Once Upon a Crime Book Discussion: Unholy Messenger

Calling all armchair detectives to our new True Crime Book Discussion! Each month we will investigate a new story that proves fact is almost always scarier than fiction. Grab your notepads and stakeout snacks because the game is afoot! 

Please join us via Zoom or in the second floor Multipurpose Room for discussion!  

Books can be obtained digitally through Overdrive and/or Hoopla, or a limited number of copies will be available from the library. Patrons may choose to attend virtually through Zoom or in-person at the library.

Contact nfinlon@orlandparklibrary.org to receive the Zoom link or ask questions.

Unholy Messenger: The Life and Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer

The banality of evil, right next door. Over the course of 30 years, Dennis Rader, a pinched, humorless Midwestern family man, terrorized the residents of Wichita, Kan., as the "BTK Killer," a serial murderer and sexual sadist whose nom-de-crime derived from his predilection for binding, torturing and killing his victims. No criminal mastermind, Rader so embodied the archetypical Kansas man—self-effacing, pious, reliable, conservative (he served as a scout leader and was president of his Lutheran church)—that he was able, despite a sloppy m.o. and innumerable gaffes, to elude the concentrated efforts of the Wichita Police Department and the FBI to catch him. A compelling and clear-eyed portrait of a recognizable American community, devastated by the secret heart of a quintessential good neighbor—the sort of neighbor who makes one feel comfortable leaving the doors unlocked at night. (Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2006)