Overall Take:
A chilling tale that will leave you uneasy
Star Rating:
4.5 Stars
Genre:
True Crime
Synopsis:
Kim Mager is the only female detective, so is therefore tasked with all the women and abuse related crimes. She is the one who performs the interviews for all these victims. So when she gets called into an interview with a woman who was repeatedly attacked and raped, it’s just another day in the office. But thanks to Mager’s interview skills, they track down the perpetrator. Mager earns his trust, and soon, she’s the only person he’ll talk to. He confesses to at least five more rapes and murders though suspicious are there are more. Shawn Grate is known as “The Ladykiller” and is one of Ohio’s most infamous serial killers.
Thoughts:
Reading about Kim Mager and her skills was truly fascinating. She found her niche within the police force and honed her skills over the years. Thanks to her efforts, she was able to gain this brutal criminal’s trust, and as a result, ensure he faced jail time. The story is told in a very engaging and fascinating way, and at many points, it reads more like a fiction novel versus the non-fiction that it is. After reading about Mr. Grate, I do wish this was fiction. It isn’t uniquely different per say than anything I’ve read, there’s no secret formula to be found, but what it does do is lay out the story in a compelling fashion and hook the reader in with details that make you want to keep reading. I also appreciated that this book talked about the victims appropriately. I feel that often when we read true crime, the victims are often forgotten all together or just glossed over in favor of the criminal. I think that this human element is what really pushed this book from a four-star read into five star read for me.
I am thankful for strong women like Detective Mager to ensure we put men like Shawn Grate away.
Publication Date:
July 23, 2024
Author:
Kim Mager, Lisa Pulitzer
Page Length:
320 pages
Publisher:
St. Martin’s Press
Thank you to:
Thank you to @stmartinspress, the authors: Kim Mager with @pulitzerlisa as well as @netgalley for e-arc. All thoughts are my own.
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