Lost Girls

An American Mystery

By: Robert Kolker

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

New York Times Bestseller • Now a Netflix Film

With an Afterword and New Epilogue by the Author

The bestselling account of the lives of five young women whose fates converged in the perplexing case of the Long Island Serial Killer.

“Rich, tragic...monumental...true-crime reporting at its best.”—Washington Post

One late spring evening in 2010, Shannan Gilbert—after running through the oceanfront community of Oak Beach screaming for her life—went missing. No one who had heard of her disappearance thought much about what had happened to the twenty-four-year-old: she was a Craigslist escort who had been fleeing a scene—of what, no one could be sure. The Suffolk County police, too, seemed to have paid little attention—until seven months later, when an unexpected discovery in a bramble alongside a nearby highway turned up four bodies, all evenly spaced, all wrapped in burlap. But none of them Shannan’s.

There was Maureen Brainard-Barnes, last seen at Penn Station in Manhattan three years earlier, and Melissa Barthelemy, last seen in the Bronx in 2009. There was Megan Waterman, last seen leaving a hotel in Hauppauge, Long Island, just a month after Shannon’s disappearance in 2010, and Amber Lynn Costello, last seen leaving a house in West Babylon a few months later that same year. Like Shannan, all four women were petite, in their twenties, and had come from out of town to work as escorts, and they all had advertised on Craigslist and its competitor, Backpage.

Long considered “one of the best true-crime books of all time” (Time), Lost Girls is a portrait of unsolved murders in an idyllic part of America, of the underside of the Internet, and of the secrets we keep without admitting to ourselves that we keep them.

Decent story, but no closure(not authors fault)

Well written, and researched story. primarily of the victims. But seeing as the LISK has not been apprehended, there is no closure. I didn't expect it going in, but i did expect more. Probably worth the credit.

Focus on Victims

True crime book that focuses on the victims. Narrator was great and I finished this in three days. Definitely recommended.

👍

Dobra pozycja fla fanów prawdziwych i nierozwiązanych zagadek kryminalnych.
Napisana i odtworzona z olbrzymim szacunkiem dla ofiar oraz ich rodzin, a nawet podejrzanych o popełnione zbrodnie.
Książka warta uwagi i polecenia.

It was a tough one to follow at first..

Very sad how these women were failed by our justice system and prejudged by society because of their profession. The statistics were shocking to me at the end. I feel for the families and hope someday they that they will have justice.
This book is not at all like the Netflix show. I watched the Netflix one when I couldn’t figure out where it was going, only to realize- it was a very small piece of this book.

Excellent review of a botched case

The narrator was good, and the story was sad, made worse by the corruption of the police. There is most likely victims not yet found. This is a very interesting read.