This was a great book. It focused on the cases that helped build the serial crime unit of the FBI and gave some insight into the basis for the breakdown of the social skills of serial killers. While some of the cases were more gruesome than others, it was interesting to see how they were similar and different from one another. This is a non-fiction book, which I don't normally read because I find them boring. But I couldn't put this one down. The only reason I gave it a 4 instead of a 5 was because it didn't really have a story line that was clear. Having said that, I still read the entire thing in days.

I think what I took away from reading this book was really a lesson in personal safety. I found myself really paying attention to everything going on around me and walking a little bit taller. This isn't for everyone but I found it a critical read living and working in the city at night. I actually was able to identify a bad scene unfolding in front of me and got my feet moving to avoid it. John Douglas presents the facts in a non-alarmist way while still putting great emphasis on what bad dudes are all about. This is a must read for anyone in law enforcement and anyone who likes to gain power through knowledge.

This was a very interesting book describing the rise of criminal profiling in the F.B.I. John Douglas pioneered the combination of psychology and crimaal catching which has become so popular today, especially since Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs, which showed the public how this new science works (in an exaggerated form, of course). This book details how that science developed, what it's benefits are, and why it should be used, but unfortunately Mr. Douglas doesn't really tell us a whole lot about how exactly it works. He looks at case files, examines autopsy reports, then comes up with a profile of the killer. All of the cases he records in this book are cases he got right (one wonders how many he has gotten wrong, since he mentions having done hundreds and hundreds of cases, and he only mentions a few dozen), yet he never really bridges the gap between case file analysis and criminal profiling. Perhaps he doesn't want us to know, so that criminals cannot use that information to their advantage. If so, he should have explained himself, as the books cover and intro are rather misleading.

Be forewarned that this book is not for squeamish people. He describes murder scenes in detail, leaving little to nothing out, even if things like dismemberment are involved. While not appealing, these descriptions are necessary to really grasp the utter depravity which the criminals he is profiling have fallen into. If you know any good humanists who believe in the inherent good of the human race, this book may cause them to second guess their beliefs.

Douglas makes one point over and over in this book: serial killers are not born, they are made. People are not born with a chemical imbalamce which causes them to go out and kill people. What causes that type of behavior is usually childhood abuse and insecurity. The guys that terrorize the nation are usually guys living in their parent's basements who have no life, because their life was stolen from them in their childhood through the abuse (physical or mental) of parents and relatives. Douglas also points out repeatedly that this does not excuse the killers. They still have free will. They can and do choose not to kill people when they know they will be caught. Psychotic people often seem to really have little choice in what they do, but the typical psychopathic killer knows very well what he is doing and that it is wrong. Douglas does an excellent job of silultaniously arguing that serial killers are a result of their upbringing, and that they consciously choose to do what they know is wrong. This is an important issue in justice, as one can hardly condemn a man for doing something which he has no control over.

Overall grade: A