Stanford roommates all four years. Robert Hunter and Lucien Folter. Robert is the son of a blue-collar single dad; mom died of cancer when he was in elementary school. He comforted himself during his father's long absences at work with his school books. Graduated from high school at 15 and was accepted by Stanford. Lucien is the more typical college student. Comes from a bit more money, decent grades, reasonable athlete. Both are studying psychology, each with an interest in the criminal mind.
Upon graduation, Robert stays at Stanford enrolling in the PhD program, which he completes at the age of 23. Lucien heads east and enrolls in Columbia's PhD program in psychology where he gets as far as being ABD (all but dissertation) and more or less falls off the radar. While Lucien went to Robert's PhD ceremony, they both lost touch with each other.
Robert's dissertation was on the mind of the serial killer and became required reading for detectives and federal agents alike. The FBI tried to recruit him for their vaunted behavioral analysis unit, but Robert decided on joining the LAPD starting from the bottom as a patrolman eventually becoming one of their best detectives.
In rural eastern Wyoming, the local sheriff and his deputy pull into a truck stop at 6am to get the first slice of the day's fresh baked pies. Only a couple other tables are occupied. At the counter, the sheriff notices a car's headlights in the mirror headed fast for the restaurant. The car clipped a curb and sideswiped a parked car. No one is hurt, but the sheriff and deputy go out and check on the driver. The deputy looks into the parked car and then into the opened trunk where he finds an open cooler and promptly throws up that delicious pie.
The driver of the car, one Liam Shaw, is taken into custody. Given the nature of contents and that the car is registered in another state, the FBI is called in and takes Shaw to their highest security area deep in the basement of the behavioral unit's home in Quantico, VA. The guy sits silent for days, rising and bedding at exactly the same time each day, staring at a wall of his cell. He is questioned but says nothing. On the 5th day, he simply says, "I'll only speak with Robert Hunter."
Hunter is headed for a vacation and not interested in helping the FBI, but stops in his tracks when a photo of Shaw is actually his former Stanford roommate, Lucien.
You see, while Robert was learning how to become a policeman and detective, Lucien was sort of teaching himself how to become a serial killer. As any good researcher would do, he kept copious notes on his thoughts, feelings, and methods knowing that someday, they would become a virtual primer on the mind of the serial killer as told by the killer.
Been pretty active, too. His first kill was as an undergrad at Stanford and progressed to Columbia and then out to the rest of the country. 25 years worth. In the interviews, Lucien knows he holds all the cards because he knows the victims and where they are all buried. And he relishes jerking the chain of the FBI and Hunter. He's good. Had to be to stay out of the FBI's interest for so long. Had it not been for a random accident, he might still be out there killing.
From what I've heard, the source material for the Hannibal Lector character is perhaps the creepiest presentation of a serial killer in current literature. The crimes committed by Lucien are hideous and Lucien is the epitome of a sociopath on steroids. The step by step evolution of Lucien and his crimes takes one into a mind that no sane person can comprehend. Dozens of twists and reveals are breathtaking.
Having said that, it seems like this book should have had a deeper development of both Hunter and Lucien. What's there is good, but I found I was wanting more of how Lucien became this way and less about what he had done. Same for Hunter. In the end, it seemed like I was reading the script of a stage play with 2 main characters and 2 supporting players (FBI agents).
An interesting take on the cop-perp interplay and worthy of a look. If it only had a little bit more.
East Coast Don
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