Rating: 
Summary: Some parts are good....
Review: As anyone who enjoys the "profiler" genre knows, the authors tend to be self promoting blowhards and this book is no exception. When Mr. Keppel sticks to the subject, which is Bundy and his thoughts on the Green River Killer, this is an interesting book and a nice change from the usual true crime fare. Unfortunately there is much filler about the problems with inter agency investigations, the FBI, blah, blah, blah. This has been covered ad nausea in other profiler books (perhaps all of them!). Anyway, I would recommend if you have already read everything else on Bundy and want to complete the story.
Rating:
Summary: good but 1 dimensional
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping from beginning to end, but it's not about Ridgway
Review: Ghost written books in the first person always end up sounding like the obstensible author is a braggard. I think it might be an inherent problem with the form. I think some of the complaints about how Keppel sounds in this book arises from this and not from any personality problems. When talking about the tracking and capture of serial killers, this book is very interesting. Not groundbreaking, but Keppel does provide some different information about the Wayne Williams case and some of the infighting that went on in the law enforcement community in some of the other cases. The part with Bundy may be of interest to people who want to psychoanalyze Bundy the killer and it's certainly of interest now that we know who the Green River killer was, to see where Bundy was right or wrong. But I definitely found myself skimming a lot of Bundy's transcript. Bundy did have one bizarre suggestion involving a film festival, that has to be read to be believed.
Rating:
Summary: Probably More Useful than Interesting
Review: Ghost written books in the first person always end up sounding like the obstensible author is a braggard. I think it might be an inherent problem with the form. I think some of the complaints about how Keppel sounds in this book arises from this and not from any personality problems. When talking about the tracking and capture of serial killers, this book is very interesting. Not groundbreaking, but Keppel does provide some different information about the Wayne Williams case and some of the infighting that went on in the law enforcement community in some of the other cases. The part with Bundy may be of interest to people who want to psychoanalyze Bundy the killer and it's certainly of interest now that we know who the Green River killer was, to see where Bundy was right or wrong. But I definitely found myself skimming a lot of Bundy's transcript. Bundy did have one bizarre suggestion involving a film festival, that has to be read to be believed.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping from beginning to end, but it's not about Ridgway
Review: I am taking the Murder class at the UW that Weis teaches. Keppel used to teach it I think. I was appalled at the length of this book in the beginning because Weis has us reading another large volume (his own book). Almost from the moment I picked up Keppel's book, I was gripped by the informative writing style and the ease with which the ghost writer wrote it. Seems like he really got into Keppel and Bundy. I was surprised that this wasn't more about Ridgway but more abut Bundy instead. I am glad for the in-depth info about the operations of the FBI and Wayne Williams and George Russell cases. I was hoping to get more info about Ridgway himself, rather than the profiling behind the GRK, especially since Keppel himself says that profiling a unique serial killer is worthless. Oh well. I can pick up the Times for more info about Ridgway. Would love to interview him!
I am glad I stuck with this book and finished it. There's LOTS and LOTS of info in this book, probably made more interesting because I live in the area and grew up with those Ted Bundy rumors and innuendoes. He's way too romanticized for such a deeply sick person. It seems that our state grabs it's own share of serial media killers that even Keppel capitalizes on. Good book overall. You won't be disappointed, unless you get the newest version that I did that promised pictures but didn't come with any of them (publisher error I guess).
Rating: 
Summary: One of Keppel's finest.
Review: I could barely put this book down, it was that good. Mr. Keppel who was a lead investigator on both the Green River Killings and the infamous Ted Murders masterfully exposes Ted Bundy as to who and what he really was. He also uses the 'insider' knowledge that Bundy possessed to help investigators solve the Green River Killings. I thought that the book was extremely well written, and chillingly factual. The points where Bundy is confessing to his crimes is an edge-of-the-seat experience. The Green River case, as well as the Bundy confessions, makes this a must-have for any true crime library. I would suggest it to any avid true crime buff.
Rating: 
Summary: Way Over-Hyped!
Review: Keppel has a hard time telling this story. In fact, I'm not too sure what story he's telling. Is this a story about Bundy, about the Green River Killer, or about Keppel. On all fronts, it falls far short, is very fragmented and hard to follow. Worst of all, it left me unsatisfied--I still don't know anymore about Ted Bundy than when I first started the book. I would hardly say that Bundy reveals his secrets in this book. I would say instead, that Bundy takes Keppel on a boring self-absorbed ride through his own speculations about getting into the mind of the Green River Killer. What you do see is Ted Bundy as a bloated pontificator of the worst kind! Keppel fails to get from Bundy what he promises and as a result I feel the book did not deliver! Save your money, there are better true crime novels about Bundy than this--I hope!
Rating:
Summary: The Real Thing
Review: Rather than flock to be deluged with Thomas Harris' fantasies about what it would be like for a law enforcement professional to consult an incarcerated, highly intelligent serial killer on how to catch an active killer at large, why not read Keppel's book - which is the real thing? Keppel interviews Ted Bundy at length on the subject of the Green River killer. This book is not only fascinating on account of its subject matter, it is also extraordinarily well written. All-together a monumental book and a mesmerizingly literary read.
Rating:
Summary: This was good.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Stop and think.
Review: 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.
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