Beyond Cruel

The Chilling True Story of America's Most Sadistic Killer

By: Stephen G. Michaud

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

Authorities opened the door on one man's hidden life...

Mike DeBardeleben was known as the Mall Passer for the way he passed off fake money at local shopping centers. But when US Secret Service agents finally arrested him, they were met with more than just phony bills. They found that their counterfeiter led a shocking double life....

...only to discover a house of horrors.

DeBardeleben's home was littered with drugs, bondage gear, and a collection of audio tapes in which he recorded the abuse of his countless victims. As the evidence mounted, a terrifying profile emerged of a man who forced women to be his accomplices, practiced sadism, even dressed up in women's clothes - a serial killer whose depraved fantasies led to a spree of violence that would last as long as 18 years...and would end in a sentence of almost 400 years in prison. As terrifying as it is true, this is the story of a man who proved to be, beyond the shadow of a doubt, beyond cruel.

©1994 Stephen G. Michaud (P)2020 Tantor

Boring

I really tried to get into this book but I just got bored. Lots of filler. Lots of irrelevant chronicling of FBI history. Every time it gets interesting, the writer buries the lead and you get lost in obscure facts about forensic history. .

Monster Status

As far as serial killers go, I thought I had knowledge of most of them, but this story definitely surprised me. I couldn’t believe I had never heard him about it especially being from the area where most of his crimes took place. The counterfeiting piece was really just the beginning. Overall a really good listen and solid storyline in. You can definitely say that this guy is one of those are ones that was born bad or or at least it seems that way.

Sad and disturbing

Though a disturbing story, it is still fascinating from a true crime perspective. Such a troubled man who did incredible damage to so many people.

meh!

Oh my goodness does book was dull! The story just kept repeating itself and had very poor continuity of time line.

Gruesome, also the man next door.

The evil that men do never ceases to terrify me. To think, we were all babies once.

Good detail and flow

Detail was great. Organization of facts was good. Slight over pronunciation of some words was a bit annoying at times.

Gripping

This story is disturbing to say the least. I believe what makes it so disturbing is the fact that it is all true! It's unfathomable that there are people like this in the world. I think I will be just a bit more watchful and protective of my children going forward. I adamantly oppose the death penalty, but in these cases, I would have said, "Light him up like a Christmas tree!"

Narrator wouldn’t have been my choice

Riveting true crime tale that is as equally unsettling as it is gripping. Not as in depth as I would’ve liked but still a solid book.

Story was good, Narrator not so much

While I enjoyed the story and how it was written, I struggled very much to finish this due to the narrator's clipped speech, over-enunciation, and monotonous tone moderation.

As much as a good story can carry itself, whoever reads through the material can impact the experience just as much as a poorly written and prepared book. I won't be able to push through another one of these narrator's books. It was just too much for me.

Reading the book would be viable as it's a good story.

Very dry narrating; bit of a slog

I think the story may have been interesting…I think. But it was hard to tell, because the narrator was very dry. It was like a radio newscaster reading hourly news updates…for 10 straight hours.