In the late 1980s, residents of Georgia and South Carolina were terrorized by a vicious serial rapist and murderer. Unlike most serial killers, who are usually anti-social loners, this killer turned out to be Richard Daniel Starrett, a popular and well-respected "golden boy" from a perfect Southern family. Naifeh and Smith not only give harrowing details of this serial criminal, but also offer troubling insight into the psychology of the American family.