The Unknown Darkness : Profiling the Predators Among Us

Rating:
Summary: Intense, Real, and Riviting
Review: "The Unkown Darkness" was the best book I have read in a long time! Agent McCrary has written a book that is hard to put down. He is as informative as he is humble in this book on real serial killers and his role in their capture. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who has an interest in serial killers or criminal justice in America!

Rating:
Summary: One of the Good Guys
Review: Aside from the fact that this book is fascinating from the first page to the last, it is a comfort to know that men like Mr. McCrary are out there on the front lines in the fight against violent crime. I am thankful that the work done by these brave men helps to keep the rest of us safer - and helps to bring the guilty to justice. It is disturbing to see exactly what satanic depths humanity is capable of reaching, but it does not do any good to bury our heads under the covers and hope the monsters will go away. Bravo to Mr. McCrary and others like him, who give of their intelligence, their time, and their talents to make the world a safer place.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting enough insights, a bit tedious to read
Review: I've read just about everything by John Douglas and other books on profiling, and am a bit of a Court TV junkie. This book provides new information and insights into criminal profiling and certain cases than previously available, and for that reason, I'd recommend it for a true crime fan. It provides new information on the Paul Bernardo / Kristen French husband and wife serial rape "team", the Buddhist Temple Massacre near Phoenix, and the Waco tragedy. The fact that McCary presents fairly convincing evidence that Kristen French was hardly the "battered wife" she's usually presented to be in this highly documented case was the most startling to me.

The problem is the writing is tedious to read at several points, and the chapter on the Waco stand-off seems to go on forever. The book could have used some more work by the editor, as some paragraphs don't really fit together and some of the narrative goes along in a herky jerky fashion. For this reason, I would not recommend this book for someone with just a passing interest in the subject.

Rating:
Summary: shedding light on the darkness
Review: McCrary and Ramsland recount several high-profile cases where psychological profiling has succeeded in solving the crime. All make fascinating reading, but what is probably the most interesting aspect of the book is his harsh assessment of the handling of the Waco standoff with Koresh and his followers. Like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, McCrary objectively analyzes the evidence and makes a conclusion. His analysis of the Sam Sheppard case has changed my opinion of who the real murderer was.

My only complaint, which at least one other reviewer has stated, is that this book (and all the others written by FBI profilers, for that matter) only focus on the successes, and don't deal with cases where profiling has failed miserably (such as the D.C. sniper case). (...)

Rating:
Summary: shedding light on the darkness
Review: McCrary and Ramsland recount several high-profile cases where psychological profiling has succeeded in solving the crime. All make fascinating reading, but what is probably the most interesting aspect of the book is his harsh assessment of the handling of the Waco standoff with Koresh and his followers. Like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, McCrary objectively analyzes the evidence and makes a conclusion. His analysis of the Sam Sheppard case has changed my opinion of who the real murderer was.

My only complaint, which at least one other reviewer has stated, is that this book (and all the others written by FBI profilers, for that matter) only focus on the successes, and don't deal with cases where profiling has failed miserably (such as the D.C. sniper case). (...)

Rating:
Summary: Could barely get through it.
Review: The cases are extremely interesting, however the style of writing is annoying to the point of distraction. There is a way of writing of one's accomplishments without sounding like a self-aggrandizing 16 year old. McCrary, Ressler (and the writers helping them) apparently are not aware of this. I think John Douglas's novel, Mindhunter, got it right.

Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ FOR TRUE CRIME BUFFS
Review: This book talks about a formal process for detecting the criminal type and their activities. The proper designation is Criminal Investigative Analysis, but I like to consider it as an educational course in learning to be a Sherlock Holmes in real life. It is taught at the fBI Academy and is a 10 month program. Another contribution for the author was his practice of Shorinji Kempo, a marital arts discipline (this led me to an interesting inquiry into that subject). You should thoroughly enjoy every case written about in this book; your eyes will be opened in the latest information of how criminals are ascertained and caught.

Rating:
Summary: Intense, Real, and Riviting
Review: This type of book is the not a genre that I would normally read. The book was given to me at Christmas by my brother in law. I'm not sure what that says about his interpretation of me.

To true crime buffs, this is probably a great book. However, to the more geneal reader such as myself, I often found the writing style tedious and self-congratulatory. The cases are often fascinating, it is the style that grates.

In spite of the style, there are some highlights to the book. The Sam Shepard where he murdered his wife and the events of Waco Texas are bizarre to the extreme. The Buddhist temple massacre is a display of humanity at its worst. There is truly some real evil locked away in some members of the population. McCrary is simply outlining the facts that the rest of us may choose to ignore.

Finally, if nothing else, this book proves that although true crime literature has its followers, I am not one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Light in the Darkness
Review: Two of the cases Mr. McCrary worked on were near our home. I was intrigued by how these profilers operate and can figure out what kind of person the police should be looking for, What the bad guy wears, drives, will look like ,his age , what kind of work he does. what he will do and act like when apprehended. It is very exciting stuff.We owe a lot to the men and women in law enforcement and the men and women in law enforcement owe a lot to te profilers whe make their jobs much easier.

Rating:
Summary: too simple
Review: You can learn more in a one hour Discovery Channel special than you will in this book. The writing style is simplistic and tediously "Dragnet cute" which doesn't help. What the book needs is a real writer and someone to help organize the material better. Oh, yes, and an editor to cut out the many self-congratulatory asides that further weaken the project.