May 31, 1985 and Shari Smith had it all. It was two days before her high school graduation near Columbia, South Carolina and she was to sing the national anthem before the ceremony. Her high school class was going on a trip to a tropical island after graduation. She was planning to live in Charlotte for the summer and with her sister, Dawn, perform at Carowinds. Shari had a boyfriend and a loving family.
But none of those plans came to fruition. On her way home, Shari stopped at the bottom of the driveway to get the family's mail. That's where her father found the car minutes later, door open, engine running. There were footprints leading to the mailbox but none returning.

Despite the police being called immediately there was no sign of Shari. But then the calls started. The man on the other end admitted to having Shari and instructed her family to expect a letter. When the letter arrived the next day, it was titled Last Will And Testament and Shari had written it as a love letter to her family. She knew she was about to be murdered and wanted to reassure her family and urge them to move past her death. Lawmen had never seen such a thing. The FBI was called in to assist in finding the man who took Shari.

John Douglas was the head of the FBI profiling unit. He and a co-worker had invented the system of criminal profiling by spending time going from prison to prison interviewing killers. He had worked on the cases of the Atlanta child murders, the Green River Killer and many other well known cases. He flew to South Carolina and worked on a profile with the local law establishment. His profile gave the police a way to narrow down their search. In the meantime, the man who kidnapped Shari continued to call, asking to speak to either Shari's mother or her sister, Dawn. He seemed to revel in the pain and anguish these calls produced.

After a week, Shari's body was found where the killer had directed Dawn to tell the police it would be. Then another tragedy. Nine year old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her front yard with her little brother watching. A week later her body was also found. Soon afterward, forensic evidence helped the police narrow their search and arrest the killer, Larry Gene Bell.

I read everything John Douglas and Mark Olshaker write. There can be no more authoritative voice in the world of finding killers than John Douglas. His books portray the process by which such killers are found as well as the effect such a hunt has on the men and women we have charged with doing so. This book follows through Bell's trails and gives updates on the various people in the book. It is recommended for readers of true crime.

Going into when a killer calls knowing of the case and victims you would expect it to be a little boring but that was not the case for this book.

The book went into more profiling and tracking Bell down and interviews with him. It also went into the background and the lives of the families. I found it interesting the depth of the phone calls to the one victim Sheri’s sister Dawn.

There were times the book went into a lot of detail and felt it bogged it down. If you can get past that it’s a good book.

Overall if you know of the cases things are learned in the book that you will not get other than from a profiler and if you do not know of the cases this is a book to learn about the victims and profiling.

This book was a summary of how John Douglas used profiling techniques to solve the kidnapping/murder of two girls. While this may have been an interesting case on its own and very impressive that Dawn, the sister of the first girl that was kidnapped and murdered, allowed herself to be bait for the capture of the "unsub" suspect, I found Douglas' writing to diverge into tangents too often and hard to keep my interest. I did read Manhunter before and remember enjoying it, but this story just didn't resonate with me. I would have preferred to hear more about the crime itself rather than the history of the behavioral unit and lots of details about the unit itself and the thought process on why they profiled the unsub the way they did.

When a Killer Calls by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker is about a case that was first mentioned in Mindhunters - the Shari Smith kidnapping and murder by Larry Gene Bell.
Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home a few days before her high school graduation. Bell called the family from multiple pay phones putting them through hell over the fate of Shari. Several days later he abducted 9-year-old Debra May Helmick from her front yard.

The book shows the intense fear the community had - and the early lack of leads for Smith's killer. There's a lot of detail on the work of Douglas's profile group and just how close to describing Bell it was.
There's a lot written about the courage and faith of the Smith family, especially Dawn Smith, Shari's older sister. (Bob Smith, Shari's father, was actually a prison chaplain.)

Douglas was a big help in the interrogation of Bell, getting him as close to a confession as anyone.
Douglas also testified in the trial where Bell's behavior was demonstrative and silly at times.

A good choice for readers who want true crime and the impact and process of criminal profiling.

Did not want.to put this book down. An engrossing account of how a serial killer was caught with input from the FBI Profilers Task Force. Even though I knew how it would end, I kept hoping for a different ending. If you like true crime this book is for you. I was given a pre-publication galley for my review.

Like the previous books by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, you get a no holds bar story on a true crime. They cover the crime and the method the Behavior Unit of the FBI used to find the perpetrator. They talk about the families involved and the toll it took on them and the officers involved. The writing ins straight and to the point. This isn’t a story to be filled with descriptions to fill the page, every word is important and to the point.
If you want to know about how profilers work, how families deal with a loss and how a perpetrator thinks, than this book will illuminate you. At times tough to read because of the topic but also interesting to see how the minds of people work.

Thank you to Dey Street Books and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

When a Killer Calls tells the story of the kidnapping and murders in 1985 of Shari Smith and Debra May Helmick right outside their homes by the same individual within weeks of each other. Local law enforcement called in the FBI to help with their investigation. Through their working with the FBI, they were able to determine who their murderer was and bring them to trial.

I'm going to be honest, I think this could have been more easily as a podcast episode than a 336 page nonfiction book. There just isn't enough information that I think warrants a book of this size. I hate to say that because I think the deaths of these girls matter, but in a world that's being saturated by true crime material their stories will be forgotten in this format. Their killer, who I'm not naming here, was a narcissist and a good portion of the book focuses on him and his antics in the courthouse. From reading the book, that seemed to be where the majority of the information for the book actually came from because there wasn't much that could be derived from the investigation that would lead towards a compelling narrative for readers.

I've read other collaborations by the authors in the past have enjoyed their other books before but this one missed the mark for me.

This is a very very detailed account of the search for two kidnapped girls, who were eventually murdered and the search for the killer and the process of bringing him to justice. It was interesting, but if you aren't interested in the details, it was a little dry

This is the story that I remember from John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. A whodunit, a real thriller true crime story. I absolutely loved that the author went back to his roots and came back with a strong book.
The story is about how a young lady and a small girl were kidnapped and brutally murdered by Mr Bell.
I loved how the author laid out the crime, how the police and the FBI came to work together.
I absolutely LOVED how they solved the crime. I won't spoil it, but DANG technology and teamwork made it work.
The only downside was the trial of the killer. I thought that we had already heard about the crime, defendant, we didn't need another 40 pages of the court proceedings.
Overall a solid true crime book.

I enjoyed this book, despite having read another book about the case. Seeing it from the profilers’ perspective made this book for me. I’ve enjoyed several other books from these authors. This killer was just so reprehensible. Very good true crime. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When a Killer Calls by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker was an interesting book and featured several true crime stories. The book begins with a girl, Shari, who is abducted and weaves other crime stories into the main story. The book was well written and provided a lot of details and inside information.

I would rate this a 4 out of 5 for true crime.

#WhenaKillerCalls #NetGalley

This was not the book I thought it would be. It is more about profiling than the tale of what happened to Shari. Dnf

If you've never read a book by John Douglas, this would rate a 4/5 star.
I feel like I've read this before. I'm not sure if this story was featured in another book or perhaps they are republishing it, but none of this was a surprise. Perhaps I saw an episode about it on a True Crime show?
I'd for sure handsell this to customers new to FBI profiling or John Douglas, however, those who have been following him for years prior to the Netflix show, this is a crime they are all too familiar with.

As with any true crime book it can be fairly hard to review because of the subject matter.
However, John Douglas is incredibly knowledgeable and credible so you know you’re getting facts! The writing is well done, and flows easily. If you are in to true crime this is a book for you!