''Fearless and fierce ... transcends a crime story to be a story that threatens social order'' - Michael Connelly

''Bewitching . . . a tale of horror that is also humane and self-aware'' - Jennifer Egan

''[Lauren] writes in film-noir ... American prose, so you feel you''re in the seamy backstreets in the Rust Belt'' - Daily Mail, Book of the Week

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

''Blending gruesome forensic details with tender domestic moments . . . a panoramic tale of America''s worst serial killer'' - Daily Telegraph

''Chilling'' - the Sun

Jillian Lauren set out to research a serial killer for a novel. Instead, she put one at the centre of her life.

Months of exchanging letters with Samuel Little in prison landed her a face-to-face meeting - and the trust of a monster. In the hours of harrowing interviews that followed, Little confessed to the murders of ninety-three women, making him America''s most proli­fic serial killer. As the investigations escalated, the disturbing relationship took its toll on Lauren, both psychologically and legally - but she couldn''t stop.

Conversations with a psychopath, intertwined with intensely personal experience and the stories of those killed told for the ­first time, result in an unforgettable true crime account. Behold the Monster is a journey into a mind and murderer that shocked the world, but one that ultimately lifts the lives of the victims with such grace that we cannot look away.