Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother reading this book
Review: I believe this is my second John Douglas book and although I enjoyed the first one, this one was rather boring. I still haven't finished reading it. Douglas put too much of his own personal life in this book and as always he likes to praise himself , things I don't care for. He jumps around too much in this book and it sometimes get's confusing. If you like John Douglas don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: How to spot dragons before they hatch
Review: I bought Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, for research purposes. I'm writing a book about playing the "good guys" who hunt typical movie slashers, and this book seemed like a good introduction into how the ESCU works to catch the bad guys. What I got was something else entirely.
John Douglas is a very scary man. He's someone who has seen far too many horrific crimes, such that they affect him personally-when his kids scrape their knees, Douglas recounts tales of children torn in half by a murderer. When his wife cuts her finger with a kitchen knife, he points out how the spatter pattern would tell a story about what happened. Ultimately, this sort of exposure leads to a divorce and Douglas is upfront about the damage his profession did to his job.
The book starts out with Douglas in the hospital, the victim of being overworked and without enough manpower to help him. Near death, he recounts the creation of the ESCU and his struggles in making the profiling of serial killers (he invented the term) a legitimate profession. But it does not go into much detail as to how the ESCU works. In fact, it's more about Douglas and about the murderers themselves.
And what a ghastly rogues gallery it is! We have serial killers who invent vigilante groups to cover their tracks, we have killers who like to fly prostitutes out to woodlands and then hunt them down like deer, killers who believe God is telling them to kill people, and killers who strangle, rape, drown, and stab.
I read "Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies" at the same time and found an odd juxtaposition between the two books. Legacy of Blood states that the comfort of slasher flicks is that the bad guy is easily recognized by his disgusting appearance and his sudden attacks, when in reality serial killers often look like normal people and torture their victims for hours.
Not true, according to Mindhunter. Indeed, many of the killers are degenerate slimeballs, incapable of social contact and forced to use blitz-style attacks against the weak and helpless because of their inadequacies. Many have severe stutters, bad acne, or some other disfigurement. Nearly all have been abused in some fashion by their parents.
By now, the serial killer traits are well known: bed wetting, fire starting, and torturing small animals. But Douglas makes it clear that in every case, it's the child's upbringing that so horribly warps them to a life of murder. There are no strong role models to stop these children from turning into monsters; indeed, when children fall into the cracks, serial killers are what sometimes crawl out of them.
Unfortunately, exactly how Douglas comes to his conclusions is a lot like magic. Despite all of his attempts to legitimize what he does, his efforts amount to "and then magic happens!" Then Douglas comes up with a startling accurate profile. He never lets us know when he's wrong. That's a minor quibble with a book that I couldn't put down.
Mindhunter is as much a cautionary tale as it is a woeful biography of Douglas' life. Only one of the victims actually manages to turn the tables on their assailant. And in just about every other case, the killers were on murder sprees that lasted years with dozens of victims. As Douglas puts it, "sometimes the dragon wins."
As an author, this book gave me a host of ideas on how the good guys and the bad guys work. As a citizen of the United States, it gave me a new appreciation for the FBI. As a husband, it gave me a healthy regard for the mentally disturbed. A must read for anyone who wants to understand how to spot the dragons before they hatch.
Rating: 
Summary: If you read Patricia Cornwell you will like this book
Review: I have read a few of the past reviews and the negative ones seem to have a personal axe to grind with the author. They have really over exaggerated the authors self promotion. I read alot, everything from Sue Grafton to Patricia Cornwell even the Rogue Warrior series, books on History, Chess and alot of spy thrillers. I found this book to be interesting and read it cover to cover in 3 days. I think anyone reading the above mentioned books would also find this book worth the time and money.
Rating:
Summary: This is the real stuff
Review: I have studied sexual offenders and criminal profiling of serial rapists from courses and seminars in the fields of Criminology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Behavioral Science at Central Washington University. I was also a victim of sexual assault myself many years ago. I live in the Seattle area near the Green River Killer's backyard, which is also the home of the recent Spokane WA serial killer Yates. This has given me a unique opportunity to see and feel the monsters at work that John speaks of. I have read the real files and crime scenes including the actual interviews of many of John's cases. John is the pioneer of Profiling. The accuracy of his insight on these animals is chilling but amazing. His book Mind Hunter tells how it really is in language that is understandable to the average reader while at the same time interweaving his personal life and experiences on the job. An excellent book by a brilliant author.
Rating:
Summary: Great mind
Review: I think this is an excellent book. I think John Douglas has been a major contributor to the FBI profiling program. I think this book should be used as a guideline to help continue to find and put away the most dangerous criminals in the world. I look forward to reading the follow up to this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great mind
Review: I think this is an excellent book. I think John Douglas has been a major contributor to the FBI profiling program. I think this book should be used as a guideline to help continue to find and put away the most dangerous criminals in the world. I look forward to reading the follow up to this book.
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money.
Review: I'm half way into the Mindhunter book and I have 3 reactions. First, I'm getting very little information to support the subtitle 'Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit'. There is almost no "inside" information. The book thus far is a glowing account of how Douglas went around interviewing serial killers. Second, I'm getting a whole lot of information about Douglas, how brilliant he was (according to him), and how none of these con artist killers could possibly have conned him during said interviews. Third, I'm getting very bored. Just half-way into the book I'm realizing the first few chapters would have been enough. The rest is boring repetition. Let's see...I'll save you some money...boy is abused by mother, family is disfunctional...boy wets bed...boy plays weird games with sister...boy is cruel to animals...boy grows up...young man has no luck with women...young man starts killing. In steps the crack Elite FBI Serial Crime Unit (aka, John Douglas)...They tell the frightened towns people that the FBI will save the day...they tell local cops everything they need to know to arrest the killer right down to speech impediments, their age, where they live, height, weight, etc. Ya, right! If you want a book written by a former FBI agent who thinks he was the best thing to hit the agency since Hoover, then this is the book for you. If you want a book that goes into detail about the inside workings of the FBI, then continue your search. This is not that book. My copy went in the trash can this morning.
Rating:
Summary: Save Your Money.
Review: I'm half way into the Mindhunter book and I have 3 reactions. First, I'm getting very little information to support the subtitle 'Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit'. There is almost no "inside" information. The book thus far is a glowing account of how Douglas went around interviewing serial killers. Second, I'm getting a whole lot of information about Douglas, how brilliant he was (according to him), and how none of these con artist killers could possibly have conned him during said interviews. Third, I'm getting very bored. Just half-way into the book I'm realizing the first few chapters would have been enough. The rest is boring repetition. Let's see...I'll save you some money...boy is abused by mother, family is disfunctional...boy wets bed...boy plays weird games with sister...boy is cruel to animals...boy grows up...young man has no luck with women...young man starts killing. In steps the crack Elite FBI Serial Crime Unit (aka, John Douglas)...They tell the frightened towns people that the FBI will save the day...they tell local cops everything they need to know to arrest the killer right down to speech impediments, their age, where they live, height, weight, etc. Ya, right! If you want a book written by a former FBI agent who thinks he was the best thing to hit the agency since Hoover, then this is the book for you. If you want a book that goes into detail about the inside workings of the FBI, then continue your search. This is not that book. My copy went in the trash can this morning.
Rating:
Summary: LOVED IT
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Too little information
Review: It's a very good thing for the FBI, and the public he was protecting, that John Douglas made a better profiler than he did an author. It's difficult to believe that the authorship was the joint venture it is credited as. _Mindhunter_ is at its best when Douglas is recounting the interesting details of the cases that he has worked on, and when giving some insight into the way in which criminal profiling developed in FBI history. The middle of the text is a kind of "panoramic true crime" book, narrated by a cop involved in working on a number of fascinating crimes. Unfortunately, a great deal of the rest of the book is devoted to rather dull and poorly-written autobiography, along with Douglas' opinions about criminal justice, capital punishment, psychology, marriage, job stress, and government, usually without giving the reader the benefit of real argument or fact to support his statements. A couple of warnings: _Mindhunter_ is gruesome. Douglas is not at all interested in preserving the sensibilities of the squeamish. It is also not a "How-To" book on criminal profiling. Don't read this book expecting to come away with a better understanding of how a profile is developed. More than anything else _Mindhunter_ is a justification of the FBI's use of criminal profiling. Douglas wants to convince the reader that profiling is practical and gives valuable results. Given that as his argument, Douglas doesn't spend any time on the problems with profiling, a topic one might like to see addressed. Those interested in criminal profiling will want to read this first book by the person who defined the practice for the FBI out of historical interest, but shouldn't expect too much from this thick paperback that's thin on real details.
|
