Killer Twins by Michael Benson

Killer Twins Reviews

• 
  ♥ Marlene♥

  Finished this book today. It had been on my wish list for a couple of years even though I knew not all review were positive. It was just such an interesting topic. Two identical twins are killers.
  I thought they had killed together but that was not the case.
  
  Michael Benson is a true crime author and so far I had read 2 of his books. One I gave just 2 stars was Watch mummy Die because he told everything in the first few pages. The Burn farm I gave just 3 even though this was a very interesting story but it was not told in a very interesting way and i think this happened as well with this book.
  
  Now this book he did a very good job in all the details and he interviewed the twins. Apparently back in the day there were more serial killers killing in Rochester USA. Arthur Shawcross for one. If you want to read a fantastic book about this killer read
  The Misbegotten Son by Jack Olsen.
  
  Not just Arthur Shawcross but more and I did like that the author told the reader about it.
  
  This book had lots of details. Why am I not really loving it I wonder.. Thinking about it it is probably because he had a lot of contact with one of the brothers, the more murderous one so the story is also told by the killer. Plus there was perhaps too much detail. It became boring instead of a good read.
  
  I do think the author did not judge and it was not all about what his opinion was even though that was hard to read sometimes. Maybe that is the reason why I did not really love it.
  
  This book deserves 3 to 3.5 stars.
• 
  Tracy

  This book was okay. The idea of identical twins who kill was fascinating but the development of the information in the book at times was superficial.
• 
  ReBecca

  Interesting read, mainly because its about two twin's who both kill. The book kinda dragged on though, and talking about murders that had nothing to do with the twins was kinda annoying.
• 
  Tamara Evans

  This books tells the story of Robert & Stephen Spahalski, twins lacking empathy and killed a total of five people in a murderous rivalry between brothers.
  
  The first part of the book consists of stories of the victims (Robert killed four people and Stephen killed one person). The second part of the book focuses on the twins’ upbringing as well as their early crimes of stealing car and eventually committing murder. The third part of the book focuses on Robert’s trial, sentencing and what part nature or nurture played in shaping Robert & Stephen into the killers they became.
  
  As the book progresses, prostitutes are being killed in Rochester, New York and police are unable to determine who the killer is. Time passes and many of these murders are left unresolved. When Robert is fifty years old and living from HIV, he turns himself in and confesses to four unresolved murders. Oddly enough, while he does admit to killing four people, he doesn’t want to be labeled as a serial killer since according to him, “he killed cause he had to. Something inside him pulled taut, then snapped-and he lost all control of himself.”
  
  Ironically, although Robert killed four people and possibly more, after he is sentenced to a hundred years in prison, he tell the author of this book that he wants readers to learn something about having psychological problems and smoking crack and by reading this book, you can see what happens when you mix the two.
  
  Stephen’s story ends differently in that he is released from prison in 2009. Although it is rumored that upon release from jail he plans to kill his mother and some retired cops who helped with putting him in jail, in reality, Stephen says that he vows to never hurt anyone again.
  
  The most interesting thing about this book is that the twins developed independently into killers and engaged in a game of criminal one-upmanship which began when they were teens. Overall, this is an intriguing read on how regardless of living in different locations, the bond that exist between twins is undeniable.
• 
  George J. Rogers

  Has some boring and disgusting parts but overall pretty good.
• 
  Lovviner

  It was so so. I wanted to read it after I watched a Documentary on TV and got interested in it.
• 
  Jacky Mac

  This book is a scary look into the mind of a serial killer/crack addict. It describes how the drugs went hand in hand with murder for this serial killer and how he lost control. Serial killers will always interest people because we wonder why they do what they do.. Is it nature or nurture? Well for these killer twins, it seems as though either way there was no hope for them. Both twins ended up killing. This is a twisted story, but psychologically interesting.
• 
  Marci

  I really enjoyed reading this book.
• 
  Luanne Clark

  Michael Benson is no Ann Rule. An interesting enough story, but could have been half the length if irrelevant information and redundant filler had been taken out.