Author faces old demons to bring silver lining in her new book

Different things releases adrenaline for different people – paragliding, bungee jumping and even bird watching – but Janine Lazarus get an adrenaline rush by catching and writing about serial killers.

Janine Lazarus was an active investigative journalist during the 90s and was best known for covering the story on the Norwood serial killer and rapist, Kobus Geldenhuys. In her latest book, Bait – To catch a killer, she guides her readers back in time to recollect some of the events she faced during her investigation. The book launch, held at Polofields Crossing in Midrand, had spectators patiently waiting for the main attraction to share some of her favourite passages from the book.

“This story made my career as a crime reporter. It was my Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter moment in the smash hit movie Silence of the Lambs. It’s not every day that one comes face to face with a serial killer who knows your name,” said Lazarus.

“I faced my demons. I’ve had an almost 30-year link with a psychopath which I weave through the book. The police knew that I lived in the epicentre of his [Kobus Geldenhuys] crime spree. They used my flat as a surveillance point. They had their own key to my apartment and kept unusual hours. One night, they asked me to walk down Iris Road, past the Norwood police barracks where they suspected he lived in an effort to lure him out.

Lazarus concluded, “I am planning on writing another book and I’m terrified at the prospect. Books are hard work. But I have another crime story that needs to be told and it will be told soon.”