Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer

The autobiography of the BTK killer—the one who inspired Thomas Harris and Stephen King. For the first time, the murderer himself tells about his crimes and what drove him to kill. Thirty years—from 1975 to 2005—serial killer nicknamed BTK terrorized Wichita, Kansas. He chose the pseudonym himself, hinting at the method he used to kill his victims: Bind, Torture, Kill—“to bind, to torture, to kill.” When he was finally caught, locals were shocked. The bloodthirsty sadist turned out not to be some outsider, but Dennis Rader, a respected member of the community—the head of a local church group. Dennis was incredibly organized: he called his victims—real or potential—“projects” and could watch townspeople for years whom he planned to kill. For every aspect of his secret life, he devised abbreviations and kept an orderly card index of everything related to the murders.

Criminal psychologist Katherine Ramsland accomplished the impossible: she convinced Dennis Rader, still imprisoned, to open the world to his own inner self. After five years of letters and phone calls, they created a “managed autobiography” of BTK—a first-person account of the killer, with the psychologist’s commentary.

For the first time, the maniac tells his story in the most intimate details—from the first impulses toward violence in early childhood to the moment of his capture. The book “The Revelations of the BTK Killer” vividly shows how killers and psychopaths think, and how their twisted fantasies grow into brutal murders. “The Revelations of the BTK Killer” is the first book that describes cooperation with a serial killer. Unlike other crime books, it doesn’t just reflect on the predator’s insane thoughts and plans—it immerses the reader in them, revealing in intriguing detail how a well-known serial killer sees himself at the end of his life.” — The New York Times Magazine

“For readers interested in the workings of the mind, psychology, true crime, and criminal justice, this is a unique work in which the author acts as a guide through the serial killer’s thought process rather than as a mere narrator of events.” — Library Journal