In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption Paperback – Illustrated, December 20, 2011

This book was excellently written. It was hard to read parts of it, as I knew of Jessica and her family as I lived in the same town/area as she was from. I remember that horrifying day in September of 1993 like it was yesterday and the memories of being incredibly scared at just 12 years old. My heart still aches for her family to this day and I will always remember Jessica. My heart aches for the other girl's families who's lives were shattered by Larry Hall. I pray, pray, pray he will be broken one day and come out and tell these poor families where their beloved girls are so that the families can have a sense of "closure" and their loved girls can rest in peace. I give a lot of credit to Jimmy Keene for his courageousness for taking a risk to go to the high security prison to befriend Larry and for his courage to get all the information he was able to get out of Larry. That is incredible! I also have all the respect for the FBI agent, Ken Temples who was from the same town I was from and the Danville, IL PD. who worked tirelessly in search for Jessica and found her and was able to put Larry behind bars forever. I read the entire book in one day.

In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption by James Keene and Hillel Levin, St. Martin's Press, 272 pages, hardcover $25.99, unabridged audiobook $29.99, [September 2010].Throughout the 1990s Jimmy Keene was living the two dreams. The first dream was to win football,wrestling and martial arts championships, have rich friends and get an offer from film director Martin Scorsese to take a screen test. The second was a drug dealer's dream: trusted by suppliers, rolling in cash, and aided by loyal friends. A policeman/fireman's son, Keene, financed his father's many failing businesses. He was informed upon by a very close friend since high school, one whom he had saved from a very violent death in Mexico.Betrayed, he was sentenced for ten years in a mazimum security prison. Just short of his first year in prison, the prosector who put him there, offered a deal: shave years off his sentence in exchange for moving into a high security psychiatric prison and buddy up to a serial killer. If Keene could get confessions and body locations from the killer, then Keene would be back on the street.In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption reads as a true crime story and as a mystery novel. Much of the book relates Keene's story in Keene's words. Hillel Levin, Keene's coauthor, dramatize events at which Keene was not present. Harrowing on several levels, In With the Devil is reminescent of Midnight Express, Billy Hayes' story of his sojourn in a Turkish prison. There are no easy 'outs' in the story and there is some graphic violence.Keene and Levin present as much as can be known about Larry Hall, the serial killer who is a twin. With a very harsh upbringing, Larry is not sociable and as comfortable with girls has his brother. The first jolt is that the killer becomes is a Civil War reenactor in an Indiana regiment and presents it as an albi. The killer's biography gets more grounded the mundane details of encampments, class street rod detailing, and janitorial work. In With The Devil is a work of many facets: the business of drug dealing, life in prisons, criminal psychology, and the court system. In With The Devil is not a plotted novel. It is a true story of tragedy and grief, evil and redemption.The In With The Devil website has images of the reenactor as well as other characters in the book.

I actually read this book years ago and I loved it. After I watched Blackbird, I re-read the book and remembered how much I enjoyed it. Tremendous story that was made for television!! Jimmy had a wild life and his story of redemption really had me on the edge of my seat. 10/10.

Thank you

It doesn't get much better than this! Jimmy is a rising literary star who has come a long way from the Kankakee gridiron. Jimmy is a true rags to riches story of someone who turned his life around in the most of extraordinary of ways and in the process did more good for the world than most of us could ever dare. Keep up the great work!

This is a good read overall; however, I do agree with others in that there was entirely too much detail in some areas, e.g., the history of the prison in Springfield, MO. It just served no real purpose. The only other issue I found was there was no lead into how the deal came about with Beaumont and why he (Jimmy) was chosen for this mission. It didn't even state until near the end of the book what the deal between Jimmy and Beaumont was (if Jimmy got certain information he'd be released from his original sentence). If you haven't seen the story on Dateline or some other show you would be confused and that is really what the story revolves around. The story in itself is good and did hold my interest, though not much additional information that wasn't covered on Dateline.

I love a good true story with twists and turns and surprises and In With The Devil did not disappoint. It's yet another example of how truth is so much stranger than fiction. The authors laid out the back story in a way that made me want to know what was coming next. The writing was sharp, clear and concise. It moved the story along at a rapid pace that I really liked. It's a story of terror, danger and fear, as well as redemption.This is an odd side note. Multiple times I found myself thinking about analogies that the authors used. I can't bring an example to mind, but to me that speaks volumes about the quality of the writing.To sum up, the story of the serial killer and the man sent to discover his secrets was one that I just couldn't put down and I'm still thinking about days after I finished reading the book.

couldn't put it down, what a amazing read. . Have read it a few times as watched the blackbird a few times. Have just read the Chicago phoenix aswell Jimmy's latest book and highly recommend that also. . Really hope the Chicago phoenix will bring us a s2 for blackbird

HAVEN'T READ IT YET

Great read, especially if you’ve watched the new show, provides light and shade to a very interesting true life story

Page turner.

Brought this to take away for a holiday read after watching the series on TV. Disappointed to find the book is unreadable with printing errors. Have arranged return. Pity I didn't see the issue before carrying it 1000s of miles around the world!!!