Journey into Darkness

Rating:
Summary: Easy Prey
Review: Mr. Douglas gets into the content of this book rapidly. Mindhunter took time to explain the concept, and therefore I suggest the books be read in order that they were written. The victim was on her turf, military trained in selfdefense, and now the victim of a man who was angry at his wife. Trigger:she went to a Tupperware party. The people who commit the crimes profilers deal with are losers, cowards. They go after people that they think are easy targets. Sharks are cowards as are the type of people who commit crimes against people. The pedofile is dealt with extensively in this book. Special Units in the police force now deal soley with Crimes Against Children. This is the most cowardly of all criminals. This book is very difficult to put down for long, but one needs to in order to take a mental break from it. Mr. Douglas deals with true crime and a child who is victimized is potential of a person that we all need to take a very serious look at, for what could have been, not only for that child, but in the contributions to humanity that we have lost out on, because we need to find ways of putting people who commit crimes where they can never have access to any other child. The "crimes of secrecy" these men do they inflict upon any and every child they can get hold of and threaten them if they tell. Or, if they think the child will talk they will silence them. Every child is vulnerable. The criminals look just like ordinary people. Mr. Douglas will tell you, don't look for the person until you look at the crime scene, the clues are all there if one knows profiling. It narrows the field of who you are looking for if you look at the victim, know everything you can about the victim and the crime scene. At least his methods were having credibility because he was right so many times, it narrowed down the suspects. Every human is vulnerable to a psychotic person. The killer could look like an angelic person. They look just like anybody. The older they get the better they get at their crimes, the more sadistic the behavior, and the better they can con. "Pillars of the community, someone you would never suspect." He wants to see the victim, know as much about the victim and see the crime scene, not a list of suspects until he has done his job.
Mrs. Symmington

Rating:
Summary: Riveting, spellbinding and scarey!
Review: This book could make you absolutely paranoid! John Douglas, the FBI profiling agent recently called in by the Jon Benet Ramsey family, writes a fascinating account of the psychology of killers and rapists. Many of the cases described you will remember from the news. At times the book can be tedious because of lengthy personal opinions . The author is very blunt about his feelings. At other times the author can be self serving. But, if you ever wondered what the underbelly of crime is really like, read this book

Rating:
Summary: Detailed analysis of killer's minds
Review: This book is very precise and detailed but a bit scattered at times. Very good psychological analysis and details without getting too graphic or drawn out.

Rating:
Summary: Had to force myself to finish this book
Review: This book's cover reads "...penetrates the minds and motives of the most terrifying serial killers." In some places it lives up to this theme but for the most part it doesn't. This book is 400+ pages long and over 200 are spent covering the life story of one victim and the aftermath her family faced along with the killer's trail. The story is very uneventful and drawn out. The rest of the book reads at a similar pace. The author has written many books on the subject of the criminal mind and at this point I think he's spread himself thin.

Rating:
Summary: Had to force myself to finish this book
Review: While "Mindhunter" was quite good, this book is a bit harder to stomach because Douglas focuses a bit too much on his "see how good I am" motif. Half the book is a thoughtful, meticulous look into the minds of society's miscreants, while the remaining 50% focuses on the author's acheivements.
Still a good read, though.

Rating:
Summary: Detailed analysis of killer's minds
Review: While some of the information was intriguing and new, I was frankly surprised that Mr. Douglas was able to stop patting himelf on the back long enough to type the manuscript. His ego is enormous, and it is difficult to acknowledge the few original points he makes while he is name-dropping and claiming full credit for assignments that, according to previous reading I have done, were a joint effort. Some parts of the book bog down, become repetitive and just plain boring. I was glad when it was over.

Rating:
Summary: Journey Into Darkness
Review: While some of the information was intriguing and new, I was frankly surprised that Mr. Douglas was able to stop patting himelf on the back long enough to type the manuscript. His ego is enormous, and it is difficult to acknowledge the few original points he makes while he is name-dropping and claiming full credit for assignments that, according to previous reading I have done, were a joint effort. Some parts of the book bog down, become repetitive and just plain boring. I was glad when it was over.