cover image The Gainesville Ripper

The Gainesville Ripper

Mary S. Ryzuk. Dutton Books, $22.95 (528pp) ISBN 978-1-55611-352-9

In August 1990, five young people were killed in Gainesville, Fla., all students at the University of Florida or Santa Fe Community College. Of the four women slain, some were also raped and others mutilated. The murders were committed by Danny Rollings, a Louisiana resident who had previously been arrested for armed robbery and theft throughout the Southeast and, after receiving a death sentence in this case, admitted to a triple murder in his home state. This account of the lives of the killer, who as a child had suffered extreme psychological and physical abuse, and his victims creates a vivid sense of tragic confluence. Appeals of Rollings's death sentence are pending. Ryzuk's (Thou Shalt Not Kill) true-crime book is haunting. Photos not seen by PW. Paperback rights to St. Martin's; True Crime Book Club main selection. (Sept.)