Nightmare in Wichita: The Hunt for the Btk Strangler

Contrary to other reviews here that I skimmed, I actually liked the book. I read a lot of true crime and it is amazing how many unreadable books there are out there. But this one, I thought, was very good, even though I knew the ending before I started it. I do agree that it was quite padded towards the end, and it is true that the author pats himself on the back many more times than necessary, but hey, if he did indeed contribute to getting this murderer off the streets, that's okay with me. Maybe he can very heavily edit the last few chapters and add the news that will come from the trial. If he can do that, then he will have written a very comprehensive book about a creep of a killer. I am hoping that those new chapters might include more about Rader's families -- both the one he grew up in and his subsequent (and current) family. That should be interesting reading. In any case, I think the book was well-written and well researched and these crimes have now been solved. Let's agree that for a lawyer (ahem!) the book was well written. If Robert Beattie were a journalist that would be different, because I do not believe journalists should insert themselves into these types of stories.

This is a fascinating book if you understand it is about the 30 years spent trying to capture BTK. This is not "The BTK Story" or "My Life by BTK". Mr. Beattie's book details the murders, the effect on the city and the people trying to find him and all the avenues they pursued trying to catch this nut-job. The capture of Dennis Rader is the end of the book. If you are looking for the Dennis Rader story you'll probably have to wait 2 years before that book is written. This book is a history of the serial killer's carnage; victims, their families, and his cat and mouse games with the police.