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The Cases That Haunt Us

The Cases That Haunt Us

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: an open letter
Review: Mr. Douglas has done a great disservice to his profession by his work on the JonBenet Ramsey case. His self-serving and patronizing chapter on the case is incredible. I knew very little about the case before reading this book, and Mr. Douglas certainly offered no credible insight into the matter. There are so many holes in his theories that I am compelled to completely disregard his opinion as entirely motivated by ego. Others have defended his integrity by pointing out that at some point in the case he refused payment for his services, but it sure was useful to have the Ramsey's cooperation for the purpose of writing this book, for example.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another winner from Douglas & Olshaker
Review: The cases that haunt us is a mesmerizing read. I did not put it down until I finished it. I have read all of Douglas's & Olshaker's books,and as usual the information presented in the book is well researched. The book is well-written and Douglas's behavioral analysis on each of the subjects is brilliant. What I found most compelling was the way in which Douglas and Olshaker paint a vivid picture of life during the times of the Ripper, Borden and Lindbergh cases. In this essence, the book was quite visual. This book is a must read for any Douglas fan or anyone wishing to experience his expertise for the first time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Again, another great read!
Review: I have all of Douglas' nonfiction books and this is another one that is hard to put down. In "Cases", Douglas focuses on old, unsolved or still-in-question cases and offers some interesting possible explanations. Wonderful and entertaining! Who WOULDN'T like his books?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Cases That Haunt Us
Review: John Douglas and Mark Olshaker strike another home run with the newest book about true crime cases. This book is different though in that it provides a profiling look at famous cases from the long ago past and not so long ago. Lizzie Borden, Baby Lindberg, and Zodiac, among several others. I've read all of the books on profiling these authors have written and have found each one informative and interesting. I bought this book for myself but I'm buying several copies to send to friends. Another "must read" for those who want to have more insight into the killer mind than the daily newspapers provide. I've learned a lot about what to be aware of in my own enviornment and what crime scenes reveal about the "personality" of the killer. To John Douglas and Mark Olshaker - Bravo!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Douglas does it again!!
Review: Douglas and Olshaker have done it again. Only these two gentlemen could give a fresh insight into some of the most difficult crimes in history. It takes more than talent to accomplish this. Those who have given a negative review to this publication have only one complaint and that is the Ramsey case. Clearly their ignorance can not just be attributed to the fact that they probably have not read the book in it's entirety,or that they lack 30 years of investigative experience. It can only be attributed to narrow-mindedness.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Murder will out (sell)
Review: Wait for the paperback. This book is a rehash of earlier works. It may be interesting to those who don't know much about profiling. However, Mindhunter is a much better book than this recycled effort, which seems to have been written primarily to justify his support of the Ramseys. Regarding the Ramsey case, he presents a few credible scenarios incriminating Paty and/or John, and then immediately dismisses them as "absurd". His ego seems to have created quite a blind spot.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brings Intellegence & Experience to Ramsey Case
Review: This book shows how significant investigative insights emerge when extensive homicide experience, high intelligence, professional training and common sense are applied to murder cases.

Unfortunately, throughout the four-year Ramsey investigation, we have all sadly witnessed what occurs when untrained, arrogant, and eventually corrupt law enforcement personnel decide who's guilty first and then concoct a case to cover their backsides. The case against the Ramseys that the Bouler Police have created doesn't even fit the indisputble forensic evidence (like the sequence of injuries), uses analyses from charlatans, misrepresents handwriting results (Patsy scored 4.5 out of 5, with 5 being absolutely no match) and dismisses key DNA evidence inside JonBenet's underwear because it doesn't match a Ramsey.

This book should be required reading for all the "mainstream" journalists who were so easily fooled by the silly police and who gladly copied stories from the tabloids because it helped boost ratings. It should also be read by any American who still believes that the US media are ever honest in their reporting.

Many decent people have been manipulated into believing "The Ramseys Did It" despite the extensive evidence that the family was not involved. The Ramsey case section of this book should make us all ashamed of our gullibility and willingness to believe whatever we're fed by the media.

Read this book. You'll be glad you did. You will see that there are still honest people who will stand up for the truth, even in the face of hysteria and hatred.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fascinating insight on infamous cases
Review: This is the best Douglas book since his first, "Mindhunter." Subsequent books has have tended to be repetitive with not much new information. In this book, since he is looking into historical cases for the most part, he offers new analyses and ideas about the Unsubs in cases including Jack the Ripper, Lizzy Borden, Charles Lindbergh Jr, Zodiac killer, and Boston Strangler.

I almost wish he hadn't included the JonBenet Ramsey case, because I think that takes away from the rest of the book. He could have included some other cases that still "haunt" us, that would be interesting from a historical point of view. I don't think enough time has passed for people to consider the Ramsay case objectively. I am not saying I disagree with his conclusions about the Ramsays, but I don't completely buy them either. If he is ever proved wrong, he will have to eat a ton of crow. Enough said.

Still, I would recommend this book for true crime lovers, historical crime buffs, and anyone with an interest in psychological profilings. I admit freely my favorite TV show is Discovery Channels "The New Detectives." If you have never seen it, and you fall into one of the above categories, you must check this show out.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Clever, new and powerful
Review: It's been a long time since John Douglas has written a strong book, and I was delighted to find that this is his strongest book in years. I often have wondered when Douglas was suddenly going to run out of ideas to work from, when the Douglas writing well was going to run dry, and indeed, for a while it seemed that he was just running the same idea over and over, or running new ideas weakly.

With this book, we get a nice taste of Douglas's profiling and an in-depth look at many cases that have bothered all of us for a long time in terms of their never having been solved.

I found it very interesting that this book is so in-depth that Doulas even includes the Lawrencia Bembenek case, one that even while it happened, was mostly local in interest rather than national.

Douglas carries us from the unsolved "Jack the Ripper" case all the way to the JonBenet Ramsey case, and shows us how he'd solve the crimes and who possible suspects might be. I find this clever and interesting writing.

He gives powerful energy particularly to the Lindbergh kidnapping and the Zodiac serial killer, and in these two sections, he is at his best, and really gets the reader deeply involved and Douglas himself writing with great skill and powerful ideas.

The only weak link in the book is the section on the JonBenet Ramsey killing, which section seems more like "In Defense of John Douglas's Profiling."

Other than the Ramsey section, this is an excellent and even thrilling book, and the first Douglas book in a long time that I couldn't put down.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Misleading rhetoric from self adulating Douglas
Review: Typical Douglas, in his self aggrandizing style, makes himself the authority on all crime related topics. If Douglas could downsize his ego, it would make it easier to read. For example, despite what the police, the state, and even his former colleagues in the FBI considered about the Ramsey case, Douglas "alone" has it solved -- i.e. the parents, from whom he took a substantial sum of money for his "consultation", are innocent. Incredible that Douglas makes such a conclusion, even though he wasnt privvy to the evidence, as the FBI was and who came to a markedly different conclusion about the parents' involvement.

A waste of time to read this book. I have to agree with McCrary and Ressler, two greatly respected FBI profilers, that Douglas has gone Hollywood.


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