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Title: The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas, John "Douglas ISBN: 0-671-01706-3 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.87 (63 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fascinating interpretations of historic cases
Comment: THE CASES THAT HAUNT US provides fascinating and convincing insights into some very high-visibility crimes. When Douglas says Jack the Ripper was So-and-So or someone like So-and-So (I don't want to give you a spoiler here), I believe him. Douglas makes solid arguments regarding Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, the Lindbergh kidnapping and the Zodiac. Those chapters kept me turning the pages and then wanting to learn more. I ordered additional Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden books and videos...even before I finished reading CASES.
Which brings me to the last chapter, on JonBenet Ramsey. That chapter read too much like a justification of Douglas's controversial defense of the Ramseys, and less like a profile. After all, he didn't have access to the evidence he would normally use to make a profile, so how could he really decide that the Ramseys are innocent? He measures other theorists with the yardsticks: "people don't act out of character. If they appear to, it is only because you don't understand the character well enough," and "'when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'" Douglas would do well to measure himself with those yardsticks, too.
In retrospect, the "look and feel" of the beginning chapters of CASES doesn't seem to match the last chapter, and vice versa. Douglas and Olshaker seem to make careful studies of the historic cases, then quickly zoom over decades to Douglas's defense of his position regarding the Ramseys. Only a few references to the earlier murders tie the chapters together. Perhaps...the earlier chapters were included only as a build-up to JonBenet Ramsey. Alternatively, perhaps Douglas and Olshaker were writing a history, then decided to tack on JonBenet Ramsey. Or, maybe they knew that Jack the Ripper and JonBenet Ramsey would sell, and therefore added some cases in between.
That said, the bottom line is that CASES is a slightly disjointed but intriguing book from beginning to end. There's something here for those interested in history, and those interested in current events.
Rating: 4
Summary: Fascinating. A good read.
Comment: This is a fascinating read.
The idea behind this book is that John Douglas and Mark Olshanker look at some of the unsolved cases through out history that have continued to be of interest to the public. Through the evidence and accounts of each crime, they try to apply the FBI behavioral science that has been developed since these crimes as a way to 'solve' each crime.
Beginning with Jack the Ripper and ending with the Jon Benet-Ramsey murder with a wide variety of unsolved, famous crimes in between this book is just plain fascinating. They begin with a description of the crime, the crime scene and the people involved. Then they begin to explain and catagorize what they can learn from the known facts on hand. They explore possible solutions that have been provided by other authors and try to decide if these solutions fit the crime through a behavioral science point of view. They then provide what they think might be the appropriate solution.
One thing I appreciated about this book was that these authors constantly stress that they can not prove their solution is correct, only that it fits what they know to be facts and the behavior science views. They do not belittle other authors or police, in fact, they are constantly praising the good job the police have done in each case. The stress that this is an exact science at best due to it being a behavioral science and a people science.
Another thing I appreciated about this book was that it was peppered with a variety of cases that the author had personally worked on and stories of criminal the author had personally interviewed. Rather than being distracting, these short stories only support his theories and go a long ways to explaining exactly what the authors are talking about.
I rated this a four mainly for one reason: I find that many of the sentences are long and convoluted. I find that I have to go back to reread a sentence at times to be sure I understand what the sentence was saying. Maybe others won't find this to be an issue, but it occurs just often enough that it disturbs me.
Overall, this is a very fascinating read.
Rating: 3
Summary: Average Attempt
Comment: I enjoy reading John Douglas's books; I have always found his insights interesting. This book is not up to par with some of his other works, however. Perhaps it is because these are cases that remain unsolved and much that he would use in "working cases" has been muddied by years of mystery. Perhaps the best thing he says is that all killings deserve equality in the press -- that the press shouldn't single some cases out because of some sensational in the case, whether it be the brutality or the wealth of the family. Everyone deserves for their suffering to receive equal attention.
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Title: The Anatomy of Motive : The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker ISBN: 0671023934 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: July, 2000 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Mindhunter : Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas ISBN: 0671528904 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: OBSESSION by John E. Douglas ISBN: 0671017047 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Journey into Darkness by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker ISBN: 0671003941 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Whoever Fights Monsters : My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI by Robert K. Ressler, Thomas Schachtman ISBN: 0312950446 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 1993 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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