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On the Farm

Robert William Pickton and the Tragic Story of Vancouver's Missing Women

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On the Farm

Written by: Stevie Cameron
Narrated by: Erin Moon
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About this listen

Verteran investigative journalist Stevie Cameron first began following the story of missing women in 1998, when the odd newspaper piece appeared chronicling the disappearances of drug-addicted sex trade workers from Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. It was not until February 2002 that pig farmer Robert William Pickton would be arrested, and 2008 before he was found guilty, on six counts of second-degree murder. These counts were appealed and in 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its conclusion. The guilty verdict was upheld, and finally this unprecedented tale of true crime could be told.

Covering the case of one of North America's most prolific serial killers gave Stevie Cameron access not only to the story as it unfolded over many years in two British Columbia courthouses, but also to information unknown to the police—and not in the transcripts of their interviews with Pickton—such as from Pickton's long-time best friend, Lisa Yelds, and from several women who survived terrifying encounters with him. Cameron uncovers what was behind law enforcement's refusal to believe that a serial killer was at work.

©2010 Stevie Cameron (P)2022 Vintage Canada
True Crime Exciting Scary Emotionally Gripping
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What the critics say

National Bestseller

2011, Arthur Ellis Award for Best Non-Fiction

2011, British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction

2011, Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction

“Rich with detail. . . . Should you buy this book and read it? Definitely.”—Neil Boyd, The Globe and Mail

"Stevie Cameron, who brought the art of political investigative journalism in Canada to new heights over the last three decades, has distinguished herself and her profession once again… [On the Farm] will surely remain a classic for generations of crime readers to come."—Winnipeg Free Press

What listeners say about On the Farm

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so much information that I didn't know about.

great listen, kept me hooked to learn new details about the trial, and investigation.

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Highly recommend

The depth this book goes into is incredible. you learn about everything, literally everything. one of my favorite true crime books. Detailed, organized and captivating. The narrator is fantastic.

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Great writing, really crazy story

The writing for this book is incredible. However, the narrator tries to do this “Canadian” accent when quoting Robert Picton and it is REALLY bad lol. Almost as if they are reading a nighttime story to a child, you don’t need to make up voices for each character that comes along. Otherwise, very good.

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What a crazy ride

The story was quite an eye opener living close to where it all happened. The only complaint I have is with the narrator trying to do an indigenous accent. I find that a little insulting.

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I love how the author used the victims names over and over.

Very informative. gave a voice to the victims and their families. An unfortunate part of Canadian crime history.

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Interesting

I’m in aw to be honest. Not at all the outcome I expected. The book was well read

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Incredibly thorough and respectful

Cameron doesn't skip any detail on this case and still makes it easy to understand for a layman. The victims are all given dedicated parts to share their stories of before they came to the downtown eastside and were victims of Pickton, and clearly points out the patterns of bad and good what these women shared in their lives.
I'm a Vancouver resident and this book taught me a lot of history of my city that I wasn't fully aware of, and the organizations that help women and addicts that are still around today. The criticism of the police shown in this book about the investigation still feels very relevant to the VPD of today, and learning the history of this has opened a new perspective for me.

Overall, I really appreciated that this book wasn't only about a serial killer, but also the women who were loved and lost, politics of Vancouver and the fraser valley, the struggles of the homeless and addicted, sex workers failing to be seen as human, residential school generational trauma, the limitations of the Canadian court system, and the imbalance of wealth.
Excellent work.

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Could not stop listening

Very powerful story. Sad, but very interesting and compelling. Did a good job on focusing on the victims- not just the killer. An especially interesting read for those from BC/Canada

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Amazing

This book really got into all the details. From the killer to the victims, the narrator brought the story in an easy to keep up way.

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Excellent coverage of the whole story

This book is about as detailed and informative as anyone could ask for. Well narrated and is very respectful to the victims and families, as well as the reader. Not an easy balance to make I can imagine. Few true crime books give the reader as much insight into the victims without doing so very obviously and without much class.
My only gripe is that there are too many details and it feels like ‘filler’ at times. A couple points were agonizing, like the listing of the Picktons net worth, down to individual assets and down to the cent. In text, not an issue but narrated it’s like watching paint dry. There’s lots of professional credentials poured over person after person, which seems more like a courtesy than anything.
Another partial chapter describes the courtroom attendees and their attire in great detail. Yet with that comes every minutiae you could imagine, including the gore. I’m left wanting more, and yet I know there couldn’t be much more to this story. It’s well written and I get the sense that few if anyone else could be in the same position to have access to so many things.

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