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Title: Mindhunter : Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker ISBN: 0-671-52890-4 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.03 (148 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Just the facts, please.
Comment: I agree with the other reviews that have been posted previously. While the book is an interesting read based on John Douglas' accomplishments, it doesn't really give an "inside" look on serial killers and how to draw behavorial conclusions based on the evidence. I have no idea how he determined that killer was black or white - "it was just a gut feeling." He'll say things like "Based on the photos I looked at and the M.E. report, I determined that the killer drove a BMW with a Jack in the Box antenna ball and has a speech stutter ... " And that's it. What we the readers are missing are photo descriptions and details of the crime scene to comprehend how he came to the conclusions he did. (I recommend "The Evil Men Do" for a good illustration - you figure out what happened and then they tell you if you're right.) I'm interested in behavior science and would like to know how Douglas gained the unique insight he had. I'm onto his second book, "Journey into Darkness" and while it's slightly better, I've noticed that some of the cases are repeated in a more edited form. I realize he wants to illustrate a couple of points for those who may have missed his earlier book. Yes, it's a good book, but read it knowing that it'll focus on his life in the FBI, his failed marriage, and his health problems. Don't expect to gain profound understanding of how criminals work because there really isn't anything to look at - just his word that he was right in most of his assessments.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great Book
Comment: This book is a great start to those who are interested in behavioral sciences, the subject profiling or life in the FBI. The book is detailed in the techniques John Douglas developed and is very easy to read for a person who is not familiar with psychology.
The book starts off with Douglas' early life, entry into the FBI, and the struggles he endured to get profiling on the map. Then, Douglas procedes in showing the reader how success in famous cases thereafter solidified profiling as a real, if somewhat imperfect, science. Douglas goes case by case, pointing out what he looks for in determining the type of killer responsible, and the clues needed to single out the offender.
If you are interested in profiling, John Douglas will show you how he and others like him have done it for years. Unlike the previous reviewer stated, Douglas DOES show you how a trained professional would profile a criminal, but the reader should not expect to be able to profile someone themselves because it takes years of experience and training. He shows the reader what type of physical and behavioral evidence he looks for when creating a profile. In one chapter, he even decides to take you step by step in detail on how he developed a profile for a killer.
Profiling is a behavioral science technique and while Douglas integrates psychological theory, it does not get at all technical or something that the reader will not understand. Douglas and Olshaker made sure this was a book that anyone could read.
John Douglas covers a lot of cases in this book and while they may not be detailed to every piece of evidence in the case, the book overall succeeds in showing the reader how the cases were solved, a general idea of FBI life, profiling, and the criminal mind.
...And no, as explained in Douglas' books, serial killers or others cannot read this book and come up with a way to get away with murder... an attempt by a killer to use this sort of tactic would just implicate him further by blatent behavioral cues, as explained.
If you like this book, I would definitely recommend any of John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's books.
Rating: 5
Summary: LOVED IT
Comment: If your a true crime buff, buy it. If you've already read his book Obsession, don't....a lot of the same stories and material.
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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: 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: OBSESSION by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker ISBN: 0671017047 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas, Mark Olshaker, John "Douglas ISBN: 0671017063 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 2001 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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