What do you think?
Rate this book
The Killer Department: Detective Viktor Burakov's Eight-Year Hunt for the Most Savage Serial Killer in Russian History
This is a chilling tale of one man's savage need to kill and another's sworn determination to stop him. They found the first body in 1982, in the woods near Rostov-on-Don: a young girl, lying faceup with her skeletal hands raised near her head as if trying to fend someone off. Over the next eight years, fifty-two more bodies were found in and around Rostov, a river city 600 miles south of Moscow. The victims had been savagely slashed with a knife, with their eyes gouged out, their sexual organs excised, their bodies spattered with the killer's semen. As the body count mounted, a remarkable Rostov detective, Viktor Burakov, became obsessed with hunting down the killer. He faced formidable odds. Archaic attitudes toward sex crimes and the nightmarish maze of the Soviet system produced an extraordinary range of false leads and bizarre theories: a satanic cult had formed, the murders were the work of a gang of mentally retarded boys, the killer must be a doctor, because the sexual organs of the victims had been carved out with surgical precision. The investigations of these hypotheses disrupted the lives of Rostov's citizens - most particularly homosexuals, who came under suspicion when young boys began to number among the slaughtered. Haunted by specters of the brutally murdered victims, Burakov took a startling route for a Soviet detective. He turned secretly to a psychiatrist - an expert on transsexualism - who produced a psychological profile of the killer that proved to be eerily accurate when Andrei Chikatilo - a family man, member of the Communist Party, and former schoolteacher - was finally hunted down and captured.
258 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
13 people are currently reading
1123 people want to read
About the author
Robert Cullen
56 books9 followersBob Cullen is a former international correspondent for Newsweek and the author of four acclaimed thrillers, including the New York Times Notable Book of the Year Soviet Sources.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
May 6, 2019
I picked up this book in anticipation of HBO’s new miniseries Chernobyl. What does a book about the hunt for a serial killer have to do with a disaster film about averting a nuclear apocalypse? Quite a lot actually. Both have as their setting the final years of the Soviet Union and both focus on the absurdities and failings that led to that state’s collapse.
There are a lot of true crime stories out there but this book has two factors that really make it stand out. One is the unique setting, as I mentioned above and will mention again, and the other is the focus on the investigators rather than the killer. To me one of the more disgusting elements of true crime nonfiction, aside from the sensationalism, is the way that the so often choose to tell their story through the killer’s viewpoint. The killer’s background obviously needs to be given in detail, but making them essentially the protagonist is rewarding gross criminal behavior. But here we don’t even meet the killer until near the end, and while we do get a potted backstory it’s more a necessary bit of analysis to explain the facts of the case and not a sensationalized case of near hero worship.
The lead character in this book is Viktor Burakov, the chief investigator of the case. Anyone who’s seen HBO’s Citizen X (which is based on this book) will recognize the name if not the personality. The film treats him as a somewhat passive rationalist who’s fed up with Soviet bureaucracy and fundamentally sympathetic to the weak in society. The truth is naturally more complicated. The real Burakov was almost the ideal Soviet man. He was a loyal, hardworking, and hardfighting Communist of peasant stock who credited the government for his opportunities. He remained rather unsympathetic towards minority groups (particularly those who mistrusted the police) and believed in obedience to higher authority. Or at least doing just enough following of orders to avoid running foul of any contradictory orders. About the only area where he stood out was his curiosity and willingness to seek out knowledge even where it meant admitting his own ignorance.
The details of the case unfold before us as they did for him. There’s very little foreshadowing of the actual killer’s activities during this time and while the book is obviously picking and choosing what facts to present to us there are more than enough red herrings and dead ends to keep us guessing. I know something about the case (as I said I saw the movie) but I was consistently impressed at how the book pushed us down blind alleys or tangents in ways that seemed like a logical progression of the investigation.
But really, the fascination here is the Soviet justice system and daily life. The biggest obstacle that the detectives face is that the police (militya) didn’t really know how to do much more than beat a confession out of suspects. Imagine bully-boys trying to catch a serial killer! But while hardly fair, the state isn’t quite the arbitrary dictatorial system it’s often portrayed as. There are laws. Far too many laws. And they are often similar to Western laws, although the differences are more interesting. For example, you aren’t given legal representation until after the case is assembled against you. And your lawyer’s main purpose is to protect the state, not you, for which task he can’t even call his own experts to the stand. The confession is an article of faith and the foundation of an investigation not the conclusion.
And then there are the laws that make it illegal to hold a suspect more than ten days. I would never have imagine such a law existed! Or that the police kept to it (though I imagine the KGB had different standards). Of course, like a lot of Soviet laws the good intentions only seemed to make the situation worse. Suspects were regularly charged with some minor crime that was universally disobeyed and then thrown in prison for years while the police assembled a case against them. And if the case fell apart that didn’t affect your sentence at all. The Russian attitude towards justice seems deeply disturbing: that collateral damage is inevitable and should never get in the way of a speedy resolution. Five people committed suicide due to this case, several more were imprisoned for years, and one innocent man was executed. Which all apart from the execution really earns not much more than a shrug from those involved. These things happen. We caught the guy didn’t we?
Sure, after ten years.
The main takeaway here is that the Soviet militya were a rotten and incompetent bunch. Dozens of children’s lives could have been saved from the cruelest of deaths if the State biologists hadn’t been so incompetent as to be unable to accurately determine blood type. Or if authorities hadn’t been more intent on covering up shameful incidents than punishing the guilty. Or if it hadn’t been impossible to fire incompetent or lazy detectives. Or if the press and public had actually been informed that they had a serial killer in their midst. All criminal investigations will have moments of bad luck and incompetence but it seems like a miracle that they actually caught this guy at all. It only cost more than fifty children’s lives.
I found the book and the case in general fascinating. Modern forensic investigations are impressive, but they’re also formulaic and a little boring to read about. The point on the cusp of modernity where the procedures were still being worked out and seemed frankly preposterous were the most interesting. And while this case is only thirty years old the backwards Soviet state makes the investigation much more of a challenge than it needed to be. And its the challenges that makes a mystery interesting. The author spent many years during this period in Russia working as a reporter so his account just brims with detailed knowledge and experiences. His main sources are the detectives themselves, and while this may mean we get an overly favorable account of their investigation he doesn’t pull his punches either. Indeed, I was rather impressed by the way he captured both how familiar and alien Soviet life was. These guys lived in a poverty and isolation we can’t even imagine and the horrors of the Second World War and the Stalinist purges, which seem safely in the past now, were events these men lived through.
There’s a book based on the case called Child 44 which a lot of people seem to like, but having seen the movie I don’t have much interest in. It was universally derided as a terrible adaptation but if there’s any residue of the book in there at all it hits all the sensationalist features (admittedly more appropriate in a Stalinist setting) I was so pleased this book avoided.
There are a lot of true crime stories out there but this book has two factors that really make it stand out. One is the unique setting, as I mentioned above and will mention again, and the other is the focus on the investigators rather than the killer. To me one of the more disgusting elements of true crime nonfiction, aside from the sensationalism, is the way that the so often choose to tell their story through the killer’s viewpoint. The killer’s background obviously needs to be given in detail, but making them essentially the protagonist is rewarding gross criminal behavior. But here we don’t even meet the killer until near the end, and while we do get a potted backstory it’s more a necessary bit of analysis to explain the facts of the case and not a sensationalized case of near hero worship.
The lead character in this book is Viktor Burakov, the chief investigator of the case. Anyone who’s seen HBO’s Citizen X (which is based on this book) will recognize the name if not the personality. The film treats him as a somewhat passive rationalist who’s fed up with Soviet bureaucracy and fundamentally sympathetic to the weak in society. The truth is naturally more complicated. The real Burakov was almost the ideal Soviet man. He was a loyal, hardworking, and hardfighting Communist of peasant stock who credited the government for his opportunities. He remained rather unsympathetic towards minority groups (particularly those who mistrusted the police) and believed in obedience to higher authority. Or at least doing just enough following of orders to avoid running foul of any contradictory orders. About the only area where he stood out was his curiosity and willingness to seek out knowledge even where it meant admitting his own ignorance.
The details of the case unfold before us as they did for him. There’s very little foreshadowing of the actual killer’s activities during this time and while the book is obviously picking and choosing what facts to present to us there are more than enough red herrings and dead ends to keep us guessing. I know something about the case (as I said I saw the movie) but I was consistently impressed at how the book pushed us down blind alleys or tangents in ways that seemed like a logical progression of the investigation.
But really, the fascination here is the Soviet justice system and daily life. The biggest obstacle that the detectives face is that the police (militya) didn’t really know how to do much more than beat a confession out of suspects. Imagine bully-boys trying to catch a serial killer! But while hardly fair, the state isn’t quite the arbitrary dictatorial system it’s often portrayed as. There are laws. Far too many laws. And they are often similar to Western laws, although the differences are more interesting. For example, you aren’t given legal representation until after the case is assembled against you. And your lawyer’s main purpose is to protect the state, not you, for which task he can’t even call his own experts to the stand. The confession is an article of faith and the foundation of an investigation not the conclusion.
And then there are the laws that make it illegal to hold a suspect more than ten days. I would never have imagine such a law existed! Or that the police kept to it (though I imagine the KGB had different standards). Of course, like a lot of Soviet laws the good intentions only seemed to make the situation worse. Suspects were regularly charged with some minor crime that was universally disobeyed and then thrown in prison for years while the police assembled a case against them. And if the case fell apart that didn’t affect your sentence at all. The Russian attitude towards justice seems deeply disturbing: that collateral damage is inevitable and should never get in the way of a speedy resolution. Five people committed suicide due to this case, several more were imprisoned for years, and one innocent man was executed. Which all apart from the execution really earns not much more than a shrug from those involved. These things happen. We caught the guy didn’t we?
Sure, after ten years.
The main takeaway here is that the Soviet militya were a rotten and incompetent bunch. Dozens of children’s lives could have been saved from the cruelest of deaths if the State biologists hadn’t been so incompetent as to be unable to accurately determine blood type. Or if authorities hadn’t been more intent on covering up shameful incidents than punishing the guilty. Or if it hadn’t been impossible to fire incompetent or lazy detectives. Or if the press and public had actually been informed that they had a serial killer in their midst. All criminal investigations will have moments of bad luck and incompetence but it seems like a miracle that they actually caught this guy at all. It only cost more than fifty children’s lives.
I found the book and the case in general fascinating. Modern forensic investigations are impressive, but they’re also formulaic and a little boring to read about. The point on the cusp of modernity where the procedures were still being worked out and seemed frankly preposterous were the most interesting. And while this case is only thirty years old the backwards Soviet state makes the investigation much more of a challenge than it needed to be. And its the challenges that makes a mystery interesting. The author spent many years during this period in Russia working as a reporter so his account just brims with detailed knowledge and experiences. His main sources are the detectives themselves, and while this may mean we get an overly favorable account of their investigation he doesn’t pull his punches either. Indeed, I was rather impressed by the way he captured both how familiar and alien Soviet life was. These guys lived in a poverty and isolation we can’t even imagine and the horrors of the Second World War and the Stalinist purges, which seem safely in the past now, were events these men lived through.
There’s a book based on the case called Child 44 which a lot of people seem to like, but having seen the movie I don’t have much interest in. It was universally derided as a terrible adaptation but if there’s any residue of the book in there at all it hits all the sensationalist features (admittedly more appropriate in a Stalinist setting) I was so pleased this book avoided.
December 29, 2011
This book details the manhunt for the Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. What the book reveals about the soviet legal system is almost as frightening as the horrific murders perpetrated by Chikatilo; a number of innocents perished as a result of shoddy and criminal investigative and judicial practices. Mr Cullen took the time do do some research and interview some of the principals involved; this is not a hastily- crafted story scribbled in haste to capitalize on a sensational story. One pressing question remains after reading of the malfunctioning soviet system: why in hell were we afraid of these guys?
Want to read
April 10, 2010I watched the movie version in HBO. I am hoping I can read the book as soon as i can find a copy.
May 4, 2023
True crime with a fascinating social history: my catnip.
May 9, 2020
Real Review: 3.5. Bumped up for the well-done research.
For all the teachers on this site: This is the biggest example of procrastination you will ever see. I was supposed to read this book my junior year of undergrad because my major required me to do some reading on organizing investigations into serial killers. I did not do the reading junior year. I did not do the reading senior year. I literally waited until law school to read this book. But I did! And I liked it!
If you like true crime, Russian history, or have to do some reading on organizing a homicide investigation, you should add this book to your reading list. It is incredibly well researched, the information came straight from the mouths of those involved, and organizes the book into relatively neat sections that help you keep track of a long investigation. The book organizes itself into the beginning of the investigation, an introduction of the main investigators, the rapid increase in bodies, the terror the Russian police instilled in the gay community, the killer's Moscow spree, the political pressure that came from a lack of results, and last but certainly not least, the killer's confession.
Breaking the story into sections, yet still keeping the murders in numeric order, helped the story quite a bit, and helped explore the nuances of the investigation. Whether you will thoroughly enjoy the book or consider it sub-par true crime depends on how you like your true crime. Are you of the school that true crime should be intensely personal, focus on the victims, and get into the heads of both the victim and the killer? If yes, then this book, while interesting, will probably not land a place on your "favorites" list. The narrative is slightly removed from the subject matter, and other than giving a few character outlines to the main players, we really don't get to intimately know many of the main players. That said, we get a lot of information about how the long investigation was affected by Soviet policies, the rapid changes in leadership in the USSR, and how both the Russian mindset and legal system set this investigation apart from an American investigation. As someone hoping to get into criminal law, it was fascinating to see a system that seemed like the twilight zone: rights to a lawyer only after the prosecution had built a case, or blood typing instead of DNA.
It was a decent read, but I almost ranked it 3 stars since there were times that I got bored enough to wander off and terrorize my roommate's cat. (Don't feel sorry for him, he sat on my dinner.) However, the fact that the book dived into the nuances of the Russian investigative system and the sheer amount of first-hand interviews and research packed into the book bumped it up to 4 stars. Too often, we read true crime where the way the author writes it feels uncomfortably voyeuristic, but the amount of research put into this book, along with the effort to draw parallels between American law enforcement positions and Russian ones gave the book a much more informative spin that actually made me feel like I learned something substantial.
For all the teachers on this site: This is the biggest example of procrastination you will ever see. I was supposed to read this book my junior year of undergrad because my major required me to do some reading on organizing investigations into serial killers. I did not do the reading junior year. I did not do the reading senior year. I literally waited until law school to read this book. But I did! And I liked it!
If you like true crime, Russian history, or have to do some reading on organizing a homicide investigation, you should add this book to your reading list. It is incredibly well researched, the information came straight from the mouths of those involved, and organizes the book into relatively neat sections that help you keep track of a long investigation. The book organizes itself into the beginning of the investigation, an introduction of the main investigators, the rapid increase in bodies, the terror the Russian police instilled in the gay community, the killer's Moscow spree, the political pressure that came from a lack of results, and last but certainly not least, the killer's confession.
Breaking the story into sections, yet still keeping the murders in numeric order, helped the story quite a bit, and helped explore the nuances of the investigation. Whether you will thoroughly enjoy the book or consider it sub-par true crime depends on how you like your true crime. Are you of the school that true crime should be intensely personal, focus on the victims, and get into the heads of both the victim and the killer? If yes, then this book, while interesting, will probably not land a place on your "favorites" list. The narrative is slightly removed from the subject matter, and other than giving a few character outlines to the main players, we really don't get to intimately know many of the main players. That said, we get a lot of information about how the long investigation was affected by Soviet policies, the rapid changes in leadership in the USSR, and how both the Russian mindset and legal system set this investigation apart from an American investigation. As someone hoping to get into criminal law, it was fascinating to see a system that seemed like the twilight zone: rights to a lawyer only after the prosecution had built a case, or blood typing instead of DNA.
It was a decent read, but I almost ranked it 3 stars since there were times that I got bored enough to wander off and terrorize my roommate's cat. (Don't feel sorry for him, he sat on my dinner.) However, the fact that the book dived into the nuances of the Russian investigative system and the sheer amount of first-hand interviews and research packed into the book bumped it up to 4 stars. Too often, we read true crime where the way the author writes it feels uncomfortably voyeuristic, but the amount of research put into this book, along with the effort to draw parallels between American law enforcement positions and Russian ones gave the book a much more informative spin that actually made me feel like I learned something substantial.
March 16, 2015
This book is a fascinating recounting of the innovative work Mikal Fetisov and Victor Burakov did over 8 years hunting one of the grisliest serial killers of any country or time. In Brezhnev's Russia, serial killing was considered the exclusive purview of the decadent West. During those years, Burakov's superiors forced him to shake down homosexuals, pursue pointless leads and very nearly tried innocent men. Burakov insisted on consulting psychiatrists and found only one willing to work with him. Fortunately,that one was something of a maverick in Russian psychiatric circles, studying and using American profiling methods. Alexandre Bukanhovsky created a very detailed profile of the Rostov killer and Burakov used it to help find Andrei Chikatilo. His method of narrowing down the killer's territory was unusual and innovative at the time. After Chikatilo's capture Bukanhovsky used his profile again to establish a bond between himself and the killer, which lead to Chikatilo's confession - so correct in all the murders' times, places and methods that there could be no doubt of Chikatilo's guilt.
Author Robert Cullen's admiration for Burakov is clear, but his view of pre-glasnost USSR is chilling, making one realize that whatever inequities there are in Western justice it could be far, far worse.
Author Robert Cullen's admiration for Burakov is clear, but his view of pre-glasnost USSR is chilling, making one realize that whatever inequities there are in Western justice it could be far, far worse.
May 7, 2024
A disorderly sex life is a term repeated throughout this book and it is used to describe, mostly women, of having numerous intimate partners. A majority of the adult female victims are given this label. The Killer hacked up the bodies and frequently removed the eyes of his prey. Adult men and women were sexually mutilated, as were boys and girls.
The bodies were uncovered throughout the 1980s and a few men gave false confessions until the real killer, Andrei Chikatilo was captured. He was an ethnic Ukrainian who suffered in his early years, first from the Nazi occupation, and later from Stalin's purges.
Andrei was placed in a cage during the trial and had some bizarre exchanges with the judge. Suspected of more than fifty murders, the verdict was an easy one and I recommend the HBO film "Citizen X" as a companion to the book.
The bodies were uncovered throughout the 1980s and a few men gave false confessions until the real killer, Andrei Chikatilo was captured. He was an ethnic Ukrainian who suffered in his early years, first from the Nazi occupation, and later from Stalin's purges.
Andrei was placed in a cage during the trial and had some bizarre exchanges with the judge. Suspected of more than fifty murders, the verdict was an easy one and I recommend the HBO film "Citizen X" as a companion to the book.
October 22, 2015
A riveting account of the nearly decade-long manhunt for Russia's most prolific and savage killer. It was fascinating to see inside the search for the murderer, but also to look at how dysfunctional the Soviet system was at every single level. Though written by an American living abroad, I felt that his time spent in Russia imbued the book with his understanding of not only governmental practices, but also how Soviet society operated (or didn't). One wonders how much more quickly the killer would have been apprehended had there been a more motivated, trained, and intelligent police force, better infrastructure (such as access to computers and psychiatrists), and an informed public, among many, many other factors involved. A good companion read for Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith.
October 3, 2016
Very gripping read. It's not only about the search for a serial killer, but about the incredible obstacles thrown up when the investigators are searching in Soviet Russia. The background information presented on the man they eventually caught may have been intended to make us feel bad for him, but it definitely left me wondering just how much more fcrewed up he was than even they realized. In Russia they go ahead and execute him instead of treating him like a rock star, so we can probably never know.
May 9, 2012
Really, really interesting! I like true crime as a 'throwaway' or 'beach' read, but this one really made me think. The connections between the Soviet political system and the case, and how this man was able to go for so long killing so many people without being caught were fascinating. I also didn't realize until I finished that the author's not a true crime author, but rather a journalist who'd spent years in the Soviet Union, so he really knew his stuff.
February 21, 2025
"The Killer Department" es una crónica fascinante y perturbadora de la cacería del asesino en serie Andrei Chikatilo, escrita por el periodista Robert Cullen. Publicado en 1993, el libro detalla los ocho años de investigación liderados por el detective Viktor Burakov en la región de Rostov, Rusia, en un contexto de ineficiencia burocrática y secretismo soviético. Más que una historia de crímenes, esta obra es una crítica incisiva a las fallas estructurales del sistema soviético y a los obstáculos que la policía enfrentó en la captura del asesino.
La historia se desarrolla en los años 80, en los últimos años de la Unión Soviética, cuando el crimen violento no era reconocido oficialmente como un problema sistémico. La narrativa de Cullen muestra cómo el régimen comunista insistía en proyectar la imagen de una sociedad segura y moralmente superior, lo que resultó en la ocultación de información sobre asesinatos y violaciones. La censura mediática y la falta de recursos en la Militsia (policía soviética) dificultaron la captura de Chikatilo, quien aprovechó el caos institucional para cometer sus crímenes sin ser detectado por años.
El libro también expone la hipocresía del régimen, que priorizaba la estabilidad política sobre la justicia. La policía soviética, acostumbrada a casos de robos o crímenes domésticos, carecía de experiencia en la persecución de asesinos en serie. Además, el hecho de que los crímenes de Chikatilo ocurrieran en pequeñas aldeas y comunidades marginadas significaba que las víctimas eran invisibilizadas por el Estado.
Cullen divide el libro en una serie de relatos detallados que reconstruyen tanto los crímenes como la investigación. La narración es meticulosa y se apoya en descripciones gráficas, evidenciando la brutalidad de los asesinatos. El lector es testigo de la desesperación de los familiares de las víctimas, la frustración de los detectives y la indiferencia del aparato estatal.
El personaje central, Viktor Burakov, es presentado como un hombre meticuloso, comprometido con su trabajo, pero atrapado en un sistema disfuncional. Su esfuerzo por utilizar la ciencia forense en la investigación contrasta con la mentalidad arcaica de sus superiores, quienes preferían métodos de tortura y confesiones forzadas en lugar de pruebas científicas. Burakov se enfrenta a la corrupción, a la incompetencia y a la constante interferencia de oficiales con motivaciones políticas.
Otro personaje clave es Mikhail Fetisov, el jefe del equipo de investigación, quien representa una generación de policías que buscan profesionalizar la Militsia. Sin embargo, él también está limitado por las reglas de un sistema que prioriza la imagen del Estado sobre la verdad.
Por otro lado, Andrei Chikatilo, el asesino, es un personaje que permanece en la sombra durante gran parte del libro. Su perfil psicológico emerge a través de los testimonios de testigos y las huellas que deja en sus crímenes: un hombre perturbado, con traumas de infancia y una obsesión por el sadismo. La obsesión del asesino con mutilar los ojos de sus víctimas refuerza la teoría de que evitaba el contacto visual con ellas, lo que sugiere una profunda disociación con sus actos.
Uno de los aspectos más impactantes del libro es la crítica al método de investigación de la policía soviética. A lo largo de la historia, se muestran ejemplos de negligencia, como:
Falta de coordinación: Diferentes departamentos policiales no compartían información, lo que retrasó la conexión entre los crímenes.
Uso de sospechosos equivocados: En varias ocasiones, se acusó a personas inocentes basándose en prejuicios, como enfermos mentales o homosexuales, en lugar de pruebas concretas.
Métodos obsoletos: La ausencia de bases de datos de criminales, técnicas avanzadas de perfilación y análisis forense limitaban la investigación.
Represión y miedo: La paranoia del régimen hacía que la policía temiera equivocarse, lo que llevaba a errores burocráticos y a la preferencia por cerrar casos rápidamente con sospechosos falsos.
El caso más extremo de esta ineficiencia fue la detención y suicidio de un sospechoso inocente, Vladimir Pecheritsa, quien se ahorcó tras ser sometido a un brutal interrogatorio. Este evento ilustra cómo el sistema prefería fabricar culpables antes que aceptar su incapacidad para atrapar al verdadero asesino.
Cullen no solo retrata la historia de una investigación, sino que también plantea preguntas profundas sobre la naturaleza del mal. A través del caso de Chikatilo, el libro examina la psicología de los asesinos en serie y las circunstancias que permiten que sus crímenes se prolonguen.
Además, se sugiere que el ambiente de represión, trauma y deshumanización de la era soviética pudo haber contribuido al desarrollo de criminales como Chikatilo. La desvalorización de la vida humana, la violencia institucionalizada y el colapso moral del sistema parecen haber creado el entorno perfecto para que un asesino de este tipo prosperara.
El libro también resalta cómo la falta de un enfoque empático hacia las víctimas perpetuó la impunidad. Muchas de las víctimas de Chikatilo eran niños o mujeres de clases bajas, lo que hizo que sus desapariciones no fueran una prioridad para las autoridades. Esta indiferencia revela una falla sistémica en la sociedad soviética, donde la vida de ciertos ciudadanos tenía menos valor que la estabilidad del Estado.
"The Killer Department" es más que un libro sobre crímenes: es un análisis de las fallas del sistema soviético, una exploración de la psicología criminal y una historia de lucha contra la burocracia y la incompetencia. Cullen nos sumerge en una investigación llena de frustraciones y giros inesperados, mostrando que la captura de Chikatilo fue casi un milagro dentro de un sistema diseñado para el fracaso.
Este libro no solo es una lectura obligada para los interesados en la criminología y la historia criminal, sino también para quienes buscan entender cómo un sistema político y social puede permitir la existencia de monstruos ocultos entre su población.
La historia se desarrolla en los años 80, en los últimos años de la Unión Soviética, cuando el crimen violento no era reconocido oficialmente como un problema sistémico. La narrativa de Cullen muestra cómo el régimen comunista insistía en proyectar la imagen de una sociedad segura y moralmente superior, lo que resultó en la ocultación de información sobre asesinatos y violaciones. La censura mediática y la falta de recursos en la Militsia (policía soviética) dificultaron la captura de Chikatilo, quien aprovechó el caos institucional para cometer sus crímenes sin ser detectado por años.
El libro también expone la hipocresía del régimen, que priorizaba la estabilidad política sobre la justicia. La policía soviética, acostumbrada a casos de robos o crímenes domésticos, carecía de experiencia en la persecución de asesinos en serie. Además, el hecho de que los crímenes de Chikatilo ocurrieran en pequeñas aldeas y comunidades marginadas significaba que las víctimas eran invisibilizadas por el Estado.
Cullen divide el libro en una serie de relatos detallados que reconstruyen tanto los crímenes como la investigación. La narración es meticulosa y se apoya en descripciones gráficas, evidenciando la brutalidad de los asesinatos. El lector es testigo de la desesperación de los familiares de las víctimas, la frustración de los detectives y la indiferencia del aparato estatal.
El personaje central, Viktor Burakov, es presentado como un hombre meticuloso, comprometido con su trabajo, pero atrapado en un sistema disfuncional. Su esfuerzo por utilizar la ciencia forense en la investigación contrasta con la mentalidad arcaica de sus superiores, quienes preferían métodos de tortura y confesiones forzadas en lugar de pruebas científicas. Burakov se enfrenta a la corrupción, a la incompetencia y a la constante interferencia de oficiales con motivaciones políticas.
Otro personaje clave es Mikhail Fetisov, el jefe del equipo de investigación, quien representa una generación de policías que buscan profesionalizar la Militsia. Sin embargo, él también está limitado por las reglas de un sistema que prioriza la imagen del Estado sobre la verdad.
Por otro lado, Andrei Chikatilo, el asesino, es un personaje que permanece en la sombra durante gran parte del libro. Su perfil psicológico emerge a través de los testimonios de testigos y las huellas que deja en sus crímenes: un hombre perturbado, con traumas de infancia y una obsesión por el sadismo. La obsesión del asesino con mutilar los ojos de sus víctimas refuerza la teoría de que evitaba el contacto visual con ellas, lo que sugiere una profunda disociación con sus actos.
Uno de los aspectos más impactantes del libro es la crítica al método de investigación de la policía soviética. A lo largo de la historia, se muestran ejemplos de negligencia, como:
Falta de coordinación: Diferentes departamentos policiales no compartían información, lo que retrasó la conexión entre los crímenes.
Uso de sospechosos equivocados: En varias ocasiones, se acusó a personas inocentes basándose en prejuicios, como enfermos mentales o homosexuales, en lugar de pruebas concretas.
Métodos obsoletos: La ausencia de bases de datos de criminales, técnicas avanzadas de perfilación y análisis forense limitaban la investigación.
Represión y miedo: La paranoia del régimen hacía que la policía temiera equivocarse, lo que llevaba a errores burocráticos y a la preferencia por cerrar casos rápidamente con sospechosos falsos.
El caso más extremo de esta ineficiencia fue la detención y suicidio de un sospechoso inocente, Vladimir Pecheritsa, quien se ahorcó tras ser sometido a un brutal interrogatorio. Este evento ilustra cómo el sistema prefería fabricar culpables antes que aceptar su incapacidad para atrapar al verdadero asesino.
Cullen no solo retrata la historia de una investigación, sino que también plantea preguntas profundas sobre la naturaleza del mal. A través del caso de Chikatilo, el libro examina la psicología de los asesinos en serie y las circunstancias que permiten que sus crímenes se prolonguen.
Además, se sugiere que el ambiente de represión, trauma y deshumanización de la era soviética pudo haber contribuido al desarrollo de criminales como Chikatilo. La desvalorización de la vida humana, la violencia institucionalizada y el colapso moral del sistema parecen haber creado el entorno perfecto para que un asesino de este tipo prosperara.
El libro también resalta cómo la falta de un enfoque empático hacia las víctimas perpetuó la impunidad. Muchas de las víctimas de Chikatilo eran niños o mujeres de clases bajas, lo que hizo que sus desapariciones no fueran una prioridad para las autoridades. Esta indiferencia revela una falla sistémica en la sociedad soviética, donde la vida de ciertos ciudadanos tenía menos valor que la estabilidad del Estado.
"The Killer Department" es más que un libro sobre crímenes: es un análisis de las fallas del sistema soviético, una exploración de la psicología criminal y una historia de lucha contra la burocracia y la incompetencia. Cullen nos sumerge en una investigación llena de frustraciones y giros inesperados, mostrando que la captura de Chikatilo fue casi un milagro dentro de un sistema diseñado para el fracaso.
Este libro no solo es una lectura obligada para los interesados en la criminología y la historia criminal, sino también para quienes buscan entender cómo un sistema político y social puede permitir la existencia de monstruos ocultos entre su población.
July 31, 2017
This is a book about the hunt for a serial killer in the collapsing Soviet Union. Besides being a good detective story, the book also demonstrates the ways in which a failing Soviet society enabled the serial killer to kill dozens of young girls and boys in the 1980s.
The biggest problem with the search for the killer was the bureaucratic corruption and inertia that infected so much of the Soviet Union. The militsia (not police, since police weren't necessary in a socialist society) were trained to coerce confessions, not seek the truth. So, with the help of beatings and isolation, they had elicited at least five false confessions from different "killers" in the course of their investigation. Even after abundant evidence proved that these confessions were false, many militisa and procurators continued proclaiming their guilt. When their arrests had not stopped the killings, the officers then deduced vast murder "conspiracies," such as the supposed "Kalenik-Tyapkin gang" of mentally challenged young adults, who of course were easy to force into more confessions. When the militisa were forced to finally drop such claims, they kept the suspects jailed for months or years on a petty charge, such as pilfering state property.
In a perfect imitation of many failed Soviet economic projects, the militisa also ignored most detective grunt work, and instead proposed immense plans, of, say, interviewing everyone with AB blood in the province, or listing everyone who traveled to Moscow from Rostov in a three month period. In practice, the such plans were never completed by the unmotivated workers.
The Soviet Union also encouraged secrecy about anything that might reflect poorly on the socialist paradise. Thus as over 20 bodies emerged from 1982 to 1984, the newspapers carried nothing but small notices, and refused to warn people or their children to watch out. The Soviet Union in fact encouraged children to view all adults as "aunts" and "uncles" who could be trusted. Yet children had to travel alone for great distances on multiple bus or rail lines to gather a few groceries or run an errand for their family, and thus were easy prey for strangers.
The hero of the book is Viktor Burakov, one of the few detectives who listened to psychiatrists about the sexual perversions of the killer, and one of the few who discounted forced confessions and looked for hard evidence. Although the book spends too much time detailing every victim and every investigative search, it shows that even in corrupt societies good people and can perform good work.
The biggest problem with the search for the killer was the bureaucratic corruption and inertia that infected so much of the Soviet Union. The militsia (not police, since police weren't necessary in a socialist society) were trained to coerce confessions, not seek the truth. So, with the help of beatings and isolation, they had elicited at least five false confessions from different "killers" in the course of their investigation. Even after abundant evidence proved that these confessions were false, many militisa and procurators continued proclaiming their guilt. When their arrests had not stopped the killings, the officers then deduced vast murder "conspiracies," such as the supposed "Kalenik-Tyapkin gang" of mentally challenged young adults, who of course were easy to force into more confessions. When the militisa were forced to finally drop such claims, they kept the suspects jailed for months or years on a petty charge, such as pilfering state property.
In a perfect imitation of many failed Soviet economic projects, the militisa also ignored most detective grunt work, and instead proposed immense plans, of, say, interviewing everyone with AB blood in the province, or listing everyone who traveled to Moscow from Rostov in a three month period. In practice, the such plans were never completed by the unmotivated workers.
The Soviet Union also encouraged secrecy about anything that might reflect poorly on the socialist paradise. Thus as over 20 bodies emerged from 1982 to 1984, the newspapers carried nothing but small notices, and refused to warn people or their children to watch out. The Soviet Union in fact encouraged children to view all adults as "aunts" and "uncles" who could be trusted. Yet children had to travel alone for great distances on multiple bus or rail lines to gather a few groceries or run an errand for their family, and thus were easy prey for strangers.
The hero of the book is Viktor Burakov, one of the few detectives who listened to psychiatrists about the sexual perversions of the killer, and one of the few who discounted forced confessions and looked for hard evidence. Although the book spends too much time detailing every victim and every investigative search, it shows that even in corrupt societies good people and can perform good work.
September 2, 2017
I'm a particular fan of true crime books, especially about serial killings, and I find it fascinating digging into the psychology of how and why a person would commit such crimes, as well as how he (it's usually always a man) was eventually caught after an often long investigation.
Wicked Beyond Belief, Helter Skelter, Fred and Rose, and Killing For Company are personal favourites, as well as Zodiac. The Killer Department, a book and case I hadn't heard about before this, is now added to that list.
I won't rehash the synopsis here, I'll just tell you that it's perhaps one of the more depressing and riveting serial killer books I've read. Robert Cullen dives deeply into the extremely flawed Soviet criminal investigation, revealing missed opportunities, lazy investigators, archaic methods and outdated systems, as well as how this person could come to commit such shocking crimes.
The murders themselves are disturbing, both in physical description and the ease in which the murderer could pick so many victims and get away with it. It makes for a thrilling read in wanting to find out how they eventually caught him (I find it best to not read much at all about the case beforehand).
In summary, The Killer Department is a compact (less than 300 pages), savage, engrossing - and very well written - book about how a repressed society can harvest such a disturbing individual and how he could continue such violent acts for eight years. Highly recommended for readers interested in serial killers, criminal investigations and 1980s Soviet Union society.
Wicked Beyond Belief, Helter Skelter, Fred and Rose, and Killing For Company are personal favourites, as well as Zodiac. The Killer Department, a book and case I hadn't heard about before this, is now added to that list.
I won't rehash the synopsis here, I'll just tell you that it's perhaps one of the more depressing and riveting serial killer books I've read. Robert Cullen dives deeply into the extremely flawed Soviet criminal investigation, revealing missed opportunities, lazy investigators, archaic methods and outdated systems, as well as how this person could come to commit such shocking crimes.
The murders themselves are disturbing, both in physical description and the ease in which the murderer could pick so many victims and get away with it. It makes for a thrilling read in wanting to find out how they eventually caught him (I find it best to not read much at all about the case beforehand).
In summary, The Killer Department is a compact (less than 300 pages), savage, engrossing - and very well written - book about how a repressed society can harvest such a disturbing individual and how he could continue such violent acts for eight years. Highly recommended for readers interested in serial killers, criminal investigations and 1980s Soviet Union society.
September 17, 2022
A captivating page-turning read concerning the lengthy crime spree of Russia's most prolific serial killer - Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo. Chicatilo's early childhood exposures, physical and psychological ailments, and childhood experiences from his homeland area of Ukraine during Stalin's takeover control of farms, and subsequent food supply leading to the starvation of (estimated) six million Ukrainians, 'appears' to have affected Chicatilo's fragile psyche. We follow the crimes, investigation personnel, and suspects along the long pathway to this work's conclusion: "Akubzhanov then pronounced Chikatilo guilty of five molestation charges and fifty-two of the fifty-three counts of murder. In one case... Akubzhanov ruled that there was insufficient evidence to convict Chikatilo... Akubzhanov declared Chikatilo legally sane. 'At every stage of his crimes, from beginning to the end, Chikatilo was in complete control of all his actions'."
And just how many millions like Chikatilo is the Western world creating today with its psychological and physical abuse of children? Only the near future will tell. "Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it."
And just how many millions like Chikatilo is the Western world creating today with its psychological and physical abuse of children? Only the near future will tell. "Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it."
October 22, 2022
I became aware of this book after seeing a very interesting movie based on it, called "Citizen X." The book is not easy to come by these days, so I ordered it through interlibrary loan. The movie is fairly loosely based on the real story, but I'm sure that has to do with the very complex and lengthy story involving hundreds of people: police, lawyers, investigators, psychiatrists, suspects, victims, and families. It had to be simplified and shortened to fit it into a movie of reasonable length. The movie is great and I recommend it.
I also recommend the book, if you like true crime. It's well-written and fascinating, in a gruesome way. Chikatilo, the murderer, was a very strange and damaged person, who was able to get away with what he did for so long because of flaws in the system. He probably would have continued until he died, except for the determination of Victor Burakov and Mikhail Fetisov, who vowed to solve the case no matter how long it took. Burakov even had to take a little time off because of a nervous breakdown caused by the stress of the case.
Great read, which kept me riveted. I don't read a lot of true crime, because if I overdo it I get nightmares, but once in a while I read a good one, if something piques my interest about it, like the movie in this case.
I also recommend the book, if you like true crime. It's well-written and fascinating, in a gruesome way. Chikatilo, the murderer, was a very strange and damaged person, who was able to get away with what he did for so long because of flaws in the system. He probably would have continued until he died, except for the determination of Victor Burakov and Mikhail Fetisov, who vowed to solve the case no matter how long it took. Burakov even had to take a little time off because of a nervous breakdown caused by the stress of the case.
Great read, which kept me riveted. I don't read a lot of true crime, because if I overdo it I get nightmares, but once in a while I read a good one, if something piques my interest about it, like the movie in this case.
August 15, 2020
I have read a lot of true crime books in my time and I have to say this one truly made my stomach turn. You have to take a step back from the pages and understand that what you are reading is actually true and happened, which makes you question how another human being could commit to such atrocities in such a barbaric way and wasn't caught for a long time. The book is written is really well done, because you feel that Robert Cullen has been part of this investigation every step of the way following every step that the militsiya take on trying to find the 'Most Savage Serial Killer'. However, I found it difficult to read what was in Russian which is what stopped me from proper connecting to this book and not reading it as quickly I could. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves true crime.
October 8, 2022
I decided to read it after binging a few true crime documentaries on Netflix. I realized, as an Eastern European immigrant I knew very little about one of the most prolific serial killers not only in Russia but in the world. This book is chilling! It gives a detailed account of the investigation in a very dry and matter of fact way. And that includes detailed and graphic descriptions of victims. So, definitely trigger warning here for some people. It is also full of Russian names and words, which didn't bother me as Russian is my native language, but it could make it harder to read for people unfamiliar with the language. I was sometimes bored with detailed descriptions of the investigation but in all this is an excellent well researched account of the case.
August 15, 2019
The book is very detailed and thorough, but the writing is dry and “matter of fact” and, due to repeated use of russian names, certain sections (esp in the beginning) can be a little bumpy. I did appreciate the inclusion of the killer’s actual written statements and both psychological analyses by the case psychiatrist. I also appreciated the very detailed background information on the killer’s experiences and development from birth.
March 1, 2020
The book is fascinating, in that it graphically depicts the abject poverty of even the most well off Soviet citizens during the time period in which this serial killer operated.
The serial killer was a rather run of the mill psychopath who avoided getting caught due to a lack of modern police methods in the old USSR. However, caught he was, but the string of murders was rather horrifying.
Well worth the read.
The serial killer was a rather run of the mill psychopath who avoided getting caught due to a lack of modern police methods in the old USSR. However, caught he was, but the string of murders was rather horrifying.
Well worth the read.
February 6, 2023
Goed geschreven verslag van de jacht op een seriemoordenaar. De auteur benadrukt wel erg graag hoezeer het Sovjet systeem mee verantwoordelijk was voor de duur van deze speurtocht. En dat klopt wel. Maar hogere instanties die koste wat kost resultaat willen zien, politieagenten die bekentenissen afdwingen, familieleden die niet serieus worden genomen zijn allemaal zaken die ook in het Westen en zeker in Amerika ruimschoots aanwezig zijn.
June 5, 2022
This is an interesting read. Its very disturbing but I couldn't put it down. Its shocking, annoying, and I wanted to punch some people, but its a great read. I admire the main detective Viktor Burakov, his intelligence and his "never give up" dogged determination despite the obstacles he faced. (A must watch the movie as well, "citizen x")
August 25, 2018
This is a fantastic look at the murders committed by Andrei Chikatilo in the USSR. It's a great book from a true crime perspective but also a fascinating look at police work in the old Soviet Union. I highly recommend it.
April 23, 2020
Another excellent book that delves into how communism contributed to another disaster. Unlike Chernobyl, the reign of terror brought upon Soviet Russia by this serial killer had an ending. Excellent story, albeit a bit slow
January 28, 2022
I liked reading it but LOVE LOVE LOVE the movie and if you haven't seen it you absolutely must. Citizen X is my favorite of the serial killer movies. It's sooooo good. The acting was superb and it was so close to the book.
January 17, 2023
Excellent book. Great insight into policing and the legal system in Russia during the 80s. Can be a hard read. Struggled a lot with the nature of the crimes and acts committed to the victims. Well worth the time and effort.
June 25, 2023
Dated, now, perhaps, and off on a few details - there is nothing in the Russian convention of kids calling all adults "uncle" or "aunt" that implies blind trust, for example - but still a striking story.
March 7, 2018
Pretty good despite desperately needing a glossary.
July 20, 2018
True story Citizen X is based on. Very interesting how the investigation was controlled and how people worked in Soviet Union.
July 27, 2020
A definite MUST-HAVE for true crime fans. 5 🌟
June 18, 2022
Cracking book. The false confessions gained were almost as shocking as the murders.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews