In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agent's Relentless Pursuit of the Nation's Worst Predators - Softcover

Rinek, Jeffrey L.; Strong, Marilee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1944648984 ISBN 13: 9781944648985

Publisher: BenBella Books, 2018

Synopsis

"The voice that narrates In the Name of the Children: An F.B.I. Agent’s Relentless Pursuit of the Nation’s Worst Predators, which Rinek wrote with the journalist Marilee Strong, sounds warm and humane, qualities missing from much crime writing. Their book is a professional job, filled with illuminating details about the day-to-day operations of the bureau."

—New York Times Book Review 

 

FBI Special Agent Jeff Rinek had a gift for getting child predators to confess. All he had to do was share a piece of his soul . . .

In the Name of the Children gives an unflinching look at what it's like to fight a never-ending battle against an enemy far more insidious than terrorists: the predators, lurking amongst us, who seek to harm our children.

During his 30-year career with the FBI, Jeff Rinek worked hundreds of investigations involving crimes against children: from stranger abduction to serial homicide to ritualized sexual abuse. Those who do this kind of work are required to plumb the depths of human depravity, to see things no one should ever have to see—and once seen can never forget. There is no more important—or more brutal—job in law enforcement, and few have been more successful than Rinek at solving these sort of cases.

Most famously, Rinek got Cary Stayner to confess to all four of the killings known as the Yosemite Park Murders, an accomplishment made more extraordinary by the fact that the FBI nearly pinned the crimes on the wrong suspects. Rinek's recounting of the confession and what he learned about Stayner provides perhaps the most revelatory look ever inside the psyche of a serial killer and a privileged glimpse into the art of interrogation.

In the Name of the Children takes readers into the trenches of real-time investigations where every second counts and any wrong decision or overlooked fact can have tragic repercussions. Rinek offers an insider's perspective of the actual case agents and street detectives who are the boots on the ground in this war at home. By placing us inside the heart and mind of a rigorously honest and remarkably self-reflective investigator, we will see with our own eyes what it takes—and what it costs—to try to keep our children safe and to bring to justice those who prey on society's most vulnerable victims.

With each chapter dedicated to a real case he worked, In the Name of the Children also explores the evolution of Rinek as a Special Agent—whose unorthodox, empathy-based approach to interviewing suspects made him extraordinarily successful in obtaining confessions—and the toll it took to have such intimate contact with child molesters and murderers. Beyond exploring the devastating impact of these unthinkable crimes on the victims and their families, this book offers an unprecedented look at how investigators and their loved ones cope while living in the specter of so much suffering.

About this title

About the Author

Jeffey Rinek served 30 years as a Special Agent with the FBI primarily investigating cases of missing and murdered children and is internationally renowned for obtaining a surprise confession from serial killer Cary Stayner to the brutal slayings of four women and girls known as the Yosemite Park Murders. In the Sacramento office of the FBI, he was responsible for assisting police and sheriff's departments throughout Northern California in active and cold-case investigations involving missing children, child kidnappings, and the abuse, exploitation, and murder of children. He also served as a certified profiler for the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime. In 2003 he was named Investigator of the Year by the California Sexual Assault Investigators Association and in 2006 received an Award for Excellence from the International Homicide Investigators Association. He was the Sacramento division case agent in 1993 overseeing the investigation that would come to be known as the Unabomber case. He has also worked for the FBI in the areas of white-collar crime, foreign counter-intelligence, and organized crime, served on the Bureau's swat team, and as a co-pilot in its aviation force. He and his work have been featured on numerous TV documentary crime shows including A&E's American Justice, TruTV's Crime Stories, and Investigation Discovery's Real Detective.

Marilee Strong is an award-winning journalist who specializes in reporting on crime and psychological and social issues. She is the author of two previous books: A Bright Red Scream, on the aftereffects of childhood abuse and trauma, and Erased, which presented an original criminal and psychological profile of a particular kind of intimate-partner homicide. She has also written widely on topics such as child abduction, women in prison, gang violence, hate groups, and psychological treatment for sex offenders. She is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she awarded a Pulitzer Fellowship, the school's highest honor. She is the recipient of more than a dozen writing and reporting honors, including a National Headliner Award and the Society of Professional Journalists Excellence Award. She has been a guest on NBC's Dateline, Fox News' On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, the BBC, and numerous other TV and radio shows around the US, and has been appeared in several film and television documentaries on the subjects of her work.

Review

“At a time when people are questioning the motives and dedication of the FBI, here is a book that shows what ‘Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity’ really stands for. In the Name of the Children is an exceptionally well-written and deeply moving look at one FBI agent’s lifelong quest to find missing children and bring sexual predators to justice. No one in law enforcement has ever written with such unvarnished honesty about what it takes to bring down those who prey on kids. Jeff Rinek’s insights into the motives and modus operandi of sex offenders and his approach to getting killers like serial sex slayer Cary Stayner to confess should be mandatory reading not just for those in law enforcement but also for everyone who cares about the safety of our children. Chilling, fascinating, and groundbreaking.”

—John Douglas, FBI profiler, author of Mindhunter, The Anatomy of Motive, and Journey Into Darkness

“Retired FBI Special Agent Jeff Rinek brings us deep inside his investigations of serial killers, child murderers, and sexual predators. These riveting stories document not only the hunt for these elusive criminals but also reveal the emotional upheaval Rinek himself experienced seeing the carnage perpetrated on society’s youngest and most vulnerable victims . . . This is a must-read for anyone who follows true crime. It gave me a greater appreciation of, and respect for, law enforcement’s men and women who serve and protect us.”

—Beth Karas, former prosecutor, legal analyst, longtime truTV correspondent

“The extraordinary calling of Jeff Rinek’s life is wrestling with evil so that evil does not have the last word . . . This book is haunting in its depiction of the worst of psychopathology and conscienceless-ness, but it also brims with the hope that springs from the quest of a hero full of empathy and compassion to find answers, bring justice, and honor life. Rinek is humanity at its best.”

—Sandra L. Brown, MA, trauma therapist, author of Counseling Victims of Violence and How to Spot a Dangerous Man Before You Get Involved

“Part memoir, part true crime, In The Name of the Children, is a riveting read. This rare and candid insider’s look at crimes against children pulls back the curtain on the painstaking, often heartbreaking, process of investigating these unthinkable crimes and the damaging effects of organizational betrayal on those who are seeking justice for the victims.” 

—Ellen Kirschman, PhD, author of I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know, Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know, and the Dot Meyerhoff mystery series

“A must-read for true crime fans! Jeffrey Rinek is not your typical FBI Agent. His memoir is a page-turner full of fascinating cases that he approaches from a unique empathy-based perspective. Rinek’s success in using humanity and compassion to elicit confessions from ruthless predators makes you wonder if we should rethink everything we know about interrogations.”

—Krystal Houghton Ziv, co-executive producer of CSI: Miami, The Purge, Body of Proof

“This book is not only a rare glimpse into the remarkable and dedicated work of the FBI; it is also a ringside seat into the heart and soul of a federal agent doing the most demanding work. Jeffrey Rinek’s personal story punctuates the pages and takes the reader on the journey for justice for America’s most vulnerable victims. Rinek the federal agent? I’d say federal angel.”

—Diane Dimond, journalist, former Court TV reporter, and author of Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case

About this edition

• Publisher: BenBella Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1944648984
• ISBN 13: 9781944648985
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 300