A former top NSW cop provides a chilling, behind the scenes insight into the investigation that brought down Australia's backpacker killer.
The release of the book Milat, by former Police Assistant Commissioner Clive Small, coincides with the 20th anniversary of Ivan Milat's arrest over the seven backpacker murders in the 1990s in NSW's Belanglo Forest.
Small, who headed the task force investigating the killings, writes of Milat's brutal crimes in careful detail and documents the killer's twisted character.
The book traces key moments in the investigation - the discovery of bullet ridden bodies, a breakthrough from a surviving victim and the climatic, secretive raid on Milat's home.
Small also shows how Milat's crimes reverberated for good and bad after his arrest, prompting police reform but also influencing a copy cat killing from a younger family member.
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The book is at times heavy in operational detail, but Small is meticulous in his research and in backing up his findings.
Milat is a fascinating yet sobering insight into abhorrent human behaviour and one of the nation's most heinous crimes.
* Milat by Clive Small and Tom Gilling is published by Allen and Unwin, RRP $29.99.
