Joel Rifkin was born in New York in 1959. He was adopted at three weeks old. Despite being adopted into an upper middle-class family, Rifkin had a difficult time as a child. He had learning disabilities, making school hard and encouraging bullying from classmates. His father developed prostate cancer, and eventually took his life, adding to the stress felt by Rifkin. Rifkin began murdering women in 1989 and is believed to have murdered at least sixteen women. Rifkin was caught in a ridiculous way, which I will not put here in case anyone reading this is unfamiliar with the case and does not want it spoiled. I would like to note that some of his victims remains have never been found. His first victim, Heidi Balch, was not identified until 2013.

This book is on The Last Podcast On The Left reading list. I listened to this episode a while back, and if a corresponding book is mentioned, I like to read it for more details. This book did contain plenty of details about Rifkin as a person and his crimes. I also appreciated the information provided about the victims, as it is important to remember victims were human beings, not just afterthoughts in a morbid story. Overall, it was a decent true crime read.