Audio only
When a Killer Calls
A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small TownBy John E. Douglas, Mark OlshakerNarrated by Keith Sellon-WrightLength9h 1m
About this audiobook
From John Douglas—the legendary FBI criminal profiler, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the Netflix show Mindhunter—comes a chilling journey inside the mind and crimes of Larry Gene Bell, one of the most dangerous serial killers Douglas confronted, and the desperate effort to identify and catch him.
On May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor’s repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled “Last Will & Testament,” in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend, saying that while they would miss her, she knew they would persevere through their faith. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI, which enlisted profiler John Douglas. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari’s body.
Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming the harsh realization that Smith’s murder was no random act. A serial killer was evolving, and the only way to stop him would be to use the study of criminal behavior to anticipate his next move before he could kill again. Douglas devised a risky and emotionally fraught strategy to use Shari’s lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. Dawn and her parents courageously agreed.
One of the most haunting investigations of Douglas’s storied career, this case details how the eerily accurate profile he created—alongside his carefully crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer’s psychology—combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror. As Shari’s family took incredible personal risks to lure her killer from the shadows, Douglas and the FBI pushed criminal profiling to its limits, culminating in one of his most dramatic and effective confrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (8.2K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, StoryGraph, LibraryThing
GenreTrue Crime, Biography and Memoir, Politics and Government
Length9 hrs 1 min
Narrated byKeith Sellon-Wright
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateFeb 1, 2022
LanguageEnglish
Series
More from John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
GanglandJared Savage9h 21m4.4 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
Riding with EvilKen Croke, Dave Wedge9h 42m4.3 (3.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Two FBIsNicole Parker10h 8m4.4 (499)$29 · $0.00
I Catch KillersGary Jubelin15h 32m4.3 (6.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Redemption Of Bobby LoveBobby Love, Cheryl Love9h 13m4.4 (956)$29 · $0.00
The Life We ChoseMatt Birkbeck8h 57m4.4 (1K)$29 · $0.00
The Truth About AaronJonathan Hernandez5h 15m4.3 (2.5K)$24 · $0.00
No Ordinary BirdArtis Henderson6h 23m4.4 (597)$24 · $0.00
I'll Be Gone in the DarkMichelle McNamara10h 7m4.3 (302.5K)$29 · $0.00
Beyond the Body FarmBill Bass, Jon Jefferson6h 17m4.3 (10.2K)$24 · $0.00
The Killer Across the TableJohn E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker11h 7m4.3 (37.5K)$8 · $0.00
Inside the CartelMartin Suarez, Ian Frisch10h 50m4.4 (583)$29 · $0.00
White Hot HateDick Lehr12h 27m4.3 (1.4K)$29 · $0.00
Scarface and the UntouchableMax Allan Collins, A. Brad Schwartz18h 35m4.3 (2.4K)$40 · $0.00
Hack AttackNick Davies18h 7m4.3 (2.4K)$23 · $0.00
Russians Among UsGordon Corera12h 48m4.3 (4.1K)$33 · $0.00
Broken FaithMitch Weiss, Holbrook Mohr12h 19m4.2 (5K)$27 · $0.00
Member of the FamilyDianne Lake, Deborah Herman12h 30m4.2 (11.8K)$33 · $0.00
FallJohn Preston11h 24m4.2 (6.3K)$29 · $0.00
Hell Put to ShameEarl Swift12h 23m4.3 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (385)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m4.6 (3.5K)$29 · $0.00
I Am The StormJanice Dean9h4.6 (1.5K)$8 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
Just as I AmCicely Tyson16h 8m4.6 (99K)$33 · $0.00
Unbroken Bonds of BattleJohnny Joey Jones8h 31m4.6 (2.6K)$8 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman, Malcolm Brabant7h 54m4.6 (16.7K)$26 · $0.00
My Bondage and My Freedom (Annotated)Frederick Douglass15h 30m4.6 (2.4K)$2 · $0.00
Lily's PromiseLily Ebert, Dov Forman8h 54m4.6 (16.1K)$29 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m4.6 (4.9K)$26 · $0.00
Balcony Over Jerusalem: A Middle East Memoir - Israel, Palestine and BeyondJohn Lyons12h 37m4.6 (1.4K)$33 · $0.00
RiggedMollie Hemingway12h 48m4.6 (4.2K)$23 · $0.00
SledgehammerDavid Friedman8h 21m4.7 (589)$26 · $0.00
Citizenship in a Republic (Annotated)Theodore Roosevelt2h 44m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
No EscapeNury Turkel9h 30m4.6 (809)$28 · $0.00
Always FaithfulThomas Schueman, Zainullah Zaki12h 12m4.6 (977)$29 · $0.00
UnthinkableJamie Raskin15h 8m4.5 (9.3K)$8 · $0.00
My Fourth Time, We DrownedSally Hayden13h 59m4.6 (2.9K)$23 · $0.00
A Revolution of Common SenseScott Jennings9h 29m4.6 (528)$29 · $0.00
Statement From the Dock at the Rivonia TrialNelson Mandela2h 18m4.6 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
Lessons from the EdgeMarie Yovanovitch17h 11m4.5 (5.9K)$40 · $0.00
To Rescue the American SpiritBret Baier10h 12m4.5 (2.7K)$8 · $0.00
StonewalledSharyl Attkisson15h 19m4.5 (4.3K)$33 · $0.00
The World According to Orwell: 1984 & Animal FarmGeorge Orwell15h 42m4.6 (1.1K)$1 · $0.00
Basic EconomicsThomas Sowell18h 32m4.5 (29.3K)$28 · $0.00
To Rescue the RepublicBret Baier, Catherine Whitney11h 42m4.5 (8.6K)$29 · $0.00
Modern WarriorsPete Hegseth7h 10m4.5 (4.7K)$24 · $0.00
Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey (Annotated)Marcus Mosiah Garvey4h 42m4.5 (1.7K)$1.99 · $0.00
A Plague Upon Our HouseScott W. Atlas MD10h 37m4.5 (3.4K)$20 · $0.00
One Bright MoonAndrew Kwong12h 21m4.5 (813)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
While Idaho SleptJ. Reuben Appelman6h 34m3.8 (6.6K)$24 · $0.00
When the Night Comes FallingHoward Blum5h 43m3.8 (9.3K)$5 · $0.00
A Faint Cold FearKarin Slaughter6h 29m4.1 (84K)$24 · $0.00
The Risk of DarknessSusan Hill11h 20m4.0 (9.2K)$30
VanishedElizabeth Heiter10h 59m4.0 (1.7K)$23
The Various Haunts of MenSusan Hill14h 44m3.9 (21.3K)$30 · $0.00
Rattlesnake CrossingJ. A. Jance12h 30m4.3 (8.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Girl from Devil's LakeJ. A. Jance9h 53m4.2 (7.1K)$29 · $0.00
ForgottenMariah Stewart9h 59m4.2 (1.7K)$20
Shoot Don't ShootJ. A. Jance9h 51m4.1 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
A Cold White SunVicki Delany8h 59m4.0 (1.2K)$20
The TrapCatherine Ryan Howard9h 10m3.8 (27.8K)$20
RequiemGeir Tangen11h 6m3.6 (1.2K)$23 · $0.00
The Third to DieAllison Brennan11h 52m4.2 (18.4K)$29 · $0.00
With No One As WitnessElizabeth George10h 16m4.1 (20.7K)$29 · $0.00
A Faint Cold FearKarin Slaughter13h 18m4.1 (123.5K)$33 · $0.00
One Step BehindHenning Mankell16h4.2 (26.4K)$28
I'll Be Gone in the DarkMichelle McNamara10h 7m4.3 (302.5K)$29 · $0.00
Desperation PointMalcolm Richards8h 1m4.5 (677) Only with Ultra
Cold TruthMariah Stewart8h 48m4.1 (4.1K)$20