This is a book about the police investigation into the South Auckland rapes and the eventual capture of Joseph Thompson for the crimes that shook the entire country. I didn't expect a lot from this book, many books about serial rapists or serial killers that I have read go into far too much detail about the state of mind (in the author's opinion) of the perpetrator. This book was a lot more factual, being written by a journalist was probably a good start. Corbett delved into Joseph's childhood bouncing from one parent to another, to foster care and adoptive homes and finally out of the state's care when he was 18. Thankfully she does not place blame entirely on any part of his childhood for what was to come next but it did serve as an interesting insight on children who are largely forgotten by their parents.
The book then went on to depict the crimes that Thompson committed, and also described what the attacks had done to each of the victims. The emphasis here seemed to be on the fact that it affected all of them for the rest of their lives, I think it would have been useful to show that they were survivors as well as victims but the presence of anything at all about Thompson's victims was a good aside on the impact of victimisation.
Corbett also showed the intense police investigation that took place and eventually resulted in Thompson's capture. To begin with, it was difficult for the police to even get an investigation off the ground and towards the end of the investigation, media reports were aimed at the failure to catch the offender. This would have been one of the first cases to use DNA in New Zealand for the purpose it did and also probably one of the first to use criminal profiling techniques to catch the offender.
I would definitely recommend this book.
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