Where the Devil Belongs

by Jim Clemente, Josh Sanburn, Mariana Clemente

For nearly two decades a mysterious serial bomber terrorized America, building and delivering increasingly deadly bombs disguised as packages to scientists, professors and seemingly random people across the country. His bombs killed three and injured and disfigured 23 others. The Unabomber taunted law enforcement and evaded capture by meticulously hand-crafting each device without leaving any forensic evidence behind, making it impossible for the FBI to identify the evil genius through traditional investigative avenues.

To track down the terrorist bomber the FBI’s UNABOM Task Force knew it would have to innovate. When the Unabomber mailed a 35,000-word, single-spaced, typewritten "manifesto" to The New York Times and Washington Post, demanding that it be published, the Task Force realized it had just received the evidence it needed. The manifesto was a turning point in the investigation. While the Unabomber’s carefully crafted critique of modern society revealed his hubris and hatred for what he termed the “evils of technology,” it also unwittingly handed FBI investigators the keys to his identity.

The Audible Original Series Where the Devil Belongs is the first complete, behind-the-scenes story of the Unabomber's unfathomable crime spree and the groundbreaking forensic methods used to finally catch him. It brings together the survivors and victims’ family members with the FBI Agents who worked the case to tell this incredible story in their own words, many of them for the very first time.

Genres: True Crime, Audiobook, Nonfiction, History

Audible Audio

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Boipoka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This podcast does a good job of focusing on the victims, telling their story - rather than the story of the Una Bomber. This series is very very similar to the Call of God, the same detailed chronological description of the crimes, from the viewpoint of FBI investigators. There are an astonishing variety of interviews, including with someone who bought the bombers childhood home. I enjoyed listening to everyone's stories. The lack of background music was a much needed improvement!

However, this is an FBI-podcast through and through. It would have made a far more compelling listen if the host had something to add, rather than simply cobbling a bunch of interviews together. At one point, an FBI agent says something to the effect of "I don't believe he was a schizophrenic, it's not like he was seeing pink elephants everywhere". I think it's lazy journalism to let that pass without comment - there is plenty of reason to hold the "he is not suffering from schizophrenia" view point, and I absolutely understand the frustration of criminals pleading an insanity defence. But saying someone doesn't have mental health issues because they don't meet a random (and terrible) stereotype is, well, something

I enjoyed it enough that I'll probably end up listening to Evil Has A Name too - but I won't be waiting for the next series.

[Cat Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Clemente narrated this to perfection. Hearing first hand experiences and emotions really gave this harrowing story more clarity and grit. The victims side of the story is always the most important and poignant. The focus on them and how this impacted their lives is awesome.
I find the science of behavioural linguistics truly fascinating.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Narrated by former FBI analyst Jim Clemente about the UNIBOM case. UNI-for university, A for airplane and bom for bomb. He is caught by a new kind of analyst, a forensic lingoist. Very interesting. This was the first serial bomber.

[Brian McNally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit too focused on the FBI investigation which was basically a complete failure as they only found him because his sister in law touted

[Hannah Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fascinating look at how the FBI worked to find the Unabomber and the people who suffered at his hands.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting background info into the Unabomber investigation.