American Predator by Maureen Callahan

 

Eighteen-year-old Samantha Koenig went missing from her job working as a barista at a coffee kiosk in Anchorage, Alaska on February 1, 2012. Was she kidnapped? Or did she just run away? The Anchorage Police Department and the local FBI agents had differing opinions, but their joint investigation eventually led to a man named Israel Keyes...and the chilling realization that Samantha was not his first victim.

Maureen Callahan has written a fascinating and unputdownable book about the investigation that uncovered a serial killer "likely responsible for the greatest string of unsolved disappearances and murders in modern American history." So why have we never heard of Israel Keyes? Probably because most of his crimes have never been connected or proven, his victims never found. But what he does so matter-of-factly confess to the FBI after he's caught is downright disturbing.

"The Bureau's top criminal profilers were at a loss. The only thing they could tell the team was that Keyes was one of the most terrifying subjects they had ever encountered. There was no precedent for a serial killer with this MO: no victim type, no fixed location for hunting, killing, and burying, putting thousands of miles between himself and his victims; caches (of killing kits) buried all over the United States. He avoided detection through travel. Travel!"

Are you supposed to rave about a book written about a serial killer? Because this true crime narrative is amazing. It's so well-written, and so compelling; I could not put it down. Keyes is one scary psychopath. It's too bad so much of his life and heinous acts remain unknown and untold.  I feel bad for the families of all his victims who may never know the truth about what happened to their loved ones. That's the heartbreaking part of this book. His victims. But what a story Callahan has written! American Predator is definitely one of the best nonfiction books I've read this year. 

Happy Reading!

A little YA fun...

They are the lost causes:  Sandra, Gabby, Justin, Z, and Andrew. Five teens struggling with drug addiction, OCD, anger issues, depression and hypochondria; five teens who everyone has given up on. Which makes them the perfect subjects to assist the FBI in tracking down a killer, all with a little help from a secret serum that unlocks an untapped psychic ability in each of them. Suddenly, Sandra can see ghosts, Gabby has visions of the past, Justin can move objects with his mind, Z can hear the thoughts of others, and Andrew 's brain can process information like some kind of genius. Which only leaves two questions:  Can they trust these newfound gifts?  And what isn't the FBI telling them?

This YA novel requires a little upfront suspension of disbelief in order to truly enjoy it. But if you can get past the absurdness of the FBI having an ESP-inducing serum that only works on teens and that they would recruit a bunch of misfit delinquents to help them solve one of their cases...this ends up being a very entertaining read. In The Lost Causes, authors Jessica Koosed Etting and Alyssa Embree Schwartz have created five quirky characters that are genuinely likeable. Seeing them bond as friends as well as try to solve the FBI's case on their own were some of my favorite parts. I also enjoyed the bits with them trying to figure out their new psychic abilities. I cared less about the whole FBI investigation, especially at the beginning of the book, but even that got more interesting and more suspenseful as the story went along. There was even a good twist at the end that made the initial premise more believable. All in all, I thought this was a fun read. And if the authors ever decide to write a sequel, I will be checking it out.

Happy Reading!