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Serial Murder

Serial Murder

List Price: $44.95
Your Price: $44.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Hundreds of clumsy errors in the text and index.
Review: Scholars and criminologists beware! Behind a paper-thin scholarly veneer, this volume is worse than useless to any serious reader. The authors open with self-congratulation of their own "research vigor," denouncing competitors who produce books "loaded with errors," then deliver a slim volume containing literally hundreds of careless mistakes--countless names misspelled, cases misplaced geographically and chronologically (one killer hanged in 1896 is described as active in the 1940s!), etc. The index is a joke, with most of the page citations inaccurate, and that's only the beginning. Some killers appear twice under different names (their own and some garbled version), while others appear to be mythical characters (e.g., "Leslie Hooten"). The most hilarious error finds a list of "Serial Killer Victims" in the index naming several authors from the book's bibliography ... plus O.J. Simpson! Worst of all, the book appears to be one massive ego stroke, with the primary author referring to himself by name more than 80 times in less than 160 pages. At a hardcover cost of 28 cents per page, anyone desiring accurate information on serial murder is well advised to shop around.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Serial Murder--1988 version vs 1998 version
Review: Scholars and criminologists beware! Behind a paper-thin scholarly veneer, this volume is worse than useless to any serious reader. The authors open with self-congratulation of their own "research vigor," denouncing competitors who produce books "loaded with errors," then deliver a slim volume containing literally hundreds of careless mistakes--countless names misspelled, cases misplaced geographically and chronologically (one killer hanged in 1896 is described as active in the 1940s!), etc. The index is a joke, with most of the page citations inaccurate, and that's only the beginning. Some killers appear twice under different names (their own and some garbled version), while others appear to be mythical characters (e.g., "Leslie Hooten"). The most hilarious error finds a list of "Serial Killer Victims" in the index naming several authors from the book's bibliography ... plus O.J. Simpson! Worst of all, the book appears to be one massive ego stroke, with the primary author referring to himself by name more than 80 times in less than 160 pages. At a hardcover cost of 28 cents per page, anyone desiring accurate information on serial murder is well advised to shop around.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: extremly helpful
Review: This book was extremely helpful in my research on serial murder. It is a good, concise, rendition of research, & theories,of multiple homicide. I recommend this book to anyone writing a research paper or who wants to learn more on the topic of serial murder.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Serial Murder--1988 version vs 1998 version
Review: Two important things must first be noted: Amazon.com is listing a 1988 title (Serial Murder)by Holmes and DeBurger. That book was received with very positive reviews and was widely recognized as a "first" in the attempt to deal systematically with this particular form of homicide. It appears that Amazon.com is publishing reviews that do not pertain to this first edition, but which are based on evaluation of SERIAL MURDER by Ronald and Stephen Holmes, published in 1998 by Sage. The Holmes'(father-and-son) effort represents a buttressing of the 1988 edition with considerable expansion of specific cases and developments in the intervening decade. While there is a bit of "hurrying to completion" evident here with attendant errors, typos, missing or misplaced names, etc., this book--which builds well on the first edition by Holmes and DeBurger-- does represent the best systematic work available on the topic. Amazon.com should pay closer attention to its listings and get book titles linked correctly with their actual authors.


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