Predator [Paperback]

Timothy Krajcir was an elusive serial killer who got away with most of his crimes for decades. He tended to pick-out women at random - especially single women who lived alone. His crimes were horrific and the family members who found their loved-one strangled to death or shot were often haunted by the sight for years on end.

This book by Steven Walker highlights Krajcer's crimes - sometimes in (too) vivid detail. He also tracks the cases through the court system in several stares (mostly MO and IL) and shows how DNA tests eventually connected Krajcer to at least 9 murders.

The book's writing style is just ''Ok''. The author tends to be wordy and zig-zags back and forth between the various victims. It was hard to keep all the victims' and family members straight and there were some loose ends. There are some good photos, but only of about half the victims. If you are an avid true-crime fan I recommend this book, but it's not the best I've ever read.

In the late 70s and early 80s a serial killer named Timothy Krajcir raped and/or murdered 9 women in Southern Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Cape Girardeau, MO. Krajcir spent the ensuing years either at large or in prison for unrelated crimes until in 2007 DNA testing linked him with the 1982 murder of Deborah Sheppard in Carbondale, IL. Steven Walker's true crime book, PREDATOR, is the story of Krajcir and his victims. There are numerous things wrong with this book, but I'll begin with the simpler task of reviewing the positives:

1. Walker has done a reasonably good, though not particularly in depth, job of presenting background info. on the victims, providing more than thumbnail versions on each.

2. The mandatorily labeled "16 pages of shocking photos" contain 3 which could be considered as such, but also contains excellent photos of most of the victims.

And that's it.

The negatives:

1. There is only one photo of Krajcir, and that a grainy one taken at age 53 after his arrest. And of the remaining pictures, 13 are of buildings, cars, and a memorial floral display. Of particular note are pictures of a front door with the keys in the lock and of a phone with its cord cut. While I realize that shock is a personal emotion, these pictures left me less than shocked and I actually found the flowers quite lovely.

2. The book's title is PREDATOR, which is also the name of a very good book by the late dean of true crime, Jack Olsen. Out of respect for Olsen, this should not have happened.

3. The book consists almost solely of interviews with the victims' families and law

enforcement officials, along with the extensive use of police reports. There are about 3 sentences of info. on Krajcir's life as a child, meaning, of course, that the reader has no insight into how he, a seemingly intelligent man, developed into the monster he became. This is of course the most interesting part of this genre of book, and the complete lack of research in this area makes the book unnecessary.

4. The writing is substandard, semi-professional at best, high schoolish at worst.

The book has an unfocused, fuzzy feel to it, due in part, I believe to the fact that if Walker had left out most of the fluff, he wouldn't have had a book; and due as well to repetition which often seems inadvertent as if Walker were kind of floundering around. For example, on page 42, "Floyd later died of complications...and he was never able to have the satisfaction of finding out who was responsible for killing the people he loved most in his life," On page 43, "Floyd went to his grave without ever having the satisfaction of discovering the identity of the person who murdered his wife and daughter."

Or within 4 sentences, "Her fully clothed body was lying face up on the floor in the women's restroom..." and, "He saw the body of a fully clothed white female lying face up on the floor at the north side of the restroom.'

5. Padding abounds. Walker, using the Cape Girardeau police files writes about a Memphis, TN, man who was considered potentially to be the killer. The fact that he wasn't did not prevent Walker from spending 5 pages on his MO and detailing his offenses.

And while Krajcir was suspected of the killing of a woman named Susan Schumake, another man was arrested, tried, and convicted. This doesn't prevent Walker from spending 2 pages on the matter and provides the added bonus of his reporting that, "Frank Schumake...died years earlier and never had the satisfaction of seeing justice for his daughter's murder."

6. Within the first 6 pages we learn why Missouri is called the "Show Me State", and are provided with a list of notable Missourians - Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington among them - who "have led the way in their specific field of expertise without waiting for somebody else to come along and show them. That is why it is fitting that a resident of this state has many reasons to feel proud. It is no wonder they want others to prove themselves and "show me" what you're made of." As a resident of Missouri, I was unaware that this was a potential source of pride, and I'm indebted to Walker, though I'll admit my pride was somewhat diminished when I realized that Davis was in fact from Illinois, born in Alton and raised in E. St. Louis, which is at least close enough to Missouri for some of that spunky independence to have bled over. Ellington, however, was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and other than the fact that he must have played here, I can find no Missouri connection and feel that his rugged individualism must have sprung from some alternate source.

7. Those who may be interested, along with those who aren't, will learn that Carbondale, IL, boasts "several strip mall centers".

8. And in an epilogue, we are advised that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who has nothing at all to do with the story, was impeached in Jan. 2009.

The goofiness:

1. "They told Brown and Gerecke that they had done everything that could be done and even more," which seems like an impossibility.

2. Brenda Parsh's teeth "sparkled in ivory whiteness."

3. "The inflated balloon of hope for obtaining a confession from Krajcir was suddenly punctured."

4. My personal favorite, "In the meantime, the crime wave in Cape Girardeau continued to spill over its river walls. In 1982 the tide of violence swelled to its greatest height and spilled over the city, drowning its population in terror and fear in a way that even the mighty Mississippi couldn't compete with."

5. And finally, while Walker provides initials for everything - including "licensed practical nurse (LPN)" - never does he attempt to give provide the reader with the correct pronunciation of the killer's, Krajcir's difficult last name, which I believe is pronounced "KRY'-sher".

In PREDATOR, Walker has produced an inadequately researched and poorly and irritatingly written book which provides little of interest. Regular readers of true crime have unfortunately read too many like this one, and there is no reason in the world to spend your time and money on another one.

What made Steven Walker's "Predator" so enthralling was the obvious amount of time he devoted to researching his subject. It's easy to say that crimes like the ones described in "Predator" are evil, but when a skilled author like Walker describes the criminal's past and in fact quotes him and puts him context you see what evil looks like and sounds like. I thought Walker was especially sensitive to the hard and seemingly impossible police and detective work that tied all the clues together and I was particularly impressed with the sympathetic treatment of the victims and their families. "Predator" is extremely well written,reads like a novel and I would like to see Mr. Walker try his hand at fiction again.