Over three and a half years ago I began work on The Green River Killer: A True Detective Story alongside writer Jeff Jensen and editor Scott Allie, who came to me with Jeff’s synopsis for the story and asked what I thought. It was obvious to us both that we had to make this book happen, and that it would be one of the most important books in the Dark Horse library. That belief has never wavered.
Green River Killer: A True Detective Story is written by Jeff Jensen, reporter for Entertainment Weekly and son of the book’s central character, Detective Tom Jensen. Throughout the eighties and nineties, Detective Jensen worked on a series of cold cases in the Seattle, Washington area. These cases involved the victims of the elusive Green River Killer, a serial killer with the most prolific murder record in U.S. history. A task force was put together and later disbanded after years of false leads and millions of dollars spent. Yet Jensen remained on the case, never turning from his efforts to bring justice to the victims and their families. His diligence eventually led to a breakthrough, and the resulting arrest of Gary Leon Ridgway, the Green River Killer.
In the process of editing this book and working with Jeff I was able to meet Tom Jensen and his wife Charlaine. I was able to see Jeff’s childhood home. I was also shown the sites where many of these women were murdered, their bodies dumped, as well as the offices where Ridgway was kept during a lengthy interrogation process. The experience was overwhelming, moving, transformative, and bonded me to this story and the Jensen family in ways I never could have expected.
This book is a portrait of Tom Jensen—a man who fought for good and justice in the midst of the most bleak, disturbing evil imaginable. I admire him tremendously, and editing a book that tells his story, the story of Ridgway's victims, and of good triumphing over evil is an immense honor. This is a story worth sharing, reading, and discussing. What is it like to spend over a decade inside the mind of a serial killer, to meet the families of innocent victims, chase after false leads for eighteen years, and raise a family in the midst of it all? What's it like to live in a community consumed by fear of an unknown and pervasive predator, and then to finally look evil in the eye and ask, "Why?" This isn't your typical serial killer story, or typical detective story. It's a love letter from a son to his father, and a detective to his city, and a story of unwavering commitment.
Sierra Hahn
Editor
Detective Tom Jensen picking up a copy of his son's new Book:
