Review by Booklist Review
Bland-as-could-be Dennis Rader, who dubbed himself BTK (for Bind, Torture, Kill), was eventually undone by his own hubris. After a nine-year hiatus in his criminal career, and feeling he had not received the police and media attention he deserved, he resumed his old m.o. of dispatching victims selected at random. Finally caught, he was revealed as an egocentric fuddy-duddy of monumental proportions. Criminal profiler Douglas is well-qualified to explain the creepier-than-creepy mind of the outwardly straitlaced good citizen whose crimes in the Wichita, Kansas, area spanned a period of 31 years. Rader liked to brag about his planning and acuity, and his glee at sharing the inside stories of his crimes provided Douglas with ample opportunity to plumb the oppressively middle-class maniac's depths, especially because Rader gave Douglas exclusive access to him after his sentencing. Easily the most probing look at BTK, in particular, this may also be the most thorough probing of any serial killer between book covers.--Tribby, Mike Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Legendary profiler and bestselling author Douglas (Mindhunter), who pioneered the FBI's systematic study of serial killers, offers his insights into one of this country's most chilling killers-Dennis Rader, a seemingly innocuous family man and municipal employee, whose brutal murders terrorized Wichita, Kans., for three decades. Identifying himself by the initials BTK (for Bind, Torture, Kill), Rader (who in 2005 pled guilty to 10 murders and is serving consecutive life sentences) taunted the press and law enforcement, striking at random in savage attacks that often decimated families, and then confounded his pursuers with long dormant periods. With the aid of People magazine writer Dodd, Douglas nicely weaves the story of his own development as a profiler with the history of BTK's crimes and his own role in the investigation, drawing on analyses he developed early on in the rampage; he noted, for instance, "the razor sharp control" the killer maintained after his crimes. While the stomach-turning story of BTK's crimes has been told by others, Douglas's unique professional experience and his exclusive personal access to Rader offers a different perspective, even as the answer to the question of how such a monster comes to be remains elusive. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
