Publishers Weekly
★ 05/06/2024
Ohio police detective Mager’s chilling true crime debut recounts her 2016 interrogation of serial killer Shawn Grate. Arrested after a woman escaped from his home in Ashland, Ohio, Grate was initially booked for rape and kidnapping. But as the hours ticked by and Mager began to question Grate, she realized she might have stumbled on the most consequential case of her career. Over the course of a week, Mager convinced Grate to open up to her, offering him cigarettes and coffee as he confessed to kidnapping and torturing one woman, then two, then five. As their conversations progressed, Grate shared details of his difficult childhood and his lifelong interest in serial killers, and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to confess to Mager. The interviews ended abruptly after a jailhouse informant came forward to warn Mager that Grate was planning to kill her, but she’d gotten enough to convict him; he was sentenced to death in June 2018. Drawing on her interviews with Grate, his escaped victim, and his half-sister, Mager delivers an unflinching study of a killer. This hums with the intensity of a real-life Silence of the Lambs. (July)
From the Publisher
"Like a master chess player, Detective Kim Mager used a combination of keen psychological insight, gut instinct, and real courage to bring a ruthless serial killer to justice. A Hunger to Kill is the story of her ferocious determination to prevent more innocent victims from falling prey to a monster." —John Douglas, Former Chief of the FBI’s National Center of the Analysis of Violent Crime and New York Times bestselling author of Mindhunter
"Just wow! Mager’s retelling of her quest for justice in a little-known serial murder case puts true crime readers just where they want to be – deep inside a story that’s wholly her own to tell. Propulsive and insightful." —Gregg Olsen, New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell
"The book is compelling ... it takes readers inside the difficult, delicate, disorienting act of earning a killer’s trust so that his victims can have justice. In an era of facile amateur recaps, this has real value. And while there are few facets of law enforcement that haven’t been dramatized .... [Magers] manages to demonstrate the real emotional costs of competent, painstaking police work." —The New York Times Book Review
"An unforgettable portrait of a highly-skilled, heroic woman in law enforcement and the astute investigative techniques she employed to help bring justice to victims of some truly horrific crimes. A Hunger to Kill sheds light on the painstaking, brutal work of investigating serial murder and sexual violence, and Mager and Pulitzer write with unflinching detail...a harrowing, important read." —Carolyn Murnick, author of The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex, and Murder
“This book has all the hallmarks of a prime-time police procedural and Mager is a real-life Olivia Benson... Moving and methodical, this book belongs in the true crime canon." —Booklist, starred
"Mager delivers an unflinching study of a killer. This hums with the intensity of a real-life Silence of the Lambs." —Publishers Weekly, starred
“A Hunger To Kill is by Detective Kim Mager (with Lisa Pulitzer) and tells of her confrontation with a serial killer and how she cajoled him into confessing to his crimes. Think The Silence of the Lambs, but real.” —Parade.com, "Best New Books"