From Powells.com
Our favorite books of 2020-2021.
Staff Pick
The modern serial killer you’ve never heard of. This isn’t your average droll retelling of the killer’s crimes, but a compelling recount of the investigation and arrest. Callahan begins with Keyes’s final kill and then goes backwards in time, making you feel like you’re part of the investigation. It’s entertaining and terribly tragic. This has quickly topped my list of true crime favorites. Recommended By Emily C., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An Amazon "Best Book of 2019"
A Washington Post "10 Books To Read in July"
A Los Angeles Times "Seven Highly Anticipated Books for Summer Reading"
A USA Today "20 of the Season's Hottest New Books"
A New York Post "25 Best Beach Reads of 2019 You Need to Pre-Order Now"
A Bustle "The Best New True Crime Books You Can Read Right Now"
"Maureen Callahan's deft reporting and stylish writing have created one of the all-time-great serial-killer books: sensitive, chilling, and completely impossible to put down." —Ada Calhoun, author of St. Marks Is Dead
Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as a force of pure evil, Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried kill kits — cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools — in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger's house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter.
When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years — uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake — many of which remain unsolved to this day.
American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
Review
"Investigative journalist Callahan provides a chilling true-crime narrative in this detailed study of Israel Keyes....she has produced the definitive account of a terrifying psychopath." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"Keyes is terrifying, and his crimes horrific, but Callahan's focus on the FBI's attempts to learn about his other crimes makes for a truly edge-of-your-seat page-turner even without the ‘hunt.’" Booklist (Starred Review)
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"A riveting, propulsive account….Gripping and superbly researched, this is destined to be a true crime classic."
--Library Journal (Starred Review)
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"American Predator is the scariest book I've ever read. No exaggeration — the book you hold is bone-chilling. Maureen Callahan explores the black heart of a new kind of American monster — a serial killer that confounded our most elite criminal profilers — and the race-against-time investigation to follow. This is the work of a journalist in her prime, telling you the story the FBI doesn't want you to hear and delivering an unforgettable tale of evil that will haunt you. Mark my words: This modern true crime classic will stand with the likes of Jeff Guinn's Manson, Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me, and Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark." Susannah Cahalan, New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire
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"I started American Predator late at night and grew terrified just a few pages in — yet I could not put it down. Through deep interviews with FBI special agents and newly uncovered documents, Maureen Callahan crafts a chilling and unforgettable portrait of a singularly cunning killer and the diverse members of law enforcement he strove to outwit. Read it as soon as possible — in daylight." Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy and Sin in the Second City
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"A page-turning mystery." New York Post
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"If you've never heard of Israel Keyes, his name will fill you with dread after reading Callahan's superb investigation of how such a monster managed to thrive in our modern world." Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post
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"Chilling....Propulsive and un-put-downable." USA Today
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"Riveting....American Predator is a fine book — exhaustively researched and candid without being prurient — that should be as illuminating to law-enforcement as it is fascinating to the general reader." Dennis Drabelle, The Washington Post
About the Author
Maureen Callahan is an award-winning investigative journalist, author, columnist, and commentator. She has covered everything from pop culture to politics. Her writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, New York, Spin, and the New York Post, where she is critic at large. She lives in New York.