Happy Face: A Family of Monsters provides a chilling and detailed look into the life and crimes of Keith Jesperson. The memoir dives deep into his upbringing, psychological profile, and the events that shaped him, offering insight into a deeply unsettling story. While the book is thorough and informative for true crime enthusiasts, its graphic nature may be difficult for some readers to digest. It’s a thought-provoking, if disturbing, exploration of how monsters are made.

I received a free copy of, Happy Face: A Family of Monsters, by Nicole D phoenix, Keith Jesperson, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Keith Jesperson, is the happy face killer, this is his story, how he grew up, and killed people. I have no sympathy for this killer. He is not a victim he is a killer and liar.

As told from the horse’s mouth a pretty gritty tale without holding back. The early life of the killer was fairly bleak and chaotic and we’re immersed in an impressive amount of detail. I wouldn’t say I felt sorry for him per se or excused what he did in any way shape or form but it does form some (very small) level of understanding as to what our early lives and parental influence can shape us into (feel more pressure now).
The writing bounces around a bit but feels very authentically the perpetrator’s own words and a lot of effort has been put into giving a lot of information and background. I suppose languishing in prison for a long period of time affords you the luxury of detail. He doesn’t attempt to particularly excuse or explain what he did, in face he’s honest insofar as he doesn’t have all the answers himself. There is evidently some remorse as displayed in the latter section but is it sorry for being caught overridingly. A fascinating glimpse into his psyche and world and chilling that these people walk amongst us.
A few issues with formatting in my aRC copy, dark background and black type didn’t make for happy eyes but the typos and spellings made it feel raw and authentic. Recommend this book, definitely food for thought.

This book was pretty decent. I loved the premise and the story, but it was a bit all over the place. The book would have been better if it were better organized. I would still recommend this book to all true crime fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
While I understand the publisher's decision to let Keith tell his side of the story, the story itself wasn't well written. Events seem scattered. Tidbits that aren't relevant to the overall story were just filler. It's hard to know what is true and what is lies. It was interesting to read his telling of events though I think it could have used some analysis from a psychologist or criminologist to make it more interesting.

It is very rare that I DNF a book but at 32% I gave up. This book felt it was just one long run on sentence. It was all over the place, had no order to it that it just became too confusing to keep reading. While I would have liked to read more into this I couldn’t get past the layout that had no rhyme or reason.

The “Serial killer culture” has become a prominent phenomenon in our day and age. People are fascinated with the psychology, criminology, and everything in between for serial killers. Whether it is podcasts, tv shows, movies, or books, our civilization has become enamored with the culture of serial killers.
Keith Jesperson is what the media named “The Happy Face Killer”. He was arrested in 1995 over a homicide investigation involving his last victim and has been incarcerated for the last 30 years. There have been and will be no more convictions and/or trials, and so he feels he needs to set the record straight after all the propaganda, lies, tales, etc, that have come out about him over the last three decades. The overall impression that I received as a I read this biography is that Keith Jesperson is/was a pushover, slightly paranoid, highly distrustful of the legal system, and extremely calculating, which to some extent makes absolute sense.
Overall, I think Jesperson would truly choose a different path for himself if he could go back in time and make different decisions. I understand that he wants to right the records and undermine all those who try to lie about him to make a buck or two. At the same time, you must scrutinize what he is saying. You never know what is going on in someone else’s mind when they have nothing but time. It was an alright read and I can appreciate the motive behind it all.

Various nitpicky things that need to be pointed out:
1) The address of Roberta’s mother should not be listed in this book. I’m sure the woman is long deceased, but you do not want to cause damage to the neighborhood or otherwise.
2) Yes, the serial killer culture and murderabilia is very popular right now, however, it should not be encouraged to go find shoes that were thrown off from Keith Jesperson during one of the murders he committed.
3) Clean up the grammar, misspellings, etc. before final print.

While this is an interesting concept I am a little sick and tired of hearing from this absolute scumbag of a human and the story just keeps coming out lately being pushed more and more.

I think this could have benefited from being broken up with some analysis by the secondary author. Jesperson’ s personal account is just too boring and self indulgent to stand alone and without comment.