Who is the killer in the book? I've forgotten from the book, but I did not think it was Buddy, Clint's neighbor. so that caught me by surprise when the kid said there was "no one" in the code. As soon as he said that I knew it was Buddy, but I think the book was different. Who's the killer in the book?

is different from the movie.

The killer in the book is the Code Killer who had been investigated by McCaleb years earlier. In the book, he is introduced as a witness to one of the murders and goes by the name James Noone. McCaleb actually hypnotizes him at one point in the book to see if Noone could recall any more under hypnosis. Of course, Noone is not the guy's real name...it is instead Crimmins and he was the Code Killer that McCaleb had chased years earlier.