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American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century

by Maureen Callahan

A reported account of Israel Keyes and the investigation that exposed him

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Paperback New English

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Awards & Recognition

  • Bestseller

    Instant New York Times bestseller

    Reported as an instant bestseller

  • Editorial selection

    Amazon Best Book of 2019

    Selected as a Best Book of 2019

  • Critical praise

    Ada Calhoun praises the book as an all-time-great serial-killer book

    Praise for the book's reporting and writing, calling it an all-time-great serial-killer book.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A reported account of Israel Keyes and the investigation that exposed him

Maureen Callahan reconstructs the case of Israel Keyes, whose crimes reportedly spanned the United States for more than a decade while he maintained an outwardly ordinary life in Alaska. Drawing on interviews with people connected to the investigation and to Keyes, along with material from FBI files, the book traces the effort to identify and apprehend him. It also examines the operational planning described in the case—including hidden caches of cash, weapons, and disposal tools—and the investigative challenges posed by crimes committed across jurisdictions. Unsolved cases remain part of the book’s scope, alongside questions about the limits of conventional law-enforcement methods when confronting a highly mobile offender.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • True-crime readers interested in serial-crime investigations
  • Readers interested in FBI casework and cross-jurisdiction investigations
  • Those seeking nonfiction centered on Israel Keyes

Themes

Serial crimeCriminal investigationLaw enforcement limitationsHidden identitiesUnsolved cases

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

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.
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