Hunting the Devil

Twelve years of unimaginable depravity. Ten days to obtain suspect Andrei Chikatilo’s confession or he goes free. Certain to join the classic accounts of true crime, Hunting the Devil is the story of how a master detective, an expert in the psychology of serial killers, ensnares a cunning, seemingly bland, but terrifying psychopath. Fifty-three frenzied murders of women and children, involving mutilation and sexual cannibalism. Not a single witness. Not a shred of evidence. A terrified populace. An incompetent local investigation. This is the challenge facing Chief Inspector Issa Kostoev, head of Russia’s Department of Crimes of Special Importance, when he is assigned to the case. Five years later, in 1990, after extraordinary efforts, his hunt comes to a taut climax when he locks eyes with his prisoner. Interrogation – the most intricate game of all – is about to begin, played by two, alone for ten days in a bare room, the stakes freedom or death. Richard Lourie has had the exclusive cooperation of Chief Inspector Kostoev in the writing of this book and unrivaled access to most of the other personalities involved in the case. His own deep knowledge of Russia and its people has informed his account, a relentlessly paced story of crime and punishment in a collapsing society. Hunting the Devil is a remarkable book: an absorbing story of the brilliant detective work that finally chained a ravenous, unspeakable evil.