INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn 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 … 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.
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“Anyone one of us could have been a victim of Israel Keyes”…. and that my friends is what made this book more terrifying than most horror books I have read! Israel Keyes was a serial killer but one very different from what comes to mind when you hear those words. He didn’t just kill women who say, looked like or reminded him of the mother/father/grandma etc. who abused him. He had no type. Men, women, old, young, a single person, couples… it didn’t matter. We like to tell ourselves that there must be a method to the madman’s madness, if only to convince ourselves that there are steps we can take to avoid being that next victim. But literally anyone could have ended up being this psycho’s next victim.
This book walks you through the Keyes investigation and does a great job of shining a light on the severe problems with it.. From the issues that come from numerous jurisdictions and agencies being involved in a case, to the personalities that never should have been on it in the first place. But it also shows the opposite side of that coin. It introduces you to the many analysts and law enforcement officers who worked countless hours searching records and talking to a monster, in hopes of bringing closure to even just one family with a missing loved one. I gained a whole new respect for those guys. I also appreciate the respect the author showed his victims while telling their stories. Even while focusing on Israel Keyes, Maureen Callahan remembers his victims were humans with loved ones who are still mourning their loss. This was an incredibly well researched and informative book—especially considering how much about Israel Keyes has been kept from the public— & it was certainly scarier than fiction. I won this book in a giveaway!
I haven’t picked up a true crime book in a while now. There was a period in my life that I would read nothing but true crime. But I stopped for a minute. This is the first true crime book I picked up in years.
I really like this one, but at the same time it was really scary. I had to read this short spurts at first, but it got to the point where I couldn’t put it down. American Predator tells the story of a Alaskan serial killer, Israel Keyes, his crimes and how he was captured.
One of the things that stood out about Keyes more than any other serial killer. Was his method of hunting and disposing of his victims.
What was most scary about Keyes was that he didn’t have a certain victim profile. He would kill anyone, who captured his attention for whatever reason. Man or woman. He would travel and hide “kill kits” throughout the country.
He would kill his victims in one place, and then dispose of their body in another state. It was due to this that it made it so hard to capture him. They just happen to get lucky in the Samantha Koenig disappearance/murder that he was captured. Otherwise he would be killing up to this day. The police have stated that he has killed over eleven people, but they believe that there are more victims and are searching for them.
I thought this book was very well written. Maureen Callahan does a great job in giving you the info that you need, but making suspenseful at the same time. One of the interesting things about this book, was that Keyes in his interrogations would always start with the last thing. So Callahan in her book started with the last murder, which was Samanath Koenig disappearance and worked her way back. I thought this was a genius move. Plus, she pulled no punches. She laid everything out that was important to this investigation. Including the ineptness of the police and the prosecutor in this case. I think that prosecutor should resign or be disbarred. He was clearly out of his league. I think they could have gotten more information out of Keyes had he not interfered. Overall, compelling read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes to read true crime
This is a well-crafted true crime tale about serial killer Israel Keyes. Maureen Callahan does a great job presenting the case from the perspective of the FBI agents and Alaska law enforcement who investigated the crimes. Very much recommended! And if you want to learn even more about Keyes, read my book about him published in 2016, Devil in the Darkness.
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.
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.
Soso
Almost unbelieveable story of a seriously disturbed killer who was nevertheless able to avoid detection and capture for far too long.
Chillingly great true crime
This book was well-written, chilling, and eye-opening. I’ll never look at strangers the same again.
American Predator is an enlightening and horrifying look at the relatively unknown serial killer, Israel Keyes. His depraved history rivals that of people like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and BTK, but his name has been kept out of the limelight, largely because of agreements made between Keyes and the law enforcement community while the latter were interrogating him to discover just how many people he had killed. Keyes was especially terrifying because he had absolutely no victim preference – he chose his victims indiscriminately because of the god-like feeling such choices gave him. The author succeeds in horrifying the reader with her impartial and objective reporting derived from actual FBI interviews of the debacle that was Keyes’ capture and subsequent interrogation. She makes it clear that it’s very likely that Keyes never would have been identified if he had not made the mistake of hunting in his own backyard.
Wow! American Predator is excellent and it is terrifying. 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.
Prepare to lose sleep. Prepare to skip meals. Maureen Callahan delivers a masterful telling of the monster who threatened a nation. Spellbinding and unforgettable.