Customer Reviews

The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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 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.

Somewhat like the books written by retired FBI Special Agents Robert Ressler and John Douglas, Keppel's book jumps around from topic to topic. Bundy and the Green River killer are covered extensively, but there are also sections on the Michigan Child Murders, Seattle killer George Russell and the Atlanta Child Murders. There are also at least two sections where Keppel discusses the practical and organizational difficulties inherent in large multi-jurisdiction police investigations like those that seek to uncover a serial offender. Keppel walks us through his own experiences and discusses ways that investigators can avoid becoming swamped and overworked. In some ways, this information is more applicable to working homicide detectives than to the general public, but is is fascinating nevertheless. The thoughtful reader will realize that there is no manual or textbook for conducting such an investigation, just like there is no template for writing this kind of a book. This realization makes it easier to accept this book's sometimes rambling feel.

Keppel is also outspoken about his feelings toward the FBI, profiling, and VICAP. For everyone who has marvelled at the work of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, Keppel has a very different point of view that reflects his experiences as a detective -- the person who has to use the profile to catch an offender. Keppel doesn't hesitate to discuss the politics involved. Doubtless he has stepped on some toes by doing so, but his candor makes for good reading.

Ted Bundy does feature prominently in this book and many pages are devoted to his own words from when he spoke with Keppel in late 1984 regarding the Green River killer. Bundy's grandstanding is obvious and his pontifications are often repulsive; yet Keppel admits that he learned from Bundy. The final pages are devoted to Bundy's pathetic, abbreviated confessions as he tried and failed to save himself from the electric chair in early 1989.

This is simply an outstanding work. My only real complaint is that Keppel sometimes fails to give the reader enough background on Bundy. At other times, Keppel makes references to facts about Bundy that he hasn't yet discussed, facts that do appear but not until later chapters. But with that said, every homicide detective in the United States could benefit from reading this book, and fans of true crime will certainly not be disappointed either.

If you are a fan of true crime books, then you will, of course, have heard the names Bob Keppel and Ted Bundy. You will know that Ted Bundy was a sadistic serial killer whose cruelty knew no bounds, and you will know that Bob Keppel is the dedicated homicide investigator who initially spent half a decade hunting Bundy, and who, later in his brilliant career, spent many years tracking an even more elusive quarry than Ted - the Green River Killer, who, needless to say, has avoided capture to this day.

Keppel draws the reader into both of these investigations in an excellent fashion, as his writing abilities more than equal his detective skills. You will feel as though you are ploughing through the underbrush beside the volunteers in Issaquah and Taylor Mountain, searching for the remains of Bundy's innocent victims. You will feel his frustration at not being able to bring the Green River Killer to justice, and finally, you will sit beside him as he hears the final confessions of Ted Bundy, who revealed to Keppel the horrible truth about his sadistic perversions in the hope of winning a stay of execution, in the process exploiting his victims and their families once again.

I can't recommend this book enough. We all criticise homicide detectives for not being able to solve all the appalling murders that are thrown their way, and here, Keppel describes the sheer persistance and hard work that these investigators put into their jobs, and how they receive very little in the way of rewards or credit as a result. The details of the Bundy and Green River investigations show Keppel as a fine, sympathetic human being - he seems torn between a detective's need for answers and the true revulsion he feels when he finally obtains them, especially when he is hearing, at long last and after so many years, Ted Bundy's descriptions of how he committed some of his numerous murders. You will wish that there were more hours in the day to read this book, and undoubtedly, you will read it during the day with all the doors and windows locked and the lights switched on!

Robert D. Keppel is a skillful story teller who succeeds in drawing the reader into the world of the homicide detective. With astonishing interviews with Ted Bundy himself, he teaches about the tedious sorting of harrowing details that many homicide investigators must face every day. This is a wonderful book for those who want a serious look into the mind of the serial killer.

Although the title sounds very Hollywood, this is a gripping story by the world's leading serial murder investigator. Bob Keppel is a fascinating man who has had the misfortune of having Ted Bundy start his string of murders in his jurisdiction (at least some of them). You will learn how he progresses from a green detective to one of the most insightful ones. He brilliantly uses Ted in order to gain insight to the mind of the sexual predator. This helps him develop strategies in the search for the "Green River Killer." For anyone interested in the subject of serial murder, this book is required reading (although required makes it sound like a chore, and once you start reading this book, you'll wish there were more hours in the day for you to finish it).

The reason that this book was written was to teach. I am finishing up a class taught by Keppel, and it is called Serial Murder. When I read the book for the first time, I thought it was bland and fragmented as well. But that is becuase he wrote it not for the general public but for those learining about the investigative aspect of serial murder, and what the Bundy-Ridgeway-Keppel connection could bring to light in the criminal justice world. When he implemented the book into his lectures, it all made perfect sense. In actuality, if you paid attention to the book, and knew enough about criminal investigations, you realized that Bundy was actually giving the criminal justice field valuable information on the way a serial killer thinks. The book was a little tough to get through, but if you go through and read it a second time, and watch the TV movie on A&E, its really a fascinating subject.

This was one of the best books that l have read on the subject of Ted Bundy. It gave me insight into how his depraved mind worked. He was a convicted & condemmed serial killer & to read about how he bargined for more time to live with promises of telling who else he had killed amazed me. You must read this book if you are interested in Ted Bundy !

First of all, I was expecting this book to be more revealing (re: Bundy's confessions) than what it was. Most of it was the author's conjecture of what happened based upon things that were clearly not confessions. For instance, when Bundy is shown a photograph of a dead woman the author claims that his pupils dilated, a vein started to throb, etc, like Bundy was all but salivating at the photo. Could have been true, but this does not a confession make.

My second problem with this book is its one-dimensionality. I can understand that in a way since the author is the same man who worked on the very frustrating Bundy case for 15 years and thought of Bundy as his personal nemesis. So yes I can understand his one-dimensional view of Bundy as a sicko, but for the true crime buff who wants to understand the why behind Bundy's depravity, well, let's just say you won't find it in this book. Unfortunately, you wont find it in any book I've read on him to date.

The book that comes the closest is Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me. (Contrary to what another reviewer stated she was friends with Bundy for years - not months - before his arrest.) Although she doesn't know "why" anymore than the next person, her portrayal of Bundy is of the whole man, rather than just the one-dimensional salivating psycho portrayed in this book. The Stranger Beside Me is very thought provoking on many levels.

I recommend The Riverman to anybody who wants to know how to interview a serial killer because those parts of the book were interesting and revealing, not only about Bundy but serial killers in general. If you can get past the irritating one-dimensionality (which annoys me in non-fiction titles as much as fiction titles), you will definitely learn something from reading this.

In this book Kepple kind of goes off on a tangent, more about Bundy rather than the Rivermam himself who is the title of the book. It may have been more aptly named "my interviews with Ted Bundy". I guess I cant blame him though, he persued Bundy for a long time and his blatant dislike (to put it mildly) of the man shows through, thus objectivity is not something to be expected. I much better liked his book "Signature Killers" there his experience and wisdom of the subject shows through making it a very enlightening read on the subject. I found Riverman to be more drawn out, and somewhat more disorganized than "Signature Killers". Kepples treatment of his subject is more personal but for anyone studying serial murder it is still a worthwhile read.

This book is a wealth of information about a wide variety of topics and a must have for people interested in serial murder,the behind the scenes of the investigation process,ted bundy,the riverman case,the atlanta child murders case,and a number of others..

it really does cover soo much that after reading you feel like you just went through some criminal college courses..at least thats how i felt after reading through the book in just 3 days of intense reading.

this is much more than just a book about the riverman aka the green river killer and it is more than a book about ted bundy...it talks in detail about other cases from detroit child murders to the atlanta child murders and it goes into length about the investigators side of things.

it can get dull as keppell describes in detail about the police procedures and police work and methods of investigating...but it also takes you into the mind of investigators and people who fight cases like serial murders..

besides everything it offers as i mentioned it also has much talk from ted bundy...i found it very eerie and intense to read words from ted bundy's mouth..and get into his mind a bit..there is alot of talk from bundy on the green river case where he offers his insights and puts humself in the green river killers mind and in the process reveals alot about himself..

and contrary to the real attraction the book about ted bundy's confession...this is a letdown...ted bundy in fact only confesses to one murder in pretty good detail...and i must admit it is very strange to hear him reinact the crime scene and the murder and it will probably haunt me forever...but it doesn't go into deep details like i wanted..i wanted to know about his necrophelia..i wanted to know his thoughts..why he did this..i wanted to know the truth on all the crimes..if he killed the little girl he is accused..and it left ALOT to the unknown..it is sad they didn't let bundy live longer as bundy himself proposed..he said he would reveal all from day one but they chose instead to kill him...weather that was just a trick to have his execution delayed yet again will remain unknown..but i felt like he really would of told everything..and that is really what i wanted...i wanted to know everyting from when he was a child and everything he thought..

in that respect i was let down...but other than that it is a must have...i hightly reccomend it.

I have to admit, I bought this book to read about Bundy, not the Green River Killer. And Keppel does not disappoint: he got confessions out of Bundy that probably no one else could, things Bundy himself admitted he never intended to tell anyone. I skipped over the Green River Killer parts, and I think Keppel might have been better off writing separate books about his Green River experiences and his experiences with Bundy (which would make a fascinating book in their own right).