Jeff Jensen

This true crime graphic novel is about one of the most prolific serial killers of all time. It's told through the eyes of one of the lead detectives Tom Jensen. It profiles his hunt for Gary Ridgway who was eventually caught and convicted of murdering 49 women and girls, most of whom were prostitutes or runaways.

As weird as it sounds, I find serial killer reads to be pretty interesting. This one has an even additional twist as Tom Jensen's son, Jeff is the author. The story is chronicled show more pretty thoroughly and gives you the insight to the determination and work it took for all involved to capture Ridgway as well as a small glimpse into the mind of a nutjob. show less

During the 80s and early 90s a monster killed scores of women in the Seattle/Tacoma area. His name was Gary Leon Ridgway, aka The Green River Killer. Told in illustrated form, this thorough and totally fascinating account, focuses on Detective Tom Jensen, as he doggedly pursued this heinous butcher, through 2 frustrating decades.
Yes, this is a bleak, lurid subject, but if you are interested in true-crime stories, you can’t get any better. An added bonus, the author is Jensen’s son, who show more witnessed first hand his father obsession with capturing Ridgway. show less

I expected a lot from this book and I was very excited to read it. I have NOT seen Tomorrowland yet, but I thought it looked very interesting in the trailers and I do plan to watch it. I read this book so I could get familiar with the world and get a framework for when I watch the movie.

That would have been a better plan if the book would've delivered. While I really enjoyed certain aspects, especially the character arc of Henry, there were just parts of this novel that were not good. The show more prologue chapter was gripping, but every chapter following it for the first 100 pages was slow and tiresome and not very well written. The overall writing style just doesn't flow or invoke any emotion or sense of wonder. It brings a lot of confusion, presenting characters you know little to nothing about, you don't know which side is doing what, where the Nazis are in comparison to Plus Ultra, you don't really even know WHAT Plus Ultra really is until much later in the novel, which is something I had major issues with. I like knowing why I should be on one side versus another, or being torn between both because of empathy, but this book provides nothing to solidly grab onto for the whole first half! The most intriguing sympathetic characters are Lee and his mom, but they aren't as focused on in the beginning, when they were who I wanted to experience the story with the most! They were the most relatable and the most developed to begin with, yet they're dropped like an old hat until all the worlds begin to collide.

I had high hopes for this book, because some of the concepts are so very interesting on the surface, but the execution just doesn't work. While I did have a good time towards the end, it just couldn't save the beginning and move the story to a higher rating for me. I was also disappointed to realize that not very much of the actual Tomorrowland is present. I expected to be transported into a new world that was in its beginning stages, at least for a little while, but there isn't hardly any aspect of that to be amazed by. I liked some of the historical figures that were brought into the story, particularly Plus Ultra's leading lady, and I like the time period of the story, but there were so many missed opportunities over the course of the novel.

While some characters are pretty well developed in the long run, and the story becomes progressively better, it doesn't make up for the lack of passion in the writing, the early confusion in the plot/story, and the failure to bring a truly imaginative concept to fruition. I expected a lot more from a Disney publication. Better luck next time....this one I won't be purchasing or reading again. show less

4.5 stars, but I'm fine with rounding up.

I've been a fan of Jeff Jensen since I started reading his Entertainment Weekly reviews regularly about a decade ago. When I picked this up, I didn't realize he was the author until I started reading. His father was one of the law enforcement officer who brought in the infamous Green River Killer.

It's a dark subject that is (thankfully) handled with little exploitation. This reads like a love letter to Jensen's father, a decent man butting heads show more with evil in society. It's a surprisingly moving story. The only think I disliked was that some of Jensen's dialogue feels overly expository, but it only happens in a few places. show less