Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers
    The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers
    The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers
    Audiobook13 hours

    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

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJan 10, 2012
    ISBN9781452674742
    Author

    Pete Earley

    Pete Earley is a former Washington Post reporter, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books. He lives in northern Virginia.   

    More audiobooks from Pete Earley

    Related to The Serial Killer Whisperer

    Related audiobooks

    Serial Killers For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      'Most Prolific Serial Killer' In America Confesses To Murdering 5 More Women In Ohio

      Jun 7, 2019

      The new charges filed by prosecutors in Ohio are the latest decades-ago murders carried out by Samuel Little, who authorities say killed women in 19 states over nearly half a century.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Monster Serial Killer

      Dec 27, 2020

      When authorities raided the home of this serial killer, they found a chilling map marked with ominous ‘X’ symbols. The mass murderer, who was at large in the US in the ’70s and ’80s, committed his atrocious crimes in the wild woods of Anchorage, Al

      1 min read

    • Article

      Name That KILLER

      May 7, 2020

      When sex workers in Dallas, Texas, started showing up dead with their eyeballs missing, terror spread through the city. Many people are fascinated by eyes, but none as much as the Eyeball Killer. Charles Frederick Albright was born in Texas in 1933.

      5 min read

    • Article

      ‘Go Ahead, Kill Her’

      Aug 6, 2020

      ‘Go Ahead, Kill Her’
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ten Groundbreaking True Crime Books

      Mar 10, 2022

      Crime fiction may desire order out of chaos, but true crime grapples with the chaos while hoping for catharsis in the meantime. These 10 books helped me make sense of the world's darkest corners. The post Ten Groundbreaking True Crime Books appeared

      4 min read

    • Article

      Mom Gets Life In Prison And Her Boyfriend Gets Death In Torture, Murder Of Boy

      Jun 7, 2018

      LOS ANGELES - Jennifer Garcia can't keep her mind from drifting to little Gabriel. Late at night and in the silence of her early-morning drives, the first-grade teacher thinks of her former student. She assigns each child in her classroom a number -

      4 min read

    • Article

      3-Year-Old In Idaho Dies After She Was Stabbed At Her Birthday Party

      Jul 3, 2018

      The girl was one of six children and three adults stabbed in Boise over the weekend. Timmy Kinner was taken into custody after the attack and was charged with first-degree murder, among other things.

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Disappeared

      May 1, 2020

      The Disappeared
      15 min read

    • Article

      Criminal Profiling, Part 1

      Dec 22, 2020

      Criminal Profiling, Part 1
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Bill Morris

      Dec 19, 2021

      My purest reading pleasure of the year was my first stab at the work of Percival Everett, the gifted, prolific, genre-bending author of some 30 works of fiction. The post A Year in Reading: Bill Morris appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Dec 15, 2022

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Feb 22, 2024

      Great Read
      4 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Feb 22, 2024

      Most of us recall stories of the suffragettes from school – the horrors endured, the courage summoned in the battle for women to win the vote. We take that right for granted now, but like author Melanie Joosten I was captivated by these fearless warr

      7 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Oct 21, 2019

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Off The Shelf

      Jan 25, 2024

      Greed is a fascinating topic and one that Fiona Lowe explores with great insight in this tale of financial corruption in a small community. On the surface, Izzy Harrington is on the brink of an ideal future, perfectly packaged for a perfect life as t

      3 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Mar 21, 2024

      Great Read
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letting The Dark In

      Jun 6, 2021

      Letting The Dark In
      5 min read

    • Article

      Changing Places

      Oct 8, 2020

      Changing Places
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Serial Killer Whisperer

    4.5/5

    39 ratings11 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Reason for Reading: Various reasons really. First of all I have an interest in serial killers. Secondly, I was intrigued by Tony Ciaglia's brain injury and what led him to write to serial killers and finally I enjoy books that contains letters.This book is not for the squeamish. It contains brutal letters from serial killers describing their crimes in graphic detail. Without having read the book, one will first wonder what purpose this serves. Is it gratuitous and voyeuristic or does it serve some higher purpose? It is completely possible to read the book and skip the letters that describe murders, not all the letters do. What the letters do though, all of them, is let one inside the mind of a serial killer in a way that the public has never seen before. When serial killers posture for interviews or psychologists they are performing for an audience and act and behave in certain ways that these narcissistic people need to do so. But with Tony Ciaglia, he was/is able to get to the real person inside these monsters, most of them are still monsters on the inside, but Tony got their defenses down, treated them non-judgementally as people and they responded in kind, treating Tony as a "best friend".The first part of the book deals with Tony's teenage accident which caused Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from which he was never expected to recover. Recover he did though and we are taken through the journey of his recovery and the effect this had on his family and the after effects that defined the "new" Tony. A more child-like person, but with sudden violent rages. With much psychological work and the right medications, Tony is leading a relatively normal life today. I found this part of the book fascinating. Something in the "new" Tony starts his obsession with writing to serial killers, befriending them and getting them to talk openly about things that had never come out to officials before. After Tony's accident he had a near death experience where he met God and became a very religious Catholic. His family was Catholic but not exactly practicing. He believed that God had sent him back for a purpose and this was his purpose, to help find information on cold cases and bring closure for families by using his gift with these men. The end of the book contains a personal message from Tony where he speaks of his calling.A riveting book to read. The graphic letters are hard to read, but they and the other more mundane or waxing philosophical letters from the serial killers are quite insightful into the harrowing sickness of their minds. I enjoyed reading the book, was mostly taken with Tony himself. He has a child-like naivete about him, yet he didn't lose any of his intelligence in the accident, even though it is harder for him to express himself intellectually. A very interesting book on two accounts. For the insight into the psychological make-up of the mind of a serial killer and the psychological insight into the mind of a TBI victim and survivor. Recommended for those interested in psychology and those with the stomach to read the graphic details.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I liked this story. There are very graphic details the killers describe in great detail in their letters so be warned.
      I just hope there is a follow-up to this book, because much was left unsaid. I wanna know how some things turned out! HELLO!
    • 2/5
      This is a great book. Any true crime fan will be glad they read it.

    • 4/5
      Serial killers, and their books, have always fascinated me. This book, in particular, I found to be unique in concept. A young boy suffers a traumatic brain injury to his prefrontal cortex, essentially messing up his ability to control his emotions. He reaches out to serial killers who are in jail to determine if he is just like them or if he can learn to control his emotions again. What results is a book of correspondence between this young man (now in his 30's) and these killers. This book is not for the weak stomach or light heart. It is detailed and disgusting at times. The killers he corresponds with clearly have no regret for what they have done and are often proud of the horrible things they have done to other people. The portion of the book that talks about the boy's life and family is a little dull, but it gave a nice break to the vivid descriptions of death and defilement.
    • 2/5
      Gave it fifty pages but the combination of the "put thoughts in someone's mind" style of nonfiction writing and the contextless lurid excerpts from murderers' letters was too much for me.
    • 5/5
      This book is so good. If you’re fascinated by the psychology of serial killers, like I am for some reason, this is right up your alley. It’s actually an extraordinary story of a special young man and I’m going to go try to learn more about him once I post this!
    • 4/5
      I admit it. I've become a weak wimp in my old age. I was fascinated with this story of a boy who gets a traumatic brain injury and ends up corresponding with serial killers. I only got about halfway through though because I couldn't stomach the actual letters. Killers talked about rape, torture, mutilation and in one case cutting up bodies and feeding them to unsuspecting customers at a roadside barbeque stand. They were too graphic and gory for me but I wish they hadn't been. I think this is a terrific story and I wish I could read more.
    • 3/5
      The Serial Killer Whisperer: How One Man's Tragedy Helped Unlock the Deadliest Secrets of the World's Most Terrifying Killers by Pete Earley

      ★★★

      At age 15 Tony Ciaglia would suffer a horrific brain injury that would forever change his life. The once vibrant, popular high-schooler would become a reclusive, suicidal, obsessive, angry teenager prone to outbursts and forgetfulness. In his urge to find a hobby and keep himself busy he started writing serial killers (NOT at 15 I should point out but as an adult), just to see how they ticked (with his parents approval and strict supervision – this is still the rule now that he is 35 and still being cared for by his parents). It would change his life and many around him. He started questioning his own mental issues and if he somehow correlated with these brutal killers and would use the killers information in hopes of uncovering cold cases.

      This is not a book for the squeamish. There are unedited letters throughout this book that go into quite the detail and are VERY graphic – including murder, rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, etc. I am not even overly squeamish but chose to read this book only in the day, not right before bed. The pregnancy dreams would have been terrifying I’m sure. Most of the murderers in this book are quite famous for their heinous crimes. You can look up any of these killers and easily get information on their deeds – this book just goes into further detail. If you like true crime books with all the gory details, you may like this book. As mentioned this book, not all letters written by the killers are 100% true. They are known for their exaggerations and it’s obvious they enjoy keeping it up in these letters, This book is a mix of biography on killers, biography on one suffering TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), and the letters between them.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic book!
      I never thought I would be so touched listening to a serial killer book.
      It's very unique!!
      I'm good Friends with Tony and his family.

      They are just the best people.
      God Bless.

      I highly recommend this book and highly recommend their podcast Murder phone.
      ❤️
      Bonnie
    • 5/5
      While my brother didn’t have a TBI, he did have major surgery to remove cancerous tumors. The first was almost the size of a grapefruit. The surgery took around 16!hours, and it was touch and go in the beginning. Oddly enough he relived things that happened over 20 years ago. He would ask his wife if he had finished the carpentry job he had been doing. Little by little, he became aware of the present and he relearned all that was lost from the tumor and the surgery. It’s a long and arduous road to recovery and people have no clue what to expect unless they’ve been through it before. It’s too bad they didn’t have a case worker to explain the situation. My brother’s surgery was in 2002 or there about (our family had several major life changing events those two years), sorry I can’t be more exact. Anyway, the author really captured Tony’s struggle. One last comment: I would have sued the crap out of the school system for allowing teachers to mock a special needs child and for not preparing the kids about his condition and ways to help Tony be accepted.
    • 4/5
      Great book but I thought the ending could have been a little more wrapped up of everything.