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The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers

Written by:
Pete Earley
Narrated by:
Alan Sklar

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
170
Narrator
59
Release Date
January 10, 2012
Duration
13 hours 17 minutes
Summary
Fifteen-year-old Tony Ciaglia had everything a teenager could want—good grades, good athletic skills, and good friends—until he suffered a horrific head injury at summer camp. Pronounced clinically dead three times by helicopter paramedics before he reached a hospital, Ciaglia lapsed into a coma. When he emerged, his right side was paralyzed and he had to relearn how to walk, talk, and even how to eat. The areas of his brain that were damaged required him to take countless pills to control his emotions and rages. Abandoned and shunned by his friends, he began writing to serial killers on a whim and discovered that his traumatic brain injury—which made him an outcast to his peers—enabled him to emotionally connect with notorious murderers in a unique way. Soon many of America's most dangerous psychopaths were revealing heinous details to Tony about their crimes—even those they'd never been convicted of. The killers opened up to him, trusted him, and called him a 'best friend.' But there was a price. As Tony found himself being drawn deeper and deeper into their violent worlds of murder, rape, and torture, he was pushed to the brink of despair and, at times, forced to question his own sanity—until he found a way to put his unusual gift to use. Asked by investigators for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for help in solving a murder, Tony began launching his own personal searches for forgotten victims, incredibly with clues often provided to him voluntarily by the killers themselves.

The Serial Killer Whisperer takes listeners into the minds of murderers in a way that has never been done before—straight from a killer's thoughts. It is also an inspiring—albeit sometimes terrifying—tale of an American family whose idyllic life is shattered by a terrible accident and how healing and closure came to a tormented man in the most unlikely way: by connecting with monsters.
Reviews
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Anonymous

Very interesting but definitely not for the squeamish. I grew up in Maryland and am praying i stayed away from that stand.

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Lauri C.

I really enjoyed the story about Tony, not so much the graphic details about the rapes and murders, especially since it was obvious that many were fictional stories the serial killers had made up in their minds. I’m so glad that Tony was able to find his purpose after suffering such a horrific accident and life altering recovery.

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Debra R.

Very uncensored, I tried using this as a "sleep" book. It had the opposite effect, I couldn't sleep I wanted to hear the whole story. The narrator has a great voice that takes on dark and evil tones when reading the killers parts.

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Rachel J.

it's a harsh but good book. narrator is great

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Lily R.

Great book, makes you think about your surroundings the people you trust. Narrator did a great job as well!

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Chris G.

Very good book. The way they opened up and shared details with Tony was shocking to say the least.

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Lauren H.

This was a tough listen due to the detailed descriptions of the rapes and murders in the serial killers’ letters, but it was interesting all the same. I do wish the ending had wrapped up more with Tony, what he is doing now, and his mindset as this juncture. That said, Tony’s story isn’t over, and hopefully he will continue to be able to use the information he has gleaned from his relationships with these serial killers to help the FBI.

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Anonymous

Very disturbing book, but insightful nonetheless. What another human being can do to another is unreal, and no amount of prayers can save these lost souls, but you pray for their victims and families. Narrator did a great job on this read. This book is not for the faint of heart.

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Supermammy73

The book was RAW! At times I had to stop listening due to the disgusting nature of their crimes, how horrible knowing we live among such evil. The ability of the author to relate to such people was so humanistic and a true gift from God to see them as real people in spite of their REAL EVIL MAKE UP, I applaud him greatly and give God the glory for it. Thank you for writing such a book as this, I can’t imagine how tedious it must have been to wade through.

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Donna P.

Well written and the narrator is very good, keeps your interest not one of those you get and want to fall asleep immediately upon hearing their voice. I have always wanted to be a criminal investigator and this book takes you into the minds of this kind of person and who or what you’ve got to face in this line of work.

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Michael Hayes

Very good read. Not for the faint of heart. The look inside the minds of Serial Killers is a cold stark look at true evil. Very fascinating to say the least. I do wish they would have told the outcome of the Alaska investigation though. Narration was very good. 5 stars from me.

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Laura Brown

Wow. This book is riveting, serial killers talking about their deepest darkest secrets and "feelings." I can say this book is revealing of the minds of serial killers and at the persistence of Tony, who has turned a (his) tragedy into triumph. I hope he continues to write to those s/k so that more evidence is able to help solve their unsloved crimes! If you like descriptive stories I highly recommend this title. I also really like the narrator too. 5 stars!

I thought that this would be pretty cut and dried, technical or scholarly; didn't have high hopes. It was well read and interesting. It kept my attention with enough stories without getting too detailed. It came close to too much information when you thought about the families and victims, but the psychology of the penpals was the story. Hope it helps lead to some answers for society. Well read, the narrator seemed to have a good feel for the book.

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Tina Perez

A must read book!! If you like True Crime novels. Than this is must!! The narrator did a very good job!!

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Marvin W.

A really tough listen simply because, as they warn in the into, this book is not for the faint of heart. It was a fascinating look into the minds of serial killers. I don't know that it needed to be as graphic as it was, but that's what you get from these deranged minds. The story of Tony was equally tough, but an amazing testimony of perseverance by both him and his family.

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PokeSmot

Wow, this book was absolutely intense. You can feel like you’re there, the author describes it so well. I had no idea what I was getting into with this, holy cow. I am so glad I read it. Never had heard anything like this before

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Susan W.

This is the first time I have not finished listening to a book. The letters from the killers are just disgusting and the pandering done to get them to talk is sickening. And, every time the narrator did that 'hahaha', I almost turned it off.

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Anonymous

Parts are a little hard to stomach but ultimately it's very interesting. There was a point that I wondered when the "helping the police" was coming. But it did

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Heather A.

Decent book with many interesting facets.

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Christine P.

Too Gruesome for me

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Toni P.

Absolutely outstanding! And the narrator was awesome!

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Sharon H.

Would not recommend to many people. Very brutal language and descriptions of serial killings. It was great to because of the amazing things that the main person in the story did agree a tbi. Only people wth no squuemishness should venture in

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Jermey

GRAPHIC. this was more detail than I thought and caught me off guard but great book if you like true crime. the narrator sounds like the dude from Unsolved Mysteries lol but not too bad. I enjoyed it.

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Amanda R.

I had to stop listening occasionally because things were so graphic. I will say that I found this book fascinating even though the killers were hideous in their admissions!

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Anonymous

I must say this book had my emotions all over the place & I loved it! Works of nonfiction are something special in the world of books and most are just the same old same old, but the way this young man and his family dealt with everything was truly amazing. Hearing what these sick, twisted killers did to their victims will infuriate and fasiant you. This book is on my top 10 list of books about serial killers. The narrator did a fantastic job as well.

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Vera L

This was a great book. I was looking on the internet (as the book was being read to me) so I could see pictures of all the killers that were being mentioned. I was scared after listening to the book but maybe we should always have our guard up.

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ERICA LATOUR

This was one of the best books I have downloaded. I am intrigued by the mind of a serial killer and this took a new approach with pairing the apparent similarities that Anthony had with his SK pen pals as a result of his TBI. Language and graphic descriptions could be very offensive to some, so definitely not something to listen to while kids are around.

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Ariel Burton

Excellent listen! Another fabulous true crime listen!

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Michael Gonzales

It is a very interesting book, with a lot of detail to the crimes committed by the serial killers that Tony was corresponding with.

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Mary Olp

This is a VERY GRAPHIC book. If you have ever been interested in how serial killers think this is great insight. If you are squeamish or don't like to know awful details about murder or rape and so on this may not be the book for you.

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Larry Lonsby

Very descriptive and opens the world of dark and shady lifestyle of the serial killers. excellent yet terrifying journey.

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