Requiem for a Female Serial Killer by Phyllis Chesler

The issues raised by this high-profile criminal case remain unresolved to this day. Women, even prostitutes, have the right to self-defense in theory, but, in practice, the story is more complicated. This book will challenge everything you ever thought about prostitutes, serial killers, and justice in America.

Aileen Wuornos is a damaged soul, a genuine American outlaw, a symbol of women's rage, a symbol of what can happen to severely abused children, and of how our justice system fails women. Chesler's involvement with a serial killer has haunted her ever since. She speaks in Aileen Wuornos' voice, as well as in her own, and delivers an incisive, original, and dramatic portrait of a cognitively impaired, traumatized, and alcoholic woman, who had endured so much pain in her short life. When she'd had enough, the results were deadly.

This is a poignant, sometimes humorous, never-before-told, behind-the-scenes tale. Wuornos' story is handled with great sensitivity, but also with realistic detachment by Chesler, as she probes the telling moment. Was Wuornos suffering from post-traumatic stress after a life lived on a "killing field"? Was she also "born evil"? So many prostitutes have been tortured and murdered by serial killers. How did Wuornos, once prey, become a predator?

Requiem for a Female Serial Killer will also haunt you. It won’t let you put it down.

Take a walk on the wild side. The ghost of Aileen Wuornos beckons.