About the Book
Explore the mind and motivations of a serial killer.
In 1974, Dennis Lynn Rader stalked and murdered a family of four in Wichita, Kansas. Since adolescence, he had read about serial killers and imagined becoming one. Soon after killing the family, he murdered a young woman and then another, until he had ten victims. He named himself B.T.K. (bind, torture, kill) and wrote notes that terrorized the city. He remained on the loose for thirty years. No one who knew him guessed his dark secret. He nearly got away with his crimes, but in 2004, he began to play risky games with the police. He made a mistake. When he was arrested, Rader's family, friends, and coworkers were shocked to discover that B.T.K. had been among them, going to work, raising his children, and acting normal.
This case stands out both for the brutal treatment of victims and for the ordinary public face that Rader, a church council president, had shown to the outside world. Through jailhouse visits, telephone calls, and written correspondence, Katherine Ramsland worked with Rader himself to analyze the layers of his psyche. Using his drawings, letters, interviews, and Rader's unique codes, she presents in meticulous detail the childhood roots and development of one man's motivation to stalk, torture, and kill. She reveals aspects of the dark motivations of this most famous of living serial killers that have never before been revealed. In this audiobook Katherine Ramsland presents an intelligent, original, and rare glimpse into the making of a serial killer and the potential darkness that lives next door.
About the Author :
Katherine Ramsland has published dozens of books and over one thousand articles, reviews, and short stories. She holds graduate degrees in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justice, and philosophy. Currently, she teaches forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University. She speaks internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder, and has appeared in numerous documentaries, as well as such programs as the Today show, 20/20, 48 Hours, NPR, Coast to Coast, Montel Williams, Larry King Live, and E! True Hollywood.
Michael Braun is an actor and voice artist, born and raised in New York City. Since graduating from the Yale School of Drama, he has performed in many productions in New York and across the country, including War Horse on Broadway, and The Winter's Tale at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. His television and film credits include The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Law & Order, and Dare. He is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award and the Herschell Williams Prize for Acting.
Review :
Confession of a Serial Killer stands out as the first [book] that takes the form of a collaboration with the serial killer. Unlike many crime books, it does not merely speculate about a predator's deranged thoughts and schemes but rather plunges the reader into them, revealing in remarkable detail how a well-known serial killer at the end of his life sees himself.
-- "The New York Times Magazine"
For readers interested in the workings of the mind, psychology, true crime, and criminal justice, this is a unique work, in which the author is a conduit to the thinking process, rather than the descriptor of events.
-- "Library Journal"
