The author profiles serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson, the "Happy Face Killer" from Oregon who strangled eight women in the 1990s, detailing his evolution from angry child to psychotic murderer.

"For more than two years, a rapist prowled the night streets of the homey, All-American city of Spokane, Washington, terrorizing women, sparking a run on gun stores, and finally causing one newspaper to offer a reward--the calls taken by the distinguished managing editor himself, Gordon Coe. In March 1981, luck and inspired police work at last produced an arrest, and Spokane shuddered. The suspect was clean cut and conservative...and Gordon Coe's...