American Predator the Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century pages 1-60

     The book I am reading is called "American Predator the Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st" by Maureen Callahan. The book starts in Anchorage where the main character Thomas Payne an FBI agent receives a call from a friend at the Anchorage police station regarding the disappearance of an 18-year old teen named Samantha Koenig. Unable to help much due to lack of information Payne leaves a message at the department only to receive a call later from the lead detective on the case Monique Doll. Although Bell rejects Paynes offer to get the FBI involved she shows him the video in which it looks like a man has a gun pointed at Samantha the weird thing is he stood outside for around 17 minutes by a main road leading the police to rule out that she was the victim of the crime. Finally due to a lack of evidence and persistence from the father of Samantha the FBI was allowed to aid. Payne soon realizes the lack of evidence they truly have and since the police handled the crime scene so poorly not even marking the area off after the accident potentially getting rid of the evidence. Lack of evidence leads them to believe the whole thing was staged until about 3 weeks after Samanthas disappearance her boyfriend receives a text with a location the police immediately go check out the area which shows pictures of Samatha duck taped alongside a ransom note for thirty thousand dollars. The only hope now was to track Samantha's card and hope the man would use it making the FBI able to track him. Once the money was deposited the card first gets used in Anchorage so police keep an eye out around the ATMs only to find out the next ping would come from Arizona. Payne contacts local Rangers in the area who take over and end up successfully predicting the route the man would take. The search only begins after they apprehend the man as neither he nor his family are choosing to comply with the police and Samantha is nowhere to be found. 

    During this part of the book many things happen with the case it seems like whenever new information comes in the answer seems closer and then just vanishes. Payne remains determined and confident in the case which proves to be beneficial as he successfully finds the man, although the case has only begun. I find it amazing that even with the lack of evidence Payne is still able to find the man. I am also amazed at the dedication of Payne even after a month every day he focuses on the case as if it had just happened yesterday. So far overall I am enjoying the suspense of the book.