Reddit reviews The Riverman

Correct. If you read books by Robert Keppel, John Douglas, etc., you'll find many instances of serial killers having select killings they won't talk about or admit to. The Keppel book I linked to goes into great detail about how Bundy wouldn't talk about his first murder or his necrophilia. NOTE: I read the book probably 20 years ago and have no idea what Keppel may have changed since the Green River Killer was caught.

Bundy was asked if 34 was an accurate number, and he responded add one digit to that, leading to speculation of 130+ victims.

In Defending the Devil his appeals lawyer reveals he confided 35, though a conclusive list of victims was never forthcoming, as he hoped to use this as leverage against the death penalty (and also psychopathic power games.)

To find the silver lining, it was exactly the failure of that approach that led Gary Ridgeway, a far more dangerous killer, to cooperate with authorities to spare himself the death penalty.

Also I wouldn't say compulsive liar per se; I'd say someone for whom truth has no objective meaning. A liar knows he's lying; a sociopath compartmentalizes.

sources(?)

Keppel

Michaud & Ainsworth

Nelson

Mindhunter is more focused on the facts of the cases.

It offers interesting insight into how the BSU learned to work backwards from the evidence to describe what the perpetrator was like. (Assaulting a victim from behind might indicate a killer has facial disfigurement or massive insecurity and struggles to interact face-to-face, a black person could operate in black neighborhoods with out raising suspicion like a white person would, and so on.)

The Riverman by Robert Keppel is my favorite of the 'tracking serial killers' genre. Ted Bundy is enlisted to help find another serial killer, The Riverman.


Bundy uses his 'expertise' to talk about what a killer like The Riverman might be thinking or doing. Bundy spoke in the third person about crimes like these so his interviews wouldn't damage his ongoing legal appeals.

The Riverman would be more like Season 2 of Mindhunter where the Atlanta case takes a long time to solve.

I also like Keppel's I Have Lived in the Monster: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Serial Killers

I also like that Keppel doesn't project the same ego as Douglas. Douglas is more lead singer, Keppel is more rhythm guitar.

Fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction: Special Assignments (also published as The Jack of Spades and The Decorator) by Boris Akunin does this well in the second tale (the stories are distinct but interrelated). By the same author, The Coronation does a section from the antagonist's perspective. It could also be a good choice for a book club, as it's a nod to Conan Doyle and paralells a classic Holmes story.

For non-fiction, anything by John Douglas (the original profiler. Many characters on FBI-type TV shows have been based off him). Also Riverman by Robert D. Keppel, which contains conversations with Ted Bundy about the possible motives of the Green River Killer. True crime writer Ann Rule wrote The Stranger Beside Me about her relationship with Ted Bundy.

While none of the non-fiction books are from the serial killer's perspective, they all offer insight into what makes these people tick.

• The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer (Brian Masters)
  
  
• Killling for Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen (Brian Masters)
  
  
• Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper (Michael Bilton)
  
  
• The Riverman (Robert Keppel)