In 1974 a family of four were stalked then murdered in Wichita, Kansas. Soon after a young woman was murdered, then another until there were 10 victims.

Dennis Lynn Rader named himself B. T. K. (Blind torture kill) with notes written to terrorise the city. He remained free for 30 years and no one who knew him would guess his dark secret.

In 2004, he began to play risky games with the police. Eventually he makes a mistake. Friends, family and work colleagues could not believe it and were totally shocked to discover the identity of the B. T. K. serial killer..

I love true life stories and especially what makes people like this turn into monsters.

I would like to thank Net Galley, the University of New England Press/ForeEdge and the author Katherine Ramsland for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This fascinating book shows us the way the mind of a serial killer works. The BTK killer sends his drawings and biography by way of coded messages, which the author decifers. We know about the BTK atrocious killings, but this book gives us the inside information on how Rader chose his victims and what plans he had already made for each one. He lived 2 separate lives, one a happily married man with a child and the other a ruthless killer. Although the content is hard to read, the author has made the story flow and it holds your interest to the end.

We have two books in one here: Dennis Rader's story told by himself, and Dr. Ramsland's investigation and experience.
The narration is so detailed, well-researched and adequately paced that I could almost see the images play out in my mind.
Ramsland takes us inside the killer's mind and we see him become a killer and evolve as such.
The creepy thing is that he passed as a normal member of society for over 3 decades. He managed to have a double life where his mistress was crime.
There are many similarities and paralellism with other serial killers he was inspired by and had studied like Ted Bundy, Harvey Glatman., The Zodiac Killer, Jack the Ripper and H. H. Holmes, among others.
Rader wanted to be a famous killer and have a book written about him like the one Capote wrote on Smith & Hickock (In Cold Blood) and with this book he got his wish granted.

This was an interesting book that I thought would turn out more intriguing then it really was.

The format of the book made it difficult to read and I found that since I didn't know the stories well enough that it didn't seem to have the draw that I wanted

This one took me awhile to finish. I kept dropping it to read something else and coming back to it. It's not an easy read at all. Katherine Ramsland and Dennis Rader both lend their voices to the story. Reader's words are always very disturbing and hard to get through. I did find it fascinating to look inside the mind of a serial killer, which is exactly what this book is. It's really hard to wrap your mind around, though Ramsland does a good job of translating Rader's words when necessary, which is often. He uses a lot of code words and acronyms. I somehow doubt I'm going to sleep anytime soon.
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and University of England Press/ForEdge in exchange for my honest review, thank you!

This is a hard book to read. It should be!! Climbing into the mind of a serial killer should not be a job that anyone enjoys. Although Rader's writings are hard to follow and hard to digest, Ramsland does a good job of bringing his thoughts and feelings to life and helping us to try to grasp his behavior.

Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Radee, the BTK Killer is an interesting book. I cannot believe this guy was running on the loose for 30 years and no one close to him even knew what he had done. Thank goodness, he was caught!
4 stars.

Ramsland presents a large number of factors that likely contributed to Rader becoming a serial killer. Her research is truly excellent and, although it may seem like a lot to take in, she explains a large variety of the ingrediants that ultimately become the stew of a serial killer. All the explanations are another important component to making this book such an excellent read. She importantly points out that society's basic model on serial killers needs to be updated and that some of the widely accepted answers are not in fact the case. We learn more about the mindset of these killers as time goes on and things that were once deemed fact should now be seen as possibility to take into account. For instance, this book does a great job of explaining that not all sexual homicides actually need to involve some sort of sex with the victim. In Rader's case, (I never knew this prior to reading this book) he didn't have sex with any of the victims; he got his gratification and relief through viewing a victim in bondage. It was the ropes, the terror the victim was thinking about, the image of a person in bondage, and the strangling that brought about his sexual gratification.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and serial killers. It is very thorough and well articulated. Rader's explanations and theories are mostly satisfying for the reader looking for a better understanding. Congratulations to Katherine Ramsland for adding an important chapter to serial killer literature that will likely go down in history as one of the best in the field.