The Killing Kind

by M. William Phelps Narrated by J. Charles

Overview

She was seventeen years old, a beautiful girl with a Hollywood smile and luminous brown eyes. Sprawled in a culvert just off the gravel road like an abandoned doll, she wore only toe socks, a sweatshirt, and a necklace. She was not the killer's first victim. Nor would she be the last.

The lush, green hills that mark the border of North and South Carolina are home to a close-knit community. When the savaged remains of high-spirited Heather Catterton and sweet-natured Randi Saldana were found and a local man was linked to their murders, residents were forced to face an evil in their midst. The killer was one of their own....

Danny Hembree was far from being an upright, law-abiding citizen. But he was part of the fabric of the local scene, devoted to his mother and sister. No one saw him as a remorseless killer who preyed on those who trusted him. When questioned by police, Hembree didn't just play cat-and-mouse and then confess. He bragged. Taunted. Laughed about his merciless deeds.

In The Killing Kind acclaimed, award-winning investigative crime journalist M. William Phelps delves into the background of Hembree's victims, bringing listeners into their lives in intimate detail. With exclusive information from detectives and prosecutors, Phelps reconstructs the chilling clues that led to Hembree's arrest, and the media sensation surrounding his trial, mistrial, and ultimate conviction.

As the victims' loved ones attempt to heal, Hembree continues to widen the scope of his crimes from behind bars. M. William Phelps draws on interviews and correspondence with the serial killer himself, bringing listeners into the minds of murderer-and into the heart of a real-life story of bloodshed, tears, and the long road to justice.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

05/12/2014
In this workmanlike true crime book, Phelps (I'll Be Watching You) focuses on unrepentant killer Danny Hembree, who taunts the families of his victims from his prison cell. The discovery of 17-year-old Heather Catterton's semi-naked body, discarded by her killer, foreshadows what is to come. In short order, 30-year-old Randi Saldana's half-burned corpse signals to York County (S.C.) Sheriff's Office investigators that they are looking for a serial killer. For all their dissimilarities, the lives of the two victims intersected in a world of drugs and exploitation, a world where Hembree preyed on vulnerable women. The narcissistic killer seizes the chance to take center stage with lurid confessions of a decades-long career of violent robbery, assault, rape, and murder, convinced that cunning and lies will save him from death row in the trial that follows. Fans of the author's Discovery TV series, Dark Minds, will be rewarded. (July)

From the Publisher

"One of America’s finest true-crime writers."
—Vincent Bugliosi

"Phelps is a true-crime veteran."
—New York Post

"Fans of the author's Discovery TV series, Dark Minds, will be rewarded."
—Publishers Weekly

"Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers."
–Allison Brennan

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172523403
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	06/24/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

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