Customer Reviews

Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

David Reichert was the first homicide detective assigned to the Green River murders, and he was in charge of the sheriff's office nineteen years later when the culprit, Gary Ridgway, was finally arrested. He has the advantage of an insider's view of the case that defined his career. He exploits this advantage, giving the reader new tidbits of information about the killings and the investigation. He also gives a feel for what it was like to be in the pressure-cooker of media and political scrutiny during an expensive manhunt that was fruitless for so many years.

As all the Green River Task Force's hard work finally began to pay off with the advent of new DNA technology, Reichert manages to build some suspense and emotion. I felt the swell of pride he was obviously going for as the Task Force's efforts were vindicated. However, most of the book suffers from Reichert's dull writing style. At least he does not overreach; he keeps his syntax clear and tells the story simply.

It's Reichert's story, though, and not the story of the Green River killer or even the investigation. Reichert does little journalism: the things he did not do or witness, we get little information about. This means that we get only a single angle on the investigation (albeit a good angle).

Readers will also find out very little about the killer himself. Aside from noting that Ridgway is basically prosaic, insignificant, and sick (a lesson that needs to be taught again and again to a nation that appears to believe serial killers have super-powers), Reichert gives us very little information about the man. There is a single chapter detailing his brief months in the sheriff's custody, and a couple of pages devoted to Ridgway's own untrustworthy account of his early life, and that's pretty much it. Again, this seems to be because Reichert is not interested in researching anything outside his own perspective. Also, Reichert is up front about not wanting to do anything to aggrandize the contemptible Ridgway. Thus, incongruously, Ridgway is a marginal character in the book.

I knocked Chasing the Devil off in a few hours, and that is about as much time as it is worth. Reichert's perspective on the Green River case is valuable, but it does not approach definitiveness, nor is it well enough written to be read solely for its entertainment value. I recommend this book only to the completist or the interested fast reader.

This book reads like a crime novel. Unfortunately, it's a true story about the worst serial killer in American history.
The Prologue was an almost "folksy" introduction to David Reichert,the man who would spend 20 years working on the Green River serial killings.

Mr.Reichert details some of the problems with the investigation from media involvement to the class of the victims. He makes the distinction between Ted Bundy's victims who were college girls and the Green River victims who were prostititutes,some in their teens. He does a good job of emphasizing the fact these victims were no less human and were missed by loved ones. They were often dificult to trace and sometimes identification was not easy.
Another problem the task force dealt with over time was financing. A long investigation was not cheap and there was the perception that the killer had stopped or moved when the discovery of corpses declined temporarily.
This aided the decision to cut back on staffing.

Another interesting factor was technology. Over the life of this investigation DNA testing and computer technology "came of age" and were instrumental in eventually solving the case.
Where these tools helped,the polygraph didn't. Ridgway passed multiple polygraph tests.

The tough decision for the County Prosecutor was his decision to ultimately abandon the pursuit of the death penalty in exchange for more details and locations of more victims.

Some of the things that this book highlights are the dogged dedication of David Reichert to bring the killer to justice and the heavy toll it took on the team. The strain that the investigation put on Reichert and his family isn't something you would normally think about.
If you want to read a book about the Green River killings,I highly recommend this book

I've read Ann Rule's account of this crime spree and the eventual apprehension of Ridgeway. I think she does a much better job of writing about the case as she is an experienced writer and researcher.

That said, for any really interested in all the different points of view and insight, this book is an interesting read.

I'd definitely recommend reading Rule's work first, and then come back to this if still interested.

Because it's written from one man's perspective, and that one man was part of the story, it's hard to tell exactly is his perception or opinion and what isn't. It's also obvious that he left a lot of information out (because of how much more information Rule covers).

It's not a long or difficult read, it's edited well and basically reads like someone is telling the basic story. That's it's strong point and also a weak point if you're interested in a more in depth account.

All that said, I give a mild recommendation to someone that is interested in the case.

I've read a lot about the Green River case, and almost every recounting, aside from this one, paints Reichert as as much a part of the problem as the solution in this protracted case. His early mistakes, and his myopic fascination with suspect Melvyn Foster are often credited with confounding the search for the real killer. Reichert, while obviously passionate about the case, seems to get caught up in his own political aspirations at the expense of his objectivity about the case. And for him to take so much credit for apprehending Ridgway -- 14 years after he'd gone off the case -- seems like a calculated attempt to curry favor with potential voters. I guess it worked -- he got elected -- but to me he comes off as overly ambitious and more than a little closed minded.

Author Sheriff David Reichert provides an inside view of the maddening frustration he and others experienced during the twenty plus year pursuit of the Green River Killer. Reichert's story is a testament to the importance of crime investigators' dogged pursuit of little details and never giving up. This true crime story offers an opportunity to vicariously experience the lows and highs that were experienced by a person who was making decisions.

In his book, Reichert describes some of his contact with the victim's families. I found these snippets to be fascinating as they provided a glimpse of the understandably volatile emotions of the families of the young girls murdered by the Green River Killer and the personal struggle of Reichert and other dedicated individuals to find for them some sense of closure.

The book includes a number of photographs which attach faces to some of the names, they are a definite plus. I would have appreciated a simple map that displayed the Green River Killer's pick-up zone (The Strip), the body dump zones and the neighborhood the Green River Killer resided.

Finally, a word of caution . . . . I do not recommend reading this book shortly before sleeping. While Reichert's prose are not disgusting in an over-the-top manner, they are graphic enough to this father to bother sleep patterns.

I have not been able to read this book yet, it takes me a while, but as soon as I do, I will write a review.

Awsome. An incredible story of what seems to be a wonderful man and his struggle to catch a monster.

Sheriff Reichert, the first detective assigned to the Green River case, should have hired a professional to write his book for him. Much of the first two-thirds of the book is filled with complaints about newspaper interference, county executives, the FBI, and political machinations, the implication being that the Green River killer would have been caught much sooner if it hadn't been for their interference.

There is a nugget or two, such as the revelation that Gary Ridgway was a suspect as early as 1984. It seems a victim's pimp had seen her get into his truck and he and some of her family members drove around until they found it; amazingly, the police refused to take them seriously. We also get to listen in on an interview between the investigators and Ted Bundy, during which time he suggests the killer may be a necrophiliac.

It's also surprising that Reichert names so many names; he chides family members of the victims, political opponents, and newspaper reporters, and he's shocked when one of the mothers condemns the Task Force during Ridgway's sentencing.

We see Reichert rise in the ranks, so fast he even surprises himself. Eventually the Green River Task force is disbanded, leaving only one detective (not Reichert) on the case. Reichert brags about having Ridgway in his cross hairs for twenty years, but the real hero was science. The Task Force deserves credit for preserving semen taken from some of the bodies but the scientists who discovered DNA were the real heroes.

Though the author is no professional writer, he certainly conveys the frustration and dedication he had during his investigation. I'm not surprised that some people with strong political and liberal leanings would take the time to try and bash him in a review of a book they probably didn't even read. I've met the man and he seemed to be an honest and decent person. I enjoyed reading the story from his perspective.

Give Reichart a break, he's a detective, not a writer. I found this to be quite the page-turner even though the reader already knows who the Green River killer was and that he has been caught and imprisoned. I too was surprised at the number of people he named, but I thought it was a good account of how a crime affects an ever-widening circle of people, and how a detective himself as well as his family is affected by a case that continues for years. I salute Reichart for his dedication to duty and for this book. Authoring this book has likely helped him deal with issues regarding this case.