Not a big fan of this book. For one, he killed one person, that doesn't make him a serial killer. And for 2, it doesn't tell us what happens to him in the end, with Danny, his mother, or his wife and daughter.

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This book gave me second thoughts about selling items in the classified or online (or, more specifically, letting anyone come into my house to take a look at them). This is not your typical "he had a troubled childhood and became a bad guy" book. Richard Starrett grew up in a good family with strong values. Did head injuries fundamentally change his personality? That is for the reader to decide, but considering where Mr. Starrett began, and the person he ended up being, it is worth considering. I found this to be well-written and a good read. This is not a "tabloidesque" retelling of the story. It is fairly well-balanced and really makes the reader think.

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Who would ever connect this handsome, charming, straight-arrow son of a perfect all-American family with the gruesome crimes of a serical killer? Richard Daniel Starrett was the dangerous visitor for too many unlucky young women in Georgia and South Carolina in the late 1980's. Answering "for sale" ads in the classifieds, he was a buyer hunting for victims, not bargains, and he paid in grim coin: rape, kidnapping, murder.
Because of his articulate intelligence and prestigious job, no one suspected this "golden boy" of such heinous acts...until, after a ntaionwide manhunt, the police finally caught Danny Starrett. This gripping, intimately detailed account by Pulitzer Prize-winning authors probes every tortured thought and twisted urge of a "boy-next-door murderer" - as well as the dynamics of the model family that shaped him. The result is both a stunning portrait of a diseased mind and the moving story of a loving family's emotional nightmare and painful disintegration.

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Very interesting book and great writing, however the Starrett family were not on the inside what they portrayed on the outside .... mother demanded perfection .... father was cold and nonverbal because of his own childhood with a very strict controlling father .... mother also had a controlling father who whipped her til she bled .... mother ruled the family and lived in denial for years that her Danny could not commit those heinous crimes that he was committed to 5 life sentences in NC and 5 life sentences in GA.

To me, the strangest part of the book was Danny's socalled relationship with 15 yr. old Jeannie McCrea that he abducted and she supposedly went along with it .... I would like to know the real story of how/why she was shot and that didn't come out in the book except for what Danny said, which really didn't make sense to me, but then again, nothing Danny did made sense.

One of the best true crime books I've read.

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Different from any true crime books I have read. The accused has his own "take" on why these crimes occurred. Interesting reading.

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How can an ordinary man hide a mental illness from his family and commit these crimes?Was he really mentally ill or a great actor?

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The one word I would use to describe this book is creepy. The book is about Richard Daniel Starrett, a convicted kidnapper, rapist and murderer. Prior to his arrest he seemed like an ordinary, good looking man that was dearly loved by his family. After his arrest you slowly discover that he is just nuts. A lot of the book centers on how his family handled his arrest and conviction and how it affected their lives. Much of the book is in his own words written in his journal while in prison. You certainly feel no sympathy for him, but you do for his Mom. It is hard to imagine how you would react if someone you loved did something so sinister.

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