J.C. C. reviewed Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is *the* definitive book on Dennis Rader, a.k.a. "BTK". If you read *any* BTK book, read this one!
I lived through the nightmare of his reign of terror in Wichita as both a young girl ('70's to 80's), and as an adult (2000's) when he resurfaced. I personally know many of the people in this book, or are connected to them in some way. Reading this book was very lethargic for me. It should be required reading of any Wichitan who lived through the panic and fear.
The book gives a great time line of events, has many photos (most of which I'd seen following the story in Wichita's newspaper, The Eagle), gives insight into the lives of the victims, their families, the monster Dennis Rader, the news reporters, and the law enforcement officials who worked the case.
Many new facts about the case that had never been released to the public are listed in the book. It was great, as someone who lived in the fear he caused, to put all the pieces together. The book does not sensationalize anyone. Even if you are not familiar with the subject material, it would be riveting reading.
I lived through the nightmare of his reign of terror in Wichita as both a young girl ('70's to 80's), and as an adult (2000's) when he resurfaced. I personally know many of the people in this book, or are connected to them in some way. Reading this book was very lethargic for me. It should be required reading of any Wichitan who lived through the panic and fear.
The book gives a great time line of events, has many photos (most of which I'd seen following the story in Wichita's newspaper, The Eagle), gives insight into the lives of the victims, their families, the monster Dennis Rader, the news reporters, and the law enforcement officials who worked the case.
Many new facts about the case that had never been released to the public are listed in the book. It was great, as someone who lived in the fear he caused, to put all the pieces together. The book does not sensationalize anyone. Even if you are not familiar with the subject material, it would be riveting reading.
Vicki S. (curledupwithabook) -
Good, solid reporting of the facts of the BTK police investigation. This book is written by some of the journalists who reported on the investigation as it was happening. I haven't read any other books about the serial killer known as "BTK", so I can't do a comparison. While Ann Rule's true crime books read more like novels, despite her journalism background, this book was far more true to the journalistic style of writing in that we were not given a lot of background information on the killer's victims and there was little in the way of extraneous material (i.e., descriptions of the weather, the countryside, the neighborhoods, history of the city, etc.). I don't mean to imply that the book was not interesting or that it was dry, quite the contrary - it was VERY interesting and hard to put down. My one complaint is that the pictures are very small - and I read the large, hard-cover edition, not a paperback.
True-crime lovers will not be disappointed.
True-crime lovers will not be disappointed.
