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Letters to the Purple Satin Killer

ebook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

Jonas Williker is considered one of the most sadistic serial murderers of the modern era. This epistolary novel explores the aftermath of his arrest and the psychological trauma of those who lived through it.

The Pennsylvania native brutalized his way into the zeitgeist during the early part of the new millennium, leaving a trail of corpses across five states before his eventual arrest. All told, Williker was responsible for the rape and murder of 23 women, and is suspected in the deaths of dozens more. His calling card—a torn piece of fabric found on or inside the bodies of his victims—helped popularize his now ubiquitous nickname.

The Purple Satin Killer.

In the years following his arrest, Jonas Williker received hundreds of letters in prison. Collected here, these letters offer a unique glimpse into a depraved mind through a human lens, including contributions from family, the bereaved, and self-professed "fans." They represent a chilling portrait of the American psyche, skewering a media obsessed culture where murderers are celebrities to revere. What you learn about the man from these letters will shock you, but not as much as what you learn about yourself.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 24, 2024
      Chaplinsky (The Paradox Twins) revises and expands his 2015 short story of the same name in this implausible horror novel recounting the life of a serial killer through a series of letters he receives in prison. Jonas Williker, “one of the most sadistic serial murderers of the modern era,” raped and murdered 24 women in five states, and was dubbed the Purple Satin Killer for his hallmark, “a torn piece of fabric found on or inside the bodies of his victims.” After his arrest in 2004, numerous people write to Williker, including his mother and the cop who unknowingly let him get away years earlier. Chaplinsky makes suspending disbelief difficult early on with the details of Williker’s “audacious” first murder: “Both her mouth and anus stuffed with the soon-to-be eponymous cloth. When the coroner attempted to remove it, he discovered the two pieces were opposite ends of a single length, measuring over 30 yards.” The identities of the letter writers are also frequently unlikely; for example, there’s no logical reason why a former politician whose campaign Williker worked on would dignify Williker’s request for him to be a character witness. These instances undermine Chaplinsky’s attempt to make this read like true crime, complete with a foreword by a fictional FBI profiler. More is decidedly less here.

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  • English

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