Unmasking Monsters

'The gold standard in any kind of literature: unputdownable' - Steve Braunias, Newsroom

'Honest, raw and authentic insight from a legendary detective' - Jared Savage

'Remarkable and compelling reading' - Nigel Latta


A serial rapist is stalking South Auckland in 1980s New Zealand and police are stumped - they can't seem to find the man they call "The Ghost" before he strikes again.

In this incredible memoir of his nearly four decades as a police officer, David "Chook" Henwood tells the true story of how he and his fellow officers developed the system that would put The Ghost, Joseph Thompson, behind bars - and change the way policing was done in this country forever.

As a key player in the development of the nascent Criminal Profiling Unit, Henwood was at the heart of operations which locked up not just Thompson, but also the serial rapist Malcolm Rewa - and he would be an early and steadfast advocate for Teina Pora's innocence.

Henwood, one of the country's most decorated and respected police officers, started out as a wet-behind-the-ears police cadet in South Auckland, his lifelong patch and home, and would progress to become one of the country's finest detectives and a highly respected investigator.

From almost jovial relationships with small time criminals to dogged investigations to catch serious violent offenders, Henwood looks back at the nearly 40 years he spent as a sworn police officer and reflects on what's changed in this country - and what hasn't.