Hunting the Devil/Pursuit, Capture and Confession of the Most Savage Serial Killer in History [Hardcover]

Richard Lourie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1993

An account of the search for the killer of fifty-three Soviet citizens describes how Russian Chief Inspector Issa Kostoev searched for the man who sexually mutilated, killed, and cannibalized his victims. 40,000 first printing. $40,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is the story of Andrei Chikatilo, a sadistic sexual serial killer convicted in Rostov of 53 murders of women and children. In the former Soviet Union, information about crime was rarely forthcoming, but now this shocking case has received considerable publicity and spawned several new and forthcoming books (Peter Conradi's The Red Ripper , Dell, 1992; Robert Cullen's The Killer Department , previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/93). Lourie, author of Russia Speaks ( LJ 3/15/91), focuses on detective Issa Kostoev, who led the years-long investigation that finally caught Chikatilo (but not before an innocent man was executed for his first murder). Given the subject, this is a rather bland effort, lacking the supporting details and dramatic intensity found in compelling crime writing. Still, the setting is intriguing and there will be interest in reading about Russia's "Jack the Ripper." Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/93.
- Gregor A. Preston, Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 263 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (February 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060177179
• ISBN-13: 978-0060177171
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #634,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Model in the Genre, January 6, 2007

By 

Nick (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting the Devil/Pursuit, Capture and Confession of the Most Savage Serial Killer in History (Hardcover)

The subject matter of this book - Andrei Chikatilo - is extremely interesting, though unbelievably dark, and the book itself lives up to the task. Chikatilo was one of the most terrible serial killers in history, with 53 official victims (and a few unofficial ones more), and certainly one of the most savage and furious. Here is a man who had orgasms while mutilating genitals and used his knife as some sort of [...]replacement, not to mention the rest.

What I especially appreciated in the book is how is the narrative is shared between the killer and those looking for him, more especially Issa Kostoev, the man in charge of arresting the "Rostov Ripper". As the title of the book suggests, you will learn quite some interesting things about how the pursuit of this killer was led, and what kind of problems the hunting had to face; and that will be quite stunning. Corruption, treason, base sexual desires, etc, etc. While hunting for the Devil, there will be many demons on the way: police officers abusing their functions to beat and rape arrested people, all sorts of mentally challenged perverts thought to be potential killers, etc. The whole thing has a feeling of intense dystopia and is quite stunning.

Both lives this book is concerned with, Issa Kostoev and Andrei Chikatilo, are cast against a background of falling empire, as the USSR slowly went to its demise. It's almost eerie how Chikatilo's own fall coincides with that of the Soviet Block. It's very interesting, because in a way, it all begins with it, and ends with it. Kostoev, as a child, suffered from Stalin's unjust removing and persecution of his whole people (in which he lost many a sibling) and Chikatilo as a child had to go through hard times too (though not quite comparable).

Richard Lourie does a great job of not only exposing the facts of the affair (and he had a ton of document for this, as well as having been with Issa Kostoev personally, attending Chikatilo's trial, having all the documents of the case, including audio-tapes and all) but also in putting all of it in perspective and giving the reader a good insight of Russia and of a society not quite functioning, and changing. The reader is made to follow Kostoev in that long pursuit of that demonic killer which took many years, and many lives.

The writing is gripping; I read the whole book in two readings, reading for 5 hours each time or so. This is truly the best kind of "true crime" I have read, because it does not lose itself into cheap novelisation while suing narrative devices to shape the whole thing into a convincing and riveting book.

I haven't read any other book on Andrei Chikatilo, but this one is definitely a classic on that killer, if only for the documents available to the author, who speaks Russian and knows Russian culture, a fact that is very important and whose impact you can feel reading the book.

The range covered here is impressive: the killer, the dysfunctions of the system, the life of Kostoev as he pursues Chikatilo, Russia, history, etc. It's always relevant and very informative. However, none of these overshadow the gruesomeness of the killings, and you won't be spared details, so not a book for the faint-hearted.

Most definitely one of the best books of the kind, and undoubtedly among the very best books on Chikatilo, if not the best.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the worst serial killers the world has ever seen, December 9, 2004

By 

M. Moffatt (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunting the Devil/Pursuit, Capture and Confession of the Most Savage Serial Killer in History (Hardcover)

This is the story of Andrei Chikatilo, a sadistic sexual serial killer convicted in Rostov of 53 murders of women and children (although he undoubtedly committed more). Lourie focuses on detective Issa Kostoev, who led the years-long investigation that finally caught Chikatilo, but not before an innocent man was executed for his first murder.

This book provides an interesting insight into the Russian legal system as it struggled to capture Russia's very own "Jack the Ripper."

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazingly Sad Look at a Truly Horrible, Evil Man!!, May 24, 2007

By 

Aimee Thor "Aimee Thor" (Xenia, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunting the Devil/Pursuit, Capture and Confession of the Most Savage Serial Killer in History (Hardcover)

You will not sleep well after reading this book...that is how shocking, sad, demented, and torturous the subject and the man of this book is. What a horrible fiend who killed for his own deranged reasons, which are disgusting and terrifying at the same time. Wickedness comes in many places, and this man was truly awful. A very interesting and well-written account.