A run-of-the-mill “True Crime” book on more than 400 pages.

In his foreword, Keyes insists that “what follows is true,” but that is only partly correct, just as the described crimes are certainly not “the most barbaric sex crimes of the century,” as the back cover boasts. Indeed, what we have here is exploitation of the worst – and most engrossing – kind.

Written as a novel, the narrator knows every intimate detail of his characters and every action they perform: the written equivalent of a docu-soap. In this way, it is a fairly exciting read, but it leaves a very bad aftertaste.