Seven Days of Rage

September 14, 2009
Philip Markoff, an average 22-year-old med student with a devoted fiancé, stands accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint in a Boston hotel room on April 9, 2009, and killing another woman less than a week later. In this compelling, suspenseful narrative, author and TV producer LaRosa (Tacoma Confidential) and Boston Globe crime reporter Cramer lay out the chain of events surrounding the so-called Craiglist Killer and his victims--29-year-old Trisha Leffler (vulnerable, agreeable, quick to laugh) and 25-year-old Julissa Brisman (happy to flaunt her come-hither looks)--both of whom Markoff found on the internet classified ads site Craigslist. Among the sordid details, forensics and digital crime-fighting techniques combine to give police the evidence they need, and its emergence proves a particularly interesting aspect of the case. To their credit, LaRosa and Cramer don't let Craigslist off easy; critics blame the site for failing to monitor effectively its adult and erotic advertisements. Because Markoff remains in jail awaiting trial, readers will be left wondering over Markoff's true motives and ultimate fate.