cover image The Manhunter: The Astounding True Story of the U.S. Marshal Who Tracked Down the World's Most Evil Criminals

The Manhunter: The Astounding True Story of the U.S. Marshal Who Tracked Down the World's Most Evil Criminals

John Pascucci. Pocket Books, $23 (384pp) ISBN 978-0-671-88518-2

During his 11 years with the U.S. Marshals Service, Pascucci was responsible for tracking down two wanted war criminals: Ukrainian Bohdan Koziy, called the Child Killer, whom he found in Costa Rica, and Latvian Konrads Kalejs, who probably caused more than 10,000 deaths, whom he arrested in Florida. Another of his pursuits resulted in an additional 25-year sentence for escaped California spy Christopher Boyce, whom he tracked all over the American West: ""[He] was a wimpy-ass, scrawny punk."" Writing with Stauth (The Golden Boys), Pascucci also traces the development of the USMS in the 1980s, claiming that the Justice Department in the later Reagan (""President Rambo"") years winked at all manner of civil rights violations. Pascucci's government career ended in 1989, when he was found guilty of threatening the ex-boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend and spent time in prison. With much macho posturing, he recalls what to him were his glory days, ""the life-or-death action"" that will likely strike readers as overbearing. He is now a consultant to private investigation firms. (Aug.)