Customer Reviews

No Stranger Than I

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If you are looking for a novel to both excite you, frighten you and keep you up all night, then this is the next one for you. "No Stranger Than I" is the story of a murderer's beginnings, from childhood at the hands of a confused and psychotic, narcissistic mother through a society who rejects him as a weirdo loser to the Marines that throws him out (for uncontrollable violence) to total insanity and violence, a breakdown of a young 18 year old man into multiple murderous personalities. This book is well-written, from the first word to the last. I love books that force me to read them. This one kept screaming at me to drop everything and read me now. It took me one day and part of a night, I just couldn't put it down. The cover doesn't grab you but what's in between will. It is intelligent and believable. I'm an avid reader of all types of thrillers, well... Robert Banfelder caught me in his web, now I'll have to read more of his novels. This is a trilogy and I can't wait to read the next one. Buy the book, you won't be sorry.

No Stranger Than I is a riveting novel. The journey from Richard Geist's childhood at the hands of an abusive mother to adulthood, as his upbringing manifests itself in truly frightening ways, is fascinating. In addition to being the subject of biolgical record in Who's Who in America for 2005, I recall reading this multifaceted writer's true crime stories in many editorials as well as recent outdoors publications in Nor'east Saltwater and The Fisherman. The thrill of No Stranger Than I is hard to beat and can be compared to some of the best writers in this arena. I want to see more of this writer's work.

The author presents his literary abilities on every dynamic spell-binding page. Read this book slowly so that you can savor each line. I never wanted to reach the last page. But, then again I can always re-read it. Would be very interested to hear more about the writer and his current project(s). Is this the same Robert Banfelder who was the key crime reporter during the early 90's for the Towers Newsletter (New York). I remember reading about John Gotti and Amy Fisher... and seeing the name Banfelder. Is he still doing television? Let's hear more about the Banfelder man. Signed: Editor North Shore News

Mr. Banfelder must have done a lot of research on schizophrenic killers, ventriloquism, voodoo and ancient Egyptian mummification because it is all here in this story of Richard Geist -- plus a few interesting chapters on U.S. Marine boot camp. The book covers the territory explored in Silence of the Lambs and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but with its own twist and turns.

The tale is told in flashback by Richard Geist, a patient locked away in a maximum security ward of a state-run facility for the criminally insane. No Stranger Than I possesses great horror, humor and insight, exploring the realm of military, police, and both private and state-run psychiatric institutions. There is nothing predictable about this novel. Everything comes as a complete surprise. As a serial killer, Richard Geist makes Psyhco's Norman Bates and Silence of the Lambs' Hannibal the Cannibal look sheepish by comparison. The author has an extraordinary gift for the written word.

I really had trouble putting this book down. I especially liked the way the author explored the inner workings of the serial killer's mind- from his formative years in a dysfunctional family through adulthood when his childhood abuse manifests itself in truly horrific ways. No Stranger Than I ranks right up there with the other top books of the horror/serial killer genre. I'll be looking to Amazon for more of Mr. Banfelder's works.