The Nomadic Devil: The True Story of Israel Keyes America's Most Methodical Serial Killer Who Planted Murder Caches Nationwide

by Genoveva Ortiz, True Crime Seven

If Ted Bundy, Dennis Rader (BTK Killer), and Robert Hansen had a prodigy, it would be Israel Keyes.

Meet the most methodical serial killer in modern history.

Israel Keyes wasn’t just any killer; he was a master manipulator and a meticulous student of his dark craft. He studied other notorious criminals to perfect his own gruesome methods, spreading fear wherever he went.

Dive into the chilling world of Keyes' carefully planned "kill kits" buried across the nation, ready for his next strike.

Like many notorious serial killers, Keyes led a double life, eluding capture for years while playing the role of a doting father.

From the random selection of his victims to his cunning methods, Keyes left a trail of terror that baffled authorities.

Discover the innovative investigative techniques that finally brought him down.

Join us as we peel back the layers of deceit and horror crafted by the Nomadic Devil.

Understand why his story continues to haunt the true crime world. Grab your copy today and delve into the mind of a modern monster.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

187 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2024

Reviews

[Bookaholic__Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded to 4

I have always been intrigued and yet appalled by the story of Israel Keyes. Years ago I read American Predator and overall I prefer that Title. I did find this book to be pretty straightforward and it provided good information. Had I not previously read the other title I would have been more satisfied I think.

If you already know a lot about Israel's case this book might seem a little redundant for you. I was hoping for some new information about him and his victims especially since this was written in 2024 but there was nothing I didn't already know presented here.

If you know next to nothing about Keyes I think this is a great resource to learn about him. It contains just enough details and it's written in a digestible manner.

If you grab this as an audiobook, the narrator has a nice voice and is easy to understand and overall enjoyable to listen to.

I received a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Corbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bad book report by a seventh grader

No facts, confusing details. Crummy use of nouns, pronouns, verbs and sentence formation. No structure to presentation of, or factual support of, facts. When there are any. Read a better book on Wiki concerning Israel Keyes. It's also free, just a lot better.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction of this book was duplicated, which was a blunder uncommon to this series. I do always enjoy the easy-to-read style of these books. This one certainly pieced together all the ingredients for a killer bit by bit. There remains a great deal of mystery behind Israel Keyes and his crimes. That gave his story an even more eerie feel.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the amount of information about this guy this def had some good detail. In all honesty it was weird to know some of the places mentioned but not have heard of this guy before. I am definitely going to look into more about this series as I have always enjoyed reading about true crime.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Israel Keyes was a serial killer. This short story/novella delves into his home life and the crimes he committed (and some that he may have committed). It is part of a true crime series that is meant to be an easy style of reading to make it more accessible to more people.

I have not heard of this guy before, but I always find these books interesting. I dislike how short they are, though. It would be nice if they could go into more detail in these books, but at the same time, I “get” what they are trying to do. These books also include a bit of a biography, as well, but I also like reading biographies, so I’m ok with that.

[Viola Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Iz…..the devil.

Israel was a control freak for sure. He was in control of all the details of his criminal life. Details he wasn’t about to give to the police. Those details were in his control thus making him feel superior to everyone else. It’s too bad he wasn’t put on suicide watch. Maybe being in a jail cell would make him turn loose of some of those details.

[Jacquelyn M Chaiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nomadic Devil goes through Israel Keyes life and tells the story of a man who seemingly enjoys others suffering from the start of his life. The book is well written and detailed enough to keep the story going.

[Katherine Minton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leaves you hanging

Genoveva Ortiz is probably the best of the True Crime 7 writers but this book left too many unanswered questions.
Even though there was enough evidence to convict Israel Keys, he never gave any concrete information. This book left me frustrated.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

It's a really good read but it is a bit confusing with all that's went on like it's timelines are all over the shop.

[Kris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Impossible to make sense of this "book" and who is the author?

[Marsha Rafalski · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️ ⭐️🌤️ (3.25 rounded to 3.0).

The first thing that I found about this book is that it is part of a series written by a group identified as the True Crime 7. This series focuses on the murky world of serial killers and the author of each is a member of the True Crime 7. I am intrigued by the concept of group writers who either write a title in a series or co-write a book. This is a larger group than I have read titles of from the past. There are a lot of titles in several series so there is much content here to explore. This title is Book 11 of the True Crime Explicit series.

Genoveva Ortiz has 83 books (according to Goodreads) and a scan of the titles of those has most of them following some convention for selecting titles which read like this one. The audiobook was 2 hours 42 minutes so it is a relatively short book and can be completed in one sitting. That’s the good news. The book itself reads like a chronological list of significant events in the life of serial killer Israel Keyes. There doesn’t appear to be a unique “voice” which weaves these events into a cohesive whole. Although there are some observations of what a particular event created in his life, it is cursory and didn’t leave me with much understanding of what it meant. Part of the problem may be that Keyes died by suicide soon after being apprehended by authorities so he has not been studied as intensely as Ted Bundy or Dennis Rader but I was not captured by the form or subject.

So in summary the most important piece of information that I encountered in reading this book is the information about the group of cooperating writers. The actual book left me unfulfilled.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Irish_I_was_reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Irael Keyes is often referred to as a new breed of serial killer."

This book is classified as True Crime. This book is about Israel Keyes, and how their entire life went from birth to death. He was born into a cult, where his parents changed their religion and got out of the cult, only to change frequently and unreliably. At the time of the killings, he had a girlfriend and daughter at home, he also really enjoyed messing with the cops.

Now, there are many things that made me give this book three stars. To start off, the book was EXTREMELY repetitive, with an instance where two to three pages were copied right after each other. There was a lot of grammatical errors as well, which made it seem really rushed. I am rather disappointed because this series started amazing, but just quickly started having issues.

[Tabby Shiflett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although part of a series, this true crime mini bio is set up a little different from the previous works. Much of the work alludes to crimes potentially committed by a lesser known serial killer, which is interesting. There's just so much of the story that is speculation, so if more info on specific reasons why other crimes may be connected to this criminal were included, the star rating would likely increase.. There's still plenty of background info, but there just isn't enough explanation as to why this guy is considered a potential suspect. For true crime fans.

LibraryThing Early Reviewer

[Beverly Laude · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written book about Israel Keyes, a little known (at least to me!) serial killer that terrorized the country. The author(s) do a good job of describing the life and upbringing of Keyes without romanticizing his past.

If you enjoy reading true crime, especially books about lesser known criminals, this is a good one. While not an exhaustive investigation into his life and crimes, it gives the reader enough information to know the story.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the only downside to the book was the narrators voice, because I wasn't as drawn in to the story by them. I also had to skip a couple chapters, mainly because I’d already listened to part of the guys unaliving spree before. But overall, the book was good to listen to and it went into a bit of depth on the serial unaliver, without dragging it all out at the same time.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Bambi Goggio · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Nomadic Devil is surprisingly rich in detail, considering how enigmatic Israel Keyes was. This book delves into Keyes' life, crimes, and his death. Many of the offenses referred to are circumstantial and officially open. The book relates the cases of several people who were unfortunate enough to be murdered while in the vicinity of Keyes, as well as his known victims.

[Bonnie Kernene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Israel Keyes is one of the most enigmatic serial killers in history. There is little about him anywhere. He did not seem exceptionally intelligent, but a bit lucky. This book is a great book about him. It gives some good details about what a sick and twisted serial killer he really was. It was one of those books that I could not put down, so I read it in one sitting. Great read!

[Danielle Meier · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was so much packed into this story it was crazy. I loved that this was in more simple terms for an array of readers. Nothing complicated or hard to follow. It read more like a story and not a true crime book. Ill definitely check out more from them! It kept me entertained and I didn't get lost in terminology which can happen with true crime.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks into the life of Israel Keyes and just how evil and methodical he was, this story also covers crimes that were associated with him but could never be proven and shows how he was finally stopped.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this audiobook. It was a real-life horror story. Israel Keyes was a monster in plain sight. I liked how the author managed to get a lot of information about his crimes in a few hours.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gripping telling of the true crime case of Isreal Keyes. It tells the story in a way that keeps you interested and entertained.