Robert D. Keppel

The difficulty with books about psychopaths is that there is far too fine a line between the good guys and the bad guys - not that there are bloodthirsty killers throughout the ranks of law enforcement and the psychology disciplines. But, if you understand that psychopathy often contains a strong mix of narcissism and anti-social behavior, well, there's the connection - a point Dr. Robert Hare makes quite effectively in his book [Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among show more Us]. What I'm getting at is that the folks who write these books are often a little too self-important with their precious opinions.

Keppel makes some salient and important points in the early going about how these investigations affect those conducting them, which in turn affects the investigations. Also, his critical eye toward the organization and coordination across jurisdictions is quite useful. But the further he descends into the world of behavioral criminal analysis the further afield he gets - he criticizes the field and then engages in much the same analysis he criticizes, as if to say, 'Nobody does it better than I do.' See what I mean.

3 bones!!! show less

its fair to mention that this book was recommended to me by a friend and I am grateful that is how much i enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy it because the subject matter was easy breezy, I enjoyed it because the way it was written i couldn't put it down.


Every now and again, a true crime book appears that delivers even more than it promises, and Robert Keppel's remarkable book belongs in that category.
Before I praise it too highly, I should state that despite the title, this book is most definitely show more not a retelling of Ted Bundy's career as a murderer. Keppel was a detective in King County, Washington in 1974 when Bundy first came to the attention of law enforcement. Accordingly, Keppel focuses on some of Bundy's earliest known murders: the Lake Sammamish victims and the young women who ended up at body dump sites near Issaquah and on Taylor Mountain. But Keppel gives very little attention to Bundy's crimes in other western states; Bundy's escape from jail in Colorado; or his final crime spree in Florida. So for those of us who know little or nothing about Bundy's monstrous murders, this book almost serves to confuse rather than enlighten. But this criticism is tempered by the wealth of information that Keppel does give us. show less

I got interested in Keppel by reading of him working with Bundy to catch Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, but this book reads too much like a textbook.

The Riverman was written by the detective that sought to catch Ted Bundy. Several years after Bundy had been imprisioned he visited with him to get "tips" on how to catch and identify the Green River Killer. In the process of interviewing Bundy and understanding how the mind of serial killer works, he also hoped to get a last minute confession on the extent of Bundy's crimes before his execution.