Book Review: Behold the Monster by Jillian Lauren

Fans of true fiction, this review is for you.

After watching the documentary Confronting a Serial Killer, I was hooked on the story of Jillian Lauren and Sam Little. When I saw that there would be a follow up book, I immediately added it to my TBR. Behold the Monster gives an in-depth look at the relationship between the most prolific serial killer in the US, Sam Little and the author Jillian Lauren.

I thought hard about this book review, and feel that it’s best to break it in two; fiction and non-fiction.

The amount of time and dedication that Jillian Lauren put into Behold the Monster is apparent from the first page. You can feel her anxiety and anticipation as she visits Sam in prison to procure the murderous details that ultimately help convict him on numerous unsolved cold cases. Driven by her need to help the unnamed victims, Jillian takes you down the path that consumed her life for many years. I found the book hard to put down while reading about her experiences with Sam, the multiple detectives, the families, and in the courtroom. The descriptions were gripping, and had me wanting to read more about their interactions.
However, I was a bit put off by the addition of the fictional chapters of Sam Little’s victims. I appreciate that she wanted to give a voice to those that were murdered, but I felt that these chapters were a dramatization that didn’t need to be there.

I feel that Behold the Monster is ultimately worth the read and I give it 3.75 stars. Look for the book to be released on July 18, 2023.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advance copy of Behold the Monster in return for an honest review.