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  • I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

  • By: Jack Olsen
  • Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
  • Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (84 ratings)

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I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

By: Jack Olsen
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
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Publisher's Summary

Prize-winning journalist Jack Olsen, armed with unprecedented access to one of the most infamous serial killers in American history, provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a murderer in the killer's own words....

In February 1990, Oregon State Police arrested John Sosnovke and Laverne Pavlinac for the vicious rape and murder of Taunja Bennet, a troubled 23-year-old barfly who had suffered mild retardation since birth. Pavlinac had come forth and confessed, implicating her boyfriend and producing physical evidence that linked them to the crime. Authorities closed the case.

There was just one problem. They had the wrong people. 

And the real killer wasn't about to let anyone take credit for his kill. Keith Hunter Jesperson was a long haul truck driver and the murderer of eight women, including Taunja Bennet. As the case wound through police precincts and courts - ending in life sentences for both Sosnovke and Pavlinac - Jesperson began a twisted one man campaign to win their release. To the editors of newspapers and on the walls of highway rest stops, Jesperson scribbled out a series of taunting confessions: 

I killed Tanya Bennett.... I beat her to death, raped her and loved it. Yes I'm sick, but I enjoy myself too. People took the blame and I'm free.... Look over your shoulder. I may be closer than you think.

At the end of each confession, Jesperson drew a happy face, earning for himself the grisly sobriquet "The Happy Face Killer".

Based on access to interviews, diaries, court records, and the criminal himself, I: The Creation of a Serial Killer is Jesperson's chilling story. It chronicles his evolution from angry child to sociopathic murderer, from tormentor of animals to torturer of women. It is also the story of the fate that befell him after two innocent citizens were imprisoned four years for one of his killings.

Edgar Award winner Jack Olsen lets the killer to tell his story in his own words, offering unprecedented insight into the twisted thought process of a serial murderer. Olsen takes his listeners along on Jesperson's vicious cross-country killing spree, letting him describe how he played his "death game" with eight innocent victims and how he finally came to grips with the fate he deserved.

I: The Creation of a Serial Killer is one of the most revealing and insightful pieces of crime reporting ever published.

©2018 Jack Olsen (P)2018 Jack Olsen Literary Works

What listeners say about I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

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Fascinating

Incredibly researched and masterfully constructed. As told from the point of view of the killer in his own words, this is a must for anyone who is interested in abnormal psychology and the origins of a deranged mind. I can't recommend this author enough, I'm hooked. Kevin Pierce could read a shopping list and make it sound like the most interesting thing you'd ever heard.

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4 people found this helpful

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wonderful

love the narrator kevin there's no one like him. great detail of Keith's life very inclusive

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Scary tricks on the mind

To get inside the mind of a serial killer is scary, not because of what they do (which is bad enough), but scary because he’s human, like us all.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant

No other word but BRILLIANT!!
How can you go past the combination of this talented author and Kevin Pierce!!
I listened to this incredible story over a couple of days and can highly recommend it to any true crime fan
Now my problem is to find something else equally as good to listen to
HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Dragged out

Interesting story, but felt that is was excessively dragged out by having chapters within chapters.

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Immersive narration

This author and this narrator always deliver a great audiobook experience. In this case, there is a lot of first person perspective and that makes the book tough going at times because the perpetrator is so egotistical, arrogant and deluded. i found it hard to listen to for long periods of time. Unlike this author’s other books, not as much time was given to the victim’s backgrounds and I think that would have been a good counterbalance to the relentless blathering of the killer.

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Excellent

I love this Narrator, story was great, sometimes a little hard for me to remember who was who. Definitely would recommend. Has a little bit of swearing, doesn't bother me though.

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Well written but...

Jack Olsen is a talented writer and his talent for evoking time and place shows through this story.

It is told from the perspective of the killer himself. Unfortunately, the killer is a professional victim where things everyone goes through in life are seen as personal attacks. While the idea is interesting, his voice becomes very much the same and quite boring, focusing extensively, for example, on cars and trucks he owns or drives. Counterpoints would have helped because I couldn’t bear to spend longer in his mind. Couldn’t finish.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Chills

Chills. Chills. Chills
Recommend listening. brutal and horrific. narrator keeps you hanging on. very thorough

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Thoroughly enjoyed it

Well written, interesting story and Kevin Pierce is my favourite narrator anyway. So very happy with this product.

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