whatever else seemed worth money. All the while, she is usually under the influence of alcohol.

Despite all of the information Sue presented, we are left asking many more questions. A big one for me was not knowing how involved former girlfriend, Tyria, was with Aileen's murder spree. It is very odd that Tyria wasn't nailed as an accomplice. Tyria had items from the dead still with her in Pennsylvania when the cops located her. One would think she would've trashed everything before leaving Florida if she was truly scared out of her mind.

Sue said Aileen didn't have a charm about her as most killers present. Her ability to manipulate was due to her victim persona. I disagree. She presented hints of charm in the documentaries by Broomfield. She also had her looks (even though they deteriorated as time went by) and she wrote heart-felt letters to her friend Dawn and adoptive mother, Arlene Pralle. Aileen could walk the walk and talk the talk but once she could wrap herself around someone, she just could not control the anger and rapid cycling she endured due to her mental health issues.

Of course, Aileen's ending was not what she planned at all. Choosing death seemed to give her a sense of rising above everyone. Aileen may have wished to take back what had happened but she wasn't going to admit it. She kept us in the dark in some respects as to whether she killed in cold blood or in self-defense. Sue did a great job going into details about her court cases and gave us hints and leads as Aileen just didn't want to open up about it and later as her mental health deteroriated, she blamed society and the cops even more so. I did and still do think that Sue's theory that Aileen had killed other men before Richard Mallory is credible.

If one wants to ride a rollercoaster of emotions and wind up trying to grasp what they have read, this is the book. The ending is a big question mark.

Very detailed account of Ms Wuornos' childhood, as well as her crime spree, and the trials and appeals. There seemed to be no angle, and no bias in the writing, but rather facts laid bare as known. The author does an excellent job of showing us the tragedy for the victims' families, as well as for MS Wuornos and her family. This book was recommended to me by David Taylor, to be an accurate account, and I am quite satisfied it is. A very complicated case, there seems to be lot of misinformation out there. I highly recommend this book for this tragic tale.

While I do not condone the behavior of this murderer one can certainly see how the ground work was being laid since early childhood. The father should have been arrested and prosecuted and jailed for life. The author makes you have some degree of sympathy for Aileen. There were times in the book that she needed to be rescued from that family. Makes me wonder if she would have been a killer anyway.