Beware of a Monster: Unmasking a Serial Murderer in a Small Town

A good novel reads like a true story, and a good true story reads like a novel.

Inspired by true events and told from multiple points of view, my next novel, a psychological thriller, is based on my short story The Riverfest, included in crime stories anthology DOWN TO THE RIVER (Down & Out Books, 2019). Both works are drawn from my experience living in Wichita, Kansas in the 1990s before the capture and imprisonment of serial killer Dennis Rader, known as “BTK” for Bind, Torture, and Kill. BTK surfaced in the news after the recent arrest of the Long Island serial killer Rex Heuermann, whose murders took place in and around Gilgo Beach.

Authorities have started looking into a cold case of a woman who went missing in Kansas back in 1976, and in my novel, the killer is connected to a unsolved murder previously not attributed to him.

BTK was able to access victims’ homes without being detected, and so does the killer in my novel.

BTK taunted the media with messages and clues about his murders, and so does “my” killer.

BTK went through periods of “laying low” -inactivity-just like mine.

And in my story, city residents don’t talk about the killer. When I lived in Wichita, I never heard a word spoken about BTK even though he was still on the loose.

Sometimes, the truth inspires a very good novel.